"Richard Eager" A Pilot's Story from Tennessee Eagle Scout to General Montgomery's "Flying Fortress"

Book excerpt: Captain Richard E. Evans was an American B-17 "Flying Fortress" pilot. He flew 55 combat missions and during that time was also chosen to fly British Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery to wherever the General needed to be throughout North Africa and Italy. Evans and "Monty" travelled together during a particularly dangerous phase of the war. The Allied forces were just beginning to turn back the brutal Axis armies that had invaded North Africa and were closing in on Egypt in an effort to gain control of the strategically vital Suez Canal. Over the deserts of Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, a rocky but honest and respectful friendship formed between the young American pilot, Captain Evans, and his British commander, Field Marshall Montgomery.This is also a tale of a young boy from Knoxville, Tennessee, who spread his wings, quite literally, to fly throughout the world in the service of the US Army Air Corps during World War II. It is the story of a close family told lovingly by one of its five sons, four of whom would live to serve in and survive the Second World War. It is also a glimpse of Middle American lives through small windows of time, reflecting the nineteen twenties, thirties, and forties. This is a first-hand account of a young man coming of age just as the Second World War erupted.