Operations over Hitler's Reich with the crews of Bomber Command,
1939-1945 * The human side of the bomber crews’ experience and their extremely
dangerous and draining operations, using personal interviews to tell the real
story behind the grit and glory
Many books have been written about Bomber Command’s war, from the
highest levels of command to the experiences of the lowest WAAF, but only a few
have been able to reveal the human side of the bomber crews’ experience. Based
upon many personal interviews, correspondence and archival sources, Andrew
Simpson has compiled a compelling, informative and absorbing documentary record
of what the men of Bomber Command went through, from initial training and crew
formation, to descriptions of life on squadron and on their extremely dangerous
and draining operations, to the numbing effect of morale breakdown. This
intensely researched book, the result of years of work, contains many personal
accounts from air crew; from those that survived and those that did not. Many
heroic, tragic and often humorous incidents are described.
The author also examines the technology of bombing and how this form
of aerial warfare evolved in terms of aircraft design, navigation, bombing
methods, tactics and gunnery as used in, and as deployed by, the Hampden,
Whitley and Wellington medium bombers, and the Stirling, Halifax and Lancaster
‘heavies’ which equipped Bomber Command’s squadrons.
Running like a thread through the work is the story of the author’s
father, who served as a Lancaster pilot on an Australian bomber
squadron during 1943 and 1944. His very personal account forms the backbone of
this comprehensively researched and often very moving book. For anyone with a
desire to learn more about Britain’s aircrews at war or for
those seeking to understand more about the operations of Bomber Command, this
book offers a unique and extraordinary insight into a momentous period of
history.
