Bomber Command 1939-1940: The War Before the War
Author: Gordon Thorburn
Format: Hardback, 156mm x 234mm, 180 pages
Published: Pen & Sword Books Ltd, United Kingdom, 2014
For Bomber Command, the term 'Phoney War' never really meant much. Five Blenheims of 107 Squadron were among the blood and bullets the day after war was declared and only one came back. On 14 December 1939, in a disastrous raid on shipping, 99 Squadron lost six Wellingtons with only three survivors out of thirty-six crew. Even worse, in the biggest air battle so far, 18 December, Wilhelmshaven, five Wellingtons of 9 Squadron went down, four of 37 Squadron and two of 149 Squadron. Bomber Command lost sixty-eight aircraft and crews in action in the four war months of 1939, and a further seventy-eight in accidents. In the months up to the French surrender, losses rose spectacularly as the Germans triumphed wherever they went. In a few hours on 14 May, resisting the Blitzkrieg, forty-seven Fairey Battles and Bristol Blenheims were shot from the sky. Through the Scandinavian defence, in France and Belgium, at Dunkirk and, at last, over Germany, for Bomber Command there was no Phoney War. It was real war from the start. SELLING POINTS: . Details the history of Bomber Command throughout the Phony War . Includes details of the aircraft and crews which were lost in battle ILLUSTRATIONS: 16 pages of plates
GORDON THORBURN is the author of more than twenty books, including the best-selling Men and Sheds. This is his fourth on Bomber Command. Look out for Pen & Sword's The Luck of a Lancaster, about the men who flew on W4964 J-Johnny Walker's 107 missions.
Author: Gordon Thorburn
Format: Hardback, 156mm x 234mm, 180 pages
Published: Pen & Sword Books Ltd, United Kingdom, 2014
For Bomber Command, the term 'Phoney War' never really meant much. Five Blenheims of 107 Squadron were among the blood and bullets the day after war was declared and only one came back. On 14 December 1939, in a disastrous raid on shipping, 99 Squadron lost six Wellingtons with only three survivors out of thirty-six crew. Even worse, in the biggest air battle so far, 18 December, Wilhelmshaven, five Wellingtons of 9 Squadron went down, four of 37 Squadron and two of 149 Squadron. Bomber Command lost sixty-eight aircraft and crews in action in the four war months of 1939, and a further seventy-eight in accidents. In the months up to the French surrender, losses rose spectacularly as the Germans triumphed wherever they went. In a few hours on 14 May, resisting the Blitzkrieg, forty-seven Fairey Battles and Bristol Blenheims were shot from the sky. Through the Scandinavian defence, in France and Belgium, at Dunkirk and, at last, over Germany, for Bomber Command there was no Phoney War. It was real war from the start. SELLING POINTS: . Details the history of Bomber Command throughout the Phony War . Includes details of the aircraft and crews which were lost in battle ILLUSTRATIONS: 16 pages of plates
GORDON THORBURN is the author of more than twenty books, including the best-selling Men and Sheds. This is his fourth on Bomber Command. Look out for Pen & Sword's The Luck of a Lancaster, about the men who flew on W4964 J-Johnny Walker's 107 missions.