Customer Reviews

Lady's Men: The Story of World War II's Mystery Bomber and Her Crew (Bluejacket Books)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Since military history is only a passing interest of mine, I will not pretend to be the best-qualified reviewer to read this fine book. However, as a work of nonfiction about humans placed in a hopeless situation, and how they respond to it, "Lady's Men" tells a great story that is as inspirational as it is eternal and poignant. Although author Mario Martinez obviously takes a few literary liberties with the artistic license of creating imaginary dialogue between the principal characters, he has just as clearly done his homework on this case, and his intimate account of the doomed airmen is both compelling and plausible. Martinez does a particularly good job of placing the disappearance and rediscovery of the ill-fated B-24 and her crew into an historical context. He also captures what must have surely been a growing sense of despair and determination among the men who struggled so hard to survive even as they gradually realized the futility of their predicament. It remains an amazing tribute to the endurance of the young men who flew into oblivion on one April night in 1943 that most of them walked 78 miles across the open desert over a period of several days, and one of them (Staff Sgt. Guy E Shelley, Jr.) trekked as far as 115.5 miles from the bail-out point, on nothing more than five or six canteen capfuls of water and almost no food. Well-illustrated and skillfully told with diary excerpts from the plane's copilot and flight engineer, "Lady's Men" gets off to a slow start, but gives the reader a vivid picture of what happened on this mysterious and sad mission. Amid the background of World War II and all of its carnage, this small tale of ordinary men doing extraordinary things stands out as lesson in the importance of each individual life, and the dignity that can be found even in one's dying breath. If "Lady's Men" has a fault, it is in the writer's approach to using some of the archival information as the raw material for a movie screenplay. No doubt, the heroic saga of the Lady Be Good and those who served aboard her would make an excellent movie, but no cinematic embellishment was needed to maintain this reader's interest in the subject. Also, it would have been nice if "Lady's Men" had included more of the news coverage which accompanied the initial location of the lost aircraft, and of the investigation to learn what became of her crew. These minor complaints aside, "Lady's Men" is still a very meaningful and worthwhile addition to anyone's reading list. This is one of those rare books that will give you a renewed perspective on your own problems and the relativity of pain.

At one time or another, most people become obsessed with some form of mystery and can't help but wonder what really happened. Indeed, books on famous mysteries always seem to be rather popular. Just occasionally, however, some of the world's greatest mysteries are solved and, whenever these have involved the loss of life, families are finally able to put those three words; Rest in Peace to the best possible use. And so it is in this instance.

In April 1943, at the height of WW2, a USAF Liberator bomber called `Lady Be Good' was returning from a sortie over Naples, Italy to her base in Benghazi, Libya when she simply vanished - never to be seen again. All efforts to find the aircraft ended in failure and her crew were eventually listed amongst the many casualties of war! In 1958, however, geologists prospecting for oil spotted the remains of an old aircraft from the air and reported the position as being some 400 miles south of Benghazi. That report, however, generated no interest amongst either the British or American authorities at that time.

It was not until the US Army Mortuary System undertook an expedition to the area that the aircraft was finally discovered - along with all but one of the remains of her crew. The one element of their discovery which struck the expedition members most, even after the passage of so many years, was the clear evidence of their attempts to survive in such harsh conditions.

Author Mario Martinez spent many years investigating and unravelling the mystery of the Lady Be Good and his account will enthral any reader looking for a good read. It is a riveting, exciting, courageous and yet, ultimately sad tale of what happened to the crew of a US aircraft and one of the best books I have read in a very long time.

NM

This book does a good job of explaining what may of happened to the crew of the Lady Be Good. Of course no one knows for sure what exactly they were thinking or why they did what they did, this book attempts to explain this. It still left me with a lot of unanswered questions, like why they did not try and find the plane after they realized they were in the desert, supposedly it had plenty of survival gear that would of sustained them for sometime, also it had a radio, weather balloon, flares etc etc. I think I would of made finding the B24 my first priority. It is suggested that they probably thought they were closer to the shore than they really were, still after the first day without any sign of help and the increasing lack of water they should of made an attempt to find the B24. Canteens with water were found inside the wreckage even after 20 years of sitting in the dry desert. I also wish the Author would of gone into more detail on that 20mm projectile found inside one of the engines?? Still a great book .

excellent actual information, but, the author is /was definately overboard on his tripe religous dogma...ruined an otherwise good read

GREAT BUY, VERY INFORMATIVE AND UNIQUE SPIN ON HISTORY.BEST BOOK I'VE READ ON THIS SUBJECT.

Martinez' well researched story of the B-25 Liberator bomber, "Lady Be Good," and her crew of nine men clears up many of the myths surrounding this tragic tale of aviation. After an abortive, maiden bombing run over Naples Italy in 1942, the B-25 "Lady Be Good" overshot her base on the north coast of what is now Libya, and flew into the desert an additional 440 miles. Her fate remained a mystery until 1958, when she was discovered, nearly intact, deep in the Sahara desert by British Petroleum field engineers who had heard reports of an aerial spotting. The remains of her dead crew were not found until many years later, as they had bailed out of the craft thinking they were still over the Mediteranean Sea. The plane ran out of fuel and crashed some 14 miles south of their bail-out point. Their desert ordeal was well recorded in personal diaries, recovered from their remains many years later. Martinez' story is slow to start out, but lays a good foundation for the environment the young aviators operating out of N. Africa faced at the time. He has done as good a job as anyone, including the Army (Air Corps) and the Air Force at documenting the plight of these men. One of the most sad, tragic, and depressing stories of World War II. An easy, "must read" for any aviation or WWII history buff. David J. Armbruster

This book appears well-researched but didn't come across as particularly authoritative. I appreciate that there must be some speculation about the events that occurred, but the author turned to fantasy when he speculated about the thoughts of the crew on their trek, trying to expand on cryptic diary entries. Such an approach significantly devalued later statements by the author about the condition of artifacts. All in all, the book was a little unsatisfying.

The story of Lady be Good is remarkable but when you buy this book you also realise that it is of limited scope. This book contains so much padding and speculation that it becomes annoying. Not well written and with poorly produced photographs.

I heard a talk on Lady Be Good and purchased it for my son who is interested in this subject. Very interesting story and the lack of the support system available in that era.

The book was shipped on time and the condition as described. I would gladly use this seller again in the future.