A Thousand Shall Fall

by Peden, Murray

• ISBN13: 9781550024548
• ISBN10: 155002454X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-01-01
• Publisher: Dundurn Pr Ltd

Summary

During World War II, Canada trained tens of thousands of airmen under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Those selected for Bomber Command operations went on to rain devastation upon the Third Reich in the great air battles over Europe, but their losses were high. German fighters and anti-aircraft guns took a terrifying toll. The chances of surviving a tour of duty as a bomber crew were almost nil. Murray Peden's story of his training in Canada and England, and his crew's operations on Stirlings and Flying Fortresses with 214 Squadron, has been hailed as a classic of war literature. It is a fine blend of the excitement, humour, and tragedy of that eventful era.

Author Biography

Murray Peden is a securities lawyer who became the first Chairman of the Manitoba Securities Commission in 1968. Peden's articles have appeared in aviation magazines and newspapers in Canada, England and the United States

Table of Contents

Forewords	p. viii
Enlistment - The RCAF	p. 1
Initial Training School	p. 15
Elementary Flying Training School	p. 29
Service Flying Training School	p. 58
Convoy	p. 91
Bournemouth - Leave - English Map Reading	p. 110
No. 20 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit	p. 147
Operational Training Unit (First Phase)	p. 166
Operational Training Unit (Second Phase)	p. 193
Heavy Conversion Unit - Stradishall	p. 222
Operational Flying - Apprenticeship	p. 242
Main Force Journeymen	p. 263
Tempsford - New Secrets	p. 278
Farewell to the Stirling	p. 316
The Americans Conquer the RAF	p. 337
Return to War - With New Weapons	p. 365
The Move to Oulton and Blickling Hall - The Invasion	p. 375
Gelsenkirchen	p. 386
Phantom Fleets and Other Weapons	p. 413
Operations - The Secondary Toll	p. 424
Closing Glimpses, Mainly Pleasant	p. 450
Epilogue	p. 477
Appendix	p. 484
Index	p. 486
Table of Contents provided by Rittenhouse. All Rights Reserved.