My Darling Boys: A Family at War, 1941–1947 by Fred H. Allison (review)

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• My Darling Boys: A Family at War, 1941–1947by Fred H. Allison
• Luke Truxal

My Darling Boys: A Family at War, 1941–1947. By Fred H. Allison. (Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2023. Pp. 336. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index.)

It is not hard to find many personal and family histories that describe the experiences of families in the Second World War. Fred H. Allison in this book does not simply tell the story of the Allison and Grizzle families during the war but uses their stories to highlight the many ways that Americans participated in the air war and how it affected their families. Allison notes that most Americans, like these three men, were not heroes, but their actions represent the millions of Americans who contributed to winning the Second World War either at home or abroad.

Allison’s book follows three young men: Harold Allison, Oscar Allison, and Wiley Grizzle Jr. Each of these men had different experiences, but all wanted to serve in the Army Air Forces during the Second World War. These three young men faced very different challenges. Harold Allison, a pilot, had his deployment delayed because he had hernia surgery during his pre-deployment training with his B-25 crew. As a result, he was unable to participate in the war. Oscar Allison served as a top turret gunner on a B-24 in the Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy. His story gives readers a view of the air war from the perspective of the bombers. He also was shot down and captured. His detailed recollections of his time as a prisoner show his isolation from not only the rest of the war, but his family as well. Wiley Grizzle adds another unique perspective, which is that of both a fighter pilot and a son who never returns. Through Wiley’s story, Allison shows that even late in the war there were quite a few American pilots without a lot of combat experience. As a result, they were not as aware of some of the dangers of air-to-air combat as the veterans, and some of them did not survive.

As the saying goes: ”Never judge a book by its cover.” At first glance, this work appears to focus simply on the three young men who served in the Army Air Forces during the Second World War. One of the more pleasant surprises is the story of the families left behind in Texas. Using family documents, Allison gives readers a better understanding of how the air war affected those back at home, waiting anxiously for letters or news from their friends and family engaged in combat. In one instance, the author shows the anxiety and panic experienced by the Allison family when Oscar was shot down. At one point Ollie Allison, mother [End Page 475]of Oscar, wrote to a different crewman’s father to ascertain her son’s fate. These are the stories that sometimes get missed. Historians largely focus on the airmen, but the stories of the families back at home need to be told as well. This is one of the strengths of this book.

The author, who is a nephew of Oscar Allison, has done an excellent job in researching this topic. He has compiled multiple sources from the Allison and Grizzle families, including letters, documents, and pictures. Whereas most historians might simply stop there, Allison also went the extra mile. There are newspapers, records from the Air Force Historical Research Agency, and documents from various organizations that compile records for veterans and their families from the Second World War. The result is that readers get a well-rounded book that describes the Allison-Grizzle family experience in the war.

Overall, this is an excellent book for those interested in the air war in Europe. Through the clever use of family sources and official records, Allison uses these three men to give some insight into how the air war in Europe affected the young men who fought and died in the skies above Europe, while also providing some insight into how their struggles abroad affected their families back in the United States and Texas.

Luke...