Errors in military information

[Gary]

Unfortunately, the information in this book about the US Army Air Forces in England during WW2 is full of errors. I don't know why this should be the case as there are thousands of people who could have helped fix it. Here are problems I found:
1. Control towers are not the location for crew briefings. That was probably done in a briefing hut or briefing room.
2. The only time the P-36 was used in combat by US forces in WW2 was at Pearl Harbor.
3. Using D for Dog to identify an aircraft is, based on the war movies I have seen, a British thing. American forces use the tail number.
4. Prior to the use of the ejection seat, the only way to exit an aircraft in flight was to bail out. Ejection seat were not used in US aircraft until after WW2.
5. Officer aerial gunners existed but were very rare.
6. Flying Officer is an RAF rank, not an American one.
7. US Army Air Forces never wore blue uniforms of any kind during WW2.
8. Fighter planes aren’t controlled by wheels.
9. Platoon is not an Air Force unit of organization.
10. The picture on the cover of the edition of the book I read looks like an RAF Spitfire which had nothing to do with the story.

[Sandy]

Gary, that's amazing. You should send it to her publisher. I read this not long ago but don't know anything about military stuff.
However, it bugs me when authors don't fact check. I'm a medical professional & it drives me crazy when I read a book with incorrect info in that field. As you say, it would be so easy to get it right, especially for someone as successful as Griffiths.

[Gary]

I have sent it to both the US and UK publishers. This isn't the first book set in the UK I have found this sort of problem with. It shouldn't be hard to get most of these details correct.

[Bill]

The Ghost Fields looked tempting @ thank you for warning me off it. I have a complicated relationship with Elly Griffiths anyway; love her settings but not her characters, esp. Cathbad. When we know more about the subject than the author, anachronisms & mistakes drive us up the wall & destroy the illusion that this is really happening.

[Gary]

I don't think that any of these errors caused problems with the plot.

[Bill]

I have a very visual imagination, so errors like the wrong uniforms or the wrong weapons really are off putting for me.

[Colin]

As an ex RAF person and one who worked in control towers, these errors were so many that I started to believe them and had to look them up. In the end had to tell myself, it is only a novel.

[Bill]

I often wonder, do authors & editors think we readers are stupid, or do they simply not care? As a reviewer, I intend to dwell more on such matters & should that make them more careful because it affects sales, all to the good.