3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wild Bill Scanlon, October 13, 2003
This review is from: Destined to Live: The Incredible Story of WWII Airman Wild Bill Scanlon (Paperback)
I know Bill Scanlon. I heard much of his story before Ms. Gilpatrick wrote it. I've interviewed him on a local cable access TV station in McHenry County, IL when I was Superintendent of Veterans Assistance for the county.
The first time I met him he was wearing a ball cap with a winged boot - I asked him the signifigance of the winged boot and he replied "Flew in, walked out!"
It's an amazing story - Ill Nat'l Guard EM, RCAF EM and Officer; Spitfire Pilot, Lancaster Pilot, Stirling Pilot; USAAF NCO; B-17 Crewman, POW, Escaped POW!
Bill Scanlon's story, as told by Ms. Gilpatrick, is a tale of guts, without glory; the tale of a midwestern boy who's life exceeded even his own expectations. A must read for the military historian or aviation buff.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Wild Bill, April 3, 2011
This review is from: Destined to Live: The Incredible Story of WWII Airman Wild Bill Scanlon (Paperback)
I own the book. It's a great story. When I first met Bill he was wearing a ball hat with a winged boot logo. When I asked him about the logo he said it meant "flew in, walked out". Hell of a guy. Your write up says he shot down 7 Germans. One of them was as a waist gunner in B-17s when he was wounded. He was also shot down himself six times. 5 times in a Spitfire and once in a Flying Fortress. Anyone who wants to read any of the WWII neighborhood hero stories should start here. You should also talk to the 80+ year olds in your neighborhood. In my neighborhood we had a grizzled old Polish woman who cleaned houses for a living. She'd fought in WWII as a member of the Polish Underground. We also had a Chinese-Brit lady who was a very well known local artist and art gallery owner. She spent her teen age years in a Japanese POW camp in China.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Aerial Adventures of an American Pilot/Gunner in WWII!, October 11, 2009
This review is from: Destined to Live: The Incredible Story of WWII Airman Wild Bill Scanlon (Paperback)
DESTINED TO LIVE is subtitled THE INCREDIBLE STORY OF WWII AIRMAN "WILD BILL" SCANLON. According to this 2001 Badger Books release, Scanlon was a U.S. Cavalryman at age 16(!), an RCAF Spitfire pilot in the Med, an RAF tail gunner in Wimpeys and Stirling and, lastly, an 8th AF waist gunner. Although, it sounds like "line shooting" at first glance, author Kristin Gilpatrick presents enough documentation to confirm Scanlon's strange but true combat career.
After pilot training in Canada, Scanlon found himself in March 1942 flying Spits with an unidentified Squadron commanded by Cocky Dundas. Scanlon flew a small number of missions with the unit, which was apparently based in North Africa, destroying two e/a before being downed and wounded by AAA. Due to his wounds, Scanlon's days as a pilot were finished but, in England, he was retrained as a gunner and flew ops with 26 OTU and 218 Squadron. He then switched to the 8th AF, flying as a waist gunner with the 92nd BG until 8 Februay 1944 when his B-17 was shot down. Though wounded, Scanlon reached England thanks to the French Resistance. Discharged in October 1945, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and finally left the service in 1948.
While DESTINED TO LIVE makes for exciting reading, several items in the book don't ring true. For instance, when he reports to that Spit unit in March 1942, Cocky Dundas is the CO. Dundas didn't serve in the Med - on Malta not North Africa - until 1943. Likewise, Gilpatrick talks of "Squadron Leader Beadhurst" who, in actual fact, was Group Captain Harry Broadhurst. 26 OTU's base is given as "Littledale." The actual name is Little Horwood. Scanlon describes three RAF pilots getting together for a drink at a Torquay bar: Douglas Bader, Johnnie Johnson and George Buerling. That's impossible; Bader was a POW when the get-together supposedly happened. We are told the B-17 was armed with 6 50-mm guns; nope, it was 10 .50-calibers! Whether those goofs and others are just poor remembering or poor research, they undercut the book's credibility.
Those hiccups aside, DESTINED TO LIVE is certainly a potboiler of a book. Along with the lively text, the book is illustrated with rare photographs of Scanlon during his service with the RCAF, RAF and USAAF. Quite a life; quite a story. Recommended.
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