Description:

Author Arthur S. Collins chronicles his passage from university teen in 1939 to pilot with Canada’s 400 Squadron, flying Spitfires and Mustangs in missions over Europe at the height of World War II. Presented as a reconstructed diary, based on recollections and research, the book is a highly personal, witty and compelling description of life experiences typical of a young RCAF airman serving overseas in the early 1940s. The book details his induction and training, the treacherous daily routine of flying sorties, extraordinary bombing missions such as Operation Jericho to free the inmates of a French prison, and the intensive reconnaissance work contributed by the 400 Squadron, dubbed “Eisenhower’s Eyes,” in preparation for the Normandy invasion of 1944. Later becoming an advertising executive, Mr. Collins was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross during the war and, in 2004, was inducted by France into the Légion d'Honneur on D-Day’s 60th anniversary.