War in a Stringbag

A wonderful book. My brother was a telegraphist air gunner (TAG) and sadly was killed in 1940 in an aircraft accident at Naval Air Base Machrihanish, Scotland. It would have been nice to see a cover depicting both crewmen. Commander Philip Arthur Balink-White, MBE, Royal Navy

I cannot add to Tim F Martin's or Matherson's reviews other than to say I agree with their every word. But I thought I should add my voice in order to recommend this book very highly indeed to anyone remotely interested in this genre. And particularly to those who might have thought the 'Stringbag' was ineffectual just because it seemed antiquated!

_To War in a Stringbag_ is the extraordinary true story of Commander Charles Lamb, a pilot in the British Navy's Fleet Air Arm who flew the Fairey Swordfish, a sturdy, robust, multi-seat naval aircraft that served a variety of roles in World War II, among them reconnaissance at sea and on land, day or night, convoy escort duties, anti-submarine searches and attacks, torpedo and dive-bombing attacks on ships, mine laying, and the carrying of heavy loads (including flares). Its probably most famous weapon was its torpedo, which weighed 1,610 pounds and was capable of sinking a 10,000 ton ship in minutes. To deliver this weapon - often against intense fire and in daylight though nighttime raids were more common - the pilot was taught to attack from a steep dive, at a speed of 180 knots or more and then straightenout and fly at a mere 90 knots (producing a very vulnerable target). A tremendously maneuverable aircraft that was difficult to stall, the Swordfish was the only British aircraft that was flying at the outbreak of the war and still flying against the enemy in 1945. It had a stalling speed of 55 knots and could out maneuver but not outrun virtually every airplane in the sky and for good reason; it was a biplane. In many ways the Stringbag as it was also called was an obsolescent aircraft. It was very slow and poorly armed; equipped only with World War I era forward firing Vickers gun and a rear cockpit mounted Lewis gun fired by the air gunner or the observer. It had to rely on deft maneuvers, nighttime operation, and secrecy to survive against much more modern aircraft. It had an open cockpit (brutal when operating for instance in the North Sea), didn't have radar, and lacked a sensitive altimeter (at least in the beginning of the war), a crucial bit of equipment as the rather temperamental torpedoes had to be dropped from a height of 60 feet, no more and no less. Aircraft to ship communications were difficult - when they weren't blacked out due to the security concerns - so the possibility of not finding the carrier upon completion of a mission was a real possibility (and one that occurred several times). Despites its shortcomings the Swordfish played an impressive role in World War II. Lamb provided a riveting (thought at times strangely humble and sometimes even understated) account of his actions in the war as a Swordfish pilot. He was there from the very beginning of the war, his 815 Squadron's history a "constant repetition of involvement in campaigns which ended in German victory" despite heroic efforts to the contrary; he saw some dark days indeed when days into the war his carrier the _HMS Courageous_ was sunk by a U-boat, laid mines off the German coast, attempted to stem the advance of Germany into the Netherlands, flew over Dunkirk to provide cover for the retreat, and operated against the Axis first in Greece and later from a secret base in Albania, in both cases forced to retreat as the enemy overran his position. He was

I thoroughly recommend this and The Railway Man by Eric Lomax as my favourite WWII accounts.If you are looking for a real WWII epic story of incredible sacrifice told with extreme humility in a matter-of-fact way, then this is the book for you. I actually met Charles Lamb whilst I was a Royal Navy Officer, a fact that I only realised toward the end of the book! As a young man, Charles Lamb was a Swordfish torpedo bomber pilot. The tough old biplane was capable of carrying so many types of weapons that the naval airmen called it a "Stringbag". Most of the tale takes place before the USA's entry into the war, but this should not put American readers off, quite the contrary since Lamb's revelations of how the Americans helped Britain in its hour of need would bring a lump to your throat. I have read books about Far East prisoners of war but I had not realised the barbaric conditions suffered by British and Commonwealth airmen in North Africa at the hands of the Vichy French. The way that this was swept under the carpet as the Allies advanced towards Germany so as to keep the French on side, was a revelation to me. This book has so many gems of untold glory that military history buffs should find interesting. Lamb gets sunk, crashed, into espionage, talked to by the King, instruction from Churchill,locked up, you name it! And it's a true story! The flying too will send your hair on end. A remarkable man, from a remarkable generation telling an extraordinary tale.

The story of a Swordfish (british bi-plane torpedo bombers) pilot in World War II...A very good book that tells both a personal story intertwind with events going on around the character who meets a fair lot of famos and interesting people-it covers the war in Greece, Taranto Raid, and events in africa and some in the pacific>>if you can get it read it..