If you'd rather place an order by talking to one of our cheerful order desk clerks, please call 1-888-232-4444 (USA and Canada only) or 250-383-6864. From Europe, ring our UK order desk clerk at local rate number 0845 230 9601 (UK only) or 44 (0)1865 722 113.

Reluctant Witness: Memoirs from the Last Year of the European Air War 1944-45

by Brian H. Mahoney

546 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #01-0275; ISBN 1-55212-875-X; US$38.50, C$51.00, EUR33.20, £23.00

A father-son effort of an unusual type, the son 'presents' the never-finished book of 'war-stories' written by the father over the last 30 years of his life.

Read more!

About the book      About the authors      Sample excerpt      Catalogue info      Reviews     

About the Book The late James Mahoney went overseas in the spring of 1944 as the leader of one of the four bomb squadrons in a B-24 bomb group (the original 492nd) which endured extraordinary losses for 89 days of operation before being disbanded. The enduring mystery of why such an exceptionally well qualified and prepared group suffered so singularly is one of many significant themes he addresses in his 52 vignettes. Mahoney was reassigned to a bomb group with much better luck (the 467th), and finished the war as their Deputy Commander. As both a 'man among men' and a recognized natural leader, he was positioned to note character and ability, and took it as his charge to develop both of these in the course of administering to the technical and demanding business of a combat organization comprising 3,000 souls. Later in life, wanting to make sense of what he experienced and to record the terrific sacrifice of his peers, he distilled and organized his memories. Overcoming his natural reticence to show his hand emotionally, and fearful that grisly accounts might register as sensational horror instead of sobering lesson, he labored carefully to build for his readers a rich context for his 'war stories'. These memoirs take the reader through the methodology and equipment of aviation and strategic bombing in the era before stand-off weaponry, when hundreds of planes at a time, each with ten-man crews, flew in unpressurized planes through flak and fighter filled skies for hours at a time at 40 degrees below zero, to bomb targets in Hitler-occupied Europe. He introduces the reader to his acquaintances and friends, commanders and charges - a range of memorable rascals, unforgettable heroes, and ordinary mortals showing their true mettle and courage under dire circumstances. Jim Mahoney's account of his 13 months in combat is an engaging mix of timeless morals and enduring humor. The big themes are laid out with common sense, while the practical joke, the stroke of genius, or personal quirk are offered as clear windows to the host of characters and their relationships. These certainly capture the fact and flavor of the daylight bombing campaign over northern Europe and make a contribution to the historical record, but they also transcend that specific time and place, drawing the readers in any era into human drama, played out in all of its variety in the pressure-cooker of wartime. The son's contribution has been to document some of the more unusual aspects of his father's account, so that these can be received as more than just precious memoir - as contributions to the historical record. This has entailed many interviews, travel to remnants of his father's Rackheath and North Pickenham bases in East Anglia, and contemplation of the horrible effectiveness of aerial bombardment on several of the Mighty Eighth Air Force's 'ground zeros' in Germany. Additionally, the son supplies the reader with a variety of material designed to make the dated technology of aviation in its 20th century adolescence more understandable, and to put into broader contexts the struggles to control European airspace and weaken the foe through costly strategic bombardment. Tables and an extensive WW II timeline give a framework for understanding American involvement and the role of air power. A comprehensive glossary of terms makes the aviation and military lingo clear, and his bibliography will equip the motivated reader to delve deeper. Photographs from 'then' and 'now' bring the reader along on the son's odyssey, retracing the father's steps and honoring the sacrifices of survivors and the fallen alike. A foreword by Brigadier General Robin Olds, USAF (Ret.), fighter leader in three wars and a WW II ace, adds important insight to the riddle of why survivors of grisly combat action are typically so tight-lipped about their experience. Reluctant Witness is the combined effort of a pragmatic realist and a hardened optimist. This rich account of one witness's experience is offered to a general audience of conscientious citizens everywhere, with encouragements to never let their guard down and enable the tyrant, or ever despair of their ability, when committed to what is just and fair, to set things right. Widespread appreciation of the waste and senselessness of war impells practical efforts to 'wage peace'. Reviews "These highly-detailed memoirs of the CO of the 788th Bomb Squadron, flying B-24 Liberators from Rackheath at much the same time as our very 'own' Crew 5294. The account was completed by Lt Col Mahoney's son, Brian H. Mahoney and is a fine testament to both man and era." - as reviewed in Fly Past, Britain's Top-Selling Aviation Monthly January 2002 edition ---------------------------------- "At last, a book that tells what war in the air in WW II flying from England in American bombers was really like. Reluctant Witness is a brilliant and wholly appropriate title, describing as it does the brutality of war seen from very close quarters, in the cockpit and from the ground. James J. Mahoney saw death and destruction all around him but the everlasting impression of the book is the wonderful detail and the vivid picture of incidents and events, some seemingly inconsequential at first, and the impact of war on ordinary men thrust into active service against an implacable foe. The descriptions and unfolding tales of the aerial endeavours of the 492nd and 467th Bomb Groups amid flak, fear, and fighters draws comparison with such writings as "I Saw Regensburg Destroyed". My particular favourites are 'Threes' and 'Ticket Punchers'. The first details the incredible coincidence/fate "call it what you will " that befell those with the 28-type Parachute. The latter tells of the sky pilots the chaplains, and the effect one had on the group when Al Shower tried to impose his strict discipline to remedy the soaring VD rate. Ironically, for a group that led in bombing accuracy and adhered to saluting and disciplinary regimes imposed by the iron will of the CO, the 467th led the tables in VD! The chapter explains why Shower's attempts to limit the spread were undermined. At the other end of the scale chapters such as Zero/Zero and Ferguson's Crew reveal starkly the grim and grisly reality behind bland statistics. The whole thrust of this book is directed towards man's inhumanity to man, not dull statistics and meaningless PR. We have both Messrs. James and Brian Mahoney to thank for the opportunity to enrich our understanding and education of the US Army Air Forces in WW2." -Martin W. Bowman, renowned British author of over 60 military and aviation titles ---------------------------------- "... I just could not put your book down; you and father have written what I consider one of the finest records ever seen. Just finished it this morning and will start all over as I enjoyed it so much. We could almost feel your father in the room with us. Just wish we had talked with him a lot, lot more." -David Hastings, Chair, Board of Governors of the Second Air Division Memorial Trust ---------------------------------- "... After two readings through of RELUCTANT WITNESS I find it to be an excellent accounting of that war and location. Of particular interest to me were the stories concerning events which occurred, there, following my rotation back to the States, such as hauling gas to Patton in France. Also extremely interisting are the management techniques used to develop 'Lead Crews' and other means and strategies which gave the 467th BG the best bombing record in the 8th at the war's end... Both authors can feel justly proud of the book!" -Dick Bastien, an original 492nd co-pilot ---------------------------------- "... I received the book from Trafford a few days ago and have finished first reading. I have ordered one for a son in Austin, TX. I am now revisiting parts to refresh my memory. I was very surprised that JJM remembered me as our crew had no difficulty or real memorable times... I wish you great success with the book and thank for doing this thing for a lot of us survivors of the 492nd an 467th." -Sgt. "Andy " Anderson, radio operator on the Carl Johnson crew ---------------------------------- "...I got a copy of Reluctant Witness. What an awesome book!! Just to be able to read your Dad's memories and memoirs plus your added analysis and info is incredible. I carry it around with me all the time in my briefcase bag and read through it both at home and at work when I have time. Also find myself re-reading things again and again it's just so interesting! " -Harry D. Greene, son of a 492nd BG veteran ----------------------------------

---

About the Authors The late James J. Mahoney served as a bomber pilot, and at age 27 was second in command of a heavy bomb group in England during WW II. Methodical, contemplative and insightful, he wanted to distill his observations and understanding of human nature and war into a readable format that would not glorify combat or call special attention to himself, the reader's witness on the scene. He died in September of 1998, having brought 53 of his vignettes to a high state of refinement. Brian Mahoney, fourth of his father's five children, has taken three years from his work as an AIDS activist and program administrator in Washington, DC, to 'present' his father's book in a thorough, comprehensible, educational text. He is motivated to honor his father and serve the historical record by seeing that this 'story of stories' gets out to a wide audiences: his father's remaining WW II compatriots, his own generation ('the kids'), and 'the grandchildren' of what Tom Brokaw has appropriately called "the greatest generation". Father and son share common values concerning the horror of war and the need to contain oppressors. Each lost hundreds of friends in their youth - James, to WW II in the 1940s, and Brian, to the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s - and as odds-beating survivors, both have used their gifts for photography and story telling to share their takes on what is heroic, comic, ironic and tragic in the human experience.

---

Sample Excerpt

Chapter 24 from Reluctant Witness by James J. Mahoney and Brian H. Mahoney

Threes

     In the Air Corps the superstition prevailed that accidents occurred in threes. Of course, almost everyone would tell you that it was pure superstition and that he gave no credence to such nonsense. But deep down, even among the most intelligent, there was at least an uneasy feeling after two accidents in quick succession, and a sense of relief after the third.
     In the 492nd, a sequence of threes in which I was unwittingly involved, became a case in point for those who openly supported the 'threes theory.' The genesis of these events dated back to our overseas training base at Alamogordo, New Mexico. The Air Corps had always provided parachutes in three sizes - 24, 26, and 28 feet (the diameter of the opened canopy). Of course, the larger the canopy, the slower the descent. My weight qualified me for the 28 footer and I always insisted upon that prerogative. In the unhappy event that I should have to use it, I wanted the softest landing the government could provide, like the proverbial "butterfly with sore feet." In the POM (preparation for overseas movement) instructions were very specific listings of materials we should take overseas, and others we could not. In a paragraph relating to parachutes, there was a clear prohibition which puzzled all, and disturbed me. No 28 foot chutes were to be taken overseas. But I wasn't about to give up my king-size chute. I asked my supply officer to provide me with an inventory of our chutes by size. He reported that we had five 28 footers and all the others were 24s and 26s. I instructed him to stash the 28s in large boxes of authorized materiel and hoped they would escape detection by any nosy POM inspector. They did, and when they arrived in England via surface transportation, I had the only large chutes on our base, and theoretically in all of the U.K.
     It wasn't very long before it became an open secret in the group that not only was I wearing a 28 footer, but that I had a few additional ones stashed away. I was approached by some of the larger boys suggesting a swap of one of my big ones for the smaller ones they were forced to wear. The first time I yielded to such a request was at an early morning briefing when Jim Rogers, the Operations Officer of our 857th Squadron, told me that he was on the mission that day, that he had just learned that his chute had gone for repack and he didn't have another conveniently available. Jim was an old friend and one of our original group cadre, so I let him use one of my 28 footers. Jim failed to return that day; we were to learn soon thereafter that he was KIA. At about the same time, Luke Lutonsky, Squadron Navigator of the 857th and another of our cadre, approached me to borrow one of my chutes. Luke was a large, raw-boned and lovable character from Big Sandy, Texas, the best poker player on the base. He was a little older than most of us, and had a wife and a couple of children. Luke also failed to return from his first mission wearing one of my chutes, KIA.
     Following Luke's loss and the realization that both he and Jim had been wearing my out-sized chutes, one night at a poker table, some one suggested that these might be the first two of another dreaded 'three.' It was a while before I was again approached for the 'loan' of one of my chutes.
     This time it was one of the other squadron operations officers, Red Byrne of the 858th. Red was another of our original cadre, and also one of our group's outstanding 'characters.' A West Point graduate, he was known there for a rare combination of distinctions. He had been voted by his classmates as "Most Likely to Succeed," but also left the Academy with more demerits than anyone in his class. Again, I acceded to Red's request and he too failed to return. Red went down over the North Sea and was first listed as MIA. After an appropriate period of time and investigation, he was reclassified 'Presumed Dead.'
     This completed the 'threes' series in the minds of those who had been openly worrying it, and undoubtedly, the many more who had never admitted to it. Nobody ever asked for any of the outsized chutes I still had left.
     There was more to this 'tri-incidence.' Beyond being members of our original 492nd Group cadre, all were squadron staff officers, all about the same size, all had been good friends as had our wives. And sadly, all three had sons born within a few of months of their deaths.

---

Catalogue Information

---