Bomber Command vets open up for book

Encouraging modest military veterans to talk about their wartime experiences has resulted in a book that has just been published in Auckland.

Author Peter Wheeler spent five years collecting 42 first-hand accounts of members of the Royal Air Force Bomber Command Association New Zealand, of which he is the secretary.

"The goal was to do this while they were still able to pass on their memories," he said.

Twenty-five veterans were at Sunday's launch of Kiwis Do Fly at the Museum of Transport and Technology.

They included Les Munro of Tauranga, who was in the RAF "Dam Busters" 617 Squadron.

He said that after the war, those New Zealand members who survived were reluctant to talk about their military service, particularly about dangerous missions and seeing other planes shot down.

About 6000 New Zealanders volunteered during the war to serve as aircrew with Bomber Command; 2152 were killed and many more were injured.

Mr Munro, a retired squadron leader, congratulated the author on managing to extract not only dangerous aspects of veterans' service but also the lighter moments.

"This is an important book because its contents are first-hand descriptions, without embellishment and exaggeration," said Mr Munro.

"I have seen books on the dam raids which have statements unrelated to the facts."

Mr Munro said the new book set the record straight. Those who served with Wing Commander Guy Gibson, VC, on the 1943 raids were volunteers - not "handpicked" by him as alleged.

Mr Munro's Lancaster, which carried dam-busting bombs, was hit by flak crossing the Dutch coast on the way to the target.

"It took out our intercom system and we were forced to return.

"I was disappointed that my part in the operation had been aborted and felt quite uncomfortable in joining the celebrations by the surviving crews."

Eight of the 19 Lancasters in the operation were lost and 53 airmen killed.