The Crew recounts the intimate, personal testimonies to the author of Wing Commander Ken Cook who served as Bomb Aimer with the Comans crew. The Crew specifically follows Flying Officer Jim Comans and his crewmen from their enlistment as volunteers, through training and into operational service. The Comans crew flew forty-five hazardous bombing missions – mostly deep into Germany at night – through the winter of 1943 to the summer of 1944.
At ninety-five Ken Cook is the crew's last survivor. Enlisting in RAF Bomber Command at nineteen his extraordinary story brings a moving insight into the bombing campaign. His experiences, particularly during the Battle of Berlin, highlight the extreme danger each bomber crew faced. With Bomber Command's casualty rate of over 44%, the book describes how the airmen overcame immense physical and mental challenges to survive. There are now very few surviving RAF Bomber Command airmen from the Second World War. The Crew will be one of the final eyewitness testimonies to a momentous time in our history.