IN some ways, The Stain on the Glass is a rather unusual book. For one thing, it is not to be found in bookshops as it is not for general sale; rather, it will be available in many libraries, so if one locates a copy, then it really should be taken out and read.

'The Stain on the Glass' is the work of former Bomber Command pilot Charles Gray and is a subtle combination of true life detective story and perceptive, persistent investigative journalism.

The book's title refers to a stained glass window to be found in the Church of St John's at Farnham Common, Hampshire; this commemorates the crash of a Wellington bomber in January 1944, one which cost the lives of five of the six crew, including the pilot, Warrant Officer Tom Paul. a New Zealander.

However, highly relevant to the story though this is, the principal interest to locals will be the coverage of a previous crash in which Tom Paul had also been the pilot. This happened in May 1942, when his Lancaster bomber crashed on the edge of Dartmoor with the loss of four lives. Standon Hill, near Peter Tavy was the crash site and many readers living in West Devon will find Captain Gray's lucid and accurate description of the local terrain fascinating.

He pieces together the details and chronology of the disaster, partly pursuing a theory that the calamity may have in some way — possibly psychologically —contributed to the pilot's subsequent second crash in Wellington in Hampshire.

In his investigation the author mentions the names of many local men and women in the Peter Tavy and Tavistock areas.

However, Charles Grays' well crafted and thought provoking book — given extra authenticity by virtue of his own considerable experience as a wartime pilot — will appeal to all those, in all places, who appreciate a moving and powerful story, well told, and one which re-iterates the debt which this nation, and the free world, owes to the courage and sacrifice of so many.

Brave men from these islands, and from the far corners of the Commonwealth, who gave their lives to destroy the tyranny that was Nazi Germany.

'The Stain of the Glass' by Charles Jeffrey Gray. ISBN 978 0473 155 612