Voices in Flight: The Heavy Bomber Offensive of WWII (Hardback)
Imprint: Pen & Sword Aviation
Series: Voices in Flight
Pages: 224
ISBN: 9781783831937
Published: 20th May 2015
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This book contains fourteen stirring accounts, each conveying an authentic sense of what it was really like to fly as a member of air-crew during the various bombing operations of the Second World War. The storytellers are an eclectic mix of pilots, navigators, bomb aimers, wireless operators and gunners who flew on operations in heavy bombers. It conveys the terror of being coned by German searchlights over the target, attacks by Luftwaffe night-fighters, often catastrophic damage to aircraft and the ensuing struggle to keep the machine airborne on the return trip to base. It tells of the comradeship between the crew and the humour between them, often borne of fear. The gentle and unassuming narratives include 'Millennium'; 'One of Our Aircraft Is Missing'; Bomber's Moon; 'Bombing Berlin' 'The Ordeal Of Pilot Officer Romans DFC'; Last Man Out' operations on Whitleys and Halifaxes; Flying Officer 'X'; Stirlings; 'Rescue At Sea' 'The Incendiary Load's Alight'; 'The Night Of The Bombs' and 'The Kassel Raids of 1943' as well as BBC Broadcasts and stories by Allied war correspondents. Each of these accounts conveys the sense of purpose that these men felt in doing one of the most dangerous jobs of the war. It is a fitting tribute to those that survived and the many thousands who died in the struggle against Hitler's dreadful ambitions in Europe.
As featured in.
Air-Britain Military Aviation Historical Quarterly March 2016
Voices in Flight is an interesting collection, wide-ranging enough to give something new to readers who have journeyed this way before, and comprehensive enough to engage the new explorer of a terrifying yet compelling theatre of battle conflict... There are several pages of good photographs, including one of a Stirling gun turret showing exactly the sort of damage which could be caused by an enemy fighter’s guns – the gunner was killed in the attack... Voices in Flight is recommended.
Australian Naval Institute - Tom Lewis
Written by the prolific military author, Martin Bowman, this is one of a series he is producing entitled ‘Voices in Flight’. It comprises fourteen chapters, all of which are stand-alone stories based around the subject area, in this case the R.A.F. heavy bomber offensive. Each story is provided by a contributor, or has been sourced through archives or associations, and relates to their personal experiences of a particular operation or series of events during the Second World War.
British Military History
The book reads well, and as it is based upon personal accounts, it contains the contributor’s views and anecdotes. It is not a history of R.A.F. bombing campaign, or of Bomber Command, but it does not pretend to be that, it is a collection of interesting stories around the subject area. I enjoyed reading it within its context; you can pick it up and put it down, because each chapter is self-contained.
All in all, an enjoyable read for anyone interested in this subject area, and an insight into the emotions and feelings of aircrew of the time.
About Martin W Bowman
With well over 100 published books, MARTIN W. BOWMAN is one of Britain’s best-known aviation historians and authors. Specialising in Second World War history and post-war aviation, Martin’s interest in these subjects was driven by the prolific number of RAF and USAAF air bases that were established in his native East Anglia. His previous books have included works such as Legend of the Lancaster, Confounding the Reich, Duxford and the Big Wings, as well as numerous titles in the exhaustive Air War series, which, between them, provide extensive coverage of operations carried out on D-Day and during the Market Garden offensive at Arnhem.