Crew

The story of the men who flew RAAF Lancaster J for Jig

By Mike Colman

Published by Allen & Unwin
RRP $32.99 in paperback • ISBN 9781742379111

On the evening of 24 February 1944, RAAF Lancaster bomber J for Jig took off from Binbrook in Lincolnshire, the home of 460 Squadron, one of the most renowned Australian units of the war.

On board was the standard Lancaster crew of seven: all young men – five Australians, two Scots – whose mission was to bomb factories in Schweinfurt, Germany.

But J for Jig never reached its target. It was shot down over France.

This book is about the seven lives on that aircraft.

Some were to die that night, and others were to survive, withstanding incredible hardships and adventures as prisoners and evaders in a war that was far from over.

This story began as a magazine article for QWeekend (published by The Courier-Mail) but quickly morphed into a book that brilliantly recreates J for Jig’s final mission and the story of those who survived.

Through the stories of this one Lancaster crew, Colman has captured the achievements, loss and enduring legacy of a generation now almost gone.

Writing this story, he says, has brought him to a real understanding what words like duty, sacrifice, selflessness, discipline and honour really mean.