The Crew
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Narrated by:
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Peter McGovern
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By:
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David Price
About this listen
The Crew recounts the intimate, personal testimonies of Wing Commander Ken Cook, who served as Bomb Aimer with the Comans crew. The audiobook specifically follows Flying Officer Jim Comans and his crewmen from their enlistment as volunteers, through training and into operational service. The Comans crew flew 45 hazardous bombing missions - mostly deep into Germany at night - through the winter of 1943 to the summer of 1944.
At 95, Ken Cook is the crew's last survivor. Enlisting in the RAF Bomber Command at 19, his extraordinary story brings a moving insight into the bombing campaign. His experiences, particularly during the Battle of Berlin, highlight the extreme danger each bomber crew faced. With Bomber Command's casualty rate of over 44 percent, the book describes how the airmen overcame immense physical and mental challenges to survive. There are now very few surviving RAF Bomber Command airmen from the Second World War. The Crew will be one of the final eyewitness testimonies to a momentous time in our history.
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The nearly half-million American air crewmen who served during World War II have almost disappeared. And so have their stories. Award-winning writer and former fighter pilot Jay A. Stout uses Unsung Eagles to save an exciting collection of those accounts from oblivion. These are not rehashed tales from the hoary icons of the war. Rather, they are stories from the masses of largely unrecognized men who - in the aggregate - actually won it.
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A great look into what so many gave for & to us.
- By Duane on 08-02-21
By: Jay A. Stout
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I Will Run Wild
- The Pacific War from Pearl Harbor to Midway
- By: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
- Narrated by: Lance C Fuller
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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In many popular histories of the Pacific War, the period from the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor to the US victory at Midway is often passed over because it is seen as a period of darkness. Indeed, it is easy to see the period as one of unmitigated disaster for the Allies, with the fall of the Philippines, Malaya, Burma and the Dutch East Indies and the wholesale retreat and humiliation at the hands of Japan throughout Southeast Asia.
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Very informative
- By dexter on 09-20-20
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War's End
- An Eyewitness Account of America's Last Atomic Mission
- By: Maj. Gen. Charles W. Sweeney, James A. Antonucci - contributor, Marion K. Antonucci - contributor
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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On August 9, 1945, on the tiny island of Tinian in the South Pacific, a 25-year-old American Army Air Corps major named Charles W. Sweeney climbed aboard a B-29 Superfortress in command of his first combat mission, one devised specifically to bring a long and terrible war to a necessary conclusion.... The last military officer to command an atomic mission, Maj. Gen. Charles W. Sweeney has the unique distinction of having been an integral part of both the Hiroshima and the Nagasaki bombing runs.
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the history of the details.
- By Don on 10-23-24
By: Maj. Gen. Charles W. Sweeney, and others
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The Last Zero Fighter
- By: Dan King
- Narrated by: Drew Bott
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Firsthand accounts from interviews conducted in Japan with five WWII Japanese Naval aviators. All are veterans of the pivotal battles of the Pacific War including; USS Panay, Nanking, Pearl Harbor, Wake Island, Rabaul, Port Darwin, Indian Ocean Raid, Ceylon, Midway, Guadalcanal, Marshall Islands, Tarawa, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, the kamikaze in the Philippines, the home defense and the dropping of the atomic bomb. Includes an introduction to the Japanese pilot training system for both officers and enlisted men.
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Fascinating and humanizing story
- By courtney mckean on 07-03-23
By: Dan King
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Lancaster
- The Second World War’s Greatest Bomber
- By: Leo McKinstry
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 25 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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A comprehensive history of Britain's greatest bomber plane. The Spitfire and the Lancaster were the two RAF weapons of victory in the Second World War, but the glamour of the fighter has tended to overshadow the performance of the heavy bomber. Yet without the Lancaster, Britain would never have been able to take the fight to the German homeland. Highlights the scale of the bomber's achievements, including the famous Dambusters attacks. With its vast bomb bay, ease of handling and surprising speed, the mighty Lancaster transformed the effectiveness of the Bomber Command.
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Personal connection to a book section
- By Paul on 01-21-19
By: Leo McKinstry
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Big Week
- The Biggest Air Battle of World War II
- By: James Holland
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 15 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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During the third week of February 1944, the combined Allied air forces based in Britain and Italy launched their first round-the-clock bomber offensive against Germany. Their goal: to smash the main factories and production centers of the Luftwaffe while also drawing German planes into an aerial battle of attrition to neutralize the Luftwaffe as a fighting force prior to the cross-channel invasion, planned for a few months later. Officially called Operation ARGUMENT, this aerial offensive quickly became known as “Big Week,” and it was one of the turning-points of World War II.
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War in the Air: Sets stage with gripping narrative
- By Nashville Cat on 11-17-18
By: James Holland
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Kangaroo Squadron
- American Courage in the Darkest Days of World War II
- By: Bruce Gamble
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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In early 1942, while the American military was still in disarray from the devastating attacks on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines, a single US Army squadron advanced to the far side of the world to face America's new enemy. Based in Australia with inadequate supplies and no ground support, the squadron's pilots and combat crew endured tropical diseases while confronting numerically superior Japanese forces. Yet the outfit, dubbed the Kangaroo Squadron, proved remarkably resilient and successful.
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5 star History!
- By DON COOKE on 03-13-19
By: Bruce Gamble
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Inferno
- By: Joe Pappalardo
- Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Joe Pappalardo's Inferno tells the true story of the men who flew the deadliest missions of World War II, and an unlikely hero who received the Medal of Honor in the midst of the bloodiest military campaign in aviation history.
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Interesting story of a not-so-heroic “hero”.
- By Bikeman476 on 08-09-22
By: Joe Pappalardo
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Enola Gay
- Mission to Hiroshima
- By: Gordon Thomas, Max Morgan-Witts
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
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Painstakingly researched, the story behind the decision to send the Enola Gay to bomb Hiroshima is told through firsthand sources. From diplomatic moves behind the scenes to Japanese actions and the US Army Air Force's call to action, no detail is left untold. Touching on the early days of the Manhattan Project and the first inkling of an atomic bomb, investigative journalist Gordon Thomas and his writing partner Max Morgan-Witts, take WWII enthusiasts through the training of the crew of the Enola Gay and the challenges faced by pilot Paul Tibbets.
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Poor reader
- By Dee on 04-17-22
By: Gordon Thomas, and others
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Race of Aces
- WWII's Elite Airmen and the Epic Battle to Become the Master of the Sky
- By: John R. Bruning
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1942, America's deadliest fighter pilot, or "ace of aces" - the legendary Eddie Rickenbacker - offered a bottle of bourbon to the first US fighter pilot to break his record of 26 enemy planes shot down. Seizing on the challenge to motivate his men, General George Kenney promoted what they would come to call the "race of aces" as a way of boosting the spirits of his war-weary command.
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Boring, confusing storyline, some technical details wrong
- By ATM on 04-09-20
By: John R. Bruning
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Aces Falling
- War Above the Trenches, 1918
- By: Peter Hart
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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At the beginning of 1918, the great aces seemed invincible. Flying above the battlefields of the Western Front, they cut a deadly swathe through the ranks of their enemies, as each side struggled to keep control of the air. This audiobook charts the rise and fall of the WWI aces in the context of the vast battles that were taking place in 1918. It shows the vital importance of reconnaissance, and how large formations of aircraft became the norm - bringing an end to the era of the old, heroic 'lone wolves'.
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A MUST READ for students of military aviation
- By B Taub on 03-03-20
By: Peter Hart
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Hawkeye
- The Enthralling Autobiography of the Top-Scoring Israel Air Force Ace of Aces
- By: Brigadier General Giora Even-Epstein
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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For more than 30 years, Giora Even-Epstein flew fighters for the Israel Air Force, achieving recognition as a highly skilled military aviator and the highest-scoring jet-mounted ace with the most number of confirmed victories in the French Mirage. Having overcome numerous hurdles just to learn how to fly, he went on to compile a record of Arab MiGs and Sukhoi kills that bettered any other combat aviators' tally in the entire world. This fast-moving autobiography details his experiences particularly in the intense conflicts of 1967, the Six Day War, and 1973, the Yom Kippur War.
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Not a writer
- By Checco on 11-26-21
What listeners say about The Crew
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- MortonC
- 12-07-24
Excellent history, more 'life details' wanted
As my father was a pilot on Lancasters in WWII, I am always interested to learn more about what they did and what it was like for them.
I would have preferred a lot more "trivial little details of everyday life" to have been included. All the little stuff about what it was like to be on a Lancaster mission, or simply to be in one for such extended periods. I suspect that the crews dismiss those details as obvious or unimportant -- but really, we don't know them and would love to! I suspect that many of the small details have faded from memory also.
For example, what was the food like in the mess? People like to complain about military food, but when I was at RAF stations around 1980, I thought it was uniformly excellent.
Here's the sort of trivia I like... A story from my dad was that when they first joined up, a friend of his was terribly posh and brought his high quality porcelain teacup to the mess. He was so excited to have joined the RAF, and when talking with another (not posh but obviously unfriendly) airman over dinner, he offered "Cheers" and went to clink with the other guy, who had a regular mug of tea. The other guy slammed his mug into the friend's teacup really hard, hoping to break the porcelain teacup. Instead, the regular mug shattered, leaving the unfriendly completely stunned and just staring at the remaining handle of his mug.
Anyway... the book cover says that it's the story of a Lancaster Bomber Crew, which I was hoping for. But it would estimate that about two-thirds of it actually covers the strategic bomber campaign and large raids, which I happen to know about from other books. If he had to add these aspects to give context and to fill out the book, because he was low on details about the crew themselves, then I get it. But if some crew-details were squeezed out to make space for the strategic story, then I would have preferred 'the authors cut' with the additional details left in, and a longer book.
I found that a few author or narrator choices were a bit distracting for me, but they were minor. He refers to them looking for a fuel leak with torches. My goodness, that sounds dangerous! Oh wait, he means flashlights. Got it. Which reminds me of another story from my dad... it was a dark night and there was a puddle of liquid under a fuel bowser but they couldn't see where it was coming from. Is it fuel or water? One of them said "I'll strike a match so we can see better" - the others jumped him before he could actually act on the idea...
A little after D-Day, the narrator says they are going on a raid to Cannes, which was an important intersection for both sides. Gosh, that's a long way, Cannes (pronounced Cann) is in the south of France, so... we're doing a raid to support the upcoming Operation Dragoon? After a bit more context... ohhh, he means Caen (pronounced Con). Yes, both sides beat that Norman city to pieces. But his other city names were pronounced just fine.
If you want more details about the Mosquito Pathfinders of 627 Squadron, read the author's book "Mosquito Men", also on Audible.
I guess I'll end by reverting to my wish that each mission-story was about five to ten times longer, with more small details. It was still a great book though and well worth a credit.
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- J.Brock
- 08-20-21
Tries to Cover Too Much
This book covers a most interesting topic, in describing pilot Ken Cook's experiences as a part of the Avro Lancaster crew that served as bombers between 1942 to the end of the war. But unfortunately the author tries to cram too much information into the book, going back to before WWII aviation history to the bombing runs of WWII, and back again. And there are other stories sprinkled in from ordinary citizens. That is all fine, it just makes it confusing and hard to follow. But overall, the book is very good and the narrator is excellent.
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- Paul
- 03-02-20
Interesting individual tales, challenged narration
There are some interesting personal stories recounted, but the author does not give much context for the training of the crew ('other' air crew spent as many weeks in training as pilots) never mentioning the Commonwealth Air Training Program, though recounting a specific US training program. The narrator has some challenges with proper-name pronunciation and acronyms; air crew fly with the "raaf" (as opposed to the R-A-A-F, or Royal Australian Air Force).
Leo McKinstry's 'Lancaster: The Second World War's Greatest Bomber' does a better job recounting the air crew roles and the huge challenge faced by crews attempting to bail out (far worse survival than the Halifax).
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2 people found this helpful