Canadian and British airmen engaged in fierce and deadly battles in the skies over Europe during the Second World War. Those who survived often had to overcome incredible obstacles to do so -- dodging bullets and German troops, escaping from burning planes and enduring forced marches if they became prisoners.

In one story, a tail gunner from Montreal survived despite being unconscious when blown out of his bomber. Another story describes how the crew of a navigator from Ottawa used chewing gum to fill holes in their aircraft. And another tells how a pilot from northern Ontario parachuted out of his plane and became the target of a German machine-gunner, but within hours 120 Germans surrendered to him.

These painstakingly researched stories will enable you to feel what now-aging veterans endured when they were young men in the air war against Nazi Germany.

Ian Darling comes from an air force family. His father, as well as his two uncles, served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Darling is the author of Go Ask Dad and is the editorial writer at The Record. He lives in Waterloo, Ontario.