RAF Bomber Stories

`Through those desperate years, undismayed by any odds, undeterred by any casualties, night succeeding night, you fought... Each crew, each one in each crew, fought alone through black nights rent only, mile after continuing mile, by the fiercest barrages ever raised and the instant sally of the searchlights. In each dark minute of those long miles lurked menace. Fog, ice, snow and tempest found you undeterred. In that loneliness in action lay the final test, the ultimate stretch of human staunchness and determination...'
Air Chief Marshal A. T. Harris, Commander-in-Chief, RAF Bomber Command

In his letter to RAF Bomber Command at the end of the Second World War, Harris's tribute to the pilots and crews, and their myriad support personnel, sums up the contribution made by the Command to the Allied victory. However, it cannot begin to describe the personal experiences of the crews themselves. This anthology of 23 accounts of bomber missions, most recounted at first hand, paints a vivid picture of just what it was like to fly in a heavy bomber over occupied Europe.
With characteristic self-effacing modesty, the pilots, gunners, navigators and engineers tell of acts of great heroism, of dreadful injuries bravely borne, and personal fears overcome in the heat of battle. There are heart-stopping stories of evasion and the selfless bravery of those who assisted the evaders. There is humour and there is tragedy. The crews of young men, barely out of their teens and thrown together more or less at random at airfields throughout eastern England, often became fused into units of unique closeness. Many of these stories are moving and poignant accounts of the comradeship and cooperation upon which depended not only the success of the mission but also the very survival of the crews.



by Martin W. Bowman
Published by PSL 1998 1st edition. 192pp profusely illustrated, index. 15x24 mint, including. d/j.




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