There is a point in the book, near the end, when Bendiner has finished his tour but not yet been allowed to leave the aerodrome:

“How stupid, how cruel to let me stay alive and safe among those who are still hostages to death. No surgeon would leave an amputated limb near the living patient.”

Here are some other quotes from the book:

“The cottage had a fine, dishevelled look, like a girl fresh from tumbling about in the hay.”

“I cannot take seriously those who adopt the pose of the disenchanted without having experienced the prerequisite enchantment.”

Speaking about a General after a raid that cost many men and machines:

“He was in the position of a man who does not know precisely what he has bought but is certain that it was very expensive.”

About watching a formation of planes heading out on a mission:

“I exulted in that parade. I confess this is an act of treason against the intellect, because I have seen dead men washed out of their turrets with a hose. But if one wants an intellectual view of war one must ask someone who has not seen it.”