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

by Thorsten Perl, Anthony Cooper

'This is a helluva way to get a story.' In December 1943, five correspondents join the British bombers air raid on Berlin. The brave group included Australians, Americans and a Norwegian journalist, who are each assigned to one of the 400 Lancaster bombers that flew into the hazardous skies over Germany. Of the five, only two land back at base to file their stories. For those on the ground in Germany the story was far from over. Amongst them, having parachuted out of his doomed aircraft, reporter Lowell Bennett is taken prisoner alongside other surviving shot-down airmen. Yet when he manages to convince his captors he isn't a soldier, it heralds the beginning of a remarkable tour of bombed-out German cities to see first-hand the devastation of war for the everyday Germans. In Dispatch from Berlin, 1943, Australian historian Anthony Cooper and German researcher Thorsten Perl uncover this remarkable true story of life during war.

349 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2023

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is not very often that a book leaves me numb, but this one did. Dispatch from Berlin 1943 covers the fates of 5 journalists who accepted the opportunity to fly with Lancaster Bomber crews over Germany in 1943. Reading about the revered ‘G for George’ from 460 Squadron was engaging, personal and moving, as like many Aussies, I’ve seen and stood next to this Lancaster in the Australian War Memorial that remarkably flew ninety operational missions.

Without giving too much away, following the journeys of each of the journalists and their crews at times was harrowing, and heart warming in others. The POW and Aftermath chapters with their eyewitness accounts affected me deeply. The way this book was crafted with the eyewitness accounts compelled me to think about my own grandfather’s experiences as an Aussie Lancaster pilot who flew 28 missions in Bomber Command (625 Squadron), and how he chose to stay on after the end of WWII to drop food parcels across Europe. But not only that, he also volunteered to repatriate hundreds of Allied POWs across Germany. To think of him flying those repatriation missions bought tears to my eyes while reading about the POW experiences. After reading the intimate descriptions of several ill-fated missions and crashes, it makes me all the more in awe of him and all that he did.

This is not a book for the faint hearted as it contains images and vivid descriptions that many readers could find very upsetting. Nonetheless, this was an extraordinary book, and I highly recommend it to those that are interested in the air war over Europe in WWII.

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye opener. More coming