Looking Into Hell

by Packages

What was it like to fly through enemy skies, flak bursting, searchlight beams criss-crossing your route, enemy fighters likely to appear from nowhere? How did it feel to lose friends and colleagues night after night, to watch bombs explode on a target below, to observe destruction spread over a sleeping city? Real stories of war at its most horrific, of mid-air explosions, of crippled planes hurtling to the ground--truly a view of hell on earth.

Genres: World War II, History

192 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1996

Reviews

[Susan Paxton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm currently doing a lot of research into Bomber Command with the hope that eventually a book of my own might result. Looking Into Hell is a collection of twenty accounts of real-life experiences of Bomber Command aircrew. Rolfe writes a clean, rather spare style, and tells the stories of these men well. He's picked a nicely varied set of experiences; too often it seems as if books of this sort are all-Lancaster all-Europe all-the-time, but Rolfe includes accounts from the Asian theatre of war and from crewmen not only of Lancs but of Whitleys, Wellingtons, Hampdens, and even RAF-flown Liberators. The stories are as harrowing as one can expect; one that affected me in particular was a Hampden crew lost at sea and drifting. We know a lot of aircrew died like that, never found, but these men were incredibly fortunate and were rescued after nine days at sea (and had the perhaps unique experience of sitting in a pub the night after listening to the story of their rescue on the radio). Rolfe has done an additional service by telling the stories of non-famous aircrew; Guy Gibson pops up once or twice as does Leonard Cheshire, but only as an incidental characters, and the unsung nature of the stories make them all the more new and interesting. Recommended; anyone curious about the Bomber Command air war will find a lot to set them thinking here.

[Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

How can we really know what happened with the Bomber Command in World War II? This line in the book reflects how little we actually know about parts of the war. But now thanks to my granddad Mel Rolfe, this has changed. He has interviewed 20 different men who survived the war to tell their tales. I chose to read this book because I’m fascinated by the war and my mom said I would enjoy it. Before I started reading the book I thought it would be good and it delivered.

This book is a collection of 20 or so 5-page stories from the war. Some of the stories are almost unbelievable like one of stories is about a 1000 lb bomb making a hole the size of a kitchen table in a wing of a plane mid-flight.

The book is very well written but you do need to know some of the names of the airplanes used. Although you do start to recognise certain features with certain names. Also it’s fun to read because if you’re not fan of one story you can skip straight to the next.

I think this book is brilliant, not only because of the dedication needed to interview everyone but also the writing style which makes it fluent to read. If you like to read about the war, such as reading short stories or love books about history, then this is the book for you.

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gripping and harrowing book. But some may find it a little bit hard to handle. From early 1940, when the British discovered how poorly their antiquated bomber survived the faster better German fighter defense, the Royal Air Force and her Imperial Air Force Allies conducted almost all of their Strategic Bombing by cover of night. Today we know that this was incredibly inefficient and wasteful of lives in both the air and Ground. And that they really only stopped industry when they got to immense 1000+ aircraft raids at the end of the war. But from 1940 to 1943's attack on Sicily, this campaign, and the more efficient but equally daylight bombing by the US's 8th Air Force, were the only ways for the Allies to impact the Nazis, and try to help Russia with its struggle.

This is simply a book of 20 missions. The men who flew them, their heroism, and their struggle against the Inky black of night, the German Flak and Nightfighters, the aircraft they flew, and human endurance. Each tale is of a mission gone wrong in some way, or unusual for its derring do. But you get a real glimpse of how this campaign worked, from the rituals and protocols of Bomber command generally, to the idiosyncrasies of individual crews. And of course the stories are gripping. 30,000 feet and upside down over the Ruhr with a bomb load trying to fall through your roof- A high bird strike wipes out the pilot and a pilot training washout lands a Lancaster.... even a mission in the Far East with vastly different SOPs- this book is riveting- if you like this sort of stuff. I DO.

This may be ideal for a youngster interested in this period, as the prose is very straightforward, but it does have gory damage reports, so know the youngster well before you recommend. For the Gamer/Modeller/Military Enthusiast, this is purest gold, sure to improve both Scenarios (does anyone game Bomber Command Raids?- they can with this book) and Dioramas. Not for the faint of heart- but if you want to respect those wonderful lads who 'took it to the Hun" and came back to tell us about it- this book is a keeper.

[Aricia Gavriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Far from my usual reading, and an astonishing work: true stories throughout. I'm always impressed by the way the personalities shine through out of these war tales ... just as I'm amazed at the things out fathers and grandfathers did. (One wonders if the current generation would have it in them to do these things. One doubts it: we live in a push-button world where safety is an obsession, and the media kicks into top gear over the loss of a single serviceman in a war zone. Given that 200,000 young men were killed in the skies over Europe in WWII ...)

Looking Into Hell puts you in the pilot seat, as it were. An astonishing piece of work, and an excellent feat of journalism. Rolfe brings the material to life in the way that movies do -- The Battle of Britain, Memphis Belle, The Dam Busters and so forth. The book is eminently readable.

Recommended if you're looking for living history, a peek into the world of the 1940s, real heroes, and acts of courage that are quite literally indescribable. The writing style is clear and accessible: Rolfe has the personable style of the journalist rather than the dry-bones style of the historian. Very glad I read this one, on loan from a mate.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gripping, bite-sized accounts of bombing raids over Germany. Incredible acts of stoicism and courage; the tales are raw and unembellished, with the events recounted by the men who experienced the unimaginable.

[Nick Boldrini · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mixed bag of stories, all of which are good in a different way. But I think the author misses out on trying to create any sort of how things progressed over the war by jumping about chronologically rather than presenting the stories in that order.