Bomber Command

1942 was a crucial year for the fortunes of Bomber Command. The newly appointed Commander-in-Chief, Sir Arthur Harris, knew he had to show quickly that his ideas for broader, strategic bombing could make a real difference to the war, so with Churchill's blessing he set about planning a vast initial air attack using at least one thousand bombers. It was Cologne which became the target of the colossal raid on the night of 30th May 1942. The success of that first raid was convincing while the two major follow up 'Thousand' raids on Essen and Bremen in June were less so, but still emphatically justified Bomber Command's new expansive and aggressive role. More importantly, the raids forced an outraged Hitler to divert large and increasingly scarce military resources to the defense of his German cities.

The crews of Bomber Command are often described as the bravest of the brave. They knew the risks. Night after night they flew into the dark and smoke-filled skies of the continent. The odds on them returning safely were frighteningly low. They had youth on their side: the average age was 22. Their motto was 'Press On Regardless'. No less than 23 Victoria Crosses were won by men from Bomber Command. This book tells the story of the actions behind those awards. Some, such as Guy Gibson, are already legendary heroes. Others, such as Hughie Edwards, are less well known. Edwards led a near suicidal daylight raid on the docks at Bremen in 1941. Only eight aircraft survived and all these were badly damaged by flak. The chimney pot height they had flown at was witnessed by the telegraph wires still wrapped around one plane's rear wheel. This book is a testament to all those who flew with Bomber Command, which lost 55,000 of its members during the war.