Thats a very good question, Bomber Harris wrote this about him in his introduction to Gibson's book, "Enemy Coast Ahead", "His natural aptitude for leadership, his outstanding skill and his extraordinary valour marked him early for command: for Greater Attempts and Great Achievements. His personal contribution to wards victory was beyond doubt unsurpassed" Given this, I would say that Gibson was destined for the top slot! But what has to be borne in mind, is that various sources say that Gibson was arrogant and rubbed people, especially lowers ranks up the wrong way. there is the controversy surrounding his final trip. The rumours say that his engines were fixed by the groundcrew. One of the website I looked at for Leonard Cheshire, a former policeman who had dealing with Cheshire in the early seventies, spoke of the rumour but linked it to Gibson's opposition to Cheshire being given the VC. Jimmy Whiteford, who was an officer in my local ATC squadron when I joined in 1970! he was a Flight Engineer and had flown with Gibson, but he said that he asked to be moved because of Gibson's attitude and it was from him that I first heard about the rumour. More to the point, I was once told that had Douglas Bader not been shot down, that he would have had the same thing happen to him as did Gibson.
My reply was to the question in post 12 asking which squadrons in 8 Group were flying Mossies in early 1943. And though Gibson was officially rested he was killed in a 627 Squadron mossie, when he wangled a mission as a Master Bomber.
It is available via Amazon.com, and it is worth trying bookfinder.com But make sure to get the new edition published in 2006 (ISBN: 1846855209) as there is a lot more updated information than the original.
Thanks Kyt. I'll be sure to get that book, as well as "Achieve Your Aim: 97 Squadron In World War Two" sometime soon. Curious, why does your English flag wave in the wind, while I've got a small NZ flag?
Ah, that's cool then. Since Americans joined the RCAF in WW2, would it be out of place for a Yank to be a bomb aimer? (I've researched them, and they were mostly all pilots).
Getting chapter one done slowly. The one thing is that I go into really deep detail, and I'm kind of worried that this might bore the reader.
Simon, the deep detail is great but you have to make sure you get it absolutely, positively spot on because there will be a lot of people who will have the time of their life pulling it apart. If you have any doubt, ask here and/or elsewhere. As you're in NZ, go to MOTAT (if you haven't already) and see if you can arrange a look inside the Lanc so you can get a good idea of what they're like to move around in (and add bulky clothing to your difficulties!). Also, see if you can find a Lanc or Halibag crewman and, if they're happy to talk, ask them about ops, the aircraft, life on base etc etc. As has been suggested above, read, read, read books written about the bomber campaign both from a big picture view and from the crew's angle. I can highly recommend the following Pathfinder book: Voice from the Stars by Tom Scotland - there's a website for it too. A Bomber Command classic is: A Thousand Shall Fall by Murray Peden - haven't read it yet but Canadian Finally, a good Kiwi book: Night after Night by Max Lambert. Good luck, looking forward to reading your work!
