No Moon Tonight

A Bomber Command classic depicting the deep feelings associated with the human cost of the air war in World War II. This is the breathtaking story of a wartime bomber crew facing the hazards of bombing strongly defended targets. A navigator with the RAAF based at Elsham Wolds, Charlwood writes sympathetically and understandingly of the hopes and fears of the crews as squadron losses mounted. (First published 1956). pp 223 #0218 Don Charlwood, who has died aged 96, flew as a navigator in Lancaster bombers and wrote a classic account of the experiences of the young men serving with a Bomber Command squadron.

After training in Canada, Charlwood joined No 103 Squadron at Elsham Wolds in Lincolnshire in the autumn of 1942. The squadron had just re-equipped with the Lancaster and on one of his first sorties, a mining operation to the Baltic, his aircraft was badly damaged by anti-aircraft fire over Denmark.

As the pace of operations increased, Charlwood and his crew attacked many major industrial cities, including Turin, Munich, Essen and Berlin. Opposition was intense, and on almost every occasion at least one crew from No 103 failed to return. Over Wilhelmshaven, a fighter attacked Charlwood’s Lancaster and was beaten off by his gunners. A few nights later he and his crew met intense anti-aircraft fire over Bremen, and the wireless operator was badly wounded.

March 1943 saw the start of the Battle of the Ruhr. With the aid of the recently created Pathfinder Force, bombing accuracy had improved, and Charlwood flew to Essen, when his aircraft was again attacked by fighters, and to Berlin and Kiel. It was a period of very heavy losses, and Charlwood’s crew became the first on No 103 Squadron in nine months to survive a tour of 30 operational sorties. On April 7 1943 he and his crew flew their final operation; the target was Duisberg. A thoughtful man, Charlwood knew how fortunate he was to have survived his tour of operations. Of the 20 men who had qualified as navigators with him, only five survived the war. To describe his own experience and the fate of his friends, he later wrote two outstanding accounts of the bomber war — No Moon Tonight and Journeys into Night. Together, these vivid and moving accounts are considered among the finest works of the genre.