Cheshire V.C.

Of all the R.A.F. men whose wartime gallantry fired the public imagination, Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, V.C., D.S.O. and 2 Bars, D.F.C., stands alone. He succeeded Wing Commander Guy Gibson, V.C., D.S.O. and Bar, D.F.C. and Bar, as commander of the immortal 617 Dam Buster Squadron: his ice-cold brain perfected a hair-raising bombing technique. A daring pilot, he flew so low at times as to have guns firing down on him. No wonder his V.C. citation read: "He has a reputation second to none in Bomber Command." What sort of man is this brilliant air-ace? Russell Braddon, aided by Cheshire himself, tells the whole story from his childhood, his youthful love of adventure and fast cars: of his war years, complied from operational reports and diaries, up to his fight with Sir William Penney to watch the atom bombing of Nagasaki. The tension of war over, he suffered a breakdown and after " roughing it" in Canada, Cheshire met a man who changed his whole outlook. In his famous "Homes for the Sick", Cheshire has found fulfilment, as those who recall his broadcast last Christmas will well know. We are proud to bring this fine book to our members.