Whispering Death

Whispering Death
by Lee Heide
243 pages; perfect bound; catalogue #00-0051; ISBN 1-55212-387-1; US$14.63 (Can$22.50)
An account of the air war in the Mediterranean by a navigator flying Beaufort and Beaufighter aircraft with the Royal Air Force.

About the Book

Lee Heide's wartime adventures read like fiction but they are factual, brought to life by skillful characterization and dialogue. Raised in Vancouver, he was trained as a navigator and flew overseas in a Hudson aircraft in June, 1941. In England he joined an RAF crew for training on Beaufort torpedo bombers. Sent to Malta, he survived a year of the blitz on that island, with heavy losses to his squadron. Upon converting to Beaufighters he was twice posted as missing. The first time, he and his pilot were washed ashore, after five days in a dinghy, on enemy-held Elba whence they escaped by boat to Corsica. The second time his aircraft was shot up in the Aegean and forced to land in Turkey where he was interned. A meticulous recorder, Heide's descriptions of places and events in the Middle East are informative and entertaining. The title Whispering Death was the name given by the Germans to the Beaufighter--one of the outstanding attack aircraft of the war. Readers will not lightly put down this autobiography.

Review from Canadian Military History Book Review Supplement, Autumn 2000
This is another small-press memoir that brings us a dimension of war that is not widely known. The author, a Vancouver native, flew overseas in a Hudson bomber in 1941 and then, after further training in England, was posted to the Middle East, where he flew as a navigator on Beaufort and Beaufighter torpedo bombers over the Mediterranean (the title refers to the nickname given to the Beaufighter). He spent a year operating from Malta and, after conversion to Beaufighters, survived two forced landings. The first, in the sea, resulted in a five-day ordeal before he and his pilot washed ashore on the island of Elba, from which they escaped to Corsica. This was followed by instructional duties on Cyprus, which lasted only until a pilot friend convinced him that it was better to be killed on operations than be killed by a student pilot. Heide and his pilot were posted to an operational squadron on Tobruk, and then went through a second ditching. On this occasion, they managed to reach land, but it was neutral Turkey and they were interned (albeit in quite pleasant conditions) for a short period of time before returning to the squadron. The war in the desert wound up in late 1944, and Heide was back in Canada, newly demobilized and with a DFC and a British wife, by the spring of 1945. A keen observer, Heide spins a good tale; Whispering Death is an informative and entertaining book with lots of good anecdotes and local colour.

About the Author

Lee Heide was trained in Canada as a navigator and flew overseas with Ferry Command in June, 1941. In England he was assigned to a Beaufort OTU and, with an RAF crew, trained on torpedo operations. Sent to the Middle East, the crew went by boat to Nigeria, their aircraft crated in the hold, and then flew across the heart of Africa, down the Nile River from Khartoum to Cairo, and thence to Malta. Heide survived the blitz on Malta for a year with heavy losses to his squadron. Converting to Beaufighters near Tunis, he and his pilot were shot down and forced to ditch near Elba. After five days afloat they landed on Elba, evaded German patrols and escaped to Corsica. After a rest on Cyprus, Heide returned to operations and was again shot down, this time to be interned in Turkey. He was awarded the DFC by King George VI at Buckingham Palace in 1945.

For review copies or author interviews please contact Lee Heide at LHeide1@aol.com

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