Terror from the Sky (ePub)
The Battle Against the Flying Bombs
Imprint: Pen & Sword Aviation
File Size: 1.9 MB (.epub)
Illustrations: 40 black and white
ISBN: 9781781594209
Published: 20th March 2008
| Other formats available | Price |
|---|---|
| Terror from the Sky Paperback Add to Basket | £14.99 |
Located in an Observer Corps post on the top of a Martello tower on the seafront at Dymchurch in Kent, Mr E.E. Woodland and Mr A.M. Wraight were on duty on the morning of 13 June 1944. Shortly after 04.00 hours they spotted the approach of an object spurting red flames from its rear end and making a noise like ‘a Model-T-Ford going up a hill’. What they were watching was the first V1 flying bomb heading towards the South Coast. A new battle of Britain was about to begin.
The flying bomb that the two men had observed crossed the shoreline and continued northwards. Some ten minutes later it fell to earth with a loud explosion at Swanscombe, near Gravesend. It was the first of more than 10,000 flying bombs launched against Britain that summer, most of which were targeted at London. At its peak, Hitler’s flying bomb campaign saw more than 100 V1s a day being fired.
Much of the UK suddenly found itself back in the frontline of the war. In the weeks and months that followed, thousands of people were killed, many more injured. In this book the author takes the reader through the day by day battle. Accounts from some of those who survived the buzz bomb attacks bring the story to life as people tell about their fears and experiences.
To combat the threat, RAF fighter pilots flew round the clock patrols, desperately trying to shoot the robot rockets down and stop them from reaching their targets, whilst anti-aircraft gunners played their part on the ground. So successful was this joint effort that by the end of March 1945, the combined British defences were accounting for 72.8% of all the reported V1s that were directed at the United Kingdom. This is the story of how that success was achieved.
Featured in
Battlefield, Spring 2021 Issue
A book for anyone who has ever imagined themselves in the cockpit trying to down this very first cruise missile.
Philip Styles – Archivist, The Shackleton Association
I could not wait to get this book and it was worth the wait.
Richard Domoney-Saunders
What you get here is a book that goes I to great detail about the brave pilots tasked to defend the country against Hitler revenge weapons.
This is one of the most exciting aviation books I have read and one I have no hesitation to recommend to anyone who loves a ripping aviation yarn.
A worthy 5 star book.
Read the full review here
In the summer and autumn of 1944 the Air Defence of Great Britain was put to the unprecedented test – to withstand the first cruise rockets offensive campaign in the history of mankind. As four years earlier, the destiny of British Isles civil population again depended on few men who were in the fighters’ cockpits or manned the AA guns. More than 10,000 flying bombs were launched by Germans towards London and other cities, towns and ports.
Mykhaylo Akimov
Graham A. Thomas in his deep-detailed book follows the continuous fighter patrols, which resulted in day and night doodlebugs interceptions. Using archive documents and personal accounts, he leads the reader through the battle against V-1s to show how it was fought and whose exploits greatly reduced the effectiveness of Hitler’s Wunderwaffe saving thousands of lives from air terror menace.
In the summer and autumn of 1944 the Air Defence of Great Britain was put to the unprecedented test – to withstand the first cruise rockets offensive campaign in the history of mankind. As four years earlier, the destiny of British civil population again depended on few men who were in the fighters’ cockpits or manned the AA guns. More than 10,000 flying bombs were launched by Germans towards London and other cities, towns and ports.
Mykhaylo Akimov
Graham A. Thomas in his deep-detailed book follows the continuous fighter patrols, which resulted in day and night doodlebugs interceptions. Using archive documents and personal accounts, he leads the reader through the battle against V-1s with the only aim – to show how it was fought and whose exploits greatly reduced the effectiveness of Hitler’s first “Wunderwaffe†saving thousands of lives from air terror menace.
About Graham A Thomas
Graham A. Thomas is a historian specialising in the history of the British army and air force in the Second World War and Korea. He is currently the editor of the British Army Review, a quarterly journal on the doctrine and history of the British army. His publications include Furies and Fireflies Over Korea, Terror From the Sky: The Battle Against the Flying Bombs and Firestorm: Typhoons Over Caen. He has also written several books on naval and maritime history, including Pirate Hunter: The Life of Captain Woodes Rogers and Blackbeard: The Hunt For The World's Most Notorious Pirate.
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