As featured in competition

RAF News - January 13th 2017

This is the story of two airmen - an RAF Rear Gunner and a Luftwaffe Pilot. Alexander Ollar was raised in the Highlands of Scotland. He became an exceptional sporting shot and volunteered as an RAF Air Gunner in 1939. Helmut Lent enrolled for pilot training in the Luftwaffe as soon as he was old enough. Both were men of integrity and honour.

Alec completed his first tour of 34 operations with 115 Squadron and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal by the King. After a year as an instructor, Alec was commissioned and returned to 115 Squadron as Gunnery Leader. He took part in the first 1,000 bomber raid and was described by his Squadron Commander as the best rear gunner he had ever flown with.

At the same time Helmut was building up an impressive score of victories as a night fighter pilot and a national hero who was decorated by the Fuhrer. In July 1942, just as both men reach the apex of their careers, they meet for the first time in the night skies over Hamburg. As this fascinating book reveals, only one will survive.

Recollections of WWII, Matthew Smaldon

From the greatest air battle of all time, the author has drawn the personal stories of two combatants, an RAF air gunner and a Luftwaffe night fighter pilot. This is a history that holds the readers attention like a novel. In this snapshot, the whole of the bombing campaign against Germany is laid out in graphic detail, very highly recommended.

Of the hundreds of books on the WWII strategic bombing campaign against Nazi Germany, this book stands out because it is a narrow prism that still provides a total picture. The two characters are followed as they move towards their fatal encounter in the night skies over Germany.

Read the full review here.

Firetrench