Uncommon Valour (Goodall S.)

By A.G. Goulding

Book Overview

At the beginning of the Second World War, RAF Bomber Command was a weak, under-strength force of largely obsolete, vulnerable aircraft with limited operational capacity. Early bombing raids were disastrous, with little damage achieved and up to half the attacking bombers and their crews lost in a single action.

By the end of the War, Bomber Command had become the most powerful striking force in British history. It was also embroiled in doubt and bitter controversy.

This is the story of this remarkable transformation. From a historical perspective it relates the events that shaped bombing policy, drawing on de-classified material that reveals the involvement of Winston Churchill and other key decision makers in many of the most contentious decisions. However, it also chronicles the daily routine of life - and death - on an RAF Bomber Command squadron, as seen by one who was there, and reveals many of the individual acts of heroism that occurred in these years.

The book makes particular reference to the role of Sir Arthur Harris. The criticisms and vilification that have hounded him for fifty years are examined in the light of what is now known of official policy during the war years.

Uncommon Valour is an important reappraisal of the role of RAF Bomber Command in the Second World War.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0859790959
• ISBN13: 9780859790956
• Release Date: July 1996
• Publisher: Goodall Publications Ltd
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.5" x 5.3"