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Journey's End: Bomber Command's Battle from Arnhem to Dresden and Beyond
A comprehensive account of the final year of the bomber war, filled with personal accounts of what it was like to fly over Arnhem, Dresden, and dozens of other missions
In February 1945, British and American bombers rained down thousands of tons of incendiaries on the city of Dresden, creating one of the greatest firestorms in history. Their bombs killed an estimated 25,000 people, and wiped one of the most beautiful cities in Europe from the map. The controversy that erupted shortly afterwards, and which continues to this day, has long overshadowed the other events of the bomber war, and blighted the memory of the young men who gave their lives to fight in the skies over Germany. This book does not seek to condemn the bombing of Dresden, nor to excuse it, but simply to put it in its proper context as a particularly devastating set of raids in a much larger campaign. To the crews who flew over Germany night after night there were other much more pressing worries: the V2 rockets that threatened their loved ones at home, the brand new German jet fighters that could strike them at speeds of over 600mph, the deadly flak over the cities of the Ruhr Valley. They lived life at a heightened tempo, when hopes, ambitions, and desperate love affairs could be cut short in a single flash in the night sky. The bomber war had entered its final unforgiving months, and no quarter was given on either side. Kevin Wilson has interviewed more than 100 people, some of whom flew on the Dresden raids, and many more who experienced other aspects of bombing, both in the air and on the ground. As the final volume in his bomber war trilogy, it chronicles the climactic period in a conflict that caused devastation and tragedy on both sides.
In February 1945, British and American bombers rained down thousands of tons of incendiaries on the city of Dresden, creating one of the greatest firestorms in history. Their bombs killed an estimated 25,000 people, and wiped one of the most beautiful cities in Europe from the map. The controversy that erupted shortly afterwards, and which continues to this day, has long overshadowed the other events of the bomber war, and blighted the memory of the young men who gave their lives to fight in the skies over Germany. This book does not seek to condemn the bombing of Dresden, nor to excuse it, but simply to put it in its proper context as a particularly devastating set of raids in a much larger campaign. To the crews who flew over Germany night after night there were other much more pressing worries: the V2 rockets that threatened their loved ones at home, the brand new German jet fighters that could strike them at speeds of over 600mph, the deadly flak over the cities of the Ruhr Valley. They lived life at a heightened tempo, when hopes, ambitions, and desperate love affairs could be cut short in a single flash in the night sky. The bomber war had entered its final unforgiving months, and no quarter was given on either side. Kevin Wilson has interviewed more than 100 people, some of whom flew on the Dresden raids, and many more who experienced other aspects of bombing, both in the air and on the ground. As the final volume in his bomber war trilogy, it chronicles the climactic period in a conflict that caused devastation and tragedy on both sides.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published June 10, 2010
About the author
Kevin Wilson
5 books8 followersKevin Wilson has spent most of his working life as a staff journalist on British national newspapers, including the Daily Mail and latterly the Daily and Sunday Express. He is married with three grown-up sons and a daughter.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 11, 2022
There are 5 of us in a group that regularly swop books. I had 3 books awaiting to be read and had left this one to last because I could not see what there was to know in 500 pages about aircraft simply taking off and being shot down. Wrong. This is one of the most fascinating book I’ve read. Almost each page has a recollection from a member of a flight crew of their experience on a particular flight where something goes wrong. What is amazing is that all these stories are all very very different. I’ll give an example of one particular story. This was a story of ’T-Tommy’ a Halifax aircraft on route to a bombing mission to Dresden. Twenty miles from Dresden the bomb aimer P.A.J. Carroll saw that a Lancaster was being chased by a German night fighter and taking evasive action smashed into the underside of his Halifax. A hole the site of a table appeared and a minus 30 degree F gale immediately ensued and Carroll was pinned to the perspex nose by centrifugal force as the aircraft plunged out of control. The navigator now takes up the story … “as the aircraft came out of the dive I saw the starboard engine fall from its mountings leaving wires hanging and sparks flying. All communication within the aircraft was lost and its nose was so twisted that the aircraft was trying to fly in circles. Trying to repair the radio the wireless operator had to remove his gloves and suffered severe frost bite. While all this was going on the navigator was taking star shots with a bubble sextant, trying to plot a route home!!! They did make it to England but as they approached the runway they noticed a 4000 lb bomb jammed in the bomb bay. The landing gear did not operate ….
August 15, 2022
Tremendously well researched and presented volume. It reveals the reasoning why Bomber Command never received the recognition it deserved for helping to shorten World War 2 set against the eye watering losses of both machines and men.
June 19, 2018
Excellent factual insight into Bomber Command. Told through personnel annicdotes.
May 11, 2026
The last in Wilson’s trilogy about Bomber Command. Fascinating read. Recommended for any aviation enthusiast
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews