Royal Air Force units in the Med utilized Consolidated's slab-sided Liberator in World War II. Jim Auton served as a Bomb-Aimer in one such unit, 178 Squadron. RAF LIBERATOR OVER THE EASTERN FRONT is Auton's chronicle of his wartime service and postwar career. As such, it presents a rarely-seen look at largely-forgotten RAF B-24 ops in that theater of war.
Based at Foggia, Auton began flying ops with 178 Squadron in the summer of 1944. His logbook included strikes on Ploesti, mining the Danube River, dropping supplies to Warsaw uprising forces, etc. On 8 November, Auton was seriously wounded by flak, spending some four months in hospitals before being evac'd to Great Britain as unfit for flying duties. His postwar career in manufacturing was interesting to say the least, dealings he had with China and Iron Curtain countries producing some James-Bondish situations.
RAF LIBERATOR OVER THE EASTERN FRONT is a very vivid, somewhat atypical portrait of one airman's career. He spends more time, for example, describing various off-duty activities than detailing his combat career. The book opens with Auton and other RAF volunteers undergoing a V.D. inspection, which gives you an idea of the book's off-beat nature. Likewise, until he reports for duty with B Flight, 178 Squadron, 205 Group, Auton gives the reader no clue as to WHEN he enlisted, when he received his training in the U.K., etc. The book is curiously devoid of dates. That's not to say the book isn't a good read, it is. Auton is very descriptive about events and quite passionate, for example, in describing the unbelievably poor treatment given WWII RAF vets by the postwar English government.
RAF LIBERATOR OVER THE EASTERN FRONT is certainly worth a look. Few books on RAF B-24 ops in the Med are available so Auton's book performs a valuable service in shining an up-close-and-personal light on the subject. Recommended.
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