Annual Memorial Day Post: 2024

I recently finished the audiobook for Jay Stout's Hell's Angels: The True Story of the 303rd Bomb Group in World War II. 

Amazon.com: Hell's Angels: The True Story of the 303rd Bomb Group in World War II: 9780425274101: Stout, Jay A.: Books

I've written before about when after getting a press ride in a B-17 Flying Fortress I was awed by the vulnerability of bomber crews in those big slow planes. The sheet metal on those beasts was weak protection against the cannon shells of the Luftwaffe's fighters. 

Stout's book is magnificent, dumping a load of additional context over my previous experience. It brings to life the breadth of the bomber crew experience. Much has been written before about this subject in unit histories, personal memoirs, and other histories about specific aircraft. Stout explains in the book he differentiates his work by trying to expose a large diversity of experiences. And he does a very good job, putting into one place so many of the parts of that subject. 

Previous books discuss in detail the combat operations and history of strategic bombing, but Stout goes far beyond that, while still including key examples of harrowing battles. He shares information about the administrators, the officers responsible for creating the 303 Bomb Group and the logistical challenges and high-level politics they faced. He shares selected stories of the crews and pilots, from training through their final missions. There's also insight into German anti-aircraft crews and the civilians' understandable anger toward the American bomber crewmen that parachuted into Germany from a stricken aircraft. There's a little discussion about the effectiveness of "strategic bombing" and how it did have an effect, even as academics proclaim such campaigns to be failures. Stout includes stories of downed airmen that survived and returned, and those that didn't, and the ones that endured serious injury and lengthy recoveries. There are stories about how the Americans, flying from bases in England, interfaced with the British. There are stories about the planes and arms and even an experimental bomb that failed in the field and whose lasting legacy was its formidable shipping crate that crews repurposed as a bar.

And of course, the combat. Gruesome and heartbreaking stories about combat brutal to both sides. Strikes from enemy fighters or anti-aircraft guns would tear parts of the airplane off or even completely sever it in half. Crew could lose limbs or take severe wounds. 

Even on a mission sans enemy contact, the men suffered greatly against the elements of high altitude. The bombers had onboard oxygen supplies that each crewman could hook a mask into, but when this failed they had to use individual oxygen bottles. If a crewmember went too long without oxygen they would develop hypoxia and become disoriented or pass out. The oxygen-poor environment was further complicated by extreme cold. Imagine trying to handle instruments or guns with cold hands. The one benefit of the cold is that it would slow or halt bleeding when the men were injured, however, they would then have to deal with the onset of the bleeding as the bombers returned to a lower altitude and warmer air. 

It was nearly suicide to go up in the bombers during a daylight raid, and then keep doing it for a tour of twenty-five to thirty-five missions, and yet that's what our greatest generation did, again and again. I always remember the thing they say when I have the fortune to speak with these crews: "We had a job to do."

Hell's Angels is my second Stout book, the first being his first, Hornet over Kuwait. His writing continues to improve, and it's accompanied by tremendous research. He's become quite prolific, now having penned many historical books and I'm going to have to get them all.

Thanks to all veterans. Today it'll be a classic burger and a beer for you.

Review: Safer Home SH506 Indoor Fly Trap

We have regular battles with flying insects in my home. Some are fruit flies that come from fruit we buy at the market, and some are big horseflies that come in when our dogs like us to leave a door open for them so they can go in and out of the house. And we have mosquitos, who have no business being indoors but somehow always find their way to the corner of a door sill and get inside when the door opens.

Hand-to-hand combat is tough with these critters. Mosquitos are often slow enough that I can smash them between my hands, but the big flies are too fast and the fruit flies are hard to see. I don't want to resort to chemical warfare because I don't like the smell of most commercial pest toxins and the general idea of having my airspace filled with what is essentially nerve gas bothers me even though product labels say the levels of toxin in spray insecticides is not enough to harm humans.

A couple years ago we bought a large bug zapper. It does work but it's big, ungainly, and requires power. While it is effective, we find that unless conditions are right (room is mostly dark except for the bug zapper) it doesn't really get the big flies. 

I looked to tech and science to find something smaller and maybe better. 

I took a gamble on the well-reviewed Safer Home SH506 plug-in unit. This is a low energy LED device that plugs into the wall like a night light and generates a cool blue light. The device has a small panel you attach to it that is smooth one one side and sticky on the other. The light draws insects to it and they get stuck on the adhesive side. 

It's a modern version of fly paper, which can be effective but is unsightly and exposed enough that you could accidentally stick yourself to it. It also depended on flies happening to connect with it, and the more effective it was the more unsightly it became as it turned into a fly graveyard. The SH506 keeps the carcasses of the insects on the wall-facing side of the panel, so you don't see the nastiness until you go to check it.

Did the SH506 work for me? Yes and no. I like that it's fairly unobtrusive and probably requires only low power. I like that it doesn't require chemicals. During the first week of use it did a nice job of drawing the fruit flies but didn't do a good job of catching the big flies. However, one bonus is that it did draw in one mosquito. 

One other con: The plug design could stand to be a bit more compact. It needs one socket but it just large enough that it can interfere with use of the adjacent one in the classic two-socket configuration. 

The SH506 runs about $15 for the unit with two sticky panels. Panel refills are about $2.25 each in refill packs. Both are available at Amazon. 

Would I buy it again? Yes, I'd rate it 4 out of 5 stars. I'm disappointed in the bulky plug and that it didn't lure in the big flies that are the most annoying, but it's much less an eyesore than the bug zapper and probably runs on less power. Replacing the panel with a refill is super easy and will take all of 5 seconds. I will consider getting a second one.