Lucky to be Here, Jack Bewes, 463 Lancaster Squadron

Jack Bewes' story of war is seen through the eyes of the mates who flew Lancasters together from England to Germany and France and saw their best friends killed. There was the mate they celebrated with at the pub or the dance who did not return for breakfast, the uncertainty about the mate who did not reply to the letters written to him.These carefree, fun-loving boys of about 22 used black humour and understatement to see them through their job of dropping bombs during the Second World War. They had to regard it as a job, a necessary one that involved the death of so many - enemies and friends.They came home as men - often misunderstood and labelled 'war neurotics'.Jack Bewes shows the human face of this war through his diaries, his logbooks and his social anecdotes, his humour, through newspaper clippings and photos.His daughter Lyn McGettigan honours and commemorates his service in this compilation of Jack's war-time papers.