Bomber Boys: Fighting Back 1940-1945

It's been about five years since I read Bishop's Fighter Boys and since I heard he was writing Bomber Boys I've been eagerly awaiting its release. It has lived up to and surpassed my expectations. It is exactly as a history book should be: a harmonious marriage of personal stories and a view of the bigger picture, which in this case is the progress of the bombing campaign against Nazi Germany. It's only upon reading this that I discovered how little I knew about Bomber Command and the Second World War! It's shocking, really, to think that they might not have received as much recognition as their efforts deserved. Buy this book and be amazed!

Enormous cost (0/0 people found this helpful)

As the very proud son of a Lancaster Bomber Flight Engineer I have read many books on Bomber Command and this ranks as one of the best.It shows the undoubted bravery of the crews whilst questioning the need for mass bombing particularly towards the end of the war.It is a great reminder to those who have forgotten and to those who never realised what a sacrifice 55,000 brave young men gave for us all.

Old Lags of Bomber Command (2/2 people found this helpful)

As an ex Bomber Boy this book is first class and shows the modern youth how we responded to the threat of Nazi domination and despite the denigration of our efforts by modern 'hindsight' historians, most young people I have met do not look upon us as 'terrorists'. I for one have faith in our 21st century young men that they would respond as we did in 1943/45.

Thought provoking (2/2 people found this helpful)

My Godfather won the DFC with Bomber Command and my father was in 620 Squadron but too late for WW2 stuff (Palestine instead) - so I had a bit of insider interest in this book.

I thought I would end up feeling aggrieved at the plight of the Bomber Boys lack of recognition from their exploits in WW2 - to some extent I did - I don't think anyone, unless they were there, can truly understand what it must have been like. Patrick Bishop's research though goes a long way to allowing the reader to understand that.

However what I found the most difficult thing to reconcile was the apparent indiscriminate, and to all intents and purposes unnecessary, bombing of German towns and cities towards the end of the war. Bomber Harris clearly had a huge ego as did most of his contemporaries it would seem, but I was left thinking 'my God - how did they live with themselves?' Ultimately I guess it was worth it - otherwise perhaps I wouldn't be able to write this review - so the Bomber Boys have my thanks for that................but at what price?

A marvellous book - well worth a read.

Outstanding (10/11 people found this helpful)

As the grandson of a flight-engineer on Lancasters I have a personal reason to value this original and thoughtful look at the lives of the only 'boys' who fought from start to finish of World War II. Bishop takes a ground-up perspective and focuses on the experiences of the airmen themslves, adding details of policy and politics where it becomes appropriate to the main theme. He has researched both ageing memories and first hand documentary accounts of what is thankfully our only strategic air war. The sacrifice of those who were clearly so talented and gave so willingly shines as an inspiration from these pages. The scale of the losses is sobering - eight thousand men died in training accidents alone. Could we do it again? I wonder.

Bomber Boys: Fighting Back 1940-1945

Patrick Bishop

Reader Reviews:

The truth behind the Dam Busters legend (0/0 people found this helpful)

Enormous cost (0/0 people found this helpful)

Old Lags of Bomber Command (2/2 people found this helpful)

Thought provoking (2/2 people found this helpful)

Outstanding (10/11 people found this helpful)

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