WWII book an easy read

Details

Published on Wednesday, May 10, 2017

By Ken Waddell

The Neepawa Press

If you get hold of a pretty little green hard cover book titled Beaufighters and Mosquitos, you will have access to unique details about the Canadian war effort in WWII. The subtitle is “The Balkans, Malaya and The Sudan” and it is written by Donald Jackson.

Jackson is an Australian and in the book, he details the workings of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan and how it sent air force pilots all over the world. They changed the course of history.

The book is of particular interest to the people of Neepawa, as there are several pages outlining the activities at the Neepawa training base, which was called #35 EFTS,  which stands for Elementary Flight Training School. And elementary it was, as the pilots spent a few week learning how to fly Tiger Moths, a biplane with limited capabilities but which was relatively easy to fly. Some of Jackson’s experiences proved that the mighty Moth was capable of a lot more than the training manuals said it was.

There is a copy of the book at the Beautiful Plains Museum and Neepawa library. If you drop by you might be able to sneak a peak. Otherwise it is available in book stores and on-line.