Well it is that time again, just finished another book (a real one this time, gotta finish off all these books I bought).

The book is Dumb but Lucky by Richard K Curtis. Another wartime tale but this time about a P51 Mustang pilot flying in Italy.

The 15th Air Force flew a whole myriad of planes during WW2 in Italy. The two big name aircraft though being the B24 Liberator (bomber) and the P51 Mustang (fighter). This book follows the life of a Mustang pilot through training and his tour of duty in Italy.

During the war pilots in the USAAF had to fly 50 combat missions before being eligible for rotation home. How the hell this guy did it is beyond me. He talks of how he constantly was doing stupid stupid things, yet coming out totally unharmed. This guy had the luck of the irish so to speak because he got away with so many things. Threatened with countless Court Martials, escaped from certain death on numerous accounts, how he managed to do all this and still think live was beyond me!

It’s a good book with a definite lighter side look at life as an Air Corp pilot during the war period. It is not your usual book talking of all that dry stuff about the plane etc, hell the plane is barely mentioned most of the time but it is a great read if you just want a different aspect of the war.

Kinda makes me wish I was a pilot at times, hearing of his stunts etc back in a time when it was “stick and rudder” style flying. O the good old days!