As he turned to fly back to base, Peart reflected on the fact he had for the first time taken another human’s life. ‘This was the reality of aerial warfare – shooting down enemy bombers which also sometimes meant killing the half-dozen men inside. Fighting another fighter it was just a machine and you didn’t think about the man inside – it was machine versus machine. But shooting down a bomber was when I realised I was killing people. There was no sense of guilt at all – I felt sorry for them but this was what warfare was about and it was our job.’
