Shorter Notices
Not Peace, But a Sword. By W.-Com. R. P. M. Gibbs, D.S.O.,D.F.C, (Cassell. los. 6d.)
THIS book, while almost as absorbing as Richard Hillary's, is as different as possible from The Last Enemy. Wing-Commander Gibbs was a professional pilot from Cranwell (which he describes admirably) attached to Coastal Command and flying Beauforts, not the Spitfires and Hurricanes whose pilots in this war have been the most forthcoming about their experiences. He makes little attempt to work out his attitude towards death, but gives a modest extro- verted account of life on the various stations to which he was attached. Particularly interesting are the descriptions of operations —the ships which they sunk and failed to sink, his successful intruder sorties, and his very ignominious crash-landing which kept him grounded and in hospital for six months. There are many flying details in this book which are likely to interest outsiders- particulaily fascinating is the account of the automatic pilot George " used for night-flying and its few horrible abbreviation& With one exception Commander Gibbs's flying friends are not well individualised, but he manages to make the reader share his suspense when any one of them is late back from a flight and petrol is running out. The author describes adventures off Norway, France, Lorient and other U-boat lairs, and while his book does not reach the lyricism of Coastal Command it shows some of the good documentary qualities that made that film so admirable.
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