Author(s): D. E. Charlwood

History

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in Bomber Command's war against the Third Reich. It is one of the best personal accounts ever written by someone who served in Bomber Command during World War II.

Don Charlwood was a navigator with the Royal Australian Air Force based at RAF Elsham Wolds in north Lincolnshire. He presents a moving, sympathetic and vivid description of what life was like in Bomber Command, focusing on the human cost of war and the feelings of the bomber crews as they were tasked with attacking heavily defended targets again and again as squadron losses mounted. This is a true classic of war literature with the narrative allowing readers to share the hopes and fears of the crews involved in a way that few other books have done.

A review in the Daily Telegraph summed up the essence of the book succinctly, the tension is so sustained and vivid that the book hangs together emotionally like a piece of music.