Bomber Boys: Fighting Back, 1940-1945. Patrick Bishop

by Patrick Bishop

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0007192150
• ISBN13: 9780007192151
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 429 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.

Customer Reviews

One of the Best Overviews of this Key Campaign

Patrick Bishop provides us with a thoroughly researched and riveting read about this all too often overlooked campaign. His book ranges from the strategic overview, passing through the operational challenges down to those brave men and women who night after night fought an unglamorous but vital battle. Perhaps most poignant are the stories of lives lived all too briefly under the constant threat of a death that was neither glorious nor without agony. We share the hopes, aspirations and dreams of young men thrown together into small, tight knit bands, whose greatest fear is letting their fellow crew members down. At the same time we are allowed glimpses of those who remain behind; wives not allowed to live near their husbands, WAAFs who try to provide comfort and solace but who have to cope with the ever familiar fact that many will not return and the families living in the shadow of a telegram bearing the all too common bad news. Bishop does not spare us the horrors of those who suffer the effects; however, he places matters into perspective and allows the reader to make up his or her mind on the subject. Perhaps most of all he reminds us of the sacrifices made by all. His assessment of Bomber (or Butcher) Harris is terrific; he is neither too kind or too harsh but provides the necessary context for us to understand the actions of this committed and dedicated man for whom duty was everything. Above all, this is a fitting testament to all who took part in or who were affected by this campaign, their bravery shines through.

What Donald Miller did for the US Eighth AF, Bishop does for British Bomber Crews

Unbeknownst to many Americans, the brave men who flew the night-time bombing missions over occupied Europe never received campaign medals. Their war, deemed so essential by the British government during the conflict, fell into disfavor as the horrors of city bombing became known. In this excellent new book by British historian and writer Patrick Bishop, the author looks unflinchingly at the terrible carnage of German cities resulting from the bomber campaign, but also puts the strategy into perspective from the place and time it was waged. The men and boys who flew the heavy bombers over Europe performed acts of extraordinary courage. A staggering number of these men perished in the course of the war. Bishop, through skillful interweaving of overall bomber command histories and personal accounts, puts a human face on the story, covering everything from living conditions on the bases, to the controversial British policy of LMF--lack of moral fiber. As you read this book, you are drawn into the lives of the individuals as well as the broad sweep of the policies that drove them to do what they did. Bishop skillfully makes the point that, as flawed as area bombing as a policy may have been, the men who carried out the policy deserve much more recognition for their deeds than has been accorded them to date. Another good book on this topic is Max Hastings' 'Bomber Command'. Rob Morris, Author 'Untold Valor: Forgotten Stories of American Bomber Crews Over Europe in World War Two', Potomac, 2006.