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RAF Bomber Command and the US Eighth Air Force Support to the Normandy Invasion 1944
Steve Darlow
Size: 234 x 156mm
Pages: 256 plus 16 pages of photos
ISBN: 1 904010 79 2
D-Day Bombers: The Veterans’ Story is largely an eye-witness account of the vital heavy
bomber contribution to the success of the D-Day landings and therefore to the winning of the war
in Europe. It is told using considerable first-hand experience from the veterans of the campaign,
something not really covered in any other books on the subject, together with background
information from primary source documents on the tactics and strategy employed before, during
and after the invasion.
Eight different aircrews, five RAF and three USAAF, tell widely differing stories of their part
in the operations. Their vivid and dramatic accounts are supplemented by numerous contributions
from other aircrew and ground crew veterans, army personnel and French civilians, which have been
carefully gathered by Stephen Darlow from interviews with the participants and their relatives,
through correspondence and contemporary diaries.
Certain raids have been selected and described in detail and there are numerous previously unpublished photographs.
As Winston Churchill wrote:
‘…This is no war of chieftains or of princes, of dynasties or national ambition; it is a war of
peoples and of causes. There are vast numbers, not only in this island but in every land, who
still render faithful service in the war, but whose names will never be known, whose deeds will
never be recorded…’
By meeting with the veterans themselves, Stephen Darlow has helped to record such deeds. Here is
their story, sixty years on.
' ... the refreshing approach of tales of RAF crews during the 1944 campaign
interspersed with new stories of the 8th AF bomber crews opens new thoughts of
what was experienced by airmen from both countries during the war - a very nice
contrast of things in common and different approaches to the problems and
challenges of the air war. As in his two previous books Darlow's stories are
rich in detail . . . For those who thought they knew knew the story of the lead
up to D-Day, this book greatly expands the picture . . . The history of two
countries airwar unfolds here.' - 8th Air Force News
'...brilliantly described...' - Colin Gardiner, Oxford Times
'...enthralling...' - Andrew Roberts, The Scotsman
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