Description

The men who were to become 177 Squadron RAF assembled in India in early 1943, not knowing their destination – or their fates. Soon after they were flying repeatedly by day and by night over Burma and Siam, frequently in abominable weather, destroying Japanese transportation and infrastructure, playing an important role in the eventual Allied victory. ‘Silently into the midst of things’ was an appropriate motto for the 177 Squadron. Equipped with twin-engined, cannon and rocket firing Bristol Beaufighters, the pilots flew just above the jungle or the plains – too low to be detected by radar – and were often unseen and unheard until the moment of attack. No wonder the Japanese called them ‘Whispering Death’. Using the squadron’s Operations Record Book, his own memories and those of his colleagues, Atholl Sutherland Brown has meticulously recreated the triumphs and disasters of a group of unknown heroes – the air and ground crews of the 177 Squadron.