‘The altimeter was unwinding. “10,000 feet, 9,000 feet, 8,000 feet, 7,000 feet...” Another shell burst nearby. “For God’s sake!” I hollered, “Can’t somebody do anything?!” I was completely helpless. But I managed to stay in control of myself. As totally absorbed as I was in trying to save the aircraft, I accepted the fact that I was about to die. I even did a little praying.’Lou Greenburgh’s life was anything but routine. His early adulthood was spent in Canada living rough until, in an attempt to get his life on track, he joined the Royal Air Force. Initially rejected for aircrew, Lou persisted and eventually became a bomber pilot. On his fourth operation, with his Lancaster severely damaged during a raid against Berlin, Lou managed to ditch in the North Sea in the middle of a December night, saving the lives of his crew. On his return to bombing operations, Lou found himself frequently the subject of the Luftwaffe’s unwanted attention, on one occasion returning with only half his crew. He was reluctant to bale out, not least because he was Jewish.His adventures continued; on one flight a navigational error meaning that he bombed Paris instead of Düsseldorf. Eventually a German night fighter got the better of Lou, who parachuted from his blazing aircraft into Occupied France. Amazingly his luck held, and he evaded capture, met up with nthe Resistance and hid out in a forest until the Allied armies liberated the area. Lou returned toEngland and continued flying with the RAF, participating in the Berlin Airlift which meant aiding the same city and its residents he had previously bombed.Lou Greenburgh was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross twice, and was invited to Buckingham Palace to receive his DFC and Bar from the King. This was a fitting tribute to the man the Luftwaffe couldn’t kill and who had risen, quite literally, from Skid Row to Buckingham Palace. As told to his son, this book is Lou’s incredible story.