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Simon Black #4
Simon Black in Coastal Command
First published January 1, 1953
10 people want to read
About the author
Ivan Southall
86 books14 followersIvan Southall was an award-winning Australian writer of young-adult fiction and non-fiction. He was the first and still the only Australian to win the Carnegie Medal for children's literature. His books include Hills End, Ash Road, Josh, and Let the Balloon Go. Also notable is Fly West, a book of true stories based on his experiences flying in Short Sunderland flying boats during the Second World War.
Winner of the Dromkeen Medal (2003).
Winner of the Dromkeen Medal (2003).
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 21, 2022
If you are an aficionado of flying boats do yourself a favour and read this novel. You will not be disappointed.
Ostensibly this book is a title in the 'Simon Black' series - a Biggles style series for young adults. In reality it is a fictionalised 'take' on the author's experience as a WW2 Sunderland flying boat captain flying anti U-boat patrols over the Atlantic. The fiction component is the amount of enemy contact in a single mission. But all of the balance is drawn directly from life - the camaraderie and teamwork of the tight knit crew; the lonely danger of missions far out into the ocean, beyond any hope of rescue if anything went wrong.
Ivan Southall combined the writing talent of a celebrated author, with the experience of a wartime Sunderland captain. He won the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for the destruction of U-385 on 11 August 1944. He brings the unique experience of being part of a wartime Sunderland crew to life, in a way that will never be re-captured.
The Sunderland was a special aircraft. It was a big, 4 engined, flying boat with a crew of ten. Unlike 4 engined bombers which flew in formation, the Sunderland flew alone, far out in the empty wastes of the Atlantic, rendezvousing with convoys or hunting U-boats. If it encountered the enemy the Sunderland usually fought alone.
When Sunderlands fought German Junkers 88 long range fighters the crew fought as a tight knit team communicating on the inter-com. The Germans had a healthy respect for the Sunderland's armament and would coordinate attacks from the rear and either beam. The navigator stood in the observation dome at the top of the aircraft directing the crew. When the fighters attacked, at the navigator's command the captain would dive the Sunderland in a tight corkscrew. This was alternated to port and starboard. The gunners manned the three turrets (nose, dorsal, tail) and two beam positions, alerted to the enemy's intentions by the navigator. An experienced crew gave the Sunderland a fighting chance. In one memorable action an Australian Sunderland crew was attacked by 6 Ju-88 fighters, shot up several of its attackers and survived. Only an author like Ivan Southall can let the reader glimpse what it meant to part of such an action.
This 1953 book properly belongs, not to the Simon Black young adults series, but to the 6 book series for adults about Flight Sergeant Pym, a fictional wartime Sunderland pilot. See my review for the books 'The Third Pilot' or 'Terror Flight' for details of the latter series.
Ostensibly this book is a title in the 'Simon Black' series - a Biggles style series for young adults. In reality it is a fictionalised 'take' on the author's experience as a WW2 Sunderland flying boat captain flying anti U-boat patrols over the Atlantic. The fiction component is the amount of enemy contact in a single mission. But all of the balance is drawn directly from life - the camaraderie and teamwork of the tight knit crew; the lonely danger of missions far out into the ocean, beyond any hope of rescue if anything went wrong.
Ivan Southall combined the writing talent of a celebrated author, with the experience of a wartime Sunderland captain. He won the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for the destruction of U-385 on 11 August 1944. He brings the unique experience of being part of a wartime Sunderland crew to life, in a way that will never be re-captured.
The Sunderland was a special aircraft. It was a big, 4 engined, flying boat with a crew of ten. Unlike 4 engined bombers which flew in formation, the Sunderland flew alone, far out in the empty wastes of the Atlantic, rendezvousing with convoys or hunting U-boats. If it encountered the enemy the Sunderland usually fought alone.
When Sunderlands fought German Junkers 88 long range fighters the crew fought as a tight knit team communicating on the inter-com. The Germans had a healthy respect for the Sunderland's armament and would coordinate attacks from the rear and either beam. The navigator stood in the observation dome at the top of the aircraft directing the crew. When the fighters attacked, at the navigator's command the captain would dive the Sunderland in a tight corkscrew. This was alternated to port and starboard. The gunners manned the three turrets (nose, dorsal, tail) and two beam positions, alerted to the enemy's intentions by the navigator. An experienced crew gave the Sunderland a fighting chance. In one memorable action an Australian Sunderland crew was attacked by 6 Ju-88 fighters, shot up several of its attackers and survived. Only an author like Ivan Southall can let the reader glimpse what it meant to part of such an action.
This 1953 book properly belongs, not to the Simon Black young adults series, but to the 6 book series for adults about Flight Sergeant Pym, a fictional wartime Sunderland pilot. See my review for the books 'The Third Pilot' or 'Terror Flight' for details of the latter series.
Displaying 1 of 1 review