And Some Fell on Stony Ground

In June 1941, Flight Sergeant Leslie Mann, a tail gunner in a British bomber, was shot down over Germany and taken into captivity. After the war, wanting to record the experiences of the RAF’s ‘Bomber Boys’, he wrote down his inner thoughts and feelings as a fictional narrative, recently brought to the attention of Imperial War Museums. Visceral, shocking and unglamorous, it transmits as rarely before the horrors of aerial warfare, the corrosive effects of fear, and the psychological torment of the young men involved.

Although presented as fiction, the book’s solid basis in lived experience makes it ring true – the sights, sounds, smells, and above all the emotional strain are intensely evoked with a novelist’s skill. Providing a unique glimpse into a deadly profession and a traumatic time, And Some Fell on Stony Ground is a fascinating historical artefact in its own right. This compelling story is introduced and placed in context by historian Richard Overy, author of the acclaimed book, The Bombing War (Allen