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Bomber Boys

$17.95

The Ruhr, the Dambusters and bloody Berlin

By Kevin Wilson
Published in 2006 by Cassell UK
Softcover, 492 Pages
Size - 20cm * 13cm

In 1943 the RAF began a bombing campaign against Germany, the like of which had never before been seen. Over the next twelve months, tens of thousands of aircrews flew across the North Sea to drop their bombs on German cities. They were opposed not only by the full force of the Luftwaffe, but by a nightmare of flak, treacherously icy conditions, and constant mechanical malfunction. Most of these crews never finished their tour of operations but were either shot down and killed, or taken prisoner by an increasingly hostile enemy.

Kevin Wilson has interviewed hundreds of former airmen including the surviving Dambusters, about their daily lives in 1943: the stomach-churning tension of flying repeatedly over hostile territory, the terror of bale out, and the awe at unleashing such devastation.

This is the story of the everyday heroism of British and Commonwealth bomber crews in the days when it was widely believed that the Allies could win the Second World War by bombing alone.

Contents:
List of Illustrations
Beginings

Winter
- To the Heart of Darkness
- A Signal Success
- Piercing the Gloom
- Ruining the Ruhr

Spring
- The Bitter Taste of Pilsen
- The Toss of a Coin
- The Power of Water
- Pointblank and Return to the Rurh

Summer
- The Power of Fire
- The Peril of Peenemunde
- Back to Berlin
- Stretching to Succeed

Autumn
- Attribution to Achievement
- 'The Greatest of Air Battles'

Winter
- A Miserable End
- Closure

Notes to the Text
Acknowledgements
Glossary
Bibliography
Index

'Masterful ... meticulously researched and grippingly recounted, this is a first-rate contribution to our understanding of the Second World War' - Daily Express

Illustrated with 2 maps and 16 pages of B&W photos