Bomber Command Battle of Berlin Failed to Return

Bomber Command Battle of Berlin Failed to Return PDF Author: STEVE. BOND
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780993415272
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
'Tonight you are going to the Big City. You will have the opportunity to light a fire in the belly of the enemy that will burn his black heart out.' The message from Commander-in-Chief of RAF Bomber Command Sir Arthur Harris was clear. As the Second World War continued into a fifth year, the airmen of Bomber Command were to fly deep into hostile airspace and bring the war direct to the German Nazi capital Berlin. From the autumn of 1943 to the last days of winter in early 1944, during the hours of extended darkness, the bomber crews braved the flak, the searchlights, enemy night fighters and extremes of weather, to bombard the 'black heart'. Prior to the all-out campaign against the 'Big City' Sir Arthur Harris firmly believed his bomber force could break the German will to wage war, but he also prophesied that 'It will cost us between 400 and 500 aircraft'. Fighting High Publishing brings together acclaimed Bomber Command historians to tell the story of some of the thousands of airmen who failed to return from operations as part of the 1943 and 1944 Bomber Command Battle of Berlin. The authors, utilizing family archives, personal testimony and records, wartime memoirs, diaries and letters, witness recollections, logbooks, and official documents, piece together the remarkable, yet ultimately tragic events surrounding the losses described. Illustrated throughout with previously unpublished black and white and color photographs Bomber Command Battle of Berlin Failed to Return ensures the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice is kept alive. 'We Will Remember Them'.

Bomber Command Battle of Berlin Failed to Return

Bomber Command Battle of Berlin Failed to Return PDF Author: STEVE. BOND
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780993415272
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book Here

Book Description
'Tonight you are going to the Big City. You will have the opportunity to light a fire in the belly of the enemy that will burn his black heart out.' The message from Commander-in-Chief of RAF Bomber Command Sir Arthur Harris was clear. As the Second World War continued into a fifth year, the airmen of Bomber Command were to fly deep into hostile airspace and bring the war direct to the German Nazi capital Berlin. From the autumn of 1943 to the last days of winter in early 1944, during the hours of extended darkness, the bomber crews braved the flak, the searchlights, enemy night fighters and extremes of weather, to bombard the 'black heart'. Prior to the all-out campaign against the 'Big City' Sir Arthur Harris firmly believed his bomber force could break the German will to wage war, but he also prophesied that 'It will cost us between 400 and 500 aircraft'. Fighting High Publishing brings together acclaimed Bomber Command historians to tell the story of some of the thousands of airmen who failed to return from operations as part of the 1943 and 1944 Bomber Command Battle of Berlin. The authors, utilizing family archives, personal testimony and records, wartime memoirs, diaries and letters, witness recollections, logbooks, and official documents, piece together the remarkable, yet ultimately tragic events surrounding the losses described. Illustrated throughout with previously unpublished black and white and color photographs Bomber Command Battle of Berlin Failed to Return ensures the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice is kept alive. 'We Will Remember Them'.

The Berlin Raids

The Berlin Raids PDF Author: Martin Middlebrook
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473819059
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
A “meticulously documented” account that covers the RAF’s controversial attempt to end World War II by the aerial bombing of Berlin (Kirkus Reviews). The Battle of Berlin was the longest and most sustained bombing offensive against one target in the Second World War. Bomber Command Commander-in-Chief, Sir Arthur Harris, hoped to wreak Berlin from end to end and produce a state of devastation in which German surrender was inevitable. He dispatched nineteen major raids between August 1943 and March 1944—more than ten thousand aircraft sorties dropped over thirty thousand tons of bombs on Berlin. It was the RAF’s supreme effort to end the war by aerial bombing. But Berlin was not destroyed and the RAF lost more than six hundred aircraft and their crews. The controversy over whether the Battle of Berlin was a success or failure has continued ever since. Martin Middlebrook brings to this subject considerable experience as a military historian. In preparing his material he collected documents from both sides (many of the German ones never before used); he has also interviewed and corresponded with over four hundred of the people involved in the battle and has made trips to Germany to interview the people of Berlin and Luftwaffe aircrews. He has achieved the difficult task of bringing together both sides of the Battle of Berlin—the bombing force and the people on the ground—to tell a coherent, single story. “His straightforward narrative covers the 19 major raids, with a detailed description of three in particular, and includes recollections by British and German airmen as well as German civilians who weathered the storm.” —Publishers Weekly

Bomber Command

Bomber Command PDF Author: Steve Bond
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780956269669
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
With an average age of just twenty-two, the Royal Air Force's Bomber Command, all volunteers, began operating within minutes of the start of the Second World War. This book tells the stories of those who 'failed to return' through surviving veteran accounts, family archives, official documents, wartime memoirs, and other sources.

The Strategic Air Offensive Against Germany

The Strategic Air Offensive Against Germany PDF Author: Sir Charles Kingsley Webster
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description


Bombers Over Berlin

Bombers Over Berlin PDF Author: Alan W. Cooper
Publisher: Pen and Sword Aviation
ISBN: 9781781590652
Category : Berlin (Germany)
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
First published to acclaim in 1985, this book is set to be a timely release, in line with the 70th Anniversary of the outset of the Raids, near approaching in November 2013. Berlin itself was 'the Big City'. It was deep in the heart of Germany and heavily defended with flak and nightfighters, not only because it was the administrative capital but also because it was vital for the German war production machine. Heavy losses could be expected on any raid to Berlin. So when the curtain was swept back on the briefing map to reveal the red ribbon stretching towards Berlin there was added tension for the bomber crews. Between November 1943 and March 1944 Berlin was the target no less than sixteen times. 9,112 sorties were flown and 495 aircraft were lost. As in his previous books, Alan Cooper has painstakingly researched all the details of the raids, telling the stories of individual crews who flew on them, of those who returned safely and those who were shot down, becoming POWs or evading capture, either returning to the UK or remaining at large in occupied Europe. He tells of the heroism of the pilots and crews grappling with heavily -loaded bombers against nightfighters, often nursing stricken aircraft back to base, with many failing to return. REVIEWS: Acclaim for BOMBERS OVER BERLIN: "What makes this book so remarkable and interesting is its anthology of short but graphic accounts of the trials and tribulations of the dozens of bomber crews involved...Bombers Over Berlin is unique in its compilations of such a large number of personal anecdotes covering the hazards of sustained fighter and flak attacks...a thoroughly well researched chronicle" Ken Batchelor, former Chairman of the Bomber Command Association. ILLUSTRATIONS: 20 b/w images

Bomber Offensive

Bomber Offensive PDF Author: Noble Frankland
Publisher: Random House (NY)
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
An illustrated history of the allied forces in charge of destroying German war machines.

Bomber Offensive

Bomber Offensive PDF Author: Arthur Harris
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1844152103
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Sir Arthur Harris - Bomber Harris - remains the target of criticism and vilification by many, while others believe the contribution he and his men made to victory is grossly undervalued. He led the men of Bomber Command in the face of appalling casualties, had fierce disagreements with higher authority and enjoyed a complicated relationship with Winston Churchill. Written soon after the close of World War 2, this collection of Sir Arthur Harris's memoirs reveals the man behind the Allied bombing offensive that culminated in the destruction of the Nazi war machine but also many beautiful cities, including Dresden.

The Nuremberg Raid

The Nuremberg Raid PDF Author: Martin Middlebrook
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 178159886X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
A thorough history of the RAF Bomber Command attack on the German city during World War II, by the author of The First Day on the Somme. This book describes one twenty-four-hour period in the Allied Strategic Bomber Offensive in the greatest possible detail. Author Martin Middlebrook sets the scene by outlining the course of the bombing war from 1939 to the night of the Nuremberg raid, the characters and aims of the British bombing leaders, and the composition of the opposing Bomber Command and German night fighter forces. The aim of the Nuremberg raid was not unlike many hundreds of other Royal Air Force missions but, due to the difficulties and dangers of the enemy defenses and weather plus bad luck, it went horribly wrong. The result was so notorious that it became a turning point in the campaign. The target, the symbolic Nazi rally city of Nuremberg, was only lightly damaged, and 96 out of 779 bombers went missing. Middlebrook recreates the events of the fateful night in astonishing detail. The result is a meticulous, dramatic, and often controversial account. It is also a moving tribute to the bravery of the RAF bomber crews and their adversaries. Praise for The Nuremberg Raid “Employing hundreds of eyewitness accounts, he shows the raid from the point of view of the German defenses and the civilians on the ground. Factual and analytical, this is a portrait of mechanized warfare at the level of personal experience.” —Simon Mawer, Wall Street Journal

The German Defense Of Berlin

The German Defense Of Berlin PDF Author: Oberst a.D. Wilhem Willemar
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1786251469
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Book Description
Often written during imprisonment in Allied War camps by former German officers, with their memories of the World War fresh in their minds, The Foreign Military Studies series offers rare glimpses into the Third Reich. In this study Oberst a.D. Wilhem Willemar discusses his recollections of the climatic battle for Berlin from within the Wehrmacht. “No cohesive, over-all plan for the defense of Berlin was ever actually prepared. All that existed was the stubborn determination of Hitler to defend the capital of the Reich. Circumstances were such that he gave no thought to defending the city until it was much too late for any kind of advance planning. Thus the city’s defense was characterized only by a mass of improvisations. These reveal a state of total confusion in which the pressure of the enemy, the organizational chaos on the German side, and the catastrophic shortage of human and material resources for the defense combined with disastrous effect. “The author describes these conditions in a clear, accurate report which I rate very highly. He goes beyond the more narrow concept of planning and offers the first German account of the defense of Berlin to be based upon thorough research. I attach great importance to this study from the standpoint of military history and concur with the military opinions expressed by the author.”-Foreword by Generaloberst a.D. Franz Halder.

Failed to Return

Failed to Return PDF Author: Bill Norman
Publisher: Leo Cooper Books
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
Operations and losses of a British and a Canadian air group operating from Yorkshire.