Dispatch from Berlin, 1943: The story of five journalists who risked everything by Anthony Cooper

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A gripping true account of the bombing of Berlin in WWII, told from multiple perspectives. Primarily, ‘Dispatch from Berlin, 1943’ reveals the fate of five war journalists who risked everything to report, first-hand, a RAF bombing raid on ‘the Big City’. King and Stockton are Australian war correspondents; Murrow (a broadcast journalist) and Bennett (a book author) are American; and Grieg, a Norwegian, is described as a poet and ‘patriotic icon’ of his country.
Each of the ‘lucky five’ is allocated an observational spot on a Lancaster bomber for the raid on 2 December 1943. As it turns out, the mission meets with limited success. Some of the bombers fly off-course and miss their target; many are shot down. Three of the journalists’ planes are lost; only two journalists return unscathed to England.
One of the journalists is captured by the Nazis. When they learn that he is not an airman but a reporter, he is given a ‘propaganda tour’ of destroyed German cities: Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen, Essen. He learns that, despite hundreds of RAF bombing raids, munitions factories continue to operate, while residential buildings have been reduced to smoking ruins.
As a frequent visitor to modern Berlin, I found the book is especially fascinating. Not only are the tribulations of the journalists revealed, but also the fate of Berlin civilians on the ground. Many of the bombed sites remain. Some have been repaired or rebuilt; others are in their war-damaged state, a poignant memorial to the horror of war.
Highly recommended reading for war buffs and writers of WWII historical fiction.



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