Page 147 - Demo

147that led people to join the RAFVR. It is claimed that, when asked if theyhad ever flown before, 75% of candidates applying for aircrew trainingin 1939-40 said, %u2018Yes, with Cobham%u2019s flying circus%u2019. This veryentertaining book does have something to tell us and it is highlyrecommended.CGJBeyond Courage by Norman Franks. Grub Street; 2003. %u00a318.99In Another Kind of Courage Norman Franks recounted the exploits ofthe Walrus crews engaged in air-sea rescue operations in the watersaround the UK during WW II. Beyond Courage completes the picture bydealing with Walrus rescues in the Mediterranean. I have a few nigglesover the presentation. For instance, why use full stops instead of hyphenswhen referring to US aircraft? eg P.38 and B.25 for P-38 and B-25.There are some imprecisely designated Luftwaffe units, eg JG/52 forJG52, 2/SGK 10 for 2./SKG10 and 2/(F)123 for 2.(F)/123; it only takes alittle care to get them right. Similarly, I suspect that a tragic incident thatoccurred at Cutella on 29 April 1944 involved Thunderbolts of the US325th Fighter Group (not Squadron). Some of the locations ofaerodromes are also seriously adrift, Abu Sueir, for example, was not%u2018some 20 miles south of Alexandria%u2019; it was more than 100 miles to theeast, near Ismailia. Then again, Burgh-el-Arab (LG39) was nowhere nearBenghazi and Capodichino is close to Naples, not on the heel of Italy.There are one or two stray typos, including Halwen (for Helwan) andHMS Argos (for Argus), and a passage from a contribution by FS J AReid is reproduced twice, once on page 91 and again on page 132.While it is a pity that this sort of thing was not picked up at the proofreading stage, I should not overstate the case. The reader may find suchoccasional careless oversights a little annoying but few of them havemuch impact on the tale that is being told. One rescue was pretty muchlike another, of course, so it is inevitable that the narrative maysometimes seem to be a little repetitive. This problem is minimised,however, by numerous, and sometimes quite lengthy, contributions bymany of the veterans, both rescuers and rescuees, whom the author hastracked down and interviewed. The book is rounded off by the usualGrub Street-style insert of snapshots of people and aeroplanes. There areseveral appendices; the most useful of these tabulates the mainMediterranean rescues in which a Walrus participated, providing, date,