Lancaster by John Nichol

This is a good book!

I was unsure about buying it, but I had to use the book voucher from last year and only two books in that shop were worth having.  An unusual voucher in that few shops accepted it!  Only W. H. Smiths did, but only senior staff knew about this!  Tsk!

Having dumped it aside while I vegetated it was a while before I opened the book.  Having done so I read it through in a very short time.  John Nichol is not the greatest writer, but having been shot down over Iraq himself he understands something of the mindset of the men he quotes freely throughout the book.

We read something of the needs of the day, the war was in full flow and a need for a heavier bomber than what was available was noted.  A plane called the 'Manchester,' flying on two engines was designed.  This was underpowered and ineffective.   One Roy Chadwick and his associates fought through the red tape and official obstructions to produce the improved version of the 'Manchester.'  After much fighting the four engined 'Lancaster' was born!  This powerful beast, much loved by those who flew it, became the backbone of RAF 'Bomber Command,' in the fight against Nazi Germany.

Using personnel stories of the men who flew these aircraft John Nichol takes us through the building of the aircraft, thousands of high quality pieces, many made by women workers, the conditions in the factories, the relationships good and bad, and then the actual tales of combat.

Skilfully integrating individuals stories regarding the team of seven men aboard the aircraft, and on one occasion one woman, a friend of the pilot, who was stowed away on board, once!   We read of the preparation, instruction, ground crews who worked tirelessly on the aircraft, flights to the destination and the bombing of targets.  

The author is very good at making you feel part of the operation.  Memories from those who were there describing the appearance of a burning city, the flak from the ground attempting to kill them, the searchlights seeking them, and the desperate manoeuvring to avoid them.  All through this the steady, quiet voice of the bomb aimer as he sought precision to drop the bombs.  If he missed you came back the next day and tried again, this was not popular.  'Bombs Gone!' the plane lifts several feet into the air, a photograph is taken, and then the escape, at high speed, out of the flak area.  This meant heading for home, avoiding ground flak and Luftwaffe fighters on the way.  Sometimes the plane had been hit, an engine dead, flaps broken, and then the lower altitude as you struggled for the Channel and home.

Not all succeeded.  

A fully loaded Lancaster hit before dropping the bombs could explode killing all aboard.  Others would fail to make the coast, men dropping from the, often burning aircraft, forced to leave behind wounded colleagues, and then try to avoid capture on the ground.  Here, whether in France or Netherlands, the populace would do their best to aid fallen airmen.  However, it was not easy, had they been caught they could all be in a concentration camp and dealt with.  Inevitably, though aided, the men found themselves in POW camps.

One such was Cy Grant, one of 500 or more West Indians who served with the RAF during this time.  He was aided in the Netherlands but there was no choice but to hand him over.  Cy was in the camp made famous by the 'Great Escape,' though he did not take part, a black man would stand out in German held Poland at the time.  Several West Indian men are featured in the book, no racism was recorded, indeed the RAF strongly opposed this.  Only one US airman from the deep south made any comment, and he did not get far.  

This book covers the daily experience of men in action, the sleeping arrangements, the women, the pubs, the fact that death and the lost were never mentioned again.  Young men, rarely over 25, flew 30 'ops' before they could be relieved.  Many never made it, the chances of succeeding were low.  Cy Grant, as a Navigator, was part of a 'Wellington' crew who survived their 30 'ops' intact, the only crew on 'Wellingtons' to do so.  He then volunteered for Lancs!  

Some lives are continued into the end of the war and the rebuilding afterwards.  No-one wished to know their story.  All were rebuilding their life, many had even worse experiences in Army and Navy, and the joy of life, family and future lay ahead.  But the war left nightmares and a desire to find those who had fallen, to visit graves, and meet those who rescued them long years before.  This book covers all this well.

Fighting a war is hard, humans are expendable, even to the most careful General.  This book covers the hardship of war and the human reaction to it, and the life afterwards.   I recommend it.

@Bob Herriott

        

Chastise

@Bob Herriott

There has been some fuss in recent days concerning the famous 'Dambusters Raid' from some 80 years ago.  As usual, the tabloids have gone overboard on 'our heroes,' 'our boys,' and the usual sentimental garbage that follows.  This from a paper who's boss stood willingly beside Herr Hitler for a photograph, and whose paper demanded the UK stop taking in Jewish refugees, even if they are only children.  Naturally, this was not mentioned once the war began.

The 'Dambusters Raid,' a rather cockeyed attempt at knocking out three major Dams in Germany, thus destroying much industrial output, was a courageous attempt at a time when the outcome of the war was still unsure.  By making use of a 'Bouncing Bomb,' dropped at 60 feet from the water while flying, under enemy fire, at 240 mph was not one that endeared itself to the crews.  

On the night of May 16/17th 1943, the 19 Lancaster's, in two formations took off on 'Operation Chastise.'

As always, the RAF flew at night.  RAF Bomber crews always considered the USAF idea of flying bomber aircraft in large formations during the day an absurd and stupid thing to do.  The Yank crews considered flying in the dark, unsure of where you were, an unusually stupid thing to do!  Both were correct!

Rising one by one from the airfield, slowly gaining height in their extremely heavy and unusual aircraft, the Lancaster's crossed the channel heading deep into the darkness.  Problems soon arose, one aircraft had technical difficulties. another flew so low his  

'Bouncing Bomb' hit the water and was lost, though the aircraft survived and returned to base.  Three other Lancs went down under anti-aircraft fire or by hitting electricity cables.  The idea had been to fly at 100 feet to avoid detection, gunners and obstacles did however, notice them. 

After much stress the attack succeeded in breaching both the Mohne Dam and the Eder.  The rather stupid idea of breaching the huge earth dam at Sorpe failed both because of the makeup of the Dam and the great difficulty in attacking.  

The result, with only 11 of 19 aircraft returning and many of the 133 crew lost, was indecisive.  On the ground some 1600 were killed, around 800 of these slave labourers from various parts of German dominated Europe.  The damage to industry was limited, the coal mines suffered, power stations destroyed, and houses and smaller industry damaged.  A failure by Bomber Command to follow this up with several 'normal' bombing raids, could have extended the damage somewhat, but this never occurred.  

The effect on the war was limited, the effect on the UK was huge.  The raid was portrayed as a massive success, as you do in war, and the lift for morale was huge.  During late 1942, Montgomery had beaten the Germans in North Africa, in early 1943 the German attack on Stalingrad had failed, and with this bombing success the people, after four years of war, now began to believe that we could win in the end.  The raid may not have been a military success in a manner still offered by the media, but the hope of success, and even an end to the war could now be believed.