Luck of the Draw: My story of the air war in Europe

REVIEW BY COLIN POMEROY Luck of the Draw, which has just been adapted by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks into the new television series Masters of the Air, is in effect the autobiography of the late Frank Murphy. It tells the story of Murphy’s entire life, but particularly his career flying with the 100th Bomber Group of the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) during the Second World War. Murphy took part in exciting and intense daylight bombing raids over Europe, but was shot down on his twenty-first mission and spent many subsequent years as a prisoner of war. Written in first-person, matter- of-fact style that makes little unnecessary drama out of the events recounted, it’s a