Bomber Flight Berlin

Jan 12, 2025 4:26 AM

Author:Mike Rossiter

'We believed in ourselves so much, no one ever panicked, even when the situation looked so desperate. We all believed that our best chance of staying alive was to stick together.'

Flying Lancaster bombers was one of the most dangerous missions of the war. Yet night after night Flight Lieutenant Geoffrey King and the crew of C Charlie risked their lives in the skies over Germany. Together they faced incredible dangers, flak damage, close encounters with the fighter planes of the Luftwaffe, and crash landings.

Against this background a friendship was formed that bound the crew of C Charlie together against all odds.

Geoffrey King and the crew of C Charlie are unique in having flown together for fifty missions and living to tell the tale. Bomber Flight Berlin is the story of a group of ordinary men, from different walks of life, thrown together by the forces of war. It is the story of those missions above Berlin, as they flew into what seemed certain death, and aircraft all around them were blasted out of the sky. It is also a testament to a remarkable friendship.

Reviews

A testimony to the lifelong bond often forged by the intensity of combat

—— The Spectator

'Sets a standard which other books have not achieved'

—— Irish Independent

'A fitting monument to a multiudinous loss'

—— John Updike , New Yorker

'It is not easy, nowadays, to write an original book on the first world war...but Preston has succeeded'

—— Norman Stone , The Sunday Times

'A book as majestic as its subject. Preston is a consumate popular historian and a stylish and elegant writer'

—— Chicago Sun-Times

'A complex story of heroism and great courage'

—— Independent on Sunday

'Clear and effective...benefits from exhaustive research'

—— The Times Literary Supplement

'Very good...Preston has done an extraordinary amount of work, particularly in tracing the memories of survivors'

—— The Sunday Times

Vulcan 607 grips like a two-spar fin torsion box structure, whatever your gender

—— Evening Standard

Rowland White tells this splendid story with panache

—— Daily Telegraph

All politicians need to read honest accounts of war - at no time more than now - and Patrick Hennessey's The Junior Officers' Reading Club is one of the very best

—— David Cameron, Observer, Books of the Year

A vivid account of a rollercoaster tour of duty . . . testosterone-charged, expletive-splattered

—— Phil Jacobson, Daily Mail

A compelling read . . . Hennessey's book ought to be read by all officers that have yet to experience combat . . . He has written an important portrait of contemporary warfare and the nature of battle - a portrait that can claim a line of descent from Sassoon's Memoirs of an Infantry Officer

—— Will Pike, British Army Review

An honest acknowledgment of the darkness within us, of the unwelcome emotions that combat can bring about ... Smart and funny ... The Junior Officers' Reading Club is a humdinger

—— Jonathan Yardley , Washington Post

There have been many books about the Battle of Britain but few as exhaustive - and readable - as this scholarly account

—— Choice Magazine

Facts and figures say a great deal, but the most compelling accounts come from those who featured in the battle. Like any good author, Holland allows the participants to tell the story in their own words

—— The Good Book Guide

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