Pathfinders by Cecil Lewis #IWM #WartimeClassics #Review

 Today I am delighted to feature another in the recently released Imperial War Museum Wartime Classics Series: Pathfinders by Cecil Lewis. 

 

First published in 1944 and set over the course of one night in 1942, the story follows the fate of six crew members of a Wellington bomber ‘P for Pathfinder’ thrown together by chance from different corners of the world.  They each reflect on the paths of their own lives, as they embark on a fateful mission deep into the heart of Nazi Germany.  Cecil Lewis’ novel examines the life of every man in turn, rendering a moving account of each as not merely a nameless crew member, but as an individual with a life lived, ‘a life precious to some, or one... these men with dreams and hopes and plans of things to come.”

Cecil Lewis was a flying instructor for the RAF during the Second World War where he taught hundreds of pilots to fly, including his own son.  It was while doing this training that he wrote Pathfinders.  Pupils were graded by the time it took them to fly solo –the best became fighters and then bombers.  The RAF’s Bomber Command was the only branch of the armed forces that could take direct action against Germany and in 1942 the strategic air offensive changed from precision to area bombing where whole cities were targeted in order to destroy factories as well as the morale of those who worked in them.   

The ‘pathfinders’ of the story were needed because often the bombers could not find the towns and cities they were destined to attack at night, let alonethe industrial centres within.  The crew used coloured marker flares to guide the bombers to their targets and the crews selected (often from the USA, Canada and NZ as well as Britain) were the best nightflying crews who were able to find the target unaided.  As a pilot who took part in both World Wars, Cecil Lewis brings his unique experience to bear,shining a light on this vital and sometimes contested aspect of Britain’s Second World War focusing on the sacrifice made by the Allied airmen it depicts.

My Thoughts

Of all the Wartime Classics which I have read so far, I would say that this has been my favourite. I loved the structure of the novel which gave us the backstory of each crew member at a time. You certainly feel that this is a crew of individuals with a common purpose. Class, age, background seems to make no difference to them. They each have an important task to do and are among the best in their field. 

    I found the image of the Pathfinder aircraft flying through the night to be so arresting. As the introduction stresses, the policy of bombing has become controversial but this novel does not enter into the morality of war in this way. Pathfinders is really showing us the individuals and telling us their stories. By the time you get through each crew member's story, you are emotionally invested in them and given the opening scene, fearful for them. This is an emotional read at times, especially when you learn of their families and friends they have left at home. Overall, you are given a message of hope and renewal. 

In short: An affecting look at human courage

 

About the Author

 

Cecil Lewis(1898 -1997) was a British fighter ace in the First World War and his memoir Sagittarius Rising became a classic of the literature from that war, considered by many to be the definitive account of aerial combat.  He was a flying instructor for the RAF during the SecondWorld War where he taught hundreds of pilots to fly, including his own son.  After the war he was one of the founding executives of the BBC and enjoyed friendships with many of the creative figures of the day,including George Bernard Shaw, winning an Academy Award for co-writing the 1938 film adaptation of Shaw’s Pygmalion.  He had a long and varied career but retained a passion for flying all his life.  In 1969 he sailed a boat to Corfu where he spent the remainder of his life, dying two months short of his 99th birthday.  He was the last surviving British fighter ace of the First World War.  

 

About the Imperial War Museums Wartime Classics series

 
In September 2019, to coincide with the 80th Anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War, the IWM published the first four titles in a fiction series - the Imperial War Museum Wartime Classics. Pathfinders is the next in the series which now amounts to ten.

Alan Jeffreys, (Senior Curator, Second World War, Imperial War Museums) has written an introduction to each book that sets them in context and gives the wider historical background.  He says, ‘researching the Wartime Classics has been one of the most enjoyable projects I’ve worked on in my years at IWM.   It’s been

very exciting rediscovering these fantastic novels and helping to bring them to the wider readership they so deserve’. 

IWM (Imperial War Museums) tells the story of people who have lived, fought and died in conflicts involving Britain and the Commonwealth since the First World War.

Our unique collections, made up of the everyday and the exceptional, reveal stories of people, places, ideas and events. Using these, we tell vivid personal stories and create powerful physical experiences across our five museums that reflect the realities of war as both a destructive and creative force. We challenge people to look at conflict from different perspectives, enriching their understanding of the causes, course and consequences of war and its impact on people’s lives.

IWM’s five branches which attract over 2.5 million visitors each year are IWM London, IWM’s flagship branch that recently transformed with new, permanent and free First World War Galleries alongside new displays across the iconic Atrium to mark the Centenary of the First World War; IWM North, housed in an iconic award-winning building designed by Daniel Libeskind; IWM Duxford, a world renowned aviation museum and Britain's best preserved wartime airfield; Churchill War Rooms, housed in Churchill’s secret headquarters below Whitehall; and the Second World War cruiser HMS Belfast. 

 

 You can read an extract of From the City, From the Plough here , read an extract from Trial by Battle here , read a review on Plenty Under the Counter here and a guest post on Eight Hours from England here  , a review of Patrol here and a review of Warriors for the Working Day here. 

Book link: Pathfinders by Cecil Lewis  is published by IWM and can be ordered here:   www.iwmshop.org.uk at the online IWM shop.’    |  Amazon UK

Thanks to IWM and Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for a copy of the book and a place on the tour. 

Check out the rest of the tour!