World Book Day coincided with my volunteering day in my local school. I wore my recently purchased dress which was a perfect choice for helping children with their reading. The children choose the books they would like to read with me each week.

Later I went out for an evening meal with Mr C. I swapped my sensible flat ankle boots that I wore for my walk to and from the school to the more dressy shoes seen in this photo.

The true story of Trevor Bowyer, DFC, gunner in RAF Bomber Command during World War Two

Synopsis (from the book cover):

This vividly powerful and absorbing biography of an RAF rear gunner during World War Two is told with both sensitivity and humour.

With accounts from some of Trevor’s contemporaries, including Marshal of the Royal Air Force, Sir Michael Beetham, himself a WW2 bomber pilot and survivor of the ill-fated Nuremburg raid, this latest book by Kenneth Ballantyne, meticulously researched, lavishly illustrated and written in his now familiar easy style, is enthralling from start to finish.

Born in Shropshire, Trevor’s story embraces his childhood and early career on the TPO. Living through the London Blitz he volunteered for Bomber Command aircrew. Sent on the first 1,000 bomber raids, he later cheated death when his turret was riddled by cannon fire. Shot down over the North African desert, for three days he walked back through enemy lines. A second tour followed in Lancasters, flying from Lincolnshire into the heavily defended German heartland, where night fighters relentlessly stalked the bomber stream every mile across occupied Europe.

Review:

This is a well written personal account of the traumas of life as gunner in Bomber Command during World War Two. It left me wondering how both Trevor and the other crew members were able to endure the terror and problems they faced during their missions.

The book is illustrated throughout with black and white photographs. It also gives a personal account of life in the small rural town of Shrewsbury in the run up to World War Two.

I thoroughly recommend this book.