attendance at reunions 386–7
autobiography (Bomber Offensive) 375
aversion to day operations 317–18, 331
background 88
banning of wives from husbands’ bases 300
and Battle of Berlin 202, 207–8, 214, 216, 217
and Battle of the Ruhr 105, 106
‘Butch’ nickname 89
changes in operational procedures 94–5
character and qualities 71, 89, 91, 140, 339, 340
and Churchill 202, 339
criticism of approach 337
criticism of Webster and Frankland’s study 373, 374
death 387
and Eisenhower 308
and first ‘thousand’ raid on Cologne (1942) 97–9
and Hurricane Operation 335
knighthood 369
loyalty to men serving under him 375
and Lübeck and Rostock raids 95–7
ninetieth birthday 386
opposition to Pathfinder Force 100, 101
as perceived by crews 89–91
and Pointblank directive 201–2, 308
and Portal 337–9, 340
presentation of campaign as series of ‘battles’ xxxviii, 154
prestige of 339
propagandist xxxv
reasons for getting away with insubordinate behaviour 339–40
scepticism over emphasis on oil targets 330–1, 338, 340
and Speer xxxvii, 375–6
statue of 387–8
style xxxiii
tribute to men 366
on unpopularity of bombers xxxii
on USAAF bombing methods 317–18
use of incendiaries to start fires 95–6
view of alcohol consumption 265
Harrison, Air Vice-Marshal R. 335
Harrisson, Tom 28–9, 31
Harvards 48
Hearn, Edward 41–2
Heavy Conversion Unit 65, 257
Heilbronn, bombing of 336–7, 340
Hemswell 388–9
Henderson, Chic 180
Higgins, Jock 219–20
High Capacity (HC) blast bombs 159
Himmler, Heinrich 178
Hitler, Adolf 39, 114, 131
Hobbs, Flight Sergeant Gerry 177
Hobday, Harold ‘Hobby’ 107, 108, 109, 191
Hodder, Group Captain F. S. 176–7
Hoffman, Gauleiter 178
Holland 357
Holme-on-Spalding-Moor 187, 257, 258, 264
Hughes, Henry 53
Hulance, Freddie 344–5, 354–5
Hull, George 134, 190, 198, 257, 260–1, 261, 264, 265–6, 267, 269, 270–1, 273, 276, 279, 287–300, 392
Hurricane Operation 334, 335–6
incendiaries 32, 94, 96, 127, 159, 340
‘index of activity’ 77
India 52
Initial Training Wings (ITWs) 51
Inskip, Sir Thomas 10
interwar years 9–10
Iremonger, Sergeant 54
Isbister, James 12–13
Italy 104
number of civilians killed 356
Iveson, Tony xxvi, 56, 90, 93, 192, 327, 328, 393
Jagger, Brian 183
James, Sydney 19, 29
Jericho operation (1944) 228
Jews 38
repression of in Cologne 115–17
Johnson, Edward 34
Johnson, Peter xxix-xxx, xxxix, 33–4, 38, 86–7, 130, 135, 139–40, 155, 171, 349–51, 358, 370, 370–2, 377–8, 393
Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) 343
Jones, Johnny 137–8
Junker 88s 205
Kammhuber, General Josef 166
Kammhuber Line 166, 203
Kangaroo Club (London) 278
Kee, Robert 41
Kelly, Flying Officer Pat 320
Kennan, George xxx-xxxi
Kiel, bombing of 80, 355
Kirby, Joan 134, 190, 257, 260–1, 287–300, 392
Kirby, John 287, 289
Kirkpatrick, Wing Commander 82
Kitto, Philip 289
Knight, Flight Lieutenant Les 107, 109
Krupp’s 69–70, 106, 130, 370–1
La Pallice 104
‘Lacking in Moral Fibre’ see LMF
Lancasters xl, 10, 47, 49, 56, 86, 93–4, 162, 205, 231, 317, 327, 383, 408–9
Lang of Lambeth, Lord 143
Lanham, Charlie 274
Lawson, Wing Commander Jimmy 250
Le Havre 323, 324
Le May, Colonel Curtis 312
leaflet drops 11
Leander, Zarah 125
leave 276–9
Legge, Flying Officer K. C. S. 145
Leipzig 343
Leslie, Jack 136
Lewis, Bruce 42, 51, 59
Lewis, Willie 136, 137, 163, 164, 173–4, 175, 184–5, 192, 195, 196, 273–4, 275, 392
Liberators 200, 310, 315
Lichtschlag, Carl 13
Lightnings 310
Lille 319
Lindholme 259
Lister, Francis 264
Liverpool, bombing of 25
LMF (‘Lacking in Moral Fibre’) 65–6, 248–50, 251–2, 254–5
Lobban, Sergeant John xxxv
Lodge, Roy 342, 345–6
London, bombing of 16–17, 25, 95, 324
Lorient 104
love 280–306
Lübeck, bombing of 95–6, 96
Luftwaffe 14, 21, 94, 133, 169, 201, 307, 316–17, 330, 331, 332, 373
Maaka, Flight Sergeant Inia 63
McClachlan, Sergeant 54
MacDonald, Roy 133, 154, 158, 172, 226, 393
MacGowan, Wing Commander 247
Mackay Brown, George 13
Mackintosh, Flight Lieutenant J. C. 68
Maddern, Geoff 186–7
Mahaddie, Group Captain Hamish 63, 100
Malan, ‘Sailor’ xxxii
Mann, Thomas 97
Manna Operation 357
Mannheim, bombing of 31–2
Manser VC, Flying Officer Leslie 196–7, 197
March, Cyril 50, 51, 60, 63–4, 135, 165, 169, 183–4, 190, 224, 365, 389
Marchant, Hilde 25, 28, 31
Marrs, Eric 42
Marshall, General George C. 347
Martin, Charles 76
Martin, Rev. George 144–5
Mass Observation 26
master bombers 172–4
Maudslay, Squadron Leader Henry 108–9
Maze, John 136–7, 184–5, 192, 195–6
medical officers (MOs) 245–8, 249
Medium Capacity (MC) bombs 159
Memphis Belle (film) 386
Merlin T24 engines 327
Messerschmitt 109s/110s 204, 204, 205, 315
Middleton, Flight Sergeant Rawdon 197–8
Mileham, Mary 280–7, 392–3
Millington, Wing Commander 344
Ministry of Information 76
Mohne dam 106–7, 108, 109–10, 340
Monchengladbach, bombing of 13
Morris, Richard 228
Morrison, Herbert 27
Mosquitoes 156, 318, 320, 414–5
Mourton, Doug 43, 67, 70, 136, 170, 171, 182, 188, 194, 220, 254, 260
Mullers, Erika 13
Munich, bombing of (1945) 137–8
Murrow, Ed 212–13
Mustangs 311, 315–16, 317
navigation aids 4, 86
Gee system 57, 91, 100
H2S 92, 206, 208
Oboe 57, 91–2, 208, 320
navigators 49, 52, 57, 60, 70, 157, 159, 231 see also bomber crew
Nelson, Wing Commander John 194
New Statesman 145
New Zealand 44, 45, 46
Newman, Ken 36, 38–9, 43, 47, 65–6, 93, 131, 135, 184, 189, 194, 232, 233, 259, 322–3, 336, 390
night flying 11–12, 65
Niklas, Major 352
No Moon Tonight 265
Noisy-Le-Sec 319
&n
bsp; Norden bombsight 310
Nuremberg, failure of raid 215–16
Oberon, Merle 52
Oboe 57, 91–2, 208, 320
observers 49
Officer Training Corps (OTC) 55
oil targets 10–11, 72, 73–4, 324, 330–1, 333, 337, 338, 340, 343
170 Squadron 388
Operational Training Units (OTUs) 52–3, 60, 220
Orwell, George 100, 264
Overlord see D-Day invasion
overseas crews 278
Oxford Union 41
P-51 Mustang 311, 315–16
Paans, Gerard 394
parachutes 231
Pathfinder Force (PFF) 63, 100, 100–2, 113, 156, 226, 340
Patterson, Charles 37–8, 137, 227, 228, 235–6, 266
Payne, Reg xxxiv, 188, 208, 209–10, 215, 216, 219, 220, 225, 392
Peenemünde 206
Peirse, Sir Richard 32, 72, 73, 78, 81, 85
Pelly, Claude 370
Perkins, Flying Officer Reginald xxvi
Perkins, Flying Officer Robert xxvi
Pettenberg, Heinz 120–1, 122–3
Pforzheim, bombing of 351–2, 357
Pickard, Charles ‘Percy’ 48, 227–8
Pietrek, Leutnant Norbert 167–9
pilots 56
relationship with crews 195–8
as responsible for crew 57
second 49
see also bomber crew
Platts, Stanley 362
Pointblank directive 200, 201–2, 308
Portal, Sir Charles xxix, 17, 70–2, 101, 313, 330, 334, 341, 343, 354, 369, 377–8
advocacy for area bombing 14–15, 71, 74, 102, 377
background and character 14, 70–1
and direct retaliation policy 17–18, 71
and Harris 337–9, 340
and morale impact of bombing 15, 71–2, 74
and Pointblank directive 201–2
reply to Churchill’s doubts on bombing plan 78–9
Potsdam xxx
bombing of xxix, 354
Priestley, J. B. 143–4
prisoners-of-war bomber crew as 358–64
liberation of 358
psychology, aviation 239–40, 241, 245–6 see also break down
Pudney, John 163
Queen Elizabeth 52
radar, German 166, 203, 309
RAF Film Unit 145
Rattigan, Terence 151
Rawlings, Eric 132–3
Red Army 344
Regensburg
bombing of Messerschmitt factory 206, 311
Reuter, Ludwig von 39
Rhodesia 44, 52
Riesen, Dr Gunther 114
Roberts, Dorothy Courtney 144
Robertson, Pilot Officer ‘Robbie’ 175
Robinson, Edward G. 52
Roemer, Herr 123–4
Romeike, Franz 14
Rootes, William 28
Rostock, bombing of 95, 96–7
Roth, Albert 115
Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) 55, 156
Ruhr 80, 105
Battle of the 105–6, 110–12, 113, 119–26, 217, 230, 283, 371
destruction of 370–1
first raid against 13–14
and Operation Hurricane 334
Russians 326–7, 344–5
Saint-Nazaire 104–5
Salisbury, Marquess of 141–2
Sayles, Terry 64
Scharnhorst 73
Schley, Ingeborg 13
Schmid, General Joseph ‘Beppo’ 317
Schoenenberg, Erna 116
Schräge Musik 205
Schulte, Cardinal 115
Schweinfurt, bombing of 206, 216, 311, 312–13, 338
Scott, Frances 300–6, 393
Scott, Michael 131–2, 262–3
Scunthorpe 267–8
searchlights 170, 171–2
second pilots 49
senior intelligence officer (SIO) 158–9
Sester, Hans 121–2
sextant 70
Shackleton, ‘Shack’ 223
Shannon, Flight Lieutenant David 108, 183, 219, 321
Sheldon, John 23
Shirer, William 76
Sinclair, Sir Archibald 141, 142, 353
617 Squadron 106–10, 261–2, 321, 326, 327–8
633 Squadron (film) 384
Slessor, Sir John 7, 11, 74, 79, 81
Snaith, Leonard 1, 2
South Africa 44, 52
Southampton, bombing of 25
Soviet Union 86, 342–3, 344
Spaatz, General Carl 316
Speer, Albert xxxvii, 203, 375–6
Spitfires 42, 73, 383
Spoden, Peter 203–4, 393–4
squadron commanders 192–4, 226–7, 266
Stafford-Clark, David 235, 236–7, 247
Stalag Luft III camp 358, 359–61
Stalingrad, siege of 200
Star award 368
Steele, T. S. 29–30
Steiner, Dennis 50, 52, 65, 161, 238, 347, 365, 388, 390–1
Stettin, bombing of 113
Stirlings 10, 47, 49, 86, 92, 207, 231, 412–13
Stockton, Norman 145
Stokes, Richard 140–1, 142–3, 353
Strauss, Erich 38
Street, Sir Arthur 368
Studnitz, Hans-Georg von 211–12
Stuttgart 324–5
Sumpter, Len 43, 108, 109, 183, 186, 188–9, 191
Supreme Headquarters Allied
Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) 344
Sylt 103
Symonds, Charles 241, 244, 248–9, 253
Tait, James 327
Tallboys 321, 327, 328, 329
target indicators (TIs) 172
Target for Tonight (film) 48, 383
Taylor, Arthur 34, 110–12, 269–70, 390
Tedder, Sir Arthur 337, 369
Thomas, Edwin 224–5, 271, 303 machine guns 169, 232
Thunderbolts 310, 315
Thunderclap plan (1944) 334–5, 341, 344
Tirpitz (battleship) 107, 326–8
Toulouse 320
training of bomber crews 47, 48, 50–6, 60, 65–6
numbers killed whilst 54, 219–20
transatlantic convoys 73
Trenchard, Hugh 7–8, 9, 15, 16, 74, 75
Tuck, Bob Stanford xxxii
Tuddenham (Suffolk) 187–8, 258, 394
Twelve O’clock High (film) 385
Twinn, Edward 60, 169–70
U-boats
attacking of by Bomber Command 73, 104
Uhlenbruck, Gerhard 115
United States Army Air Force see USAAF
United States 52
entry into war 86, 102
reaction to bombing of Coventry 30
USAAF (United States Army Air Force) xxxiii, 105, 131, 309–17
attack on ball-bearing factories at Schweinfurt 311, 312–13
attack on Messerschmitt factory at Regensburg 311–12
attempt to destroy German aircraft production 310–11
and Big Week (1944) 316
experiments in night bombing 314
and fighter escorts 310, 314–17
lack of post-war criticism compared with Bomber Command xxxii–xxxiii, 386
little faith in night bombing 309, 310
operations 102, 200–1, 310–11
preference for precision bombing 102, 200, 201, 206, 309–10, 385–6
total number of bombs dropped 355
V1/V2 rocket attacks 133
Vassiltchikov, Marie ‘Missie’ 210–11
VE day 365
venereal diseases 50
Villers-Bocage 322
Vohwinkel, bombing of 347
Volmer, Dr Hans 114
Voyce, Wing Commander John 266
WAAFs 272, 300
Walkden, Evelyn 143
Walker, Danny 183
Wallis, Professor Barnes 106, 108, 109, 321
Wangerooge 355
Warner, Kon
rad 212
Warwick, Squadron Leader James 229
Way to the Stars, The (film) 383
weather forecasting 232–3
Webber, Keith 268, 269
Webster and Frankland study (1961) 340, 373–4
Weiss, Franz-Rudolf von 117
Weiss, Stefan 178
Wellingtons 3, 10, 49, 406–7
Werkendam 394
Western Air Plans 10
Whitleys 10, 49, 69
Wigsley
Heavy Conversion Unit at 257
Wilhelmshaven harbour
failed bombing attempts (1939) 1–4
Willatt, Geoffrey 138–9, 175–7, 358–64
Williams, Denis 241, 244, 253
Wilson, Andrew ‘Paddy’ xxxv
Wilson, Sergeant A. J. N. 144
Window 126, 166, 203, 204–5, 207, 209
Wingham, Tom 64–5, 135
Winn, Godfrey 56
Winnen, Anne 117
wireless operators 59, 60, 157, 159, 231
see also bomber crew
Wolverhampton, bombing of 21
Wood, Michael 80
Wood, Ralph 44–5, 52–3, 54, 92–3, 99, 162, 260, 278
Wood, Sir Kingsley 140
Woodhall Spa 261–2, 326–7, 394
Woods, Eric 69–70
Wooldridge, John 383
Wuppertal, bombing of 113, 136, 137
Wurzburg, bombing of 349, 351
Yalta conference (1945) 344
Yates, Harry xxxix-xi, 35, 48–9, 62, 136, 158, 180, 234, 253–4, 277, 278–9, 323, 332, 347–9, 392
Yates, Jack 161
Zanuck, Darryl 385
Acknowledgements
A book like this owes its existence to the generosity of those who took part in the events described. I would like to thank everyone who gave so freely of their time and their memories, spoken and written. I owe a special debt to Tony Iveson, Doug Radcliffe and Sir Michael Beetham of the Bomber Command Association for supporting Bomber Boys. I am also grateful to the following for allowing me to quote from their memoirs: Reg Fayers, Dennis Field (whose fascinating Boy, Blitz and Bombers will shortly be published), Roy Lodge, Cyril March, Ken Newman, Dennis Steiner and Harry Yates. Geoffrey Willat gave me permission to quote from his illuminating book, Bombs and Barbed Wire, My War in the RAF and Stalag Luft III (Upfront Publishing), and Mark Briars from the memoir of his late father, Ralph. Thanks to Bruce Lewis for permission to quote from Aircrew: The Story of the Men Who Flew the Bombers. Kind permission to quote from Jack Currie’s Lancaster Target and Don Charlwood’s No Moon Tonight (both Goodall paperbacks) was granted by Crécy Publishing. Thanks also are due for permission to quote from Harry Yates’s Luck and a Lancaster: Chance and Survival in World War II (The Crowood Press Ltd, new edition, ISBN 1–84037291-5). New European Publications likewise kindly granted permission to quote from Peter Johnson’s The Withered Garland: Doubts and Reflections of a Bomber. I have failed in my attempts to contact Arthur Taylor and Doug Mourton, whose memoirs are held at the Imperial War Museum. Please accept my apologies.
I am particularly grateful for the encouragement I received from Edward Hearn of 50 Squadron at the start of my research. Also for the help and hospitality offered by Frances Dowdeswell, Bill Farquharson, Joan Hatfield, Fred Hulance, Philip Mileham and Reg Payne. The great Noble Frankland and his worthy successor Sebastian Cox, Chief Historian of the RAF, were generous with their wisdom. The staff at the Imperial War Museum and the RAF Museum were, as always, friendly and helpful. Arabella Pike, Annabel Wright, Melanie Haselden, Vera Brice and the rest of the team at HarperCollins were the best an author could hope for. A heartfelt vote of thanks, too, to my agent David Godwin. I am grateful to Angelica von Hase for her excellent research on the bombing of Germany. Also to Felicity Hawkins, Annabel Merullo and Tim Harris for their friendship when the going got tough. I would also like to record my gratitude to my old teacher, Richard Milward, head of history at Wimbledon College, who died last year after a lifetime inspiring generations of boys with his love of history. I cannot thank Henrietta Miers enough. But I will try, in another place in another way.
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