The Crew

by Margaret Mayhew

By the author of 'Bluebirds',' The Crew' is the story of the men who flew the Lancaster bombers, and the women who loved them. There were seven in the crew, very young and inexperienced men who somehow heroically weld together into a courageous fighting unit.

Genres: Historical Fiction, World War II

Paperback

Published January 1, 1997

About the author

Margaret Mayhew was born in London and her earliest childhood memories were of the London Blitz. She began writing in her mid-thirties and had her first novel published in 1976. She is married to American aviation author, Philip Kaplan, and lives in Gloucestershire.

Reviews

[Judith M Paez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic book.

My uncle was a pilot of a Lancaster bomber. I remember him visiting when he came back to Canada in 1945. I was too young to hear about it even understand what his experience was . My younger brother asked him about his experience and from what he told me, it was very much the same as you described in your book.

I never realized that so many young men lost their lives protecting our freedom.

Thank you for this wonderful story.

[Peter Harding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read this woman can really write this is here 4th book about the war great reads all 4 if you grew up in the smoke just after the war with the shortages ,rationing , spam, and the poverty and the smells ,lice ,fleas , and the general run down off London you can remember it so well please keep writing

[Genevieve May · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good story. Easy to read. Margaret Mayhew knows the Second World War. A history lesson as well as an enjoyable book.

[Nigel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent and considering the subject of a bomber crew in ww2 a gentle read. Having said that this is in no way boring. The book follows a Lancaster bomber crew from the time they first come together and their first mission through to their last mission together. We travel with them on their flights over Germany and we follow their personal lives away from their RAF base too. As such this book gives a brilliant insight into life during those times.
A great read that I wanted to keep coming back to as soon as possible to find out what was happening next in the lives of this small group of people in the hard, challenging times of the second world war.

[Ant Koplowitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable and engaging story of the seven-man Lancaster bomber crew during WWII. Margaret Mayhew writes with sensitivity and well researched detail of the night-time bombing raids on Germany. She readily draws you into how frightening and claustrophobic these excursions into enemy territory must have been, and I cared about the characters and their relationships. There was a real poignancy about how close they came to death on a nightly basis.

Recommended.

© Koplowitz 2017

[Ted Lapekas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating story teller

I'm a fan of WWII stories and Ms. Mayhew writes some great ones. Not the histories I usually read but stories that are anchored in history and talk about the participants and how they felt and reacted. Her stories always draw me in and provide many hours of positive, entertaining reading. I look forward to reading more of her stories.

[caroline Chandler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely read.

Not totally a gripping storyline. However , good all the same.
I recommend this book as a light holiday read.!!

[ann betts · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Crew

An insight into possible events of the RAF bomber crews. Young men living on the edge every time they flew a mission.

[Outlander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Margaret Mayhew's WW2 novels are full of the atmosphere of the time period, 'The Crew' is no exception to that rule and is well worth a read.

[Hannah Eustace-Raw · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this at least 10 years ago and it’s the most amazingly story about very brave men in the second world war. Historically accurate as well as a great read.

[Elvina Phyall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Language

A good story but I didn’t like some of the strong language and blasphemy used. I thought it was needless and unnecessary.

[mike.fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read

This was my third book written by Mayhew. I did not start out looking to read romance books as I was more interested in the subject matter and The Crew was no different. I think she captures the mood of the time well and whilst I am not an expert the technical content of a Lancaster bomber crew was informative. The characters are good and the book is well written in a bygone age style that captures 1940's England during WW2. It's a good story of what must have been a crazy world for all living through it. Well worth a read once you get past the fact that it's more than a romance novel.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book about a group of English servicemen during WWII. I enjoyed this, but not as much as Bluebirds, by Margaret Mayhew.