Bomber Offensive

Bomber Offensive
Author: Arthur Harris
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2005-03-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1844152103

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.

Bomber Offensive

Bomber Offensive
Author: Arthur Harris
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Total Pages: 381
Release: 2005-03-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1473812607

The Royal Air Force commander of bombing operations during WWII offers an insider’s view of his legendary career in this classic military memoir. Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur “Bomber” Harris remains a controversial figure in the history of the RAF. While many vilify him for his merciless carpet bombing of Germany, others believe that his contributions to Allied victory are grossly undervalued. In Bomber Offensive, Harris candidly describes how he led the men of Bomber Command in the face of appalling casualties, his fierce disagreements with higher authority, and the complicated relationship he had with Winston Churchill. Written soon after the close of the Second World War, Harris's memoirs reveals the man behind the Allied bombing offensive that destroyed the Nazi war machine, but also many beautiful and historic cities, such as Dresden. His defense of these total war tactics stands in stark contrast to modern military policy, which considers such indiscriminate killing a war crime.

The Combined Bomber Offensive 1943 - 1944

The Combined Bomber Offensive 1943 - 1944
Author: L. Douglas Keeney
Publisher: Premiere
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre: World War, 1939-1945
ISBN: 9781607465201

In a time when tanks and battleships were the proven tools of war, a team of gutsy planners and a bold President of the United States approved a plan to destroy Adolf Hitler's Germany using airplanes ― B-17s and B-24s. It was called strategic bombing, a gutsy leap of faith in an entirely unproven weapon called the bomber on which the fate of World War II hinged. But why were military planners certain that World War II could be won by bombers? Part of Keeney's "Lost Histories of World War II" series, The Strategic Bombing Offensive 1943–1944 is the definitive, in-depth history of the evolution of the Combined Bomber Offensive against Germany from an idea on paper into a powerful, shock-and-awe tool of war that lasts to this day. In each chapter the vicious air war against the Luftwaffe air and ground defenses unfolds, including the terrible losses to American aircrews which precipitated the massive changes in American air tactics that turned it around until victory was in sight and the final bombs were dropped on Berlin. That is this history, recovered and in print now for the first time since 1945.

The Leadership, Direction and Legitimacy of the RAF Bomber Offensive from Inception to 1945

The Leadership, Direction and Legitimacy of the RAF Bomber Offensive from Inception to 1945
Author: Peter Gray
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 363
Release: 2012-06-07
Genre: History
ISBN: 144112313X

This book offers a fresh approach to the debate on the RAF's bomber offensive by using modern strategic leadership theory as an analytical tool to examine the campaign. In particular, it looks at the legality and legitimacy of the offensive and explores the key interfaces between the military leaders, the politicians and allies. It also looks at the major controversies in the aims and objectives of the campaign and the personalities involved. Modern literature from the leadership field is used to consider the challenges facing those charged with the formulation and execution of the offensive. Aspects of the senior leadership disputes are also dealt with in the context of the leadership literature and in the wider context of the strategic challenges then facing Churchill, Sinclair and Portal. A multi-disciplinary bent to the book enables the reader to move beyond the narrow confines of military considerations to the thorough investigation of the legality, legitimacy and morality of the offensive.

Bomber Offensive

Bomber Offensive
Author: Noble Frankland
Publisher: Random House (NY)
Total Pages: 172
Release: 1970
Genre: History
ISBN:

An illustrated history of the allied forces in charge of destroying German war machines.

The Heavy Bomber Offensive of WWII

The Heavy Bomber Offensive of WWII
Author: Martin W. Bowman
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2015-05-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 1473861136

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.

"Bomber" Harris and the Strategic Bombing Offensive, 1939-1945

Author: Charles Messenger
Publisher:
Total Pages: 268
Release: 1984
Genre: History
ISBN:

Bogen beskriver de Allieredes strategiske bombeangreb på Nazityskland. "Bomber" Harris, luftmarskal Sir Arthur Harris, leder af Bomberkommandoen, RAF Bomber Command spillede en vigtig rolle i udformningen af de allieredes strategiske planlægning under 2. Verdenskrig som resulterede i de massive bombninger af tyske byer. Det betød voldsomme og omfattende ødelæggelser - og massemord på den tyske civilbefolkning. Harris blev en del kritiseret for for mange "overflødige" bombemissioner med unødvendige tab af fly og flybesætninger.

Fighting the Bombers

Fighting the Bombers
Author: Adolf Galland
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Total Pages: 380
Release: 2016-10-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 1784380253

Fighting the Bombers is an unrivaled look at the Allied bombing campaign from the point of view of the Luftwaffe establishment and command. The contributing authors were involved in all aspects of German attempts to stem the unrelenting bombardment from the RAF and USAAF; from tactics in the sky and development of the planes themselves, to long term strategy and planning on the ground, and the implementation of sophisticated radio and radar equipment. These reports were written immediately after the war, in 1945 and 1946 when most of the authors were prisoners of war, and for the most part were prepared without the aid of official documentation and records. As such they represent a view not coloured by reflection or by 'party lines' that became established in the post-war years, and clearly show the development of the Luftwaffe—particularly the tactics and equipment used for night flying—as the war progressed and give a clear history of attempts to defend the Reich from aerial attack. The book also benefits from having been written specifically for an audience well-versed in military aviation affairs, the allied aviation and intelligence services.The detail contained in the reports is unique and allows the reader a fresh perspective on this famous campaign.Fighting the Bombers is an unrivaled look at the Allied bombing campaign from the point of view of the Luftwaffe establishment and command. The contributing authors were involved in all aspects of German attempts to stem the unrelenting bombardment from the RAF and USAAF; from tactics in the sky and development of the planes themselves, to long term strategy and planning on the ground, and the implementation of sophisticated radio and radar equipment. These reports were written immediately after the war, in 1945 and 1946 when most of the authors were prisoners of war, and for the most part were prepared without the aid of official documentation and records. As such they represent a view not coloured by reflection or by 'party lines' that became established in the post-war years, and clearly show the development of the Luftwaffe—particularly the tactics and equipment used for night flying—as the war progressed and give a clear history of attempts to defend the Reich from aerial attack. The book also benefits from having been written specifically for an audience well-versed in military aviation affairs, the allied aviation and intelligence services.The detail contained in the reports is unique and allows the reader a fresh perspective on this famous campaign.Fighting the Bombers is an unrivaled look at the Allied bombing campaign from the point of view of the Luftwaffe establishment and command. The contributing authors were involved in all aspects of German attempts to stem the unrelenting bombardment from the RAF and USAAF; from tactics in the sky and development of the planes themselves, to long term strategy and planning on the ground, and the implementation of sophisticated radio and radar equipment. These reports were written immediately after the war, in 1945 and 1946 when most of the authors were prisoners of war, and for the most part were prepared without the aid of official documentation and records. As such they represent a view not coloured by reflection or by 'party lines' that became established in the post-war years, and clearly show the development of the Luftwaffe—particularly the tactics and equipment used for night flying—as the war progressed and give a clear history of attempts to defend the Reich from aerial attack. The book also benefits from having been written specifically for an audience well-versed in military aviation affairs, the allied aviation and intelligence services.The detail contained in the reports is unique and allows the reader a fresh perspective on this famous campaign.

Battle Over the Reich

Battle Over the Reich
Author: Alfred Price
Publisher: Classic Publications
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2005
Genre: Bombing, Aerial
ISBN: 9781903223475

Completely revised, expanded and updated edition of this classic 1973 work. The campaign is analysed from RAF, USAAF and Luftwaffe viewpoints, with in-depth assessment of daylight and nocturnal operations, aircraft weapons, radar and ground defence.