Ops: Victory at All Costs: Operations over Hitler's Reich with the Crews of Bomber Command 1939-1945, Their War: Their Words

876 Pages·2012·7.04 MB·English

by  Simpson

Published in Great Britain in 2012 by Tattered Flag Press PO Box 2240
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Ops
© Andrew R.B. Simpson 2012

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ISBN 978-0-9555977-6-3
EISBN 978-0-9555977-9-4

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Also by Andrew R.B. Simpson: Another Life: Lawrence after Arabia, 2007
ISBN 978-1-86227-464-8
‘Never a day passes that you don't remember those days. You shake
your head in disbelief that you managed to come through. Years
afterwards I found it easy to delude myself, to think that, after all, it
had been no more than an exhilarating adventure. In truth, those who
survived were the tip of the iceberg of the dead. Only a few of us were
real warriors, but we saw some very ordinary men do some
extraordinary things.’
DON CHARLWOOD, NAVIGATOR, 103 SQUADRON from Journeys into
Night, 1991

‘It was the wartime RAF that gave a direction and a discipline to my
life, and taught me that professionalism and teamwork are the
prerequisites of all human achievement. There I was shown what men
and women can achieve when they are united in pursuit of a common
goal clearly defined as just and good, and which they know they must
attain at all costs.’
LEONARD CHESHIRE, CO, 617 SQUADRON from The Hidden World,
1981
CONTENTS
Preface
Foreword by John Nichol
Author's Introduction
Exposition
Acknowledgements
Glossary
Maps: The Operational Squadrons of Bomber Command – 30 March 1944
‘Night of the Strong Winds’: 24/25 March 1944
PART ONE FIRST STEPS
Chapter One ‘… OTHERWISE I MAY END UP IN THE ARMY’
First Steps
Chapter Two ‘THAT'S THE LAST TIME YOU WILL EVER BE AT THE
CONTROLS!’
Training
Chapter Three ‘IT SEEMED TO TAKE QUITE A LOT OF PUNISHMENT
WITHOUT FALLING OUT OF THE SKY’
The Aircraft
Chapter Four ‘A GRAND MOB OF FELLOWS’
The Crew
Chapter Five ‘A JUGGLE WITH JESUS’
OTU: Part One
PART TWO ON SQUADRON
Chapter Six ‘ENOUGH TO FRIGHTEN THE DEVIL OUT OF US!’
First Operation
Chapter Seven ‘THERE'S A BLOODY DUCK IN MY BED!’
Squadron life