I read quite a bit of WWII fiction and nonfiction. While many firsthand accounts are fascinating, none are as beautifully written as this one. Not only was Mr. Murphy heroic, he was a very gifted writer and an obviously highly intelligent man. This was riveting to read and I recommended it to my husband and father after I finished.

The story of Frank Murphy’s war as a navigator in a B17 bomber is excellent. His memoirs make for poignant and riveting reading. I loved this and looked forward to reading it because had an uncle who was a member of a B-17 ground crew in England who told me his stories of reaping crippled aircraft.
After a brief opening chapter of his boyhood, the story moves quickly through his flight training, education in the arcane science of navigating through the skies in all kinds of weather and his arrival in England.From then on his story is one of his war, and his missions over Europe. There is not a boring moment.
There are moments of fear and terror as he sits in the nose of a B-17 while undergoing attack buy flak and the Luftwaffe as he watched planes nearby going down Murphy, in his early twenties as were most of his comrades,went out to the flight line with the clear knowledge that each mission might be their last. Then he was shot down over Germany, existing in a prison camp for nearly two years. The description of these times are of men livin boredom and despair, but also with the courage of being strong in face of everything.
This is a book for every WW2 and/ or history buff to read. It is one of the best personal memories that I have eve read.
Incidentally, many of the event described in this book are depicted in the excellent movie “Twelve O’Clock High” one of the best depiction of the men of the USAAF who flew the missions mentioned in “Luck of the Draw” .Another fine movie of this era is “ Command Decision” Both pictures clearly depict the strain on the pilots and aircrew who went on these missions and of the commanders who had to send them out into the maelstrom.

What was it like to be shot down flying over Nazi Germany? What was it like to be a POW in WWII Germany? Get the inside story by reading Frank Murpy's memoir..

Frank Murphy, a boy from Georgia, was always interested in flying. He began working on his pilot's license before WWII broke out. He ended up in the Air Force where, much to his dismay, he learned he didn't qualify to be a pilot because of his poor vision. He excelled at math though and so was tapped to be a navigator on a bomber crew. Murphy was stationed in England where the Eighth Air Force bomber crews flew repeated missions to Europe.

Nearing the end of his rotation, Frank's B-17 was shot down and he spent the rest of the war in a German POW camp. He was grateful though because not all of his crew survived that mission. Murphy ended up being separated from the rest of his surviving crew members in the camp.

The story of what he and the other POWs survived is a powerful tale of courage and the will to survive. The audiobook is read by Jonas Moore who will star in the upcoming TV series about Captain Murphy, Master of the Air. Not to be missed by anyone interested in the heroism of those who served.

Title: Luck of the Draw
Author: Frank Murphy
Release Date: February 28th, 2023
Page Count: 512
Format: Netgalley and Audiobook
Start Date: April 21st, 2023
Finish Date: April 22nd, 2023

Rating: 5 Stars

Review:

This is the first book that I've read that is told from somebody who experienced the event in question. Most of the WW2 books I've been reading are about the events in general. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's all educational. It just hits different when you're reading about it from a person who was actually there. I also know that this person went through a lot. To live through it is horrible enough, but they were brave enough to live through it again to write this book for us to read. I especially loved that their family wrote forewords. It's so beautiful! I fully recommend this book!

Important to Note: Nonfiction book about WW2

I reviewed this book for the Wall Street Journal, where it was published on March 9 and more recently listed as one of the 10 best of the month.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for an advanced copy of this book.

I am interested in WWII history, from many different perspectives, and particularly from a first person account. The author describes his time during the war, flying with the 100 Bombardment Group in Europe and his experience as one of the few survivors after his B-17 Flying Fortress was shot down over Germany and he spent months in a German POW camp. His story was interesting to me as my father was a Holocaust survivor, so hearing other's experiences, thought different, sheds more light on that time period for me.

This book illustrates human's amazing survival instinct, regardless of incredibly horrendous conditions. My father always said, of his experience in the German camps,."A body can get used to almost anything and you have to go on."

Frank Murphy is a hero by anyone's standards. This rerelease of his book is outstanding. Written by Murphy it documents his time with the 8th Air Force's "Bloody One Hundreth". The account starts with his growing up years in Atlanta and ends with his release from German captivity at Stalag VIIA in April 1944. It briefly recounts his career in the years after and lets the reader see how the WWII years affected his life after. This new edition contains comments from his children and grandchildren who seek to preserve the legacy of Frank Murphy and others who brought Hitler's deadly regime to its knees in WWII. Murphy's legacy is also preserved in film thanks to this book and his careful documentation of what happened to his fellow fliers. "Masters of the Air" a new film by Speilburg and Hanks will feature Murphy and others in the miniseries due to air in the spring of 2023. For fans and readers of books by and about the Greatest Generation you will love this book. If you aren't a fan of that genre you should be. Frank Murphy and the stories of that era are legendary and deserve to be told and the men and women remembered for their amazing contributions. Thanks to #NetGalley#LuckoftheDraw for the opportunity to read and review this book. and learn about Frank Murphy.

This memoir combines aviation/military history, family history and a compelling story of life as a World War II prisoner of war. This updated version of Frank Murphy’s earlier memoir contains loving forewords by Murphy’s daughter and granddaughter and information about an upcoming Apple TV show about the unit in which Murphy served.
As was the case with many men and women of his generation, Georgia-born attorney Frank Murphy returned from serving as an Army air navigator in World War II and went on with his life: college, marriage, career, and family filled his days. No looking back.
However, as readers will learn in “Luck of the Draw,” there was much to look back upon. Murphy wanted to be a pilot but ended up serving as a navigator. He was part of a crew flying bombing missions over Germany until his plane was shot down and Murphy was taken prisoner. He spent the rest of the war in POW camps.
As the daughter of a World War II vet, most interesting to me was Murphy’s time after his capture. I admit to skimming over some of the military history sections that were a large part of the beginning of Murphy’s story. The story of what life was life as a prisoner was compelling. It is history worth remembering. Thank you to Murphy and his generation for what they did for us.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Murphy’s story.

I love memoirs, and I love learning about WWII. What do you get when you combine these two loves? Frank Murphy's history book, Luck Of The Draw: My Story Of The Air War In Europe.

I am shocked and amazed at the amount of research that went into writing this book; although I know others shared information with Murphy, this help wouldn’t have made it any easier to get the published memoir I read, out of Murphy’s words in his leather-bound notebook. Murphy shares his beginnings in the military, and how he went from being a navigator in the 100th 8th Air Force's Bomb Group to a prisoner of war when his B-17 aircraft was taken down. This book brought me another side to WWII than I have previously read, and I know Murphy's courageous war efforts, along with those efforts from others, will forever remain in my mind.

Reading and listening to the letters Murphy sent home to his Mum had me on the verge of tears countless times. How could mothers have sent their young sons off to war the way they did? The thought easily breaks my heart in such a guttural way. Day after day these men, (boys really), fought with all they had; Murphy said it was the love and camaraderie for his crew-mates that kept him moving forward, putting himself in harm’s way daily – something so unimaginable, but was simply what was done.

I learned an incredible amount while reading this history book, but the following information specifically stands out to me: Aircrafts were named by their American bomber crews (names like Bastard’s Bungalow and Mugwump and Aw-R-Go). A milk-run is a mission without event. Flak (from the German word Fliegerabwehrkannonen) is antiaircraft fire from the enemy shot at aircraft. When a book can combine history and facts, share heart and soul, all while teaching me something? I think that’s a book that lessons should focus around in schools.

Luck Of The Draw: My Story Of The Air War In Europe is for anyone that has loved historical fiction like The Nightingale and The Diamond Eye and has wanted to learn more, for anyone generally wanting to learn more about WWII, for anyone interested in aircraft and/or for anyone looking to dip their toe into the history book genre.

(The heroic stories from Murphy and his 8th Air Force’s 100th Bomb Group will be portrayed in forthcoming "Masters Of The Air," an Apple TV series from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. Murphy's book was first published in 2001, but I read the re-released 2023 version.)

I know I will be buying this book for my non-fiction shelf, will be referencing it when needed, and will teach Adalynn from it when she’s older.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the complimentary copy to read and review.

Ok ,so who doesn't want to see a new Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg movie? This is the book that their newest movie is based on. Frank Murphy is one of the few survivors from the 100th Bombardment Group, who cheated death for months in a German POW camp after being shot out of his B-17 Flying Fortress. Frank tells his story in this wonderful and powerful story that was super hard to put down and was highly enjoyable.

This book is an autobiography by Frank Murphy who was a pilot during World War II who flew bombing raids over Germany. The books covers his training as a pilot and then his shipment over to England and what took place there. He is shot down and is put in the Stalag that was featured in the movie the Great Escape. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your view of what happened to the majority of the escapees, he was in a different part of the camp when it occurred. The book was good when it focused on his life, but unfortunately this reissue is bogged down with a number of tedious appendixes and listing of aircraft trying to make the book appear more robust.

I received a free ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon, Facebook and my nonfiction book review blog.

Luck of the Draw
By Frank Murphy

Mr. Murphy was the navigator for the 100th Bomb Group which flew missions from Britain over Western Europe and Germany during World War II until his plane was shot down and he became a prisoner of war in Germany. This is his story in his own words.

Like many men of the "Greatest Generation", Frank and his compatriots didn't consider themselves heroes. They were just regular guys "doing the right thing". This memoir chronicles Frank's journey from his enlistment through training and his assignment to Great Britain to bombing raids and ultimately the deprivations of a prison camp. And like those same men, Frank did not talk about his war – the successful raids, but also the horrendous toll of planes and crews lost in this brutal war.

Many years later Frank – one of the lucky ones who came home – decided to write this memoir to remember the experiences, and the men who were not so lucky. This recounting is dramatic in its matter-of-fact presentation. The story is amazing and horrifying. For me, there is one line that sums it all up: Frank describes two of this crew killed in action as "…two young American airmen [who] gave their nation their most precious possession – all their tomorrows."

Thanks to Frank's daughter and granddaughter for the re-release of this book. We must never forget.

Luck of the Draw by Frank Murphy is a courageous story of the Air War in Europe.
And I must say this is an outstanding and inspiring story.
A great piece of nonfiction/history.
Full of interesting facts and an incredible true story about something so important, real and raw I enjoyed it.
And now I honestly can't wait to see this TV Series, Masters of the Air.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Frank Murphy was a navigator with the 100th Bombardment Group in World War II. In Luck of the Draw, you will experience a sense of duty that Murphy and the crews of the era felt. Fly on combat missions with him, and remember The Great Escape? Take a step back in time and experience one of history’s most famous prison breaks. You’ll be in awe while reading Murphy’s story.

Frank Murphy was a World War II pilot, shot down over enemy territory. His story is quite similar to other accounts, with minor exceptions. Unlike the books that chronicle the brutality of life in a German POW camp, Murphy’s time of incarceration seems more like an episode of Hogan’s Heroes. He played in a band and took part in skits and plays. He received letters and packages from home and the Red Cross. Only toward the end of the war when the fleeing Germans marched their POWs through the snow did conditions become cruel, with those unable to keep up left to die in the snow.

Perhaps most interesting, Murphy was in the same POW camp that inspired the (based on fact) movie, The Great Escape (1963), starring a motorcycle-riding Steve McQueen. However, Murphy lived in a different sector of the camp and was not part of the prison break.

Murphy requested a transfer with two friends to that sector, but he had just joined the band and he didn't want to disappoint his bandmates. Murphy made the hard decision to decline the transfer.

Of the 76 who snuck out of the camp, only three made it to England. The Gestapo captured and executed 50 men on direct orders from Adolf Hitler. Twenty-three were recaptured and returned to prison.

The title of Murphy’s book, Luck of the Draw, underscores the idea that he could have been killed on any mission, but luck played out for him to return home to his family after the war.

Murphy’s story is short. Evidently, it was published previously and is being re-released with a forward by family members, a list of his crew members, pages and pages of acknowledgments, an introduction, an extensive prologue, a broad back-story leading to WWII, including the history of military aircraft. My husband and I listened on a trip in our car for over an hour and the actual story about Murphy still hadn’t started. When it did, it began with his ancestors and his formative years. After Murphy relates his story, seven appendices and a bibliography are added at the end. Most of the information that bookends the meat of this volume are tedious facts, more suitable for a reference book.

For lack of enjoyable content, I can only offer three stars for Luck of the Draw.

The history of the Eighth Air Force is a storie one. It has been recounted many times by historians and participants alike. Frank Murphy falls into the latter category. I was at first discouraged by a long discourse over the history of the tactics developed in the run of to WWII, various moves his family made while growing up and his grammar school education. I nearly gave up but I'm glad I didn't. All of this was, I think, Murphy's way of doing as good and as thorough a job as he could. Throughout the book we see this with a myriad of lists of who took part in various raids, their ranks etc. I quickly discovered I could skip these parts and lose nothing. By the end of the book I understood that all of these men meant a great deal to him and for him these additional details were not just important from a historical point of view but that to leave them out would have been disloyal to their memory.

Accuracy also is very important to Murphy. One important example is that of the raid on Munster on October 10, 1943. Many of those involved, as well as some historians, have stated that the aiming point for the raid was the center of the city and the civilian population. THis would have been a significant change in strategy since the US, at the time, had an explicit policy to bomb strategic targets and not civillian population Importantly, Murphy, a navigator, and his friend the bombardier Augie Casper were not told that at all and believed the aiming point was the rail yards. Decades later, the matter is still controverted. Murphy cared enough to hire a plane to retrace the route of the raid and talk with German eye witnesses. He found that all of the targets proposed as "the " aiming point were in fact lined up in a direct line and states from first hand experience that it was not unusual for different groups to be given different aiming points.

Murphy is meticulous in describing what transpired prior to and after raids and during his captivity. He makes an equal effort in describing what went on during them but in the end says simply that unless you have been in combat yourself there is no way to describe it. Irrespective of his opinion, he does a fine job describing the famous raid on Regensburg in August of 1943. Writing over 40 years later, he ably describes what it felt like in the immediate aftermath of a raid, even what the interior of the aircraft looked and smelled like.

There is no doubt this book could have used an editor. However, Murphy was an actor in and witness to some of histories greatest air battles and survived a different sort of ordeal as a POW. He, thankfully, was also a superb writer who had the ability to put us at the scene. Despite its flaws, this book deserves 5 stars.

Another telling of personal views of WWII. Our heros are leaving us at a rapid rate and soon their stories will be lost to the winds. This telling is personal and up close. Bombers over the skies and harrowing tales of POWs.

Thank you for the chance to read and review this book.

narrative, memoir, memories, biography, prisoners-of-war, air-war, airman, WW2, us-army, bombing, Germany, pow-camps, military-history, historical-figures, historical-places-events, historical-research, history-and-culture****

Meticulously documented and yet very personal.
Very detailed info on air raids of the European war perfect for Air Force personnel past and present.
As a civilian, while I felt outclassed in much of the narrative and the extensive appendices, the years in the Stalag were personalized and moving. It's a book well worth diving into again and again.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin via NetGalley. Thank you

Frank Murphy served in the Eighth Air Force as a B-17 navigator during the Second World War. In October 1943, during “Black Week”—when the Mighty Eighth lost many aircrews during attacks on Germany—Murphy’s plane was shot down and he was taken prisoner. German soldiers took him to Stalag Luft III where he stayed until January 1945, when he was forced to march to a different prisoner of war camp. He remained at Stalag Luft VII-A until the camp was freed by American troops near the end of the war.

Murphy’s descriptions of his time with his crew aboard Bastard’s Bungalow (their B-17), their experiences in battle, being shot down, and his time as a prisoner of war were well-crafted. I learned a lot from these portions of the book, but I wish the rest of the book followed this same formula.

I really wanted to give this book more than three stars. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t. This is a reprint of the memoir Murphy published in 2001. Instead of reprinting the book exactly the way it was in 2001 (simply adding a new foreword), this book would have benefited from some editing. It would have made it a better read and could have made some of Murphy’s meanderings more concise. For example, Murphy begins his memoir with a history of airpower—an entire chapter that could have been edited down to a few pages (most of it was completely unnecessary information for the reader). I don’t think we would have lost Murphy’s voice if some of his original writing was carefully edited; in fact, it would have made for a stronger finished product.