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Flying into Hell: The Bomber Command Offensive As Seen Through the Experiences of Twenty Crews First Edition
Author(s): Mel Rolfe (Author)
- Publisher: Grub Street Publishing
- Publication Date: 29 Jun. 2001
- Edition: First Edition
- Language: English
- Print length: 224 pages
- ISBN-10: 1902304772
- ISBN-13: 9781902304779
Book Description
Bringing real-life stories of bomber command at war, the author offers 20 dramatic stories of these brave men. Stories include a former rear gunner who, on returning to a French village, three years after bailing out from a blazing Lancaster bomber, was shown the site of his supposed grave. He had been so badly burned a French doctor had left him alone in a graveyard to die. He met again the brave people who had looked after him before he was well enough to join a group walking to freedom across the Pyrenees. Other stories include a bomber that came down so low over the sea to escape ack-ack guns that it struck the water, and managed to claw its way back up into the sky; the Lancaster pilot who wore Hermann Goering’s Iron Cross around his neck as a lucky charm; a gunner incarcerated in Buchenwald; and a flight engineer who lost his fingers to frostbite after the bomber’s rear door was blown open. Many of these stories demonstrate the amazing resilience of the human spirit and the unwavering courage of the young men who helped bomb the enemy into submission. A journalist by profession, the author has conducted his interviews and prepared the stories in such a way as to take the reader into the events as they happened.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Praise for To Hell and Back and Hell on Earth; ‘This book is a must for RAF bomber aircrew who wish to relive this dangerous period, and an exciting read for anyone interested in WWII aviation.’ Intercom, the Journal of the Aircrew Association ‘All the stories are hair-raising and feature men who in some cases were too young to vote, but old enough to die for their country and our freedom.’ Lincolnshire Echo ‘Fascinating wartime stories…’ Sheffield Star ‘A well written book…well worth the price.’ Grantham Journal” –Grantham Journal #34
