Invasions Without Tears

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{detailed description}From its formation as "126 Airfield" in Redhill, Surrey, in July 1943, to VE-Day almost two years later, 126 Wing scored more victories than any other Allied air force, and its pilots were among the war's most decorated. Monty Berger, Senior Intelligence Officer attached to the wing, was himself the first RCAF ground officer to reach Normandy, landing at dawn of D-Day + 1. Later, he established his unit's forward headquarters at various airfields on the continent, while the highflying Spitfires of 126 Wing roamed the skies in support of Allied ground forces moving relentlessly toward Berlin.
Based on a manuscript Mr. Berger wrote fifty years ago, this is the first detailed account of 126 Wing's extraordinary combat record. Here are the spirited young pilots who adopted the wing's motto, Fortitudo vincit—"courage wins" —as their own, as well as the mechanics, armourers and other so-called "erks" who were no less crucial to the Allied victory. From the invasion of Normandy in June 1944 to the frantic Allied attempt to close the Falaise Gap, Operation "Market-Garden" in Holland, the winter offensive in the Ardennes, and the crossing into Germany in 1945, they were the unrivalled masters of the air war over Europe.
Their adventures on the ground were almost as colourful, whether they were opening up captured blockhouses on the French coast (which produced vast quantities of excellent wine) or flying former Luftwaffe bombers on sightseeing tours of occupied Germany at war's end. With their own orchestra, a championship hockey team and a penchant for playing baseball, it seemed as though the Canadians of 126 Wing had simply borrowed as their creed the contents of a long briefing document entitled "Invasions without Tears," issued on the eve of the D-Day landings.
"Soon you will be setting out on the greatest adventure of your life," the document said. "If anything goes wrong, use your own initiative... GOOD HUNTING!"
{Author / Publisher / Date}by Monty Berger and Brian Jeffery Street
Published by Random House Canada 1994 1st edn. 240pp illustrated, index, appendix, bibliography. 16x24
{condition}fine, in slightly worn d/j.
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