Dumb but Lucky!: Confessions of a P-51 Fighter Pilot in World War II

by Richard Curtis

Second lieutenant Dick Curtis arrived in Italy in May 1944–twenty years old and part of a shipment of P-51 Mustang fighter pilots so desperately needed that they were rushed into combat with less than thirty hours of flight time in their new high-performance aircraft.Six of the twelve pilots assigned to the 52nd Fighter Group were shot down in the first two weeks. By his ninth mission, Curtis was the only one still flying. A maverick, he barely escaped court-martial with his high-flying antics. Escorting bombers sent to pound heavily defended oil fields was risky enough, but strafing the enemy supply lines, ports, and airfields was even more dangerous. Curtis may chalk up his success to dumb luck, but these missions took exceptional skill and courage. This hair-raising account captures the air war in all its split-second terror and adrenaline-pumping action.From the Paperback edition.

Genres: History, Autobiography, Biography

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis, CBE

Graduate of Harrow School and subsequently Christ Church, University of Oxford. Academy Award nominee and recipient of Emmy and BAFTA awards for screenwriting. He is also a director and producer. In 2007, he became a Fellow of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

Reviews

[Larry M Blair]

Dumb but lucky should have been called God must like me

It kept my attention wondering what he was going to pull next. A good clean story of the war when there was so much sex and violence. I would recommend this to anyone that likes a good happy ending.

[Charles Rackley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stuff!

A really entertaining book. A good look at the fascinating life of a P-51 pilot during WW II in Italy.