Bomber Crew

by James Taylor, Martin Davidson

Long after the Battle of Britain, the aircrews of RAF Bomber Command risked their lives night after night during the Second World War. Over 55,000 of the airmen never returned from these missions; a further 10,000 became prisoners of war. And yet Bomber Command has been mired in controversy and its veterans - all volunteers - have never been awarded a campaign medal. Their crucial contribution to the outcome of the war has all too often been overlooked. Bomber Crew exposes the bravery of these men using gripping first-person testimony from the surviving pilots and crew. For them this was a time of incredible hardship and adrenaline, courage and friendship, and their stories bear witness to the strength of the human spirit in times of incredible danger. Never before has their story been so vividly told. This is also a revealing look at the history of Bomber Command itself, from the early days through to eventual victory in 1945. From the terrifying action of the bombing raids to the intimate personal accounts of heroism, tragedy and triumph, this is the ultimate account of these brave men and their contribution to the Allied victory.

Genres: History, War, World War II, Nonfiction

480 pages, Hardcover

First published October 10, 2005

About the author

Librarian Note: there are more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

James^^Taylor : Poetry
James^^^Taylor : How To
James^^^^Taylor : Automotive, Cars
James^^^^^Taylor : Fiction >>> see also: James^^Tayler
James[6spaces]Taylor : Fiction
James[7spaces]Taylor : Non-Fiction, creator "Shocked and Amazed" journal
James[8spaces]Taylor : Music
James[9spaces]Taylor : Business, "Insider Secret" book

Reviews

[Philippe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides a comprehensive, eyewitness-based account of the British strategic bombing campaigns on Nazi Germany and other parts of occupied Europe. The narrative is largely chronological, starting with the very tentative and largely unsuccessful attempts early on to the emergence of a ruthlessly efficient killing machine in the last months of the war. The account is interspersed with numerous anecdotes from former Bomber Command crew members and ground personnel.

The chronological backbone provides plenty of scope to discuss all major operational aspects of the bombing campaign: recruitment and training of crews, life on the base, the role of ground personnel, briefings and debriefings, various types of missions, the contributions of different crew members (pilot, navigator, wireless operator, bomb aimer, gunners), evolving tactics and technologies to get the bombs on target and negotiate German defences (night fighters, Flak, Schräge Musik) and life in POW camps for those lucky enough to escape a damaged aircraft unscathedly.

The scope goes beyond the purely tactical and includes also wider strategic considerations with a bearing on the changing priorities in an early phase of the war (from daytime to nighttime bombing, and from attempted precision bombing to area and incendiary bombing), the succession of major 'battles' and targets (the Ruhr, Hamburg, Berlin, Peenemünde, Dresden, etc.), the role of the American bombing effort and a discussion of the merits of the campaign over the conflict as a whole. As regards to the latter, Taylor and Davidson do not shy away from the controversial facts.

But the main point of the book is not to present a detailed and balanced argument for or against but to give the men who were flying the machines above Germany the opportunity to tell their story. Still, despite the extremities experienced by the crews, for the uninitated (as I am) it is the wider picture emerging from these pages that presents the biggest challenge. It is beyond belief how such a campaign could be mounted and maintained for so long, costing almost as much as a third of the total British war effort, involving the loss of life of almost 60,000 airmen, and causing untold suffering and death of the German civilian population.

The controversies surrounding this episode, however, to my mind do not diminish the valour of the hundreds of thousands of very young airmen who put their lives at risk and in many cases perished (a thousand of them are resting less than a mile from where I live on a British Commonwealth Cemetery). We can only hope this will never happen again.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book about the forgotten and ignored (in my opinion) crews of Bomber Command in WWII. So many impressive true stories. If you want to learn more about the English effort in WWII with respect to Bomber Command then this book is one you should enjoy. Very difficult to put down.

[Ady Stimpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its hard to believe that many Lancaster pilots along with other "heavies" pilots were barely out of their teens during the air war of WW2.

[Ady Stimpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rather objective view of "Bomber Harris's" valiant aircrews, and the moral perspective of the carpet bombing campaigns of the last war.