Review: One of “The Few”, a NYMAS Review (New York Military Affairs Symposium & Strategy Page), Ronald Mann
The Battle of Britain stands tall in the heroics of World War 2. Many of us are in awe of The Few. This book tells the personal story of one those men; William Nelson. This is not a story of the Battle alone but of one its participants and his family. This is also a work of Jewish history as it explores his origins as a first generation Canadian, the son of immigrants and his community in Montreal. The story is well researched and documented …I highly recommend this book. Especially to those with interest in the men of the RAF, their actual lives during that time and North American Jewish History…It is the reality of life in wartime. We do not feel the action and details of flight as in Geoffrey Willum’s account of the battle; “First Light”. We do learn of the life and loss of one man and his family, a story worth reading and remembering.
Review: Biography “Several Notches Above Average”, Battle of Britain Memorial, Geoff Simpson FRHistS
Now “Willie” Nelson has been rescued from the shadows by Peter J Usher in a stand-out biography which budding authors and some already claiming that status would do well to study. If you have no such ambitions and are merely interested in the Battle of Britain, then you should also read this book. It is several notches above the average. …
Release: Battle of Britain Spitfire Ace, The life and loss of one of the few, Flight Lieutenant William Henry Nelson, DFC
Battle of Britain Spitfire Ace is the story of a young Canadian who in a short time, and for a brief time, mastered Britain’s most legendary war machine, the Spitfire. It is also the story of a young English woman who was for a short time his wife, and for a long time his widow, and of their son who for much of his life knew little about his father and is still learning about him. Their stories, based on their letters, diaries, and photos, unfold in richly detailed context as the setting moves from Montreal in Nelson’s youth, England in the last years of peace, the first (and largely forgotten) months of the air war against Nazi Germany, Canada during the war, and finally to post-war England.