David Alan Johnson (1) (1950–)

When WW II broke out, many American young men looking for adventure traveled to England to join the Royal Air Force. Because the US Neutrality Act made doing so an illegal act punishable with fines and prison, the FBI patrolled the border with Canada and turn men back. However many made it despite this. Some joined the Royal Canadian Air Force while others went directly to England and joined the RAF.

Quickly the men in charge of the RAF realized that these Americans were undisciplined and free spirits and wondered if they should not send them back home. Some were sent home but after a few died because of the not following instructions and rules, they did fit in better but never fully accepted RAF rules. Eventually they became strong pilots and took their tole of the German airmen.

The book discusses the memories of the English about the influx of Americans and the American airman's impression of England. Both saw the other as a foreign country.

The author asked surviving veterans of the period why they went to fight another country's war and most did not have an answer.… (más)

This is more a series of anecdotes than a formal history. It does a good to excellent job of setting the young volunteers in the social setting of early 1940’s America, British military service and the UK in general. All of that is quite interesting and shines light on a neglected corner of a vast war. However, it is neither an operational history of the Eagle Squadrons in the RAF or of what the Eagle Squadrons meant in terms of the larger war. Also the writing is at best adequate and often seemed in need of a good edit. That said I quite enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone with a serious interest on the US drift from Isolation into World War 2.… (más)