Earthquake McGoon is the memoir of RCAF airman R214205, later Flying Officer J45098 William A. Cosway from his entry into the service as an 18-year-old on April 9, 1942, until his discharge in February of 1946, to begin a new life.
He volunteered for aircrew, trained as a navigator, flew a B24 Liberator to India where, attached to 355 Squadron and subsequently 159 PFF (Pathfinder) Squadron of the Royal Air Force in Bengal, he and his crew successfully completed 38 missions of all kinds in 'The Forgotten War' in South East Asia, eight more than the mandatory 30.
It gives a taste of what it was like to navigate a four-engine airplane halfway around the world using only dead reckoning and then to live in the unique conditions of an ancient, poorer and much different culture. Described is the special nature and experience of the war against the Japanese on very long, dangerous flights with his nine-man crew to poorly mapped far off places, without any electronic aids - particularly during the Monsoon season.
Forty pictures selected from among those taken throughout his wartime service, half of them taken by his talented navigator friend Wendell W. Watters, two illustrative drawings and a number of interesting anecdotes are included in the narrative.
The Epilogue, in two parts, provides details on fallen comrades now buried in a military cemetery in Rangoon Burma, together with brief synoptic information on the post-war life the author subsequently created.
References, Reproductions of the Squadron Crests and a Map of the South East Asia combat area complete the memoir.