Tail Gunner
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Tail Gunner
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Narrated by:
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William Huggins
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By:
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R. C. Rivaz
About this listen
This gripping story of one man’s involvement in RAF Bomber Command’s fledgling offensive was first published in 1943.
Written only months after the events described, R. C. Rivaz provides a uniquely fresh and immediate perspective on some of the most harrowing episodes of the war.
He was tail gunner to Leonard Cheshire, one of the most famous RAF pilots of the Second World War, and flew in Whitleys with 102 Squadron and Halifaxes with 35 Squadron.
Rivaz describes his experiences of nighttime bombing attacks against heavily defended enemy targets like Duisburg, Dusseldorf, and Essen, recording in captivating detail the sights and sounds of these dangerous nighttime raids.
He describes equally well the color pallet of the setting sun from 15,000 feet and his turbulent mind-set as he prepares for each death-defying mission.
He relates a dramatic shoot-out with German fighters over La Rochelle in broad daylight and describes his near-death encounters with cool but honest detail.
Rivaz also describes two agonizing crashes over the sea, one occasion of which he waits nearly frozen for seven hours, buffeted by stormy weather in a rubber dinghy.
Tail Gunner is not only unrivalled in its immediacy and insight, but gripping and eminently listenable.
©2019 R.C. Rivaz (P)2019 R.C. RivazListeners also enjoyed...
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 89
Author of three books, this is by far his best. Lee puts you in the cockpit in a riveting account of life as a fighter pilot at the front. At times humorous and dramatic, this thoughtful, enlightening, true account is a classic to be ranked with Winged Victory by W. V. Yeates, also published by Grub Street.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Really great insights into WW1 air combat!
- By B Taub on 12-21-16
By: Arthur Gould Lee
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U.S.S. Seawolf
- Submarine Raider of the Pacific
- By: Gerold Frank, James D. Horan, Joseph Eckberg
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 329
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 280
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 281
The USS Seawolf was one of the greatest submarine raiders of all time. Having narrowly avoided the attack on Pearl Harbor the Seawolf set out for the seas of the Pacific to wreak havoc on Japanese shipping. Joseph Melvin Eckberg was on the Seawolf from her maiden voyage and remained with her until January 1943. As chief radioman he was instrumental in assisting Captain Frederick Warder to find and destroy enemy targets. From the claustrophobia of being trapped under water and the overwhelming fear of depth charges to the joys of aiding the war-effort and the camaraderie on the ship.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Unfortunately not very good
- By Jason on 03-29-18
By: Gerold Frank, and others
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Incredible Victory
- The Battle of Midway
- By: Walter Lord
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 174
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 147
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Story5 out of 5 stars 146
On the morning of June 4, 1942, doom sailed on Midway. Hoping to put itself within striking distance of Hawaii and California, the Japanese navy planned an ambush that would obliterate the remnants of the American Pacific fleet. On paper, the Americans had no chance of winning. They had fewer ships, slower fighters, and almost no battle experience. But because their codebreakers knew what was coming, the American navy was able to prepare an ambush of its own.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Very informative
- By Jim Walters on 08-27-18
By: Walter Lord
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A Thousand Shall Fall
- The True Story of a Canadian Bomber Pilot in World War Two
- By: Murray Peden
- Narrated by: Anthony Haden Salerno
- Length: 19 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 41
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 36
During World War II, Canada trained tens of thousands of airmen under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Those selected for Bomber Command operations went on to rain devastation upon the Third Reich in the great air battles over Europe, but their losses were high. German fighters and anti-aircraft guns took a terrifying toll. The chances of surviving a tour of duty as a bomber crew were almost nil.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant account of WW2 flying
- By John on 06-14-17
By: Murray Peden
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The Hunters
- A Novel
- By: James Salter
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 98
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 90
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Story4 out of 5 stars 89
Captain Cleve Connell has already made a name for himself among pilots when he arrives in Korea during the war there to fly the newly operational F-86 fighters against the Soviet MIGs. His goal, like that of every fighter pilot, is to chalk up enough kills to become an ace. But things do not turn out as expected.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Hunters
- By Nicholas on 10-25-15
By: James Salter
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Thunderbolt
- By: Robert S. Johnson, Martin Caidin
- Narrated by: Clay Lomakayu
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 130
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 118
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Story5 out of 5 stars 118
Thunderbolt is the incredible true life story of Robert S. Johnson, one of America’s leading fighter pilot aces in World War II. His memoir is an action-packed account of how a young man from Lawton, Oklahoma went on to amass 28 enemy kills, the first US Army Air Force pilot in the European theater to surpass Eddie Rickenbacker's World War I tally of 26 enemy planes destroyed.
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5 out of 5 stars
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My favorite flying book of all time.
- By S. H. Moore on 10-07-21
By: Robert S. Johnson, and others
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Life's Too Short to Cry
- The Compelling Story of a Battle of Britain Ace
- By: Tim Vigors
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 30
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
It is not often that a long-hidden gem of a manuscript is published, bringing a moment in WWII history to vivid life for today’s audiences. Geoffrey Wellum’s First Light was one example. The memoir of Timothy Vigors is another. Born in Hatfield but raised in Ireland and educated at Eton and Cranwell, Vigors found himself in France in 1940 flying Fairey Battle bombers. After the Fall he joined the fighters of 222 Squadron, with whom he saw frantic and distinguished service over Dunkirk and persevered through the dangerous days of the Battle of Britain, when he became an ace.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent
- By Ethan on 03-24-21
By: Tim Vigors
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Tail-End Charley
- Stories from an American Fighter Pilot in World War II
- By: James E. Brown
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 246
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 218
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 218
On his 19th birthday, James E. Brown tries to fake to his flight instructor that he has flown before. On his 21st birthday, Brown is on his way home after logging 85 missions in a P-47 fighter over Italy, France, and Germany. Brown's stories surrounding his training and combat experiences in World War II reveal brushes with death, continuous peril and, ultimately, a coming of age for a young man whose freshman year in college becomes instead a heroic engagement with one of the fiercest enemies his country has ever encountered.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Good read !
- By kevin on 06-19-18
By: James E. Brown
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PT 105
- By: Dick Keresey
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 469
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 423
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 420
Admittedly small and vulnerable, PT boats were, nevertheless, fast - the fastest craft on the water during World War II - and Dick Keresey's account of these tough little fighters throws new light on their contributions to the war effort. As captain of PT 105, the author was in the same battle as John F. Kennedy when Kennedy's PT 109 was rammed and sunk. The famous incident, Keresey says, has often been described inaccurately and the PT boat depicted as unreliable and ineffective.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Highly recommended I couldn't stop listening!
- By Curtis Graf on 08-17-17
By: Dick Keresey
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South from Corregidor
- By: John Morrill
- Narrated by: John Wray
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 23
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 20
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Story5 out of 5 stars 19
On the evening of May 6, 1942, hours after US Army General Jonathan Wainwright surrendered all US and Filipino forces on the island of Corregidor and other fortified islands in Manila Bay to the Imperial Japanese Army, 18 US Navy sailors from USS Quail began their daring escape to freedom. Using a 36-foot Navy motor launch, the 18 sailors, led by Lieutenant Commander John Morrill began their 2,000-mile journey through Japanese-infested waters. With only a watch, compass, homemade sextant and a few maps, it was an incredible feat of navigation.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A fantastic Memoir
- By Jean on 06-08-16
By: John Morrill
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To Risks Unknown
- By: Douglas Reeman
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 38
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
The year: 1943. Now there was to be no more retreat for Britain and her Allies. At last the war was to be carried into enemy territory. And from captured bases and makeshift harbours in North Africa, the Royal Navy's Special Force was to be the probe and the spearhead of the advance. To this unorthodox war came the corvette H. M. S. Thistle and her commanding officer, John Crispin.
By: Douglas Reeman
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Trapped at Pearl Harbor
- Escape from the Battleship Oklahoma
- By: Stephen Bower Young
- Narrated by: Tim Murphy
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
Author Stephen Young - a seaman on the battleship Oklahoma when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor - recounts his terrifying experience with incredible realism.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting and well narrated
- By Sebastian on 12-13-04
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Red Star Against the Swastika
- The Story of a Soviet Pilot over the Eastern Front
- By: Vasily B. Emelianenko
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 81
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
This is the extraordinary story of Vasily B. Emelianenko, the veteran pilot of one of the Soviet Union's most contradictory planes of the Second World War - the I1-2. Having flown 80 combat sorties against the Germans, Emelianenko was awarded the highest decoration - the Hero of the Soviet Union. He went on to complete a total of 92 sorties; his plane was shot down three times; and on each occasion, he managed to pilot the damaged aircraft home. Emelianenko's vivid memoirs provide a rare insight into the reality of fighting over the Eastern Front and the tactics of the Red Army Air Force.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Solid Soviet WW2 bio
- By Alek on 12-19-18
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Ice Station Zebra
- By: Alistair MacLean
- Narrated by: Jonathan Oliver
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 254
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 226
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 225
The atomic submarine Dolphin has impossible orders: to sail beneath the ice floes of the Arctic Ocean to locate and rescue the men of weather station Zebra, gutted by fire and drifting with the ice pack somewhere north of the Arctic Circle. But the orders do not say what the Dolphin will find if she succeeds - that the fire at Ice Station Zebra was sabotage and that one of the survivors is a killer....
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5 out of 5 stars
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pleasure
- By Kindle Customer on 10-03-20
By: Alistair MacLean
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The Dog Who Could Fly
- The Incredible True Story of a WWII Airman and the Four-Legged Hero Who Flew at His Side
- By: Damien Lewis
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 817
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 705
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 711
An instant hit in the UK, this is the true account of a German shepherd who was adopted by the Royal Air Force during World War II, joined in flight missions, and survived everything from crash-landings to parachute bailouts-ultimately saving the life of his owner and dearest friend. In the winter of 1939 in the cold snow of no-man's-land, two loners met and began an extraordinary journey that would turn them into lifelong friends.
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5 out of 5 stars
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4 ½ stars. Audiobook needs a pdf file for pictures
- By Jane on 08-16-14
By: Damien Lewis
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Pacific Glory
- World War II Navy, Book 1
- By: P. T. Deutermann
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 970
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 870
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 867
Marsh Vincent, Mick McCarty, and Tommy Lewis were inseparable friends during their naval academy years, each man in love with the beautiful, unattainable Glory Hawthorne. Only Tommy wins her heart and marries Glory after graduation. Different skills set the three men on separate paths in the Navy, but they are all forever changed by the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941.
Glory, now Tommy’s widow, is a tough Navy nurse still grieving her loss while trying to save lives at the Pearl Harbor naval hospital.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Best of PT Deutermann
- By MM on 11-27-11
By: P. T. Deutermann
What listeners say about Tail Gunner
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Haik Sahakian
- 09-30-23
Unique book, reads like a diary
The book will give you an idea of what bomber crews thought of the war, and the risks of it. The unavoidably high odds of being shot down color every page. Honest and detailed. The author is unassuming about his bravery. The narration is good. Another reviewer mentioned the audio quality is not great -- he's right, but it didn't distract me from the book and I'd recommend it.
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