Bomber Boys

by Mel Rolfe

Lancaster pilot Victor Wood's aircraft arrived too early over Gelsenkirchen when the target was shrouded in darkness and the Main Force miles behind. His bomber was suddenly struck with terrifying force by flak and turned upside down. An engine was on fire, the unconscious mid-upper gunner, slumped over his turret, was being sprayed with petrol and their bombload had been struck by shrapnel. Could Vic get his crew back to base safely? Mel Rolfe tells this and nineteen other expertly researched stories of the young men who went on sorties night after night, not knowing if they would see another dawn.

Genres: History, War, World War II

Paperback

First published August 30, 2004

Reviews

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a strange fascination for "true" stories and this book did not fail. Recounting the horror of war direct from those involved left me felling grateful and humble.
This book should be on the must read list for our younger generation, who all to quickly, appear tone loosing the understanding of just how much their Great Grandparents gave up for them.
It is a graphic account, from a perspective I had never really thought of before. I felt the vulnerability of the gunner crew, isolated in their rear/upper turrets, fighting the coldness of the dark skies as well as German fighter pilots and truly wish I could meet them, shake them by the had, buy them a beer or two and above all else, say "Thank you"

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real words, from real men of real courage.

[Noe Emmanuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the hardships and challenges that the air bomber crew experienced in World War 2. In here some soldiers experienced a malfunctioning equipment in their aircraft which almost led to their deaths. Some experienced the terror of an incoming flak of the enemy. Some planes almost crashed before they can fully fly. Some become POW. This book presented the terrors that I can’t imagine, and I don’t want to experience in my lifetime.

This book is about the many young men and women who fought in the War. Although there are also experienced ones, the youngest age that was told in the book was 19 which is young in today’s standard.

This book is about the death of the innocent. War does not exclusively happen in the battlefield. It happened on the whole country, the citizens, the children, the innocents. The bomber also targets the factories that supplies or support the war.

Technically, this book is heavy on WW2 jargon and will be a hard read and confusing if you are new to WW2 terms. So I would suggest to keep noting the terms, at least in the first 3 chapters, and searching their meaning and also know the structure of Lancasters and other aircraft bomber to give you a good picture on how they maneuver inside the aircraft. Some passages are informal too because these are the personal accounts from journals of the soldiers.

In a nutshell, this book gives you a view of what air warfare looks like and hazards and terrors and challenges that comes with it.

The lesson I can take is be grateful for the soldiers that fought in the war. Their experiences will always be incomparable to some hardships that we may be experiencing now.

[Robert M. Roth MD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read

An enjoyable collection of WWII airmen stories from bomber crew members in the RAF. The stories were well written and it was interesting to see the perspective from the British and Canadian point of view. Flying bombers was not for the faint of heart.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, although very badly proofread. Full review to follow.