Portrait of a Bomber Pilot

by Christopher Martin Jary

During the Second World War RAF Bomber Command produced a handful of remarkable pilots who won fame and high Gibson, Cheshire, Martin, Tait, and Searby. The majority of aircrew, however, were young sergeants, many of whom did not survive to complete a first tour of thirty operations. Between the two extremes, there were, on every squadron, one or two senior captains who had survived one tour and whose experience, skill, courage, and example made a vital contribution to their squadron's life, training and operational success.

This book is about one such captain, Flight Lieutenant Jack Wetherly, DFC. It traces his development from novice second pilot of a Wellington in the pioneering days of 1940 to senior captain of a Halifax in Wing-Commander Leonard Cheshire's squadron in what MRAF Sir Arthur Harris called his 'Main Offensive'. It deals also with his pre-war life and service, flying tiny bi-planes with the RAFVR, and with his career as a flying instructor at the RAF College Cranwell and as an instructor of instructors at RAF Montrose.

Above all, it is a personal book, inspired by the sacrifice made nearly half a century ago by a young man of twenty-eight.

Acclaim for the

''Reading Portrait of a Bomber Pilot, I felt that I was living with Jack Wetherly through the last few years of his young life. He is a good man to be with – honorable, selfless, and an exceptional pilot...Christopher Jary has written of Jack Wetherly carefully, unsentimentally, and very movingly. He has added a chapter to the brave, sad story of World War Two''.

Genres: Biography, Military History

144 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2012

Reviews

[JD · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very apt read in the month of Remembrance. The book is about an ordinary bomber pilot in the RAF who served during World War 2 from the early raids into the dark days of the all out Bomber Offensive against the Reich, where the young pilot was lost with all his crew during a raid on Berlin. The book is written in remembrance by the pilots' wife's son from her second husband who served in the infantry, and it is a beautifully written and haunting book about someone he never met, but had always been in his life.

The book covers the life of Flight Lieutenant Jack Wetherly DFC, from his childhood and how he came to join the pre-war RAF as a volunteer reserve. During the war he first flew Wellingtons in his first tour of operations where the losses were low. before going on to be an instructor at different schools. He between he got married and had a daughter, but his dreams of a post-war life were shattered when he was put back on ops flying a Halifax deep into the heart of Germany. The book is filled with memories from carefree days and into the lives of the aircrew by recollections of survivors who knew the author. A good book that I enjoyed more than I expected to, highly recommended.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It surprised me, how much I enjoyed this book. Early on it seemed a little choppy but later it became clear that the choppiness said more about the organization of the UK air defenses in the years of the war. Jack always wanted to fly so he was one of the first to be trained and that early training proved invaluable to him, the future air crew he subsequently trained, and to the war effort at large. To read about the minimal navigation tools and support these brave men had to rely on when they left their base and flew over France and Germany to bomb targets at night and then to attempt to make it back to their own base, was a real eye opener. In this day & age, with all of our GPS technology and electronics, it had not occurred to me that this type of equipment was not available as much of what we rely on today had not been invented in the early 1940's. Another eye opener was the number of planes that would go out on some of these air raids, especially once the allied forces started working together in combined efforts. As well, the number of buildings destroyed and the number of civilians who lost their homes in these bombing raids is jaw-dropping. Europe would have looked so much different before this war. It must have been very eerie to be flying for so many hours in the dark, the noise of the engines so loud they couldn't carry on a conversation, and with it being so cold up in the planes. Such brave young men. While not the usual autobiography I normally read, this book filled in so much about WWII from a different perspective that I appreciate knowing now. Originally published in 1990, the author was able to interview several military & airmen who served in the war and as such we are able to read some of their insights during that time. The 2012 edition includes a few pages about a pilgrimage that took the author to Germany to where part of this story played out, and an update on a particular young Luftwaffe pilot. I appreciate the authors acknowledgment about not knowing if this man was good or bad but "by attacking our bombers he was defending his country . . . he was protecting his home", albeit for an evil cause.