Under a War-Torn Sky

Elliott, L.M. Under a War-Torn Sky. 2003. 288p. ISBN 9780786817535. Available as an eBook from Overdrive.

During the Second World War, crewmen aboard American bombers flying over Europe had to complete 25 missions before being able to return home. On average, however, a crewman could expect to live through 15 missions before being shot down, killed in action, or captured after parachuting out of a flaming plane. Nineteen-year-old Henry Forester left his home in Virginia and his abusive father to join the bombing squadron. He always wanted to fly, and now he copilots a B-24 Liberator over Nazi-occupied Europe, bombing military and transportation targets. In March 1944, Henry is ready to board the plane for his 15th mission, and he realizes that statistically this might be his last one.

His plane and crew head for Southern Germany to bomb a ball-bearing plant when his plane is shot down by German fighters. Henry manages to escape and helps the wounded pilot out of the plane, but then loses sight of him. Crashing to the ground, he hurts his ankle and has difficulty walking. Hidden by a Frenchman, he is taken to neutral Switzerland. There he is informed that he can either remain here as a prisoner of war of the Swiss, or he can attempt to escape back into occupied France to make his way to Spain, thence to freedom. Not knowing how long the war will continue, and aware that his presence in Switzerland puts him in danger if the Germans attack, he decides to make the attempt.

As he travels through France, Henry encounters villains ready to turn him to the Germans for money or for a false sense of patriotism. He also meets people ready to risk their lives to help him escape and rejoin his own family. Through it all, Henry grows up and eventually realizes that his father, though abusive, has shaped up his life and has provided him with enough experiences to survive a total war. With D-Day and Americans landing in the North, can Henry and the Resistance resist the Germans long enough to ensure an Allied victory?

An adventure of survival against the odds, this book pairs well with Unbroken and Louis Zamperini’s story of survival as a bombardier in the Pacific theatre during World War II.