Men of Air; The Doomed Youth of Bomber Command

by Kevin Wilson

• ISBN13: 9780297853213
• ISBN10: 029785321X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-03-04
• Publisher: WN

Summary

The winter of 1944 was the most dangerous time to be a combat airman in the RAF Bomber Command: the chances of surviving a tour were as low as one in five, and morale had hit rock bottom. The daily heroism of those fighters comes to life in this comprehensive, compelling history of that year, which encompasses the most dangerous periods of the Battle of Berlin and the unparalleled losses over Magdeburg, Leipzig, and Nuremberg. Personal accounts reveal how ordinary men coped with the constant pressure of flying, the loss of their colleagues, and the constant threat of death or capture. By exploring famous events such as the Great Escape and D-Day, we discover how the "'Men of Air" finally turned the tide against the Germans.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. ix
List of Maps	p. xi
Prelude	p. 1
Winter
An Op Too Many	p. 9
The Cauldron	p. 24
The Cost of Courage	p. 52
The Lesson of Leipzig	p. 73
Revenge and Recrimination	p. 98
Berlin or Bust	p. 108
The Underground Air War	p. 140
Massacre in the Moonlight	p. 164
Spring
Making a Mark	p. 199
Escape Lines in the Railway Desert	p. 221
Training and Terror	p. 244
Return to the Reich	p. 268
Summer
The Longest Night	p. 279
Squashing the Doodlebug	p. 299
Throttling the Luftwaffe	p. 316
One-way Tickets in the Transportation Plan	p. 334
Back to Basics	p. 349
The Beginning of the End	p. 369
Reflection	p. 395
Notes	p. 399
Acknowledgements	p. 409
Glossary	p. 411
Bibliography	p. 414
Index	p. 417
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