Description
Book SynopsisDuring World War II, Allied casualty rates in the air were 45.5%. Unsurprisingly, many airmen faced their dangerous missions with beliefs and rituals ranging from the traditional to the outlandish. Military historian S. P. MacKenzie considers this phenomenon in this pioneering study of the important role that superstition played in combat flier morale among the Allies in World War II.
Trade ReviewThere are many ways that warriors have dealt with the immense stress of combat through the ages. S.P. MacKenzie has dug deeply and thoroughly into the accounts of World War II airmen to paint a kaleidoscopic portrait of their unique coping mechanisms. This is more than just a book about war in the air, it is a lively narrative about spiritual and psychological methods to deal with omnipresent danger and death. With the increasing lethality of future high-technology battlefields, such behaviors can be expected to persist, and might indeed be necessary."" - Conrad C. Crane, author of
American Airpower Strategy in World War II:Bombs, Cities, Civilians, and Oil""Allied airmen in World War II fully understood that they were on the ""razor’s edge” in all air operations, facing extreme peril, high attrition, and the haunting sense that they might not return safely to base. This widely shared angst spawned every sort of superstition, talisman, good luck charm, and ritual, all aimed at assuring personal and crew survival. S. P. Mackenzie in
Flying Against Fate chronicles this wartime phenomenon in compelling detail. His exhaustive research sheds new light on how airmen contended with the uncertain fate that awaited them on every sortie."" - Von Hardesty, coauthor of
Phoenix Rising: The Soviet Air Force in World War IITable of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Men against Odds
- Asking for Miracles
- Talismans and Mascots
- Incantations and Rituals
- Jinxes and Jonahs
- Numbers and Symbols
- Premonitions of Disaster
- Conclusion
- Appendix I--Tour Length
- Appendix II--Aircraft Types
- Appendix III-Air Organization
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
