Bomber Crew

Contemporary Review, April, 2005

Bomber Crew: Taking On the Reich. John Sweetman. Little, Brown. [pounds sterling]17.99. viii 280 pages. ISBN 0-316-72771-7. Mr. Sweetman is a recognised authority on the Second World War and in this book he tells the story of Bomber Command between the withdrawal from Dunkirk and victory in 1945.

Until Allied forces began entering Germany in 1945, bombing raids were the only way in which Britain and then the U.S. could attack targets within Germany. This aspect of the war has often been overlooked because of the terrible damage done to civilians in occupied Europe but without Bomber Command there would have been no victory. Likewise Britain was dependent on Empire troops: by January 1943 some forty per cent of pilots were from outside the U.K. After a brief history of the RAF the author traces the work undertaken by Bomber Command, from the 'Phoney War' to victory. He is keen to show how planes and their equipment developed during this period. In 1939, the biggest bomb was 500 pounds; in 1945, it weighed one ton. It is a story of bravery and cooperation and sometimes, as with Dresden, controversy. Mr Sweetman makes good use of individual stories to give his narrative, based on a wide range of official records, a personal touch. (T.B.)