No Moon Tonight

by Don Charlwood

A Bomber Command classic depicting the deep feelings associated with the human cost of the air war in World War II. This is the breathtaking story of a wartime bomber crew facing the hazards of bombing strongly defended targets. A navigator with the RAAF based at Elsham Wolds, Charlwood writes sympathetically and understandingly of the hopes and fears of the crews as squadron losses mounted.

Genres: War, History, Biography, World War II, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, Autobiography

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

Reviews

[Frederick J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sincerely and sparingly written book is one of the best “war memoirs” I have ever read. The Australian author tells of his experiences as a navigator in the RAF Bomber Command’s nighttime bombing campaign against Germany in World War II.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic account of the author's experiences in the RAAF during World War Two as an airman. Charlewood flew on bombing missions over Germany, and survived to write of his experiences. It is a piece of Australian military history.

[Andrew Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A partly memoir and partly a fiction story of a navigator flying British bombers to Germany and Italy during the Second World War. A moving picture of the brave young men flying into flak and trying to avoid the German fighters. With a loss rate of 5 percent and a tour of duty covering 30 operations, only few managed to reach that goal and move on to some other jobs within the air force. Out of 20 navigators who completed the course with Charlwood, only five were alive at the end of the war. This constant feeling of being prepared to be killed during the operation and continuous attrition of the flying staff put tremendous pressure on those heroes we owe so much.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to put down. Very well written.

[Paul W · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1941 The Twenty set out from Australia, RAAF aircrew headed for service in the RAF. This book is the personal story of one of The Twenty. Their journey begins as a surreal adventure. They start out with hope of reaching the thirty operations that would see them returned to Australia. As the death toll of the original twenty rises one of them laments: "There’s not much future in Bomber Command". When they see "planes disintegrate beside us" they become aware that "death itself could be nothing more than the breaking of the thin shell that bound" them. As casualties from the bomber offensive continue to mount "the most timid of men can [became] accustomed to the most threatened of lives", and with a sense of foreboding "became accustomed to the idea that to reach thirty ops was no longer possible". For some, "life appeared a secondary thing, a thing so frail that death…was something neither tragic nor terrifying." When leave is granted every six weeks "To live until his next leave became the greatest hope of each man.". Back in England "knowing only the terror of air crews" they even start to develop empathy for the German bomber crews. When a colleague is killed, Charlwood ponders "In ten years, would the loss of his life appear justifiable…?". After a time, as they "blew women and children to pieces" the bomber crews’ consciences "are troubled about the blind mass-murdering", questioning the morality of what they are doing. Charlwood asks "Who had the right to say… ‘You must now kill the enemies of your country and to have your life taken?’" "Perhaps if we had seen the white, upturned faces of people, as over England, we sometimes did, our hearts would have rebelled…’ One of the Twenty comes closes when he notes "it’s wrong. Now it has reached fantastic proportions and we haven’t anyone big enough to stop it."
A repeated theme is the interplay between luck and skill, between superstition and survival. Charlwood observes that "A crew needed sufficient luck to carry it through its first operations, while it built confidence and skills." On one operation flak destroys an engine and also randomly releases the dinghy, which wrapped itself around the aeroplane's tail plane. Due to the pilot’s skill, the plane makes it back to England, crashlanding when it arrives. These random events which make the difference between life and death cause Charlton to reflect ‘how thin a thread held us to mortal life".
Most of the Twenty do not reach thirty ops. When Charlwood reaches this milestone - in seven months which seems like seven years - he alternates between loneliness on being separated from the crew with which he had served, and a newly discovered joy of freedom from fear. But Charlwood realises he knows only one life "this strange mixture of comradeship, heroism and fear" which drives all of Charlwood’s crew to get back together on ops - evoking the ‘band of brothers’ closeness that drives so many in war. But, despite their efforts, this was not to be.
Ultimately this is a story about twenty individuals who were defined by the bond created between them, each knowing that the other "would never let him down". George Loder, with a wife and child, killed with two ops to go. Syd Cook, DFC, DFM, who had risen to the rank of Squadron Leader: killed on his fifty-fourth op on the eve of his 22 birthday. Harry Wright, DFC and bar, DFM, fifty-two operations - "we thought we might’s well keep going" - and he was only 23. He went on to complete seventy-seven operations. ‘Tib’ Barker, DFC and bar, who survived the war having completed ninety-six operations.
At the end, Charlwood found understanding in a stone inscription on the grave of one of his English ancestors:
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and
There shall be no more death neither sorrow
Nor crying neither shall there be any more pain, for
The former things are passed away."

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don Charlwood died during 2012, and 'No Moon Tonight' was listed as his first published book. It is the account of his time as a navigator in Bomber Command in the UK during WWII, and pays homage to the thousands of aircrew men who flew on each bomber plane, mostly losing their lives in horrific circumstances. In Don's account, he is honest about his own fears and failings, and the mind-numbing atrocities they were forced to endure - bombing cities and civilians; the constant attrition; the ongoing, dangerous mechanical problems with planes and navigation systems. The fact that they were almost all so young and loyal, and had to learn so quickly without any margin for error (with inadequate experience before venturing out), meant that most of them were doomed. How Don or any of the few survived, against all odds, is a sobering thought - the fickle finger of fate. Vale Don Charlwood.

[Mhbright · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating and well-written memoir of a young Australian navigator who completed his thirty ops flying Lancasters in Bomber Command, 1942-1943. Of the the twenty Australians who trained with him in the RAAF, only five survived. Most enjoyable.

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author's story was told in a matter-of-fact way which didn't always do justice to the horror of war. More a factual read than an emotional one, although I appreciate the difficulties in recounting something so personal.

[Colin McLaren · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read. I found it interesting and it gave me some insigtht and also raised many questions about my Dad's eperience as a Co-Pilot/Flight Engineer in a Lancaster Bomber P for Popsie.

[Connor FitzGerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, this book got under my skin! It's such a deeply sensitive portrayal of the men of 103 Squadron, Bomber Command in 1942-43, written by Charlwood who was a navigator. What those men did and how they coped and the death everywhere seems only to concentrate the unfathomable beauty of the English countryside and the adoring English public that watched and hoped each night as the planes flew overhead. Charlwood beautifully captures the essence of the impossible balancing act that all in Bomber Command wrestled with - life and death, hope and hopelessness, the past and the present, horror and beauty, fear and bravery. Honestly, if you immerse yourself in this story and that whole era and what those men did, it's beyond description, it's honestly all just too much for words. I don't often get emotional when reading but the last few chapters of this book had me overcome with an upwelling that I didn't see coming! A really special read written by a bloke who lived it and survived to tell the tale.

[Eddie Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written and very moving.
I inherited this book from my father who also served as a navigator in the RAF in WWII. Having researched my father's own wartime experiences I decided to read this book (which as a boy, I remember it sitting on my father's bookshelf) to gain more insight into the life of a bomber crew. I was surprised by the quality of the writing especially the evocative descriptions of the countryside and of squadron life and the missions.
The author captures the futility of war and the fine line between life and death.

[Neil Crowle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was brilliant writing about one crew's experience with Bomber Command during World War II. It was semi-autobiographical, as it turns out, but you would never have guessed. Apparently this account is a bit more fictionalized when compared with the authors autobiographical writing about the same period of his life. Great read.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘The public seldom heard of these missing thousands; rather they heard of those whose luck lasted sufficiently long for their courage to be revealed’.

[Sharon Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The autobiographical account of the senselessness of war. Tragic death, wanton destruction, the dreadful toll of war that in the end solves nothing. Heartfelt and moving.

[Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant and imaginatively written account of life as a navigator on a Lancaster Bomber. Charlwood gets across the visuals of life in bomber command really well. His writing is so good you're there in the aircraft with him. He also paints a moving picture of the fears, humour and comradeship experienced by the crews. A fantastic read.

[Keith Morley · Rating 5 out of 5]

If anyone wants to experience what it was like as a member of aircrew on Ops during the Second World War, this is the book. Superbly written by Don Charlwood, the reader stays with him for every minute of those 'live and die' days.

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, heartbreaking memoir of the Bomber War.

[Martin Rush · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book twice now. Excellent.

[Wayne Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extraordinary account of life as a navigator on a bomber during WW2.

The author has successfully conveyed the fears and hopes of the flight crews.

Highly recommend!