Thursday 26 December 2019

Just One More Day by Jessica Blair




This was classed in my local library as a family saga. There is quite a bit of romance and in fact brother, Spitfire pilot, and sister WAAF working in intelligence, end up working on the same air base.

Jessica Blair is actually Bill Spence, born 1923. He worked in the RAF as a bomb aimer doing thirty-six operational flights in Lancasters of 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron Bomber Command. After the war he was sent to Rhodesia by the RAF. No wonder, then, that the descriptions of flying Lancasters sound convincing.

Less flattering reviews on Amazon cite a lack of character development and too much technical information. I dispute the former and would say that the latter suits our purposes very well indeed. I gave a four star review on both Amazon and Good Reads.

It lost a star because of unrealistic dialogue and because I spotted a few things the proof-reader didn’t. Neither of these two points detracts from it being a useful resource in the form of an easy read for anyone interested in what the Schellberg Cycle discusses. It gives us considerable insight into what working for the RAF was like, as part of the crew of a Lancaster or Spitfire and as young WAAF officer.     

It makes us think again about these young men - on both sides of the World War II - who were asked to put their lives at risk because of a dispute between nations.  The story however does not give a German point of view thought the British bombers take pride in being very accurate with their targets and thereby presumably do not harm too many civilians.  

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