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And Some Fell on Stony Ground: A Day in the Life of an RAF Bomber Pilot
In June 1941, Flight Sergeant Leslie Mann, a tail gunner in a British bomber, was shot down over Germany and taken into captivity. After the war, wanting to record the experiences of the RAF’s ‘Bomber Boys’, he wrote down his inner thoughts and feelings as a fictional narrative, recently brought to the attention of Imperial War Museums (IWM).
Providing a unique glimpse into a deadly profession and traumatic time, And Some Fell on Stony Ground captures the horrors of aerial warfare, the corrosive effects of fear, and the psychological torment of the young men involved. Although presented as fiction, the book’s basis of lived experience makes it ring true – the sights, sounds, smells and above all the emotional strain are intensely evoked with a novelist’s skill, making it a fascinating historical artefact in its own right.
This compelling story is introduced and placed in context by historian Richard Overy, author of the highly acclaimed book The Bombing War (Allen Lane, 2013).
Providing a unique glimpse into a deadly profession and traumatic time, And Some Fell on Stony Ground captures the horrors of aerial warfare, the corrosive effects of fear, and the psychological torment of the young men involved. Although presented as fiction, the book’s basis of lived experience makes it ring true – the sights, sounds, smells and above all the emotional strain are intensely evoked with a novelist’s skill, making it a fascinating historical artefact in its own right.
This compelling story is introduced and placed in context by historian Richard Overy, author of the highly acclaimed book The Bombing War (Allen Lane, 2013).
- GenresHistorical Fiction
192 pages, Paperback
First published September 4, 2014
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26 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 2, 2014
Poignant. I often see people use this word in book reviews, and it makes me wonder how they came to that word choice. Poignant is not a word that I frequently use, but I can think of no better way to describe this almost autobiographical novel. Leslie Mann, who was a bomber pilot in WWII, wrote this not-quite-a-memoir from the point of view of pilot Leslie Mason.
Mason is not a hero, and there is nothing outrageous about his story. What makes this novel so gripping is the way it places the reader inside Mason's head. He is an ordinary young man during extraordinary times, made to feel old at 26 because all those who started their service with him have gone. This is the way he describes his dead friends, as though they might be waiting for him when he returns from the next op. "His friends were in his memory, and he still gained comfort from their company."
I was thoroughly captivated by the detailed thoughts that were exposed in this book. While not retelling any particularly courageous mission or outstanding bravery, this is the first book about WWII that has made me think, "I wonder how many times my grandfather felt that way as he was flying over Germany?" Did he feel, as Mason did, that "The sky could kill him whenever it wanted to. It could become angry and destroy his aircraft in its wrath."
Mason is touched by the fact that airplane manufacturers put time and effort into small details of the machine, though they know how disposable they are. "He wondered if the factory workers ever said to themselves, "That'll do - it won't last long anyway.'" He is annoyed when new airmen take over dead friends' lockers and bunks with no clear respect for the men who came before them. "It was that sort of thing Mason didn't like; there was nobody he could say 'Do you remember? to."
He wonders if anyone is as scared as he is, and who determined what nerve-calming foods went into ration kits. These everyday, profound thoughts truly place the reader in a WWII bomber pilot's mind.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Pick it up, put on some quiet 1940s music and be transported to another place and time.
Book received from NetGalley. Opinions are my own.
Mason is not a hero, and there is nothing outrageous about his story. What makes this novel so gripping is the way it places the reader inside Mason's head. He is an ordinary young man during extraordinary times, made to feel old at 26 because all those who started their service with him have gone. This is the way he describes his dead friends, as though they might be waiting for him when he returns from the next op. "His friends were in his memory, and he still gained comfort from their company."
I was thoroughly captivated by the detailed thoughts that were exposed in this book. While not retelling any particularly courageous mission or outstanding bravery, this is the first book about WWII that has made me think, "I wonder how many times my grandfather felt that way as he was flying over Germany?" Did he feel, as Mason did, that "The sky could kill him whenever it wanted to. It could become angry and destroy his aircraft in its wrath."
Mason is touched by the fact that airplane manufacturers put time and effort into small details of the machine, though they know how disposable they are. "He wondered if the factory workers ever said to themselves, "That'll do - it won't last long anyway.'" He is annoyed when new airmen take over dead friends' lockers and bunks with no clear respect for the men who came before them. "It was that sort of thing Mason didn't like; there was nobody he could say 'Do you remember? to."
He wonders if anyone is as scared as he is, and who determined what nerve-calming foods went into ration kits. These everyday, profound thoughts truly place the reader in a WWII bomber pilot's mind.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Pick it up, put on some quiet 1940s music and be transported to another place and time.
Book received from NetGalley. Opinions are my own.
August 20, 2014
The Second World War has always held a special fascination for me both due to the important role it played in my country’s history and because my dad used to read to me from all sorts of WWII adventure novels when I was little. Since those early years I’ve read a lot of books on the topic, both fiction and non-fiction. When I was approached about reviewing And Some Fell on Stony Ground it wasn’t a hard decision to say yes, since it fit squarely in that wheelhouse and sounded fascinating. A fictional memoir – meaning that while this story was fictional, but that the experiences it was based on weren’t fictive – the narrative follows the last active hours of an RAF pilot’s career in a close-up, hard-hitting fashion, one that does away with the shining, heroic accounts of such exploits and instead focuses on the bone-chilling fear and danger these young men faced every operation they flew.
Told in a close third-person point of view over the course of about twelve hours, the narrative is both claustrophobic and a close examination of the emotional state of the novel’s protagonist Leslie Mason. While set over half a day, we get more of Mason’s war experience through copious flashbacks; memories triggered by events, scents, and sounds Mason encounters during his preparations and actual running of the day’s operation. It is a fascinating, stream-of-consciousness-esque way of giving the reader an insight to Mason’s state of mind and the larger scope of the experiences of the Bomber Boys.
The book’s protagonist, Leslie Mason, is somewhat of an anti-hero. The look at his thoughts and emotions is searingly honest; due to the fictional veneer and the fact that what we get are mostly internal dialogues, the story is not concerned with honour and saving face, which means we get the dirt and grit of Mason’s inner life. His story includes a depressing litany of loss, with the majority of the aircrews not making it to the end of the war. A tour of duty was commonly thirty flown ops, a number that at times seemed endless, especially once the raids became a sort of grim routine. Mason describes a strange sort of stasis: no looking to the future or remembering the past, only the endless now to survive. This timeless and harrowing existence wore down most crew members’ ability to cope with the mental strain. Yet most men shared the desperate wish to hide any weakness, in fear of being labelled a malingerer, which let to a lot of repressed PTSD symptoms and lasting mental scars.
And Some Fell on Stony Ground is far more a psychological autopsy of Leslie Mason than a rip-roaring war adventure, which it isn’t meant to be in any case. Yet it illustrates that while Mason is somewhat of the anti-hero, as Richard Overy puts it in his introduction to the book, these young men were truly heroic, facing their fears each day and flying despite the terror and danger. While Mann's intent may have been to counterbalance the popular vision of the valiant, brave, and fearless flying boys of the RAF with a more truthful account of life as a bomber pilot, he at the same time strengthens the impression of the bravery of these pilots in a way that feels more genuine than most.
A vividly depicted and starkly honest account of the realities of war, Leslie Mann’s fictional memoir And Some Fell on Stony Ground will be of interest to anyone interested in World War II, the psychological effects of combat, and a look at the inner workings of a bomber crew on operation. Published in collaboration with the Imperial War Museums and with an introduction by Richard Overy, which gives context to Mann’s narrative and explains the contemporary attitudes to combat stress-related afflictions suffered by the combatants, And Some Fell on Stony Ground was a gripping read and one I won’t quickly forget.
This book was provided for review by the publisher.
Told in a close third-person point of view over the course of about twelve hours, the narrative is both claustrophobic and a close examination of the emotional state of the novel’s protagonist Leslie Mason. While set over half a day, we get more of Mason’s war experience through copious flashbacks; memories triggered by events, scents, and sounds Mason encounters during his preparations and actual running of the day’s operation. It is a fascinating, stream-of-consciousness-esque way of giving the reader an insight to Mason’s state of mind and the larger scope of the experiences of the Bomber Boys.
The book’s protagonist, Leslie Mason, is somewhat of an anti-hero. The look at his thoughts and emotions is searingly honest; due to the fictional veneer and the fact that what we get are mostly internal dialogues, the story is not concerned with honour and saving face, which means we get the dirt and grit of Mason’s inner life. His story includes a depressing litany of loss, with the majority of the aircrews not making it to the end of the war. A tour of duty was commonly thirty flown ops, a number that at times seemed endless, especially once the raids became a sort of grim routine. Mason describes a strange sort of stasis: no looking to the future or remembering the past, only the endless now to survive. This timeless and harrowing existence wore down most crew members’ ability to cope with the mental strain. Yet most men shared the desperate wish to hide any weakness, in fear of being labelled a malingerer, which let to a lot of repressed PTSD symptoms and lasting mental scars.
And Some Fell on Stony Ground is far more a psychological autopsy of Leslie Mason than a rip-roaring war adventure, which it isn’t meant to be in any case. Yet it illustrates that while Mason is somewhat of the anti-hero, as Richard Overy puts it in his introduction to the book, these young men were truly heroic, facing their fears each day and flying despite the terror and danger. While Mann's intent may have been to counterbalance the popular vision of the valiant, brave, and fearless flying boys of the RAF with a more truthful account of life as a bomber pilot, he at the same time strengthens the impression of the bravery of these pilots in a way that feels more genuine than most.
A vividly depicted and starkly honest account of the realities of war, Leslie Mann’s fictional memoir And Some Fell on Stony Ground will be of interest to anyone interested in World War II, the psychological effects of combat, and a look at the inner workings of a bomber crew on operation. Published in collaboration with the Imperial War Museums and with an introduction by Richard Overy, which gives context to Mann’s narrative and explains the contemporary attitudes to combat stress-related afflictions suffered by the combatants, And Some Fell on Stony Ground was a gripping read and one I won’t quickly forget.
This book was provided for review by the publisher.
April 9, 2018
Although very short, this book was so very well worth reading - for me, particularly. My own father survived a tour in Bomber Command (as a navigator in a Lancaster) but said little afterwards about his experiences. I always thought this was because, after the war, there was public misgiving, even shame, about the bombing of German cities.
But Leslie Mann writes that he was just doing the job as instructed - even though (it was early in the war) - he felt that it was little more than a propaganda exercise, to keep up public spirits by showing that we were still fighting back after Dunkirk (and before we had significant victories to celebrate on land). His thoughts were almost entirely about, or related to, the likelihood of death, what little he could do to avoid it, and his fleeting acquaintance with comrades now "gone for a Burton".
My father, not generally superstitious, always carried with him a half-dozen lucky charms - a tiny dice, a silver threepenny bit, a little elephant carved from ebony, a silver stirrup perhaps from a charm bracelet - and, now I have read Leslie Mann's account of his alter ego's thoughts during that fateful day - it seems that is a more likely explanation for his reticence.
But Leslie Mann writes that he was just doing the job as instructed - even though (it was early in the war) - he felt that it was little more than a propaganda exercise, to keep up public spirits by showing that we were still fighting back after Dunkirk (and before we had significant victories to celebrate on land). His thoughts were almost entirely about, or related to, the likelihood of death, what little he could do to avoid it, and his fleeting acquaintance with comrades now "gone for a Burton".
My father, not generally superstitious, always carried with him a half-dozen lucky charms - a tiny dice, a silver threepenny bit, a little elephant carved from ebony, a silver stirrup perhaps from a charm bracelet - and, now I have read Leslie Mann's account of his alter ego's thoughts during that fateful day - it seems that is a more likely explanation for his reticence.
December 11, 2022
I read this fictional memoir in a day, it had me hooked 👌5/5
You will feel it!
"Do you remember?" He wishes he could ask this of his friends but they're all dead.
The thoughts of the MC, Mason, are often philosophical questions about survival, memory of his friends, fear of death, intuition and superstition that comes with that fear, and generally very down to earth human emotion. You will feel exactly what he feels as if you were in his shoes, I guarantee you will agree that you'd probably respond exactly the same. The primal feelings and reactions to the stress and futility of the situation is so easy to FEEL, that's what made this read 5/5.
The fear is most prominent and underlying, as flying out to drop bombs, there is the fear of death from anti-aircraft fire, known as Flak. The fear of engine failure. The fear of bad weather.
There is a paradox in feeling relief from coming back alive. The relief of surviving another bombing op is immediately replaced with the knowledge you'll be sent again and again and again to fly the same risky missions while the war is raging, and eventually, you'll die, or in Mason's case, he is lucky to become a POW and survive that way (or alternatively, a bad injury can you get discharged early).
You will feel it!
"Do you remember?" He wishes he could ask this of his friends but they're all dead.
The thoughts of the MC, Mason, are often philosophical questions about survival, memory of his friends, fear of death, intuition and superstition that comes with that fear, and generally very down to earth human emotion. You will feel exactly what he feels as if you were in his shoes, I guarantee you will agree that you'd probably respond exactly the same. The primal feelings and reactions to the stress and futility of the situation is so easy to FEEL, that's what made this read 5/5.
The fear is most prominent and underlying, as flying out to drop bombs, there is the fear of death from anti-aircraft fire, known as Flak. The fear of engine failure. The fear of bad weather.
There is a paradox in feeling relief from coming back alive. The relief of surviving another bombing op is immediately replaced with the knowledge you'll be sent again and again and again to fly the same risky missions while the war is raging, and eventually, you'll die, or in Mason's case, he is lucky to become a POW and survive that way (or alternatively, a bad injury can you get discharged early).
September 2, 2018
This was an interesting look into the life of RAF bomber pilots, but I had trouble following the timeline as Mann's fictionalized character went through his day, but described events from the past as he encountered things that reminded him of previous members of his unit.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews