Back cover of Lion 144 (May, 1953), the swaggering novel of a G.I. tail-gunner, “A Tent on Corsica” by Martin Quigley.
A gunner’s life in wartime was pretty much the same no matter what kind of ship he flew. Flying bombers off Corsica that summer of 1944, a man had one chance in four of completing his 75-mission tour. That’s the way the odds were stacked. One chance in four.
A new guy such as Banky Thompson had trouble adjusting to that –
“You’re scared as hell and even if you come through the first few, you might as well have a million ahead of you.
“In between you try to forget, and Rome has warm wine and fiery women to help you, but you can’t forget because there is always tomorrow . . .
“And when tomorrow comes, the flak is around you, and you catch the blast of a burst on the right wing.
“Maybe you’ll get out of this one. Maybe you’ll be lucky. But even if you are, there’s still another mission tomorrow . . .”
Author Martin Quigley had never flown a tour of duty such as the one in this book, but he succeeds in capturing the flavor and essence of a gunner’s life.
Back cover of Lion 144 (May, 1953), the swaggering novel of a G.I. tail-gunner, “A Tent on Corsica” by Martin Quigley.
A gunner’s life in wartime was pretty much the same no matter what kind of ship he flew. Flying bombers off Corsica that summer of 1944, a man had one chance in four of completing his 75-mission tour. That’s the way the odds were stacked. One chance in four.
A new guy such as Banky Thompson had trouble adjusting to that –
“You’re scared as hell and even if you come through the first few, you might as well have a million ahead of you.
“In between you try to forget, and Rome has warm wine and fiery women to help you, but you can’t forget because there is always tomorrow . . .
“And when tomorrow comes, the flak is around you, and you catch the blast of a burst on the right wing.
“Maybe you’ll get out of this one. Maybe you’ll be lucky. But even if you are, there’s still another mission tomorrow . . .”
Author Martin Quigley had never flown a tour of duty such as the one in this book, but he succeeds in capturing the flavor and essence of a gunner’s life.