"No Glory Without Effort"

"Pas de Gloire Sans Effort"

By Glyn Strange

This book recreates the last few moments in the life of a Lancaster bomber, and the heroic deaths of two of its crew members. The poignant story is an important piece of history that needs to be remembered by all New Zealanders, and is all the more important with regards to this website because one of the heroic crew members who escaped the aircraft's crash was Cambridge's own Jack Morris.

On the night of the 29th of July 1944, Avro Lancaster NE148 (AA-H) was on its way to bomb the Daimler-Benz and Bosch factories in Stuttgart, Germany, when its journey was cut short by an attack from an enemy night fighter. The aircraft was from No. 75 (NZ) Squadron, and was crewed by five New Zealanders and two British airmen. In the attack, rear gunner Norman Wilding was killed. The aircraft caught fire, and eventually became uncontrollable. When the rest of the crew, including Jack Morris, were ordered to bail out, its captain Noel Stokes stayed with the stricken bomber and manouvre it in such a way to save it from crashing onto a French village below. He died instantly.

Today Noel Stokes and Norm Wilding are heroes of the villages near where they lost their lives, and they are heroes of France.

Glyn Strange has pieced together the final moments of Noel Stokes' life in a way that portrays the man he was. He has also recognised Stokes' team, his crew. Together they'd flown 27 operations into enemy territory, all except Jack Morris who was on his first op. The book also details what happened to those who were able to escape the crash, and their individual escapes back to freedom.

I mentioned this book is important to New Zealanders, and it is equally important to the people of France. This is reflected in the fact that the publisher has produced this book in two languages, English and French. Each opposing page tells the same story in the two tongues. I am certain it will be regarded with equal accord by readers from both countries, and many others as well. I'm sure the locals of the Yèvres area must be very proud of the author's efforts in recording this tribute.

Something else of important note about the crew that this book details, it is believed they might have been the first crew to bomb the defences on the morning of the D Day landings. Stokes led No. 75 (NZ) Squadron on their bombing run, and they are thought to have been the first Bomber Command squadron into the attack, softening up the beach before the seaborne assault.

The book is very moving and thought provoking, and yet easy to read and digest. It is not a large book, and can be read easily in a sitting, but is absolutely worth it on many levels. The story is aided with a good map depicting the villages and area mentioned, and excellent photographs of the crew, the aircraft, and the crash site and cemetery.

This publication is highly recommended and is exactly the sort of book that should be found in school libraries so the young can learn about the sacrifices made in the past. I believe it will be a limited run book, and can only appreciate further with time. For details of ordering a copy for yourself, please see below.

Publisher: Clerestory Press
Ordering Address: PO Box 21-120, Christchurch, New Zealand 2004
Telephone or Fax Orders: (64) 03 355-3588
Email To Order: young.writers@xtra.co.nz
ISBN 0-9582201-5-8
Translated by Pierre Daprini, 56pp Softbound, Price NZ$25 per copy incl. P&P
Trade Orders Welcome. Usual discounts apply and postage may be charged

Reviewer: Dave Homewood

Special Bonus Article

After reading and reviewing this book, Dave Homewood decided to find out more about it from its author:

The Making of
"No Glory Without Effort"

Glyn Strange tells Dave Homewood about writing his new book "No Glory Without Effort".

Dr. Glyn Strange is no stranger to recording history. He has written four history books and published fifteen others. It was through working on another book about Christchurch West High School, he discovered the moving story of a former pupil, Noel Stokes, who was killed in action during the war. This lead him to create "No Glory Without Effort", the story of the final moments of a No. 75 (NZ) Squadron Lancaster bomber and two of its crew, Noel Stokes and Norman Wilding.

An Englishman by birth, Strange's background developed an interest within him in wartime aviation. "My parents worked in London during the war, helping build Mosquitos. Dad was in the RAF in the 1930s but was a skilled tradesman. They survived the Blitz and the Battle of Britain, and as I worked on this story I realised that if it hadn't been for Bomber Command's maintenance of the attack on Germany I'd probably not be here today. Quite a few of us probably wouldn't. The fighter pilots rightly get a lot of credit for winning the war in the air, but the bombers were just as important."

Other factors also motivated his desire to record the last moments of a New Zealand pilot, Flight Lieutenant Noel Stokes, who is credited with giving his own life to save the French village of Yèvres. "I find it interesting that French people have kept Noel Stokes's name alive for 60 years and devote one day in each year to remembering him. I love France and wanted to do something for a country that I have enjoyed visiting. It would be nice to be able to make their work well known in New Zealand."

An interesting part of this book is how the author has tried to get right inside the head of the pilot, Stokes, to imagine his final thoughts in the last minutes before certain death. This result has provided an indepth view of the man that Stokes was, bringing him to life using eyewitness accounts and written evidence, through those last moments. "As a writer I wanted to try something different from my usual. History books that describe events don't often bring them to life. That's left to the writers of fiction. I was impressed by a C.S. Forester story ("The Boy Stood on the Burning Deck") about a US Navy serviceman who saved a ship by simply sticking to his post at all costs, and decided to have a go at writing something similar. Stokes's wartime diaries gave me plenty of information about the sort of character he was, but I knew I'd have to invent much about the moments before his death. As the director of the School for Young Writers, I'm always telling children and teenagers to do some research instead of guessing what happens in the situations their characters get into. This was a chance to have a go for myself."

The diaries were significant in Strange's understanding of Stokes. "Many servicemen kept diaries but only a small proportion wrote much. Stokes was one who wrote a lot. Instead of a pocket diary he had exercise books, and instead of writing a few lines per day he wrote a few paragraphs, and sometimes a few pages. How he found the time given that he seems to have played a full role in all the training, drinking and socialising, I do not know! But these diaries (there are two, covering the time from when he left New Zealand up to about three weeks before he died) give a wonderful impression of what he was like as a person. It was hard to read the latter stages, knowing that his death was imminent, without tears in the eyes."

As well as diaries Strange has tapped into the memories of many people too. He tracked down the 2nd Pilot, Jack Morris, and relatives of the other crew members. Finding them all was quite a task. "Stokes was from Christchurch and several family members still live here, so that wasn't too bad. Tracking down relatives of crew members was harder because they are scattered all over the country. Jack Morris's address was given to me by people in France. He had risen to the rank of Colonel in the NZ Army and in official capacities had attended the Yèvres ceremonies, so he was well known to them."

"Almost all of the information that I have about France came from the people who run the annual ceremonies in Yèvres. People I spoke to here (including Jack Morris) doubted the French version of events but didn't want to upset them by saying so.  Jack said that there was no way that Stokes had enough control of the plane to be able to do what they said he had done. But as I talked to him some more he admitted that the French view was possible -  or at least not impossible. So, I found myself justifying the French view in some respects and subtly altering or fudging it in others so as not to offend.

"The text was submitted to them for approval before publication. Quite a few things were hard to understand from so far away, so it was important to have their input. Working with Pierre Daprini here was good because he was able to explain more about French history and to correct certain false impressions I had." Daprini is a lecturer at the University of Canterbury, specialising in the history of contemporary France.

Strange continues, " For the older generation of the village this wartime story has been a focal point of their lives. They believe that their village would have been destroyed if the Lancaster had hit it, they know that they risked their lives to help the survivors, and all of this could still bring tears to the eyes of locals fifty years later. When that generation passes away, the ceremonies will continue. The French don't easily forget their history. The Allies' liberation of France is still remembered in the same breath as the British relief of France in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870!!  Stokes's heroism is taught in local schools much as we teach Anzac history here."

To complete the story, official records were also consulted. "I got basic details from there. The escape reports, which I found out about late in the piece, were fascinating and helped fill in some holes for the French, who didn't seem to know exactly what had happened to the men they helped save. These reports give a real flavour of wartime France on the eve of liberation."

The aircraft and crew this story follows was from the famous New Zealand Bomber Squadron, No. 75 (NZ) Squadron. Was this a factor for Strange personally in making this story more important, knowing it is a Kiwi tale as much as an RAF and French one?  He says, "I am English by birth (only just) and Kiwi by upbringing and sometimes I wonder if I'm French at heart. It's certainly important to me that it's Kiwi tale, and I find it fascinating that such a humble man from such a small country is so highly regarded in France. I always like to see the little guys get recognition. "

Unusually, the book has been published in both French and English, within the same covers. Glyn Strange describes how this came about, "It was Pierre Daprini's idea. I first contacted him just wanting help with a phone call to France. My French is OK but rusty and I wasn't up to a fast paced telephone conversation."

"I wanted, at that stage, to have the story translated into French because the people I was in touch with could not speak English. Pierre said there would be merit in having a bilingual version which could be useful in schools. Those who can handle both languages have expressed satisfaction with the concept."

The book has certainly been a hit with the French villagers at their most recent commemoration for the deceased crew members of Lancaster NE148 "Howzat", but outside that region Strange explains sales may be more difficult to promote. "I was asked to take 160 copies over, and they sold half of them on the day of the ceremony. I got writer's cramp signing them all. The other half, I'm sure, will sell if they keep at it. And, having met the people, I'm sure they will keep at it.

The book is now also available in New Zealand. What sort of readers does Strange think this book would appeal to most in this country? "People interested in New Zealand's wartime achievements. There are plenty of stories by airmen, soldiers and sailors who came back from the war. This is one from the point of view of one who did not return yet whose name lives on. We are reaching a watershed in our history, a time when World War Two survivors will become thin on the ground. But their descendants, especially the succeeding generation, remain exceedingly grateful for their achievement in defeating fascism. The more we can record now, while there are people around to help, the better. The book is also an attempt to consolidate the friendship between France and New Zealand."

"To too many people France is a rugby opponent, a mystery because they don't speak English, and the place where the Rainbow Warrior bombers came from. How many New Zealanders know that once a year in a small village the New Zealand national anthem is played twice and the villagers as well as many people from beyond, bow their heads in prayers of thankfulness to a New Zealand pilot? I hope schools will be interested, but French of course no longer holds the position it once did in schools. Some schools don't teach it at all. Besides all that, it's not a bad story for anyone to read, and it may interest boys curious to know what it must have been like to sit at the controls of a bomber while all hell broke loose."

Has Strange any future plans for similar books on Air Force related topics? "I'd love to. One of my helpers, a former RAF navigator, says that there is a French town that commemorates members of his squadron and that I should write about that. This is symptomatic of the regard people who know what they're talking about have for what I've done. But I suppose I'd better see how this one goes. It's cost a lot of money so far, and if I don't get much recognition I suppose I'll be discouraged."

As a final word on how Glyn Strange feels about pilot Noel Stokes, he says here and portrays vividly in his book that Stokes was, "A skilful pilot, a family man, a fun-lover, modest yet also talented (champion swimmer). And note that, like any conscientious trained pilot, he thinks of his plane first, the crew second, himself last. What I've tried to show is how any good RAF pilot would have acted in such circumstances, so that the book isn't just about one man. Stokes sort of stands for all good pilots, just as he stands (in France) for all who sacrificed their lives.

Thanks to Dr. Glyn Strange for taking the time for providing this interesting insight into the writing of his book "No Glory Without Effort".