Download or read book Bomber Offensive written by Arthur Harris and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2005-03-01 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sir Arthur Harris - Bomber Harris - remains the target of criticism and vilification by many, while others believe the contribution he and his men made to victory is grossly undervalued. He led the men of Bomber Command in the face of appalling casualties, had fierce disagreements with higher authority and enjoyed a complicated relationship with Winston Churchill. Written soon after the close of World War 2, this collection of Sir Arthur Harris's memoirs reveals the man behind the Allied bombing offensive that culminated in the destruction of the Nazi war machine but also many beautiful cities, including Dresden.

Download or read book The Heavy Bomber Offensive of WWII written by Martin W. Bowman and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2015-05-31 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Air Force Combat Units of World War II written by Maurer Maurer and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1961 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Fire and Fury written by Randall Hansen and published by Anchor Canada. This book was released on 2009-09-15 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: National Bestseller An enlightening and utterly convincing re-examination of the allied aerial bombing campaign and of civilian German suffering during World War II–an essential addition to our understanding of world history. During the Second World War, Allied air forces dropped nearly two million tons of bombs on Germany, destroying some 60 cities, killing more than half a million German citizens, and leaving 80,000 pilots dead. Much of the bombing was carried out against the expressed demands of the Allied military leadership. Hundreds of thousands of people died needlessly. Focusing on the crucial period from 1942 to 1945, and using a compelling narrative approach, Fire and Fury tells the story of the American and British bombing campaign through the eyes of those involved: military and civilian command in America, Britain, and Germany, aircrew in the sky, and civilians on the ground. Acclaimed historian Randall Hansen shows that the Commander-in-Chief of Bomber Command, Arthur Harris, was wedded to an outdated strategy whose success had never been proven; how area bombing not only failed to win the war, it probably prolonged it; and that the US campaign, which was driven by a particularly American fusion of optimism and morality, played an important and largely unrecognized role in delivering Allied victory.

Download or read book Luftwaffe Over America written by Manfred Griehl and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2016-03-30 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The plans that Nazi Germany had to raid - and bomb - New York and the eastern seabord are revealed in this book. They were were based on the use of transoceanic aircraft planes, such as the six-engined Ju 390, Me 264 or Ta 400, but the Third Reich was unable to produce such machines in sufficient numbers. If the Soviet Union had been conquered, however, these plans would have become a reality. With the seizure of vital resources from the Soviet Union the Wehrmacht would have had enough fuel and material to mass-produce giant bomber aircraft: it was a near run thing. The collapse of the Wehrmacht infrastructure and the end of the Thousand-Year Reich ensured that plans for long-range remote-controlled missiles never got off the drawing board and were never manufactured. Manfried Griehl makes it clear that until the collapse, numerous secret research laboratories seemed to have worked in parallel seeking nuclear power and explosives. Only classified material held within British, French and American archives can prove whether these groups were close to perfecting small atomic explosives. But, without a shadow of doubt, Germany was far more technologically advanced by the end of 1944 that has been previously suspected.

Download or read book The Bombers and the Bombed written by Richard Overy and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2015-04-28 with total page 609 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An essential part of the literature of World War II.” —Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post From acclaimed World War II historian Richard Overy comes this startling new history of the controversial Allied bombing war against Germany and German-occupied Europe. In the fullest account yet of the campaign and its consequences, Overy assesses not just the bombing strategies and pattern of operations, but also how the bombed communities coped with the devastation. This book presents a unique history of the bombing offensive from below as well as from above, and engages with moral questions that still resonate today.

Download or read book The quest Haywood Hansell and American strategic bombing in World War II written by Charles Griffith and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1999 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains the following chapters concerning Haywood Hansell and American Strategic Bombing in World War II: the problems of air power, (2) the early years: education and acts, (3) planning, (4) the frictions of war, (5) the global bomber force, (6) triumph, and (7) tragedy.

Download or read book The Hardest Victory written by Denis Richards and published by . This book was released on 1994-01-01 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The work of the RAF offensive against the Germans in the Second World War is described : difficulties and failures, claims of wasteful and immoral attacks, policies and personalities, organization, Intelligence, and technical developments as well as the magnitude of the Bomber Command's achievement. Stressing the great contribution made by Dominion and Allied air crews and the essential interdependence of the British and American air operations, and drawing on correspondence with some 200 surviving aircrew and groundcrew, the author offers fresh insights into the human element in the long and bloody business of bombing Britain's enemies.

Download or read book Command Of The Air written by General Giulio Douhet and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 620 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the pantheon of air power spokesmen, Giulio Douhet holds center stage. His writings, more often cited than perhaps actually read, appear as excerpts and aphorisms in the writings of numerous other air power spokesmen, advocates-and critics. Though a highly controversial figure, the very controversy that surrounds him offers to us a testimonial of the value and depth of his work, and the need for airmen today to become familiar with his thought. The progressive development of air power to the point where, today, it is more correct to refer to aerospace power has not outdated the notions of Douhet in the slightest In fact, in many ways, the kinds of technological capabilities that we enjoy as a global air power provider attest to the breadth of his vision. Douhet, together with Hugh “Boom” Trenchard of Great Britain and William “Billy” Mitchell of the United States, is justly recognized as one of the three great spokesmen of the early air power era. This reprint is offered in the spirit of continuing the dialogue that Douhet himself so perceptively began with the first edition of this book, published in 1921. Readers may well find much that they disagree with in this book, but also much that is of enduring value. The vital necessity of Douhet’s central vision-that command of the air is all important in modern warfare-has been proven throughout the history of wars in this century, from the fighting over the Somme to the air war over Kuwait and Iraq.

Download or read book The Bombing War written by Richard Overy and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2013-09-26 with total page 668 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ultimate history of the Blitz and bombing in the Second World War, from Wolfson Prize-winning historian and author Richard Overy The use of massive fleets of bombers to kill and terrorize civilians was an aspect of the Second World War which continues to challenge the idea that Allies specifically fought a 'moral' war. For Britain, bombing became perhaps its principal contribution to the fighting as, night after night, exceptionally brave men flew over occupied Europe destroying its cities. The Bombing War radically overhauls our understanding of the War. It is the first book to examine seriously not just the most well-known parts of the campaign, but the significance of bombing on many other fronts - the German use of bombers on the Eastern Front for example (as well as much newly discovered material on the more familiar 'Blitz' on Britain), or the Allied campaigns against Italian cities. The result is the author's masterpiece - a rich, gripping, picture of the Second World War and the terrible military, technological and ethical issues that relentlessly drove all its participants into an abyss. Reviews: 'Magnificent ... must now be regarded as the standard work on the bombing war ... It is probably the most important book published on the history of he second world war this century' Richard J Evans, Guardian 'Monumental ... this is a major contribution to one of the most controversial aspects of the Second World War ... full of new detail and perspectives ... hugely impressive' James Holland, Literary Review 'This tremendous book does what the war it describes signally failed to do. With a well-thought-out strategy and precision, it delivers maximum force on its objectives ... The result is a masterpiece of the historian's art' The Times 'It is unlikely that a work of this scale, scope and merit will be surpassed' Times Higher Education 'What distinguishes Mr Overy's account of the bombing war from lesser efforts is the wealth of narrative detail and analytical rigour that he brings to bear' Economist 'Excellent ... Overy is never less than an erudite and clear-eyed guide whose research is impeccable and whose conclusions appear sensible and convincing even when they run against the established trends' Financial Times 'Hard to surpass. If you want to know how bombing worked, what it did and what it meant, this is the book to read' Times Literary Supplement About the author: Richard Overy is the author of a series of remarkable books on the Second World War and the wider disasters of the twentieth century. The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia won both the Wolfson Prize for History and the Hessell-Tiltman Prize. He is Professor of History at the University of Exeter. Penguin publishes 1939: Countdown to War, The Morbid Age, Russia's War, Interrogations, The Battle of Britain and The Dictators. He lives in London.

Download or read book Men of Air written by Kevin Wilson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-02-05 with total page 610 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bomber combat crews faced a wide array of perils as they flew over German territory. Bursts of heavy flak could tear the wings from their planes in a split second. Flaming bullets from German fighter planes could explode their fuel tanks, cut their oxygen supplies, destroy their engines. Thousands of young men were shot, blown up, or thrown from their planes five miles above the earth; and even those who returned faced the subtler dangers of ice and fog as they tried to land their battered aircraft back home.The winter of 1944 was the most dangerous time to be a combat airman in RAF Bomber Command. The chances of surviving a tour were as low as one in five, and morale had finally hit rock bottom. In this comprehensive history of the air war that year, Kevin Wilson describes the most dangerous period of the Battle of Berlin, and the unparalleled losses over Magdeburg, Leipzig and Nuremberg.Men of Air reveals how these ordinary men coped with the extraordinary pressure of flying, the loss of their colleagues, and the threat of death or capture. Brilliantly placing these stories within the context of The Great Escape, D-Day, the defeat of the V1 menace, and more, Wilson shows how the sheer grit and determination of these "Men of Air" finally turned the tide against the Germans.

Download or read book Are We Beasts Churchill And The Moral Question Of World War II Area Bombing written by Dr. Christopher C. Harmon and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 57 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This historical reassessment of the World War II British bombing campaign notes that though in 1940 Churchill declared that he was waging “a military and not a civilian war” to destroy “military objectives” and not “women and children,” within eighteen months both types of targets would be struck by Bomber Command. The author searches for the reasons in “three contiguous realms” of strategic influence: moral (and legal), political, and military. The study concludes that although for much of the war “area bombing” of cities was a “tragic necessity” meeting the ‘reasonable man’s’ standard of what was decently allowable given the blunt weapons the Allies had” and the evils they faced, nonetheless Allied leaders could have and should have abandoned indiscriminate bombing in the last phases of the conflict, when more precise means were at hand and “Nazi power had been overmatched.”

Download or read book RAF Bomber Command in World War II written by Denis Richards and published by Penguin Group. This book was released on 2001 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While Churchill acknowledged the vital contribution of RAF Bomber Command in the Second World War, it has recently come under fire from a whole generation of historians. They claim that the RAF offensive against Germany was immoral because so many civilians were killed, and wasteful because so many attacks were not on specific military targets. In this powerful book Denis Richards describes the Command's difficulties and failures, but also redresses the balance by making clear the magnitude of its achievements. His fascinating account dramatically re-creates the gruesome and protracted battle fought for almost five and half years in the night skies, in which over half the aircrew became casualties. Truly, it was 'the Hardest Victory'. Book jacket.

Download or read book Mighty by Sacrifice written by James L. Noles and published by University of Alabama Press. This book was released on 2009-07-26 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dispatched on what was to be an easy assignment of attacking the Privoser Oil Refinery and associated railroad yards at Moravska Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, the 20th Squadron of the 2nd Bombardment Group saw the bloodiest day in their history. Not a single one of the 20th Squadron's B-17 bombers returned from the mission. In this book, the 90 airmen on that mission provide a remarkable personal window into the Allies' Combined Bomber Offensive at its height during World War II. Their stories encapsulate how the U.S. Army Air Force built, trained, and employed one of the mightiest war machines ever seen. These stories also illustrate, however, the terrible cost in lives demanded by that same machine.

Download or read book Lectures of the Air Corps Tactical School and American Strategic Bombing in World War II written by Phil Haun and published by Aviation & Air Power. This book was released on 2020-05-19 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book is a collection of the 10 most important lectures written by the early leaders of the Air Force, like Muir Fairchild, Harold George, and Laurence Kuter. Haun went to the Air Force Historical Research Center archives and found the original typed lectures and reproduced the ones that best explained the school's philosophy on the primacy of the airplane in the modern battlefield, the offensive capabilities of the bomber, and the vulnerabilities of an industrialized nation. Haun then augmented each lecture with a short summary that provides a historical perspective and a condensing of the key points each instructor wanted to be carried forward.

Download or read book Combat Squadrons of the Air Force World War II written by United States. USAF Historical Division and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 856 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of squadron histories has been prepared by the USAF Historical Division to complement the Division's book, Air Force Combat Units of World War II. The 1,226 units covered by this volume are the combat (tactical) squadrons that were active between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945. Each squadron is traced from its beginning through 5 March 1963, the fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the 1st Aero (later Bombardment) Squadron, the first Army unit to be equipped with aircraft for tactical operations. For each squadron there is a statement of the official lineage and data on the unit's assignments, stations, aircraft and missiles, operations, service streamers, campaign participation, decorations, and emblem.

Download or read book Big Week written by James Holland and published by Random House. This book was released on 2018-08-16 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'James Holland is a master' BBC History It was to be the battle to end the air war once and for all. During the third week of February 1944, the combined Allied air forces launched their first-ever round-the-clock bomber offensive against Germany. The aim was to smash the main factories and production centres of the Luftwaffe and at the same time draw the German fighter force up into the air and into battle. Big Week is the knife-edge story of bomber against flak gun and fighter, but also, crucially, fighter against fighter. Following the fortunes of pilots and aircrew from both sides, this is a blistering narrative of one of the most critical periods of the entire war. Big Week was the largest air battle ever witnessed, but it has been largely forgotten – until now.