Damned Good Show

RAF #3

by Derek Robinson

They joined an R.A.F. known as 'the best flying club in the world', but when war pitches the young pilots of 409 Squadron into battle over Germany, their training, tactics and equipment are soon found wanting, their twin-engined bombers obsolete from the off. Chances of completing a 30-operation tour? One in three. At best.

Robinson's crooked salute to the dogged heroes of the R.A.F.'s early bombing campaign is a wickedly humourous portrait of men doing their duty in flying death traps, fully aware, in those dark days of war, there was nothing else to do but dig in and hang on.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Aviation, War, Military Fiction, World War II, Historical

368 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2002

About the author

Derek Robinson is a British author best known for his military aviation novels full of black humour. He has also written several books on some of the more sordid events in the history of Bristol, his home town, as well as guides to rugby. He was nominated for the Booker Prize in 1971 for his first novel, 'Goshawk Squadron.'

After attending Cotham Grammar School, Robinson served in the Royal Air Force as a fighter plotter, during his National Service. He has a History degree from Cambridge University, where he attended Downing College, has worked in advertising in the UK and the US and as a broadcaster on radio and television. He was a qualified rugby referee for over thirty years and is a life member of Bristol Society of Rugby Referees. He was married in 1964

Reviews

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this story to be a good read it was just missing something special at time to make it a great read. Loved the level of detail in the sequence of bombing and running of Bomber command. 3.75 Stars!

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robinson's characters talk as if they're in a PG Wodehouse novel while Catch-22 things happen to them. This story of Bomber Command in the early war years is full of the senseless, sudden and brutal deaths that occur in all his books, in aircraft with crews who, for all their banter, need to believe that there's some sort of point to their activities over Germany.

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a disappointment! Mr Robinson seems to have a low opinion of RAF officers. I don't think this story is a true depiction of RAF types of that era. I know some were like this and they were not all fair haired blue eyed boys doing the right thing and having a wizard prang.

However, having spent more years then I care to remember wearing a blue suit (!) I was fortunate in being trained as a cadet by the men who survived the war. Most of them were ex bomber pilots/navigators/engineers/bomb-aimers/gunners/wireless operators etc. None of them were remotely like the characters in this book. Of course, they may have been transformed by their experiences and certainly were. Had they ever been like Langham or Silko? Frankly, I doubt it.

It took me a long time to wade my way through this novel, partly because it was not ringing true most of the time. Partly because I had the feeling the author was somehow having a pop at people he didn't really like. I wonder if he had some unpleasant experiences with officers during his RAF service and it was his way of getting his revenge. If so it was a Pretty Poor Show, not a damned good show. The only character in this book that rang true from my experience, was the Group Captain. He was vaguely like my first flying instructor who was a former Mosquito pilot but a mere Flight Lieutenant - albeit with DFC and bar!

Skull Skelton, the Intelligence Officer seemed to have been borrowed. Unless I'm very much mistaken, the 'brains' on 633 Squadron of Fredrick E Smith's creation was Skull Skelton. Maybe he had been posted from there as well!

To me, this book was a parody of the reality. A line-shoot at best, a Mickey-take at worst. It trivialised the efforts of a lot of brave and unsung heroes and left a sour taste in my mouth.

One to avoid like flak!

[Richard Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still a great read, but I felt it did not hang together quite as well as Goshawk Squadron

[Matt Raubenheimer · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10.

This is the third novel in a loose series of four by Derek Robinson known as the RAF Quartet. I should mention that the first book in the quartet (Piece of Cake) is my favourite novel of all time. To give some context, much of this novel runs parallel to Piece of Cake in terms of the time span, being set in the first couple of years of the war. It also precedes the timeframe of the second novel (A Good Clean Fight). The intelligence officer from Piece of Cake, called Skull Skelton appears in this novel as well as A Good Clean Fight. He is the only character that appears in all three novels as far as I can tell.

On to this book...whereas the other two follow the fortunes and misfortunes of a fighter squadron, Damned Good Show deals with the campaigns of Bomber Command during the early stages of WWII. The novel features Derek Robinson’s trademark mixture of fascinating technical and historical fact, crackling dialogue, and a good dose of gallows humour. In addition, Robinson has a knack of suddenly killing off significant characters in somewhat unexpected circumstances, and this occurs a couple of times in this novel. It is quite unsettling as a reader, but it adds a wonderful sense of verisimilitude. It helps to ground the narrative in the realities of war, which are always shocking and unpleasant, seldom glorious.

Another aspect that i found particularly fascinating in this novel is that it deals with the making of wartime documentaries about bomber raids (particularly Target for Tonight). The tension between shooting the reality of the bomber war and the difficulties associated with filming an actual operation, as well as the need for morale boosting propaganda serves to illustrate how misleading such films could be in terms of the true nature of the conflict and the way it was fought.

The novel was engaging throughout, and the prose as entertaining as I’ve always found Derek Robinson to be. Piece of Cake still stands apart as a masterpiece, but Damned Good Show is a worthy continuation of its legacy. The fourth novel in the Quartet (Hullo Russia, Goodbye England) deals with bombing during the Cold War and the main protagonist of this novel (Silk) carries over to the next one. I look forward to reading it.

[David Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent novel involving the tribulations of (fictional) 409 Squadron flying Hampdens, then Wellingtons out of East Anglia during the early years of WWII.
The knowledge that, statistically, they were almost certain to get “The Chop” sooner or later concentrated the minds of the crew and station staff alike so that in order to keep up morale Intelligence Officers tended to take the returning bomber crews’ positive reports at face value.
The actual reality of their inaccuracy was noted but no one was thanked for pointing this out. After all, death in the cause of victory is one thing but death in the cause of failure is unacceptable.
The author cleverly intertwines actual events and people (although it could have done with a lot more Constance Babbington Smith in my opinion) with a fictional narrative and this is wholly satisfying once you understand that the seemingly insubordinate and superficial personalities of the pilots is just their way of coping with almost unimaginable stress.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I struggled a bit with the early stages of this book but by the end was thoroughly absorbed and drawn in. Its a story that will stay with me for some time.

I have a particular interest in that my late father was a pilot with Bomber Command, survived the war and lived until his 70s. I never heard him speak about the war and although I always had a fascination with the old B&W war films as a child it always felt like a subject he wouldnt be drawn on.

I suppose my impressions were the ones sought by the old film makers, plucky heroes heading out to show jerry who is boss before landing back at base with dawn breaking over the horizon and heading off for a good breakfast. This book goes a long way to dispel those myths and show the combination of tedium and terror that made up life in Bomber Command.

[Nooilforpacifists · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly funny: April 1, 1940 began with a Tannoy message that crackled and droned throughout the camp as men walked to breakfast. "Attention. All code-letters for aircraft have been changed in order to improve communications with the French Air Force. With immediate effect, A-Able is changed to A-Ingénieux and B-Baker to B-Boulanger. C-Charlie has been deleted. D-Dog is now D-Chien. E-Easy is E-Facile, et cetra. A full list is being circulated. Anyone requiring assistance with French pronunciation, report to the orderly room."

In some ways, less cynical, more weary, than author's more famous work.

[Tom Burkhalter · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title describes the book

The title is ironic, but the story is great. It helps you imagine that part of the war, when Britain stood alone, and only the irreverent desperadoes of Bomber Command had the means to strike Germany. Damned fine show, Derek.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

tale of early wwll told with truth and humor well worth reading

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not really a story more a fictionalised account of what really happened. Most of the details are true.

The dialogue is so funny and grim at the same time.

[Cropredy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're old enough, you might remember the series Piece of Cake on PBS Masterpiece Theatre/ITV in 1988 about a Spitfire Squadron at the beginning of the war up through the Battle Of Britain. Poignant as I recall. Well, that was based on a book by Derek Robinson, the author of Damned Good Show which was published in 2002.

I never read Piece of Cake but happened upon Damned Good Show and read it in a few days. The scene is Lincolnshire, 1939 when war is declared. An RAF Bomber squadron, equipped with Handley Page Hampdens - underpowered, under-armed, and not much bomb load - are sent out by Bomber Command to strike back at Germany. The story covers through 1941.

The usual tropes as one would expect make their appearance, but not in an unpleasant or hackneyed way as Robinson is a skilled writer.

* Aircrew sang-froid
* A love affair between an heiress and one of the insouciant pilots
* Banter between ground crew and aircrew
* Lots of period slang - sprogs, prangs, kites, getting the "chop", and so on
* Lousy food
* Random death in the air
* Random death on the ground
* Stiff upper lip officers and stiffer upper lip senior officers

Robinson hangs all this together not in any sort of valiant missions against the odds leading to the destruction of some key target that affects the course of the war (as some other thriller writer might have done), but instead the broad arc of ineffective bombing raids due to all sorts of issues (navigation, weather, flak, night fighters) yet covered up with the pretense that targets were hit and crews congratulated for a "damned good show". Crews had to fly 30 missions before they would be stood down. Needless to say, this is rare.

To make the story believable, Robinson weaves in multiple real world events including huge losses from 1939 daylight raids over Wilhelmshaven, the actual David Bensusan-Butt who wrote the Butt report on bombing effectiveness, and Crown Films attempting to make a morale-boosting movie by putting a camera and sound crew on an actual raid. (Note: the released film was done on a sound stage, the book fictionalizes an attempt to film on a real raid)

The air sequences are quite readable and engrossing but unlike stories told of B-17 daylight raids and endless attacks by Me-109s and FW-190s, here, Bomber Command faces mostly flak so the sequences are not quite seat-of-the-pants gripping. But, still good and believable. Crew physical discomfort is not shied away from.

Unlike war fiction from later in the conflict, Lack of Moral Fibre is only touched on here. Rather, the characters are depicted as fatalistic but still duty-bound.

I especially enjoyed the story's choice of a Hampden, later Wellington squadron as these planes don't get much fictional attention from their more "glorious" Spitfire/Hurricane/Lancaster/Typhoon cousins. There are leaflet, mine-laying, and industrial target bombing raids; the former two also receiving little attention from fiction writers.

Well-written, interesting, and gets you into the head of early war Bomber Command, trying its best with inadequate tools.

No flyable Hampdens/Wellingtons anymore but with a big enough CGI budget (see Masters of the Air), would make a compelling, thought-provoking mini-series.

[Stephen Pearson · Rating 3 out of 5]

7/10 - third in his RAF series provides his usual blend of humour, fact and darkness.

Set during the first 3 years of the war, it forms as an interesting analysis of the early days of Bomber Command (pre the famous heavy bomber eras of plans like the Lancaster and the technological advantages such as H2S), describing the raids on coastal targets, ships and the laws which inhibited anyone bombing civilian targets. The risks and lack of training are also highlighted. We see this develop into the raids on Belgium, Germany etc. with a particular focus on the Ruhr.

However, the nature of a bomber squadron was a weakness for this story. Compared to the Piece of Cake and A Good Clean Flight’s Hornet Squadron, the gallows humour, personas, clashing ego’s and descriptions of one-on-one combat were missed in here. Although there is unity within the group of men that were on each bomber, the missions were (as in real life) solitary affairs. Taking off and landing in darkness, flying solo to and back from the target and never seeing an enemy let alone another member from their squadron, living in fear for what might come out of the darkness. The excitement of fighter pilots taking off as a squadron in formation, attacking the hun together before reforming and sharing their knowledge was sadly missed.

There was also a need to perhaps add some more focus on the narrative other than the squadron. The jumping narrative to show the British and German side as seen in A Good Clean Fight made the former a very fast paced read. The attempt to provide a sense of home life and romance with the portrayal of one of our pilots love life was cliched and ultimately abysmal.

Where this novel did shine, was where DR had taken inspiration from the famous wartime propaganda film Target For Tonight. A film crew was attached to the fake squadron in this novel to cover a bombing raid and make a movie. The insight into this process, the need to try and script the events and the complete impossibility of trying to film on a cramped bomber, in darkness and trying to respond to events were fascinating. With the chief camera operators / directors story arc being subject to DR’s classic use of dark humour / irony.

[Marc Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because it described, in some detail, what my father had undergone as an RAF bomber pilot in the earliest years of the war.

I was pleased by the level of description, and by the accuracy of certain events taken from reality. But some of the characters were depicted as dark and nasty, which (for some unknown reason) bothered me. I'm not saying that the author was incorrect in his creation of same, just that it was jarring to think of, especially in the context of my late father's proximity to the story (down to the same aircraft he piloted, and some of the actual missions he flew).

One hopes and expects that the heroes of World War 2 were all good, decent and nice. I know, through the research for my own non-fiction book about those events, that this is not actually true. For example, I learned of one well-known POW tunneller who organized frequent poker games, and tried to collect on chocolate bar and cigarette debts after the war.

Suffice to say that I enjoyed the book, and thought it well-written, but the issue about the occasional nastiness of characters soured me a wee bit. Having said that, this author's 'Piece of Cake' is considered a masterpiece of Battle of Britain literature. I wish I could say that about 'Damned Good Show', but felt that, like many of the RAF's early bombing missions, it fell just a tad short of its target.

[Stephen Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the skies over the trenches of the first world war, to the flak, smoke, freezing cold and darkness of a heavy bomber at 13,000 feet over the industry of Germany in 1942, to the dust and heat of northern Africa in a squadron of raiding fighters, the author’s RAF stories and characters offer the reader a sharp description of the danger and persistent fear that lies behind the gung-ho public-school antics of the pilots, the crews and all those concerned with war in the air.
I know of no other author who can so evocatively capture the humour and at the same time the violence of airborne warfare. This book, about Bomber Command operating from a Suffolk airbase in the second world war, is no exception.
While the author’s books aren’t strictly a series, the same characters do pop up as time and their careers advance from one war to the next. Readers might well find it helpful to read them in order, but they are equally engaging as stand-alone reads.

[David Walley · Rating 3 out of 5]

From what little I know about reading history books on the subject of the air war in World War II, this seems quite accurate. The loss of life in bomber aircrews was awful as was the loss of life of civilians in continental Europe as a result of the bombing raids. I think they just did the best with what they could at the time and Germany's bombing raids on England were no better. I really loved the character of "skull" Skelton, and his attempts to try to analyse things through science which were not appreciated by anyone in the RAF, as they just seem to take it as criticism rather than as a genuine attempt to make things more effective. They were such terrible days yet are regarded by people such as my father, who was in the RAF, as the most exhilarating of his life. Possibly because he was always so close to death whilst experiencing those times. Democracy owes its life to men and women such as these who gave up their lives so that we can live such a pleasant existence.

[Seamus Mcduff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad read. Attempts to factually portray the operational realities of bomber command in the early part of the war. This is does quite well.

The book is quite well written, and even funny in places; although the snappy conversations, and one overly sexualised female character, some times got on my nerves.

The story follows a number of characters in a way that makes it feel piecemeal at times. I thought the momentum petered out towards the end, and my interest started to wane. But on the whole, worth reading, if only for the insight into the life of a WW2 RAF bomber crew.

[F. C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

British Bomber Command— Against the odds in 1940-‘41

While the RAF’s fighter pilots got the glory during the Battle of Britain, it was the bomber crews that took the most ar to the Germans. In ‘Damned Good Show’, Derek Robinson tell the story of Squadron 409 during the difficult early days of the war, when navigation was too often a matter of guesswork and the toll to German flak was heavy.

Based closely on the historical record, Robinson tells an exciting story well.
Recommended.

[Karl K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 3rd of Robinson’s RAF novels I have read. It seemed to wander a bit, not hanging together quite as well as his other books. The descriptions of bombing missions in Wellingtons were the best parts of the book in my opinion.

If you haven’t read any Robinson, try Piece of Cake first.

[Dr. Neil]

Well written, captures the chaos and confusion.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another excellent entry to the list of Robinson's aviation novels. Some overlapping elements with other novels. Would recommend.

[Jerôme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because I wanted to read more of this author after his 'Piece of Cake'.
Loved it and contrary to many deem Damn Good Show better than PoC. The author has grown and presented us with a lot less characters to remember and they are easier to identify with.
I was really sorry when I realised that the book had ended half way the war!

[David Lowther · Rating 3 out of 5]

Damned Good Show is about RAF Bomber Command in the early years of the Second World War. The main characters are straight out of a 1950s WW2 film like Angles One Five. They talk about kites, prangs, damned good show and so on which, given that many early pilots came from a public school background, was probably how they did talk. Most people seem to have a nickname. The book is full of well-drawn characters, decent action sequences and lots of death.
The humour is often of the gallows variety "don't worry if that parachute doesn't work you can always go back and ask for another" and indifference to death. Anybody with any brains like Skull the Intelligence Office is quickly moved on.

The novel does try to address the still controversial bombing Germany campaign but is set in the period just before the start of Arthur Harris' thousand bomber raids. The politicians, particularly those responsible for propaganda, drip with cynicism.

As a picture of life on a Bomber Command base where any of the aircrew could be expected to get killed at any time, Damned Good Show is very good. It's failure to deal fully with the ethics of bombing left me a bit disappointed.

David Lowther. Author of The Blue Pencil, Liberating Belsen and Two Families at War.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in the early years of the British bombing campaign of World War Two, ‘Damned Good Show’ tells the story of a fictional bomber squadron flying Hampden and Wellington bombers. Robinson seems to know his stuff and the book feels very authentic, right down to the planes’ individual flying characteristics. Rather than tell the story through a single hero, he creates a handful of main characters, and it is very difficult to predict which of them will survive to the end. I found these characters to be very well-conceived, and a lot of this is down to Robinson’s lively and very enjoyable dialogue.

For me, however, there was not enough action in the book. The characters talk about the dangerous missions they fly, but Robinson seldom lets the reader experience it for themselves by really placing them at the heart of the action. Consequently, while I found this an enjoyable book to read, it never really got me as excited as the cover art had let me to expect.

[Jim Nesbitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Derek Robinson is one of my favorite writers and his Piece of Cake and Good Clean Fight are masterpieces of RAF combat aviation during the early part of World War II. The former captures Hornet Squadron during the Battle for France and Battle of Britain. The latter picks up a reconstituted Hornet Squadron as part of the Western Desert Air Force in 1942 and combines flying my favorite early-war fighter, the P-40, with equally an realistic and fascinating account of the long-range desert patrols that raided far behind German and Italian lines.

Damned Good Show is a lesser book about RAF Bomber Command early in the war and is equally cynical and full of black humor and whip-cracking dialogue. But it's still a ripping read, as the Brits would say.

[Rob Godfrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Early WW2 in bomber command, the planes are not up to the task but Britain has no other way of attacking the Nazis.
Derek Robinson continues with his quirky, gritty, irreverent writing. I like his style; the main characters seem callous and their interactions unbelievable at times, but then it allows the author to make some insightful comments on the futility and pity of war.
One of those books that you don’t want to reach the end of; luckily he’s written plenty more.

[H · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars


The book is quite well written, and even funny in places, some is annoying though. Did we need the stuff about the woman and her mum wanting a baby? No.

The bits about the flying, the planes, the faults, the mistakes are all good.
The stuff about the film crew too, yes, reality is harder than fiction to film. And of course censorship at the time.

[Dolf Patijn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great novel about aerial warfare in WW II. This book is set in the first year of the war. Subject is bomber squads. They were flying in Hampdens and Wellingtons. More info on RAF bomber command here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Bomb...

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Standard Robinson fare; he keeps you on the edge of your seat wandering who's for the chop next. But surely someone, somewhere was doing a good job or was it all a disaster?

[Tris Newey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping, realistic read

Like others in the series, Derek has done a sterling job of blending technically accurate, factual portrayal of operations in the second world war with characters who are realised in a most touching way. By turns engrossing, funny, shocking and thought provoking, and hugely enjoyable. The only reason it doesn't get five stars is that it ends almost without a finale, but that doesn't detract from being a great read.