War has played a key role in the history of the United States, from the nation's founding

right down to the present. War made the U.S. independent, kept it together, increased its

size, and established it as a global superpower. Understanding America's wars is essential for understanding American history.

Welcome to Key Battles of American History,

a podcast in which we discuss American history through the lens of the most important battles of America's wars.

Here is your host, James Early.

Thank you. your host, James Early. Hello and welcome to a special bonus episode of Key Battles of American History.

This is your host, James Early, as always.

And I'm here today with an author who is going to tell us a fascinating story about

a little known figure from World War II, but a man who had many, many adventures and lived

a fascinating life as he served his country and helped defeat the Axis Powers. The man's

name was Dennis Elliott. Dennis passed away a number of years ago, but before he did, he had a lot of

great stories. He was a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force, and in this book that we're

going to discuss today, former flight lieutenant Dennis Elliott takes you on an amazing journey, explaining

how he went from a shy boy in a

Victorian-style orphanage, having a brutal foster father and attending strict schools where canings

were common, to serving in the RAF all around the world in the Second World War, including

dicing with death while captaining B-24 Liberator aircraft against the Japanese.

The drama continued after the war, being held at gunpoint in Malaya, a one-and-a-million

chance meeting, a lightning strike on his Lancaster over the Mediterranean, rubbing shoulders

with royalty, and accidentally ripping off the end of a small boy's thumb while taking off.

These are just some of Dennis's

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