From Landsman To Lancasters

Ron Davies, with a remarkable clarity of memory, takes us on a time-travel trip through the turbulent 20th century: from farming on England's Wirral Peninsula to RAF Bomber Command and the struggle to free Europe, and on to the Far East and the final push to defeat Japan. Beginning at the turn of the 20th century he paints a vivid portrait of his parents efforts to put food on the table for their three sons through a horse drawn haulage business and farming. Ron reminds us how difficult it was for the average family in the decade of 'The Wall Street Crash' under the shadow of Hitler's rise to power as Chancellor of Germany. Despite the economic hardships one sees a way of life where neighbours talked to neighbours and looked after the less fortunate: actions that seem all to rare in modern life. Self reliance and mutuality dominated rather than the state. Many people who think they are working too hard today may think again after reading how a mere boy was forced to combine his grammar school studies with the work of a farmhand when his brother was injured. Ron's farm work ended when he chose to volunteer for the RAF at the war's outbreak. The story of his bomber training in Britain, the USA and Canada is an epic in itself: but an epic full of humour and social insights. Most people know of the 55,000 Bomber Command operational crew losses but not the 6,800 killed in 'training'. Ron's experiences of advanced training in the UK tell us how it felt and how the crews coped in part through humour and shear grit. Ron's 101 squadron played a major role in supporting the D Day landings and the battle for Normandy and France. The reader may like to ponder the Invasion outcome without the total day and night commitment of RAF and USAAF resources to the support of Allied ground forces. As you follow Ron's missions day by day the fact that the bomber crews survived and kept flying through flak and fighter attacks, will be seen a testament to their determination and bravery. After a spell in an advanced bomb sight research unit and deployment to the Far East with the intention of bombing the Japanese Fleet, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs ended the war for Ron and everyone else. The return home of the heroes to a war weary and indebted country was not an easy one as Ron's experiences testify.Ron's story (so far) ends with his poignant reunion with old comrades and his old squadron, 101, in the 2000's which led to new adventures and a few tantalising mysteries. Read Ron's book: this is real history told by one of the few remaining survivors. The adventure continues: rather late in the day the French government has decided to award all Allied personnel who supported the D Day Invasion and the liberation of France with the Legion d'honneur. Ron received his medal in spring 2016 and it appears on the back cover of the second edition.Now he is a Chevalier, a Knight, of the order: an appropriate outcome for a man who began life working with and enjoying horses.