Bomber Command (72 page)

8
. Even among conscript aircrew later in the war, the old man cast a powerful spell. Visiting 76 Squadron in 1942, he walked into the mess tent set for lunch in his honour, sidestepped his intended place among the ‘Brass’, and sat down instead with the young pilots below the salt. He noticed one man wearing the single ribbon of the DFC, and glanced down at his own vastly decorated chest: ‘Don’t worry, my boy,’ he boomed. ‘Once you’ve got one, they grow on you like measles.’ They loved him.

9
. Author’s italics.

10
. Heavy-bomber production was delayed at several critical periods by industrial action. For those who believe that the war was a halcyon era of British unity, it is worth recalling that wartime production lost by strikes in the metal, engineering and shipbuilding industries alone rose from a low of 163,000 days in 1940 to a high of 1,048,000 days in 1944. See the
Manpower
volume of the official history of wartime production for details.

11
. Tizard left Whitehall to become President of Magdalen College, Oxford.

12
. 5,327 officers and men were killed and a further 3,113 injured in RAF training accidents 1939–45.

13
. Bottomley’s emphasis.

14
. emphasis in original text.

15
. In the event approximately 12,000 French and Belgian civilians were killed in the pre-invasion bombing by Allied air forces.

16
. SOE: Special Operations Executive, for whom Harris reluctantly provided aircraft from his Special Duties squadrons to parachute arms and agents into occupied Europe.

17
. The letter embodying this sentiment is reproduced in full as Appendix C.

18
. 3 Group Wellington Is of 18 December 1939 lacked beam guns and carried only a single gun in forward turret.

19
. not shown
20
. 76 Squadron in 1943 was equipped with the earlier Halifax II or V.

21
. Note H2S dome under fuselage below mid-upper turret.

22
. Note
Lichtenstein
aerials at nose.

23
. Illustrated here. Note also
Lichtenstein
aerials at nose.

24
. Deployed by 100 Group, 1944–45.

25
. The feeling, such as there is, over Dresden could be easily explained by any psychiatrist. It is connected with German bands and Dresden shepherdesses. Actually Dresden was a mass of munition works, an intact government centre, and a key transportation point to the East. It is now none of those things. [This footnote is part of the letter.]

26
. Largely underground by the time we get going. [Part of original.]

27
. The German habit of giving their radar appropriate-sounding codenames to suit the nature of the device was of vital assistance to British scientific Intelligence in interpreting the enemy systems. The British thus learned to be more careful about their own equipment. H2S was originally christened ‘TF’ until Dr R. V. Jones pointed out that this plainly stood for ‘Town-Finding’. The name was changed to H2S, popularly believed to stand for ‘Home Sweet Home’, but in reality for Hydrogen Sulphide. It earned its evil-smelling acronym when at an early meeting to discuss its progress Lord Cherwell showed scepticism and declared gloomily, ‘It stinks!’

Index

Aachen
ref1
,
ref2

Aalborg
ref1

Abbeville
ref1

Abercrombie, Jock
ref1
,
ref2

Addison, Group-Captain E.V.
ref1
,
ref2

Admiral Scheer
ref1
,
ref2

Advanced Air Striking Force
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3

Air Intelligence
ref1

Air Staff College
ref1

aircrew

bereaved relations of
ref1

briefing
ref1

composition
ref1

courage
ref1

discipline
ref1

enjoyment of operations
ref1

fear
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
,
ref4
,
ref5
,
ref6

female company
ref1

flying a bomber
ref1

ignorance of results of attacks
ref1
,
ref2

initial selection
ref1

leadership
ref1

married
ref1

mood during first year
ref1

morale
ref1
,
ref2

new generation of
ref1

Norwegian
ref1

novices
ref1

off-duty life
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
,
ref4
,
ref5

parachuting over Germany
ref1
,
ref2

privileges
ref1

remoteness from their attacks
ref1

response to crisis
ref1

social background
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3

survival tactics
ref1

training
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3

training casualties
ref1
,
ref2n

typical attack
ref1

typical day
ref1

venereal disease
ref1

Aircrew Refresher Centres
ref1

Allison, Douglas
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3

Amiens
ref1
,
ref2

Amsterdam
ref1

Antheor Viaduct
ref1

anti-shipping strikes
ref1
,
ref2

Appleby
ref1
,
ref2

area bombing
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
,
ref4
,
ref5
,
ref6
,
ref7
,
ref8
,
ref9
,
ref10
,
ref11

armament
ref1

Army

RAF air support for
ref1
,
ref2

relations with RAF
ref1

Arnhem
ref1

Arnold, ‘Hap’
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
,
ref4
,
ref5
,
ref6
,
ref7
,
ref8

Aspinall-Oglander, Cecil
ref1

Atkinson, W/Cdr L.V.E.
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
,
ref4
,
ref5

Attlee, Clement
ref1
,
ref2

Aulnoye
ref1

Aveline, Tony
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3

Bailey
ref1

Baker, J.W.
ref1

Baldwin, John ‘Jackie’
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
,
ref4
,
ref5

Baldwin, Stanley
ref1

Balfour, Harold
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3

Bamber
ref1
,
ref2

Bandon, Paddy (Earl of Bandon)
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3

Barmen
ref1

Barratt, Sir Arthur
ref1
,
ref2

Baskerville
ref1

Bassingbourn
ref1

Battle aircraft
ref1

Battle of the Atlantic
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
,
ref4
,
ref5
,
ref6

Battle of Berlin
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3

Battle of Britain
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
,
ref4

Battle of France
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
,
ref4
,
ref5

Battle of Hamburg
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3
,
ref4
,
ref5
,
ref6

Battles of the Ruhr
ref1
,
ref2
,
ref3

Bayliss, John
ref1

Beadle, Fred
ref1
,
ref2

Beatty, Admiral Lord
ref1