Born To Fly

When Gary Mitchell, a serving helicopter aircrewman, listened to his friend Leslie Smith talking about his wartime flying, he became filled with a quiet determination. Contacting two friends, both aviation history devotees, the three men began their research into the ex-Lancaster wireless operator's experiences. The result is the tale contained within this book, the extraordinary story of a young man's wartime service. At a time when Bomber Command's losses in aircraft and aircrew were only just beginning to peak, Leslie Smith arrived on his first operational squadron with his crew to begin their tour of thirty operations over Occupied Europe. Transferring to a Pathfinder squadron after fourteen hazardous operations, Leslie and the crew went on to complete another twenty-four before the end of the war. This is his story.