The harrowing life of a Wearside 20-year-old who had only a 20 per cent chance of surviving the war

Local historian and author Jane Gulliford Lowes has produced her new book which is called Above Us The Stars.

It is all about her great uncle, “Bomber Boy” Jack Clyde who was a 20-year-old wireless operator from Seaham Harbour.

Jack survived one of the bloodiest and most controversial campaigns of the Second World War, which claimed the lives of over 55,000 brave young airmen.

However, he never spoke about his experience after the end of hostilities.

He was part of Bomber Command and, with only a 20% chance of surviving their first five of thirty scheduled raids, Jack and his crew faced not only the steepest of odds but also their own mounting fears and trauma.

Above Us The Stars provides an intimate glimpse into the everyday lives of an RAF bomber crew, and the horrors faced both by the airmen and German civilians “on the ground”.

The new publication describes the life of Jack and his fellow crew members Reg, Bill, Freddie, Ken, Roy and George.

Jane told the Sunderland Echo: “When I began researching the book, I wanted to know why so many men like Jack remained silent about their experiences and why were they unwilling or unable to tell their stories?”

Jane has used contemporary documents, Jack’s own notes, Squadron records, family testimony, interviews with Bomber Command veterans and German civilians to produce Above Us The Stars.

She has pieced together not only the story of Jack and his 10 Squadron Halifax bomber crew, but also that of the family he left behind in County Durham.

The Squadron’s operations are detailed from the start of the Battle of the Ruhr (a five month bombing campaign) in the late Spring of 1943, until the end of hostilities.

The ongoing impact of the war such as rationing, air raids, separation, grief and hope is all covered.

The book looks at its impact upon the Clyde family and their friends and neighbours in the small mining town of Seaham Harbour.

She said that the events of the Second World War have been felt for generations after.

Jane told the Echo: “The Second World War ended decades before I was born, and yet it shaped me.

"The emotions experienced by those who endured those six long years – the hardships, the fear, the pain of separation, the emptiness of uncertainty, grief, love, disappointment and ultimately joy and relief – lived on, diminished but never entirely extinguished.

"Some, like my grandparents, dealt with those emotions by talking about them constantly. Their history became my history. Others, like Jack, were never able to talk about what had happened, and never revealed their stories and memories to their loved ones; I wanted to find out why.”

Above Us The Stars has just been released, and is available from www.justcuriousjane.com, and all good bookshops and online retailers, in paperback and ebook formats.

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