New Book Available on RCAF in England and Europe in WWII

[AusterBoys]

I just finished reading "Artillery Flyers at War - A History of the 664, 665 and 666 'Air Observation Post' Squadrons of the Royal Canadian Air Force," by Darrell Knight, and published by Merriam Press in Vermont. Fairly good read and plenty of detail and photographs; AOP pilots and observers were fearless, flying an unarmed 130-hp driven Taylorcraft into the front-line areas to deliver 'the goods' for Allied artillery units.

Same author wrote a DC-3 history entitled "Buffalo Airways - Diamonds, DC-3s and Buffalo Joe McBryan," but I have yet to order an Apple iPod or a Kindle-reader, as that one is an e-book only.

[Double Zero]

I'll certainly try to get a copy; the contribution by the Canadians, like some others has been widely overlooked; then again Tom Hanks and his chums did it all with a few revolver shots and Mustangs overhead, including capturing the Enigma machine, didn't they ?!:rolleyes:

My local town, Horsham, still has chunks taken out of walls by Canadian tanks ( the men had a fearsome reputation as warriors, from what I hear a pub brawl was a very poor idea ) and the airfield I grew up on then later worked on was built by them; the local village, Cranleigh, still has Maple trees lining the high street, and we were delighted to host a B-25 at Dunsfold a while ago with original aircrew - Thanks gentlemen !

A memorial is in place... anyway I'll look forward to the book.

[AusterBoys]

The Canadians had a fearsome reputation overseas, owing to a few critical factors found in their collective psyche.

C. Sidney Frost (Author of "Once a Patricia") wrote of taking command of his first platoon in Italy...all of of his men had been jobless prior to WWII, and had had to fight (for years) to get fed, fight to get work, fight to live in a Hobo jungle, fight to get on a boxcar going to someplace else, and fight (usually the cops) to get off the same boxcar.

Reg Walker - who served in 1 Can Para and was on both combat jumps (Normandy and Rhine River crossing) - told me long ago that he overheard a British Colonel state (1944, in London) that 'Canada did not send half a dozen Divisions of troops to England, rather, half a dozen Divisions of muggers!'