When Heroes Flew
This novel is an interconnected, layered narrative grounded in the infamous and ill-fated “Operation Tidal Wave” of August 1, 1943. The reader follows parallel and then converging scenarios dealing with this epic event through the eyes of both a defending German fighter pilot and an attacking American B-24 Liberator bomber commander.
This U.S. Army Air Force massive air action against the oil refineries situated near Ploiesti, Romania, one of the largest such air attacks undertaken in the region up to that moment, resulted in great loss of American airframes and crews with little lasting damage to the physical facilities. Bernard fuses together two narrations presenting stark opposite war-time views: the American pilot doing his best to meet his objectives, destroy an enemy installation, and return unscathed; while the German defender wishes to destroy as many bombers as possible, thus minimizing the damage to these vital facilities, and return safely.
Not simply content with contextualizing this already tense reality, Bernard introduces the added intrigue of a WASP pilot who sits in the right-hand seat beside the main protagonist during the raid. Against U.S. military tradition and a sign of the overall social mores of the time, a female in harm’s way creates a literary tension heightening the dialogue and action.
Bernard does not minimize the carnage of the raid. Battle reports are graphic, and the reader can easily “see” the unfolding drama as both lumbering low-level attacking bombers and speedy fighters dance in the skies.
Not content with a simple, unemotional after-action report, the author provides a satisfactory denouement via an epilogue that brings the novel full-circle and offers a glimpse into what the future holds for some of these combatants and their respective families.
