AMONG the names of those R.A.F. men whose gallantry and skill earned the public's deep gratitude and captured its imagination one, that of Group-Captain Leonard Cheshire, V.C., D.S.O., D.F.C., stands alone.
Cheshire, who led the immortal 617 Squadron; Cheshire, whose ice-cold brain and nerve enabled him to perfect the most hair-raising bombing technique ever conceived; who not only took a major part in bombing raids that shook the world but who also made a point of remaining over the target in order to report the damage in detail; who flew so low over enemy territory that he had the unique experience of guns firing down upon him; whose courage was recog-nised and summed up in the V.C. Citation which said of him: He has a reputation second to none in Bomber Command.
What sort of man is this brilliant air-ace?
What filled the years before the war — and after? Using material hitherto unavailable and enjoying the full co-operation and collaboration of Cheshire himself and many people who know him personally, the author has pieced together an intimate and fascinating story. Here is the schoolboy and the gay undergraduate with a passion for fast cars, to whom the outbreak of war was simply a wonderful chance to indulge a taste for crazy adventure.
Here is the full story of the war years, incorporating information derived from operational reports and diaries, right up to the time when, in company with Sir William Penney, Cheshire was a shocked witness of the bombing of Nagasaki - an event which was to leave an indelible impression on his mind.
Peace — and an abortive attempt to realise an ideal — the ill-fated Vade in Pacem experiments. A breakdown in health, followed by a period of roughing it in Canada, and then Cheshire met the man who was to change his whole outlook and in whose death he was to find a new life.
Russell Braddon takes the Cheshire story from its earliest days up to the present time, with a wealth of detail, giving his readers a true and balanced picture of one of the most colourful and vivid personalities of today.