Bases of Bomber Command, Then and Now
Author: Roger A. Freeman
After the Battle –Then & Now and Pen & Sword Ltd. Books
ISBN: 9781870067355
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $70.00
ISBN: 9781870067355
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $70.00
HISTORY:
Sixty years ago, over 100 aerodromes in east and north –eastern England were occupied by the men and machines of RAF Bomber Command. The future of the majority of the hases was brief – some six years – but during that time more than 55,000 men lost their lives while flying from them to attack targets on the Continent.
Split into seven operational groups, the airfields of Bomber Command formed the cornerstone of Britain’s efforts to carry on the war against Germany in the years before the landings at Normandy. Thereafter, they played their part in the battle against the V-weapons, with one of the last raids of the war being carried out against Hitler’s personal mountain retreat.
Wilf Nicoll said:
“Conceived in war, the airfields experienced their moments of glory and, when the war ended, many were left empty and derelict to die. The few which remain virtually intact have only survived because some private or public concern has formed a practical use for them, although not always as airfields. As for the derelict ones, complete obliteration is their certain fate, as year by year their runways , perimeter tracks and hard-standings are nibbled away hy demolition contractors as man competes with nature to win back the land. Others will have long ago succumbed to the invading forces of nature. Some of the more remote airfields still dot the countryside , the same as when the last plane left their runways and the last truck departed through the main gate. They are bleak, windswept and mouldering , but they retain the atmosphere of the fine, high endeavours of the people who inhabited them and the aura of ineffable sadness that hangs over memorials to fighting men. For which they are.”
THE BOOK:
This book is of hard-cover of 363 pages (2 pages are blank) in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format. It has a paper jacket that is held in place by two flaps to the book.
The cover art is on both the jacket and the book itself.
The front cover shows a color photo of the well-known publicity shot of a Stirling bomber of No. 1651 Heavy Conversion Unit. It was taken at Waterbeach in April 1942. It shows the aircraft on a runway being approached with a long chain of carts with bombs on them.
The back cover shows a black and white photo of the gathering of hay near a north side dispersal at Elvington, in July 1943. The Halifax (DT807) named “Rita” , belonging to No. 77 Squadron , was lost on the night of October 3/4. 1943 during a raid on Kassel. There were two survivors out of the crew of seven.
After the Battle and Then & Now books are both associated to Pen & Sword Ltd. All three firms are located in the UK.
The book contains 701 black and white photos and one color photo as the front cover.
There are 130 maps and 134 aerial photos of airfields. Hangers, control towers and Buildings (shown during the war and today). officers and pilots (19 shown in portrait type photos), civilians, vehicles ( shown during the war and now), memorials and cemeteries' etc. 117 bases are shown (then and now).
Aircraft shown are: The Vickers Wellington Mk.IV (one shown crashed), the Avro Lancaster, a Fairey Swordfish (today), Bristol Blenheim, Handley Page Halifax (one shown damaged), Vickers Wellesley, Handley Page Heyford, Handley Page Hamptons, Boston III, N. American Mitchell, De Havilland Mosquito PR. II, English Electric Canberra T-4 (now), Lockheed Lightning, the Red Arrows Aerobatic team (now), De Havilland Hornet Moth (now), Short Stirling, B-17, F-15F (now), Whitley, Buccaneer (now), C-47, Fairey Battle, McDonnell Phantom (now). Lysander.
There are data lists in the book, a photo of a Fordson tractor, a jet-powered Gillette Mk2 motorcycle racing at Ellington Airfield (now).
There is a post card inserted in the book to mail and get more information about Pen & Sword books.
The book ends with ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, CONTENTS.
This is an interesting book about British bombers. It will be of interest to both modelers and military historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the North American distributor of Pen & Sword, Then & Now and After the Battle books. All can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Sixty years ago, over 100 aerodromes in east and north –eastern England were occupied by the men and machines of RAF Bomber Command. The future of the majority of the hases was brief – some six years – but during that time more than 55,000 men lost their lives while flying from them to attack targets on the Continent.
Split into seven operational groups, the airfields of Bomber Command formed the cornerstone of Britain’s efforts to carry on the war against Germany in the years before the landings at Normandy. Thereafter, they played their part in the battle against the V-weapons, with one of the last raids of the war being carried out against Hitler’s personal mountain retreat.
Wilf Nicoll said:
“Conceived in war, the airfields experienced their moments of glory and, when the war ended, many were left empty and derelict to die. The few which remain virtually intact have only survived because some private or public concern has formed a practical use for them, although not always as airfields. As for the derelict ones, complete obliteration is their certain fate, as year by year their runways , perimeter tracks and hard-standings are nibbled away hy demolition contractors as man competes with nature to win back the land. Others will have long ago succumbed to the invading forces of nature. Some of the more remote airfields still dot the countryside , the same as when the last plane left their runways and the last truck departed through the main gate. They are bleak, windswept and mouldering , but they retain the atmosphere of the fine, high endeavours of the people who inhabited them and the aura of ineffable sadness that hangs over memorials to fighting men. For which they are.”
THE BOOK:
This book is of hard-cover of 363 pages (2 pages are blank) in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format. It has a paper jacket that is held in place by two flaps to the book.
The cover art is on both the jacket and the book itself.
The front cover shows a color photo of the well-known publicity shot of a Stirling bomber of No. 1651 Heavy Conversion Unit. It was taken at Waterbeach in April 1942. It shows the aircraft on a runway being approached with a long chain of carts with bombs on them.
The back cover shows a black and white photo of the gathering of hay near a north side dispersal at Elvington, in July 1943. The Halifax (DT807) named “Rita” , belonging to No. 77 Squadron , was lost on the night of October 3/4. 1943 during a raid on Kassel. There were two survivors out of the crew of seven.
After the Battle and Then & Now books are both associated to Pen & Sword Ltd. All three firms are located in the UK.
The book contains 701 black and white photos and one color photo as the front cover.
There are 130 maps and 134 aerial photos of airfields. Hangers, control towers and Buildings (shown during the war and today). officers and pilots (19 shown in portrait type photos), civilians, vehicles ( shown during the war and now), memorials and cemeteries' etc. 117 bases are shown (then and now).
Aircraft shown are: The Vickers Wellington Mk.IV (one shown crashed), the Avro Lancaster, a Fairey Swordfish (today), Bristol Blenheim, Handley Page Halifax (one shown damaged), Vickers Wellesley, Handley Page Heyford, Handley Page Hamptons, Boston III, N. American Mitchell, De Havilland Mosquito PR. II, English Electric Canberra T-4 (now), Lockheed Lightning, the Red Arrows Aerobatic team (now), De Havilland Hornet Moth (now), Short Stirling, B-17, F-15F (now), Whitley, Buccaneer (now), C-47, Fairey Battle, McDonnell Phantom (now). Lysander.
There are data lists in the book, a photo of a Fordson tractor, a jet-powered Gillette Mk2 motorcycle racing at Ellington Airfield (now).
There is a post card inserted in the book to mail and get more information about Pen & Sword books.
The book ends with ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, CONTENTS.
This is an interesting book about British bombers. It will be of interest to both modelers and military historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the North American distributor of Pen & Sword, Then & Now and After the Battle books. All can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Highly recommended.