Deborah H Davis

First Course In Flying Deborah H Davis

Flying through a bristling hail of anti-aircraft fire, Lt. (jg) Sumner Davis sweeps low in a masthead dive on his target. After dropping his 1,000-pound bomb off the port side of an enemy cargo ship, he sustains a crippling shell hit to his engine. Forced to ditch his plane in the icy Arctic waters off the coast of Norway, Davis and his gunner are rescued by Norwegian fishermen. Escape routes to the mainland and on to neutral Sweden are considered; however, without access to a larger boat and with the Germans closing in, the deadly risks to everyone involved seem to eclipse any chance of success. German troops soon arrive in force, and the airmen are taken prisoners of war. Years later, a Norwegian Air Force pilot begins a decades-long correspondence with Davis and other participants in the Allied offensive, which culminates in a momentous reunion with his fellow airmen and his rescuers in Bodø, Norway. Davis' experiences as a Naval Aviator and as a prisoner of the Third Reich and his eventual reconsideration of his long-buried war memories are captured through journal entries, military records, correspondence, news and historic accounts, as well as personal narratives by other airmen and fellow prisoners.