A classic piece of Canadian military history, previously published in England, this edition also contains a new chapter on Teddy Blenkensop from Victoria, BC. Failed to Return is both the stories of the men in the Bomber Command of the Royal Canadian Air Force and the narrative of one of Canada's most strategic contributions to the Commonwealth effort of World War II, the BCATP. Service members from England, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada were part of this training program based in and funded by Canada. Because of this, once trained, Bomber Command units were formed from a mixture of all four countries. The introduction describes the formation of the training program; the subsequent sixteen chapters detail the lives and missions of the men who died in this endeavour. Filled with black-and-white photos, expansive details, and statistics, these servicemen come to life. Like all influential history texts, extensive footnotes, an index, and a bibliography subdivided into general history, personal experiences, and online sources provide a primary source for an in-depth inquiry project.

Other End Matter: About the authors
Images: b&w photographs
Bibliography: Yes
Index: Yes

Source: Books BC - BC Books for Schools

Keith Ogilvie is a former aerospace engineer who worked on Canada’s space program in the 1970s and ’80s, before moving into the field of international development, supporting governance and economic development projects. He is also a former pilot (who owned an ex-RCAF trainer), a sailor, an explorer, and the bestselling author of The Spitfire Luck of Skeets Ogilvie.

Keith C. Ogilvie's profile page

"From the trials and tribulations of training in the BCATP to campaigns in support of victory. Sixteen meticulously curated stories exposing the breadth and depth of the precarious and too often ill-fated lives of the Bomber Boys of WW2. A fine tribute to those who failed to return.”
—Lisa Jean Russ, author of Last Flight to Stuttgart: Searching for the Bomber Boys of Lancaster EQ-P

“During the Second World War, thousands of brave young Canadians flew bombers against targets in Europe. If they knew the overwhelming odds against them, they chose to ignore them. Failed to Return tells of those men and brings home the harsh realities faced by the bomber crews.“
—Dave Obee , Editor and Publisher, Times Colonist, Victoria

“This collection of stories, at once tragic and inspiring, proves the significant contribution Canadians made to the Allied war effort in the air during WWII. With an accessible, thoughtful introduction deftly setting the scene, the book builds on existing scholarship by including a previously unpublished account of yet another brave soul who failed to return.”
—Kristin Semmens, Assistant Teaching Professor in History at the University of Victoria and author of Seeing Hitler’s Germany: Tourism in the Third Reich.

“Of the 40,000 Canadians who served as aircrew in Bomber Command during the Second World War, almost 10,000 lost their lives. In its collection of portraits of some of these Canadians and their comrades in various crews lost, Failed to Return puts a human face to this statistic and helps ensure the memory of their sacrifice is not forgotten.”
—Mark Zuehlke, author of the Canadian Battle Series