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Tiger Squadron: The Story of 74 Squadron, R.A.F., in Two World Wars
Book by Jones, Ira
295 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1954
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 19, 2023
If you’re interested to any extent in wartime aviation, this insightful account is definitely for you. The author’s account and style of writing is both highly endearing and utterly engaging. You only wish you could have sat down with the man himself to hear it all first hand over a fireside whiskey or two.
October 1, 2012
I enjoyed this book but it is really two stories: the first is that of the author's own experiences as a 74 SQN pilot in WW1; and the second is the story of 74 SQN in the early stages of WW2.
By far and away, the most gripping part is the first part where Taffy Jones quotes extensively from the log that he maintained at the time. This really debunks the myths of the gallant knights of the sky chivalrously battling in the skies over France and portrays the brutal reality of pilots with minimal training, aircraft of dubious airworthiness and a service that distained the adoption of parachutes lest pilots abandon their aircraft without adequate justification.
In the second part of the book, the author tells the story of 74 SQN through the Battles of France and Britain and their immediate aftermath but tells it from a third person perspective as he was not in 74 SQN by that stage.
Personally, I think that this would have been a better book if the author had just told his own story through WW1, between the wars and into WW2 - and it is certainly a story worth telling - and not attempted to tell the incomplete story of 74 SQN - from the title I was expecting more of an official history - which the first part is close to - and less of secondhand ramblings - which is what the second part in WW2 becomes at times. This may be because my area of greater interest is in WW2 aviation and thus I was disappointed in this content - certainly the WW2 part is no 'The Dambusters', 'Reach for the Sky' or 'The First and the Last' - but on the flip side, wading through brutally frank account of air combat in WW1 offered me a perspective that I would not normally have sought.
So, all things considered, I would recommend this book to any student of military aviation but would not expect them to set their expectations too high for the second part...
By far and away, the most gripping part is the first part where Taffy Jones quotes extensively from the log that he maintained at the time. This really debunks the myths of the gallant knights of the sky chivalrously battling in the skies over France and portrays the brutal reality of pilots with minimal training, aircraft of dubious airworthiness and a service that distained the adoption of parachutes lest pilots abandon their aircraft without adequate justification.
In the second part of the book, the author tells the story of 74 SQN through the Battles of France and Britain and their immediate aftermath but tells it from a third person perspective as he was not in 74 SQN by that stage.
Personally, I think that this would have been a better book if the author had just told his own story through WW1, between the wars and into WW2 - and it is certainly a story worth telling - and not attempted to tell the incomplete story of 74 SQN - from the title I was expecting more of an official history - which the first part is close to - and less of secondhand ramblings - which is what the second part in WW2 becomes at times. This may be because my area of greater interest is in WW2 aviation and thus I was disappointed in this content - certainly the WW2 part is no 'The Dambusters', 'Reach for the Sky' or 'The First and the Last' - but on the flip side, wading through brutally frank account of air combat in WW1 offered me a perspective that I would not normally have sought.
So, all things considered, I would recommend this book to any student of military aviation but would not expect them to set their expectations too high for the second part...
November 16, 2016
An informative memoir. The First World War section is especially interesting as, unfortunately, the section on the Second World War becomes a rather ploddy and boring official history of 74 Squadron during the Battle of Britain. Far more interesting would have been Jones's own experiences during the battle but despite this its an interesting read and a valuable source for any First World War aviation historian
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews