Gunning for the Enemy Wallace McIntosh Dfc and Bar, Dfm

9781904010456

1904010458

When, recently, the Bank of Scotland carried out a survey asking people to name Creat Scots, 'Wallace McIntosh--War Hero was chosen among such illustrious names as John Logie Baird, David Livingstone and Robert Louis Stevenson. Rom into grinding poverty, McIntosh was a few days old when given by his young mother to her parents to bring up. He had not heard of Christmas until he was seven, and never celebrated his birthday until his late teens, but he could steal, kill and skin a sheep before he was twelve and snare anything that could be cooked in a pot. Leaving school at thirteen he was determined to escape the constant struggle to survive. "Gunning for the Enemy tells the moving story of how the RAF finally accepted Mclntosh after at first rejecting him, but then initially gave him the lowliest of jobs. Only by a fluke was he trained as an air gunner. During his time with 207 Squadron, based at Langar, Notes and Spilsby, Lines, he flew over fifty sorties in World War Two. Although Bomber Command did not record details of 'kills' by air gunners, Wallace, who shot down eight enemy aircraft with one probable, is widely believed to be its top sharpshooter and at one time he was its most decorated also. He had many hairy incidents and his prodigious memory for detail enables him to recall numerous amazing escapes from death and how each and every night he and his comrades dramatically took the war to the enemy. Now in his eighties, Wallace McIntosh is a remarkable and unforgettable character who overcame all the appalling odds against him, creating hope from nothing and success in life beyond his wildest dreams.