Strike Hard, Strike Sure
Many thousands of words have been written about the conception of the bomber offensive in World War II, the strategy and the tactics of Bomber Command, the choice of target systems, the method of attack, the evaluation of bombing results and the implications for the national war effort, both Allied and enemy.
Surprisingly little has been written of the men who flew these bombers, who faced and sustained a loss rate never before borne by a military force of comparable size in history.
Here is the story of some of those men and the stirring action in which they took part. There is the rooftop raid by Lancasters on the submarine engine factory at Augsburg, the airman who climbed onto the wing of his Lancaster to extinguish a fire, the story of the sacrifice of the Fairey Battles of 12 Squadron against the Maastricht bridges during the Blitzkrieg, for which two young regular airmen were posthumously awarded the VC, and what happened on Guy Gibson's last flight?
All these stories are eloquent of devotion and endurance...all are moving. They are told graphically without sensationalism. (Times Literary Supplement)
Tales of Supreme Bravery (Daily Telegraph)
Other Books by Ralph Barker