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Fiction authors who were pilots in war; Any info appreciated
Topic Started: Aug 18 2016, 02:58 AM (808 Views)
dknights
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The court of LAST RESORT!
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In my near daily phone discussion with Jim Bates, a topic arose and I thought I'd post here to see if y'all could help.

We were discussing pilots or aircrew who became fiction authors after their war service (Dahl, etc.). We were discussing WWII, but I am expanding it to all combat service in any war.

Any help you can provide in assembling as complete a list as possible would be appreciated.
David M. Knights
Fortes fortuna adiuvat

14 Finished: Special Armor V-2, Airfix P-51
15 Finished: SBS Gladiator engine
16 Finished: Brengun C2 Wasserfall, Merit SS-N-2 Styx, World's smallest diorama, Airfix Hurricane.
17 Finished: Japanese Carrier Deck, Belcher SS-4, Italeri AB41, PLAN Type 039A (not 72nd scale)
18 Finished: NONE
The bench:Platz T-33, Trump. T-34/85, Meng F-106, Airfix P-51 #2, Airfix P-40
Revell MiG-21F-13, Ace Citroen V-11
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airjiml2
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Beast
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So I mentioned to David that I want to build a collection called "Fighter Writers."

Fiction authors who fit the theme:

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry P-38
Roald Dahl - Gladiator or Hurricane
Richard Bach - F-84F

Sorta fiction authors:

Bob Scott - P-40 or F-84
Pierre Clostermann - Tempest

Where it gets difficult is if you writers such as Bert Stiles and Robert Mason? Clearly they were authors, but how do you draw the line between their work and the 1,000,000 other aviation memoirs out there?

(And yes I am sorta kidding with the sorta fiction authors...)

Jim
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datguy
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Beast
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You guys are way too cerebral for me. I get all my fiction from the National Enquirer.
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Aaron_w
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Toady
[ * ]
You've also got

Joseph Heller (Catch 22) who was a B-25 bombardier in Italy.

Arthur C Clarke (well known sci-fi author) was an RAF radar specialist during WW2, he also served as an instructor and held the rank of flight lieutenant by the end of his service in 1946.

Walter Miller (A Canticle for Liebowitz) was a radioman / gunner for the USAAF in Italy.

Frederick Forsyth (various spy thrillers) who was an RAF pilot in the late 50s (flew DH Vampires).

Clive Cussler (various nautical thrillers) was a flight engineer for the USAF (MATS) in the 1950s.

Kind of stretching the theme, but Rod Serling (writer / producer Twilight Zone, Night Gallery) served in the 11th airborne in the Pacific theater.
Aaron Woods
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Greenshirt
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Tim Holland, Southern MD - USA
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There used to be a decal sheet or three just on authors; parallel sheets on actors as well. Don't remember the maker...can't find them as it's early and my google skills are weak in the morning.

Tim
Tim Holland

I'm a "green shirt" because I work on the carrier's flight deck and maintain US Navy aircraft. Safe sorties are my life so we can be anywhere, anytime -- from the Sea.

http://greenshirt-modeler.blogspot.com/
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dknights
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The court of LAST RESORT!
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Greenshirt,Aug 18 2016
11:18 AM
There used to be a decal sheet or three just on authors; parallel sheets on actors as well. Don't remember the maker...can't find them as it's early and my google skills are weak in the morning.

Tim

Illiad makes the sheets with actors who flew.

See here
David M. Knights
Fortes fortuna adiuvat

14 Finished: Special Armor V-2, Airfix P-51
15 Finished: SBS Gladiator engine
16 Finished: Brengun C2 Wasserfall, Merit SS-N-2 Styx, World's smallest diorama, Airfix Hurricane.
17 Finished: Japanese Carrier Deck, Belcher SS-4, Italeri AB41, PLAN Type 039A (not 72nd scale)
18 Finished: NONE
The bench:Platz T-33, Trump. T-34/85, Meng F-106, Airfix P-51 #2, Airfix P-40
Revell MiG-21F-13, Ace Citroen V-11
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dknights
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The court of LAST RESORT!
[ * ]
Aaron_w,Aug 18 2016
05:25 AM
You've also got

Joseph Heller (Catch 22) who was a B-25 bombardier in Italy.

Arthur C Clarke (well known sci-fi author) was an RAF radar specialist during WW2, he also served as an instructor and held the rank of flight lieutenant by the end of his service in 1946.

Walter Miller (A Canticle for Liebowitz) was a radioman / gunner for the USAAF in Italy.

Frederick Forsyth (various spy thrillers) who was an RAF pilot in the late 50s (flew DH Vampires).

Clive Cussler (various nautical thrillers) was a flight engineer for the USAF (MATS) in the 1950s.

Kind of stretching the theme, but Rod Serling (writer / producer Twilight Zone, Night Gallery) served in the 11th airborne in the Pacific theater.

Good catch with Heller and Miller.

Did Clarke ever fly in combat. I am pretty sure that Cussler didn't.

This could turn out to be a nice little collection.
David M. Knights
Fortes fortuna adiuvat

14 Finished: Special Armor V-2, Airfix P-51
15 Finished: SBS Gladiator engine
16 Finished: Brengun C2 Wasserfall, Merit SS-N-2 Styx, World's smallest diorama, Airfix Hurricane.
17 Finished: Japanese Carrier Deck, Belcher SS-4, Italeri AB41, PLAN Type 039A (not 72nd scale)
18 Finished: NONE
The bench:Platz T-33, Trump. T-34/85, Meng F-106, Airfix P-51 #2, Airfix P-40
Revell MiG-21F-13, Ace Citroen V-11
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Greenshirt
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Tim Holland, Southern MD - USA
[ * ]
Theme: Famous Flyers -- any aviator who was famous for something else, like an author or actor, but not famous as a pilot.

I like it...

Tim
Tim Holland

I'm a "green shirt" because I work on the carrier's flight deck and maintain US Navy aircraft. Safe sorties are my life so we can be anywhere, anytime -- from the Sea.

http://greenshirt-modeler.blogspot.com/
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airjiml2
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Beast
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Wow, how did I forget Heller? It's not like I just finished a book on the Bridgebusters.

Jim
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Cosmotiger
Newbie
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Gene Roddenberry flew B-17's in the Pacific Theater of WWII, and was a Pan-Am airline pilot before he took up writing for TV.
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Flying Plastic
Beast
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Capt W.E. Johns (Biggles) - WWI RFC pilot.

Ivan Southall (many wartime flying novels) - Australian Sunderland pilot.

W.R. Bennett (many wartime flying novels) - Australian Spitfire pilot.

James Campbell (wartime flying novels and Bomber Command histories) - Lancaster pilot.

Miles Tripp (wartime flying novels) - Lancaster bomb aimer.

Elleston Trevor (novels including Squadron Airborne) - Bomber Command flight engineer.

Jack Currie (non-fiction writer) - Lancaster and Mosquito pilot, also pre-war dance band singer.

Jack Payne (1930s dance band leader and composer) - WWI RFC pilot.

Billy Cotton (1930s dance band leader and composer) - WWI RFC pilot.

Dan Rowan (1960s comedy writer - Laugh In) - USAAF P-40 pilot.


Yes, it's been a very long time since I last logged in. Greetings all.
Tim Prosser.

I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous!
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keefr22
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Who, me?
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dknights,Aug 18 2016
03:58 AM
...but I am expanding it to all combat service in any war.


Did Richard Bach see combat? I thought he was a Cold War warrior?

Stephen Coonts - 'Flight of the Intruder' etc - certainly qualifies as a fiction author who saw combat

Keith Ryder
Swansea UK

'A plan is vital, but is never more than a basis for change'
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Aaron_w
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Toady
[ * ]
dknights,Aug 18 2016
06:28 AM
Aaron_w,Aug 18 2016
05:25 AM
You've also got

Joseph Heller (Catch 22) who was a B-25 bombardier in Italy.

Arthur C Clarke (well known sci-fi author) was an RAF radar specialist during WW2, he also served as an instructor and held the rank of flight lieutenant by the end of his service in 1946.

Walter Miller (A Canticle for Liebowitz) was a radioman / gunner for the USAAF in Italy.

Frederick Forsyth (various spy thrillers) who was an RAF pilot in the late 50s (flew DH Vampires).

Clive Cussler (various nautical thrillers) was a flight engineer for the USAF (MATS) in the 1950s.

Kind of stretching the theme, but Rod Serling (writer / producer Twilight Zone, Night Gallery) served in the 11th airborne in the Pacific theater.

Good catch with Heller and Miller.

Did Clarke ever fly in combat. I am pretty sure that Cussler didn't.

This could turn out to be a nice little collection.

I would assume that Clarke, Forsyth and Cussler did not engage in combat as their military service entries at Wikipedia are fairly brief. Clarkes military service was primarily related to radar, the flight instructor part seemingly related to training radar operators. Cussler served during Korea, but don't know if he was actually in Korea. Forsyth did fly fighters, and not sure who else you will find to let you build a Vampire. ;)


Merrian C Cooper is quite the character, primarily a screenwriter though (King Kong being his biggest success) rather than a writer of books. He was also a journalist for a time. His flying career includes WW1 bomber pilot, volunteer pilot for Poland in the Polish-Soviet war (1919-1921), POW of both the Germans and Soviets, was on the board of directors of Pan Am and served in WW2 even helping with the planning of the Doolittle Raid.
Aaron Woods
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dixieflyer
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Hero
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James Norman Hall of the Lafayette Escadrille along with another American, Charles Nordhoff of Escadrille Spa.99 not only wrote a two volume history, The Lafayette Flying Corps, but also penned:
Falcons of France
Mutiny on the Bounty fiction based on the event
Men Against the Sea, and
Pitcairn's Island



As an aside, the reason Roddenberry chose the name Khan for his villan is that he could never locate one member of his former crew, whose name was Khan. He thought that by doing that, he might draw him out. AFAIK, he never found his old crewmate.

Warren
"History is the lie we all agree upon."
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ca-15
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Hi David,

Only 2 I can think of straight away -

1. Don Charlwood. RAAF Bomber Command Pilot. He wasn't a full time author (Became an Air Traffic Controller) but wrote 2 well known books. One "No Moon Tonight" is non fiction - a really great account of his experiences in Bomber Command. The other though is a very well known novel in Australia - "All the Green Year" which has been a text at schools for ages.

2. Neville Shute Norway. A bit of a stretch but he was in the RNVR. As Neville Shute he wrote heaps of famous books such as "On the Beach" and "No Highway"

Cheers

Michael
Michael Louey
Melbourne Australia
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