Bomber Command - Australians in WW2

[K4KittyCrew]

My brother Greg bought a couple of 'completed' 1:144 scale die-cast Lancaster from the Australian war Museum, with that, he also purchased a marvellous book called, Bomber Command - Australians in World War 2.

I know we have some members here on the forum, with a keen interest in the various Australian squadrons .............. so I thought I'd make mention of this book and include some of the many photos.
I'll list some tonight and will follow up during the next week.

Note - All photos are credited to this book - Bomber Command - Australians in World War 2 ISBN 978-1-877007-75-0
Cheers,
John

Footnote - Also listed in this book, is a mascot ( in colour ) from 199 Sqn ( Short Stirlings )...... called, 'Myrtle the Turtle'

The book cover

[K4KittyCrew]

......... and a few more. All credits as per this book from the Australian War Museum.










These are a selection of photos and details from this book, all I can do is recommend you purchase it online or in person.
John

[kookabat]

I've got a copy of this book as well - I must admit, however, that I can't make as glowing a recommendation for it as John has. By way of background, it's an Australian Government production by the Department of Veterans' Affairs, hence why there is no author listed on the front cover. It was actually written by Dr Richard Reid, who works in DVA's Commemorations Branch - a well-known historian who among other things was heavily involved in the project to bring home Australia's Unknown Soldier in the early 1990s. Good credentials, then - but he is not a Bomber Command specialist and, sadly, in places it shows.
The first section of the book tells the overall story of Australians in Bomber Command, where they served and what they did. A tall ask in so few pages (as we all know it was a campaign that covered large geographical areas and a long period of time), and it's not a bad effort all together, but there are errors littered throughout (the namesake of this forum is repeatedly misspelt as 'StErling', for example, and he mistakenly calls the Manchester the "prototype" of the Lancaster, which is close, but no cigar) and I found the narrative a bit disjointed in places. There is also (and I concede this may be a decision of the editorial staff rather than the historian himself) a rather annoying habit throughout of showing altitudes in metres rather than feet - which I thought betrayed a fundamental misunderstanding of the term.
The photos which make up the latter two thirds of the book, however, are definitely the highlight - all from the AWM's collection, some of the familiar old ones pop up but there are also a few good ones I haven't seen before. From this point of view, well worth a look - but otherwise, it appears to me that 'close enough for government work' was the order of the day for this one.

Adam

[K4KittyCrew]

Adam, your comments are to the point and fair ................. probably fair to say that when i used the word, 'marvellous' ...... it was more in relation to the photographs then the text.

Having viewed thousands of bomber command related photographs over the past seven or eight years, my favourite photos are those that we could call, for want of a better word .......... 'one offs'.
I see so many photos that show themselves, time and time again ......... and there is nothing wrong with that but to see a photo that has come from an ex-crew member, well that is something.
As they say .......... a picture paints a thousand words.

Footnote - When seeing personal photos from ex-crew members, my first thought is that ......... this portrays what these gents were experiencing at that giving time.
Priceless stuff, moments caught in time.
Cheers,
John

[PAFG]

Footnote - When seeing personal photos from ex-crew members, my first thought is that ......... this portrays what these gents were experiencing at that giving time.
Priceless stuff, moments caught in time.
Cheers,
John

spot on - thanks for posting this selection, very evocative.