This novel dates to 1940 both in the time of the story and the year it was published. Although the story is fiction it appears to resemble a true event where a British RAF pilot bombs a submarine that is not German but British (http://www.nevilshute.org/nl060401.html) . Whether true or not the story has a similar starting point and is well told. You get a very clear picture of how it was for the channel patrol pilots in the first months of the war. Here a channel patrol pilot bombs a submarine in the English channel and the Navy believes that the pilot bombed a British submarine in error although the pilot was pretty certain it had no British markings. The naval inquiry board decides to throw the pilot under the proverbial wheels based on evidence they knew was suspicious because a British sub has gone missing in the area that the pilot made his attack. Stuffy military types outweigh the more sympathetic ones. Eventually the young pilot is proven right thanks to the smarts of his girlfriend who puts the pieces together. Shute has a number of books written in this time period that really gives one insight into what it was like in WII with a lot of attention to small details of everyday life as well as the stuff of war. That is the value of this book. This is also a war romance which isn't a bad thing but did not pull me in.

I almost took off half a star because of a lengthy section that recklessly endangered the pilot in the development of a secret weapon. It sounds like it was some kind of proximity fuze and endless (meaningless) details were gone over and over until the pilot was critically injured. This book did come out at the start of the war so the Brits were not about to give away secrets to the enemy here so I'm sure whatever was really going on was not going to be told in detail to the reader. However, as the book plays it, doing these tests with a finicky bomb ready to kill the pilot was crazy, even in the time of war. It made little to no sense as described.

As much as possible the book has an ending that is "happy". I did like the appearance of a Dutch freighter and Captain near the end who more or less provides a key bit of information that helps save the day. Not, however, one of Shute's best works. ( )

A firm 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. A very enjoyable story. ( )

Although I'd heard about Nevil Shute many decades ago, I had never read him before. This book was quite good, and I'll likely read something more from Shute. The writing is a bit spare and to the point, so doesn't flow smoothly is it might in the hands of a language master, such as Dickens. But Shute was an engineer by trade, so I can cut him slack.

The story takes place early in WWII, before the US enters the war. It is about a young RAF pilot who is part of a squadron who flies out over the English channel for reconnaissance and to protect England from German ships, in particular the German U-boats or submarines. The young man sinks a sub that he was pretty sure was German, but the Admiralty thinks he might have sunk a British sub that went missing the same day.

While his early flights and then the sub inquiry are going on, the young man begins a romance with a bar girl. They feel increasing comfort in each other's presence. After the inquiry into the sub sinking, the young man is transferred away. But after a few months, he returns to the area as a test pilot, and the romance resumes again. So, in a way, it's the story about how people try to continue with normal life during the very abnormal times that existed in Britain during WWII.

I've always been a sucker for old English books and movies of that period. I adore Vera Lynn songs. Interestingly, in my mind's eye, the action in this book took place in black and white, as would be the case were I watching the action in a movie theater of that time period. The lack of color didn't detract one iota from the story. That's just the way my mind works. I read Jane Austin in color because I've seen her portrayed in color. I read WWII stories and noire detective stories in black and white because that's the way I've seen them portrayed. Weird, huh? ( )

Roderick "Jerry" Chambers is a young and ambitious officer in the Royal Air Force. The story opens with Jerry meeting sweet Mona Stevens at a dance. This chance encounter proves to be a blessing in disguise for Jerry later in the story.
The early stages of World War II serves as the backdrop for Landfall. Jerry has been conducting air patrols off the southern coast of England. He's a good pilot and on one mission he skillfully sinks what he thinks to be a German submarine, only to find all evidence points to it actually being British. While Chambers ultimately escapes disciplinary action, he shamefully retreats to a post as far away as possible from the disaster in northern England. Meanwhile, Mona has been eavesdropping on officers in the snack bar where she works. Despite the black mark on Jerry's career Mona has stuck by him. Pretty soon she is able to discern what really happened with Jerry regarding the British submarine business. Only, it might be too late to clear his name. Jerry has been seriously wounded in an bombing experiment and rumor has it he may not make it through the night. ( )

The story is set during the opening months of the Second World War and it concerns a young pilot, Roderick 'Jerry' Chambers, who is part of an air patrol unit guarding the southern coast of England – around Portsmouth. One day, Chambers sees a submarine and, believing it to be German, attacks with his weaponry and bombs. The submarine is sunk.

Back at the base, it is revealed that the sunken submarine was, in fact, a British vessel. Chambers escapes discipline but is censured and posted far away to the north of England. Meanwhile, by a curious chain of coincidences, his love interest, Mona Stevens (a local barmaid), discovers that the submarine was, in truth, a German vessel – it having previously attacked and sunk the missing British sub that Chambers was accused of sinking.

Chambers is offered a chance to redeem himself in a dangerous mission to test a new marine attack system. His plane explodes in mid-air but he survives, and manages to make his report. The novel ends with his transfer, as an instructor, to a pilot training school in Ontario with Mona, now his wife.