Savage Sky: Life and Death on a Bomber Over Germany in 1944

There are many books on this subject, but they often become overloaded with dry statistics and remote strategic reasonings. This author flew the missions and lived the terror, seeing his training camp comrades killed one by one, even 10 at a time. Death does not refrain from visiting his crew either, as his tail gunner dies in a hail of shot. The author describes how he and others become dependent on drugs and alcohol to keep going, of how the odds against survival are so high that the only way to cope with it is to reckon yourself as already dead. Against all reasoning he finds romance in London, and he and his lover despairingly count down the remaining missions only to have the bar raised 20% by higher command. He lives, but at a high price for himself and his comrades. It is a moving narrative, one which takes you right into the bomber's agonising ordeals.

This book written by Dr George Webster, PhD (Biochemistry) about my father's Boeing B-17G bomber crew; one of the most depressing books I have ever read! ...83% casualty rate in my father's squadron during the time he was flying out of England in early-mid 1944 (with a 40% casualty rate on one combat mission alone). A chilling read. I now realise that I am REAL lucky just to be here! Clearly my dad (a bombardier) wasn't embellishing those combat mission (horror) stories he told me when I was a kid after all. Hauntingly for me, this book reads as if I was listening to my father recount each bloody mission. My father said that he was so scared before each mission that often he would upchuck his breakfast before climbing aboard the bomber. Highly recommended for those who can deal with such intense tragedy..

I can't add much to the other reviews except I too want to know what happened to Jane. Webster's story is both honest and hard to believe. A kid, lost in a war, lost in London, and waiting to die while learning to love. Did they really fly to 30,000 feet with an open roof and wind blowing in at 170 mph in the radio compartment at 50 below and nothing to keep them warm but an electric still suit? Each time they flew they had about a 6% chance of getting killed. That gave them about what, a 20% chance of surviving all 25 missions? In other words 4 out of 5 kids were going to get shot down, one way or the other, usually in a ball of fire. Until the limit got extended to 30. George Webster manages to capture his own innocence and wonder and terror and traumatic stress and first love, even while looking back through a long life and successful professional post war career with wife and kids. I imagine his kids and grand-kids are more than grateful for his telling of this story. Is it really true? Wow.

SPOILERS BELOW: This is another good entry in the Stackpole MIlitary series. George Webster(born 1924)was a nineteen-year old radio operator at the 92nd Bomber Group flying onboard B-17s (first the "F", than the "G" model), from January till May 29, 1944. He flew 25 missions. I don't know why Mr. Webster waited so long to write this book, because it's a very good narrative, blunt in its honesty: he did not want to be there, he did not want to fly combat missions, he was not a hero, all he wanted was to get through his missions and get out of there. And he did his best, like most did. He felt pain, nausea, nightmares, headaches, and only due to pills and the inconditional love of a woman was he able to continue doing his job. A lot of fliers went through the same thing. It all ended in Sweden in MAy 29, 1994, when his B-17 force-landed in Sweden and Webster was automtically out of war (to his great relief). And here is the only trouble with htis book (in my opinion). It simply has one of the most abrupt ending of all books ever. Absolutely no information about his post-war days are given. And one question remains: what happened to Jane?

If you are interested in learning about the daily life of an Eight Air Force bomber crewman during the war this book is a must read. The author, who was a radio operator, goes into great detail explaining the missions and the stresses and fears that resulted from the uncertainty of whether he would survive them. He talks openly of the effects of stress on himself and others and how they coped whether it be with drugs issued by the flight surgeon, alcohol, or other means. He discusses life on base and during leave. The book also shows how many lives were both brought together and destroyed by the war and how fate makes it's mark. It truly depicts how common boys from all over America became heroes in the air trying to do their job for their country and live through it. It is not a documentary of facts, it is insight into what many bomber crewman went through psychologically. The story is well written and is worthy of becoming a movie.