The Nuremberg Raid

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{detailed description}Sir Arthur Harris, Commander-in-Chief of Bomber Command, had launched the Battle of Berlin - the intended climax of his Area Bombing Offensive against Germany - in the autumn of 1943. In the course of the following winter, 34 major raids were dispatched to Berlin and other principal German cities. Despite the alarmingly high figures of 953 crews lost during that period and the increasing loss of confidence by the Air Ministry, Harris remained convinced that all-out attacks against the major cities of Germany would be the decisive factor in bringing the war to an end. He had anticipated that, by 1 April 1944, his bombers would have caused in Germany 'a state of devastation in which surrender is inevitable.' Ironically, on the night of 30 March, on what should have been a routine 'maximum effort' raid on Nuremberg, Bomber Command suffered its heaviest loss of the war. Out of 779 bombers taking part in the raid, 96 were missing, while, due to weather conditions over the target area, Nuremberg was only lightly damaged. The Nuremberg raid proved to be a turning point in the bomber war. Martin Middlebrook's book, first published in 1973, is a detailed re-enactment of the Nuremberg operation. He has done extensive and meticulous research in English and German archives and has also interviewed or corresponded with many of the senior officers who planned the raid, together with some 380 R.A.F. and Luftwaffe aircrew who took part in the air battle that developed, and also German civilians in the areas that were bombed. The result is a book which is both a fascinating and important documentary and a moving record of courage and sacrifice by the bomber crews. This revised version of The Nuremberg Raid contains an important new chapter which sets out Martin Middlebrook's comments on the dramatic suggestion, made since the original book was published, that the identity of Nuremberg as the target and details of the route to be used were deliberately disclosed to the Germans by British Intelligence through a 'turned' German spy as part of a more important intelligence operation.
{Author / Publisher / Date}by Martin Middlebrook
published by Allen Lane 1980 revised edn. 367pp illustrated, index, bibliography 14x22
{condition}very good in spine faded d/j
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