Airborne in 1943: The Daring Allied Air Campaign Over the North Sea

by Kevin Wilson

Overview

The year 1943 saw the beginning of an unprecedented bombing campaign against Germany. Over the next twelve months, tens of thousands of aircrews flew across the North Sea to drop bombs on German cities. They were opposed not only by the full force of the Luftwaffe, but by a nightmare of flak, treacherously icy conditions, and constant mechanical malfunction. Most of these courageous crews were either shot down and killed or taken prisoner by an increasingly hostile enemy. This is the story of the everyday heroism of these crews in the days when it was widely believed that the Allies could win the Second World War by air alone. American pilots had a special role in the “Dambusters” campaign in particular. Even before the attacks on Pearl Harbor, scores of eager pilots travelled across the Canadian border to train with other future “Dam-busters,” all eager to take part. Authoritative and gripping, Airborne in 1943 brings these remarkable men and women to vivid life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681779461
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	12/04/2018
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	512
File size:	19 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Kevin Wilson has spent most of his working life as a staff journalist on British national newspapers, including the Daily Mail and the Sunday Express.
Kevin Wilson has spent most of his working life as a staff journalist on British national newspapers, including the Daily Mail and the Sunday Express. He is the author of Blood and Fears and Airborne in 1943, also published by Pegasus Books.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations 9

Beginnings 15

Winter

To the Heart of Darkness 23

A Signal Success 41

Piercing the Gloom 60

Ruining the Ruhr 88

Spring

The Bitter Taste of Pilsen 125

The Toss of a Coin 146

The Power of Water 160

Pointblank and Return to the Ruhr 205

Summer

The Power of Fire 241

The Peril of Peenemünde 282

Back to Berlin 317

Stretching to Succeed 340

Autumn

Attrition to Achievement 365

'The Greatest of Air Battles' 394

Winter

A Miserable End 417

Closure 444

Notes to the Text 449

Acknowledgements 455

Glossary 459

Bibliography 463

Index 465

Editorial Reviews

★ 11/15/2018

Wilson's (Blood and Fears) authoritative and fascinating book documents RAF Bomber Command's achievements in 1943 against German positions, recollected by former airmen. The author details the formation of the aircraft unit No. 617 Squadron, known as the Dambusters, their role in this theater, along with their complex training methods, as they attacked multiple dams, resulting in catastrophic flooding in Germany. Wilson accurately describes the devastation of the city of Hamburg and the incremental destruction of Berlin as well as details of raids over Kassel, Mannheim, and Hanover. Within a year, the cities in Adolf Hitler's industrial power base in Ruhr were decimated. Revelations of interest include insight into German civilian life under bombardment, aerial battle tactics used by the command, and a heartfelt description of one crew's final minutes aboard a bomber. The author dismisses the early belief that Germany's defeat was won mainly through aerial bombing but posits that the command's dedication and sacrifices were significant factors in the war's outcome. VERDICT A fitting historical tribute to the soldiers whose invaluable memories inspired this remarkable account. Highly recommended for U.S., European, military, and aviation historians, as well as general readers.—John Carver Edwards, formerly with Univ. of Georgia Libs.

Library Journal

09/24/2018
In this meticulously researched work, British journalist Wilson (Blood and Fears) lays out an exacting reconstruction of the aerial campaign of 1943, in which the Allies took “war home to the enemy as never before in the history of Germany or the world.” Wilson doesn’t skimp on detail in this yearlong narrative of the missions, triumphs, failures, and losses that made up the Allied assault on Germany’s cities, in a bold reversal of the earlier events of WWII. Precisely detailed military actions during such campaign milestones as the Battle of the Ruhr and the Battle of Berlin are interspersed with personal recollections (of such participants as rear gunner Sgt. Albert Bracegirdle, wireless operator Pilot Officer Dennis Bateman, and bomb aimer Sgt. Len Bradfield) to create a vivid, complex picture of this phase of the war, with an eye toward remembering those involved as increasingly unappreciated heroes. This is a solidly written, engaging military history. Agent: Jessica Purdue, Orion. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

"The riveting, true story of the unprecedented ‘Dambusters’ bombing campaign against Germany during World War II. An expertly researched, engagingly presented account of wartime heroism in aviation."

Midwest Book Review

"A detailed history of WWII air campaigns. Airborne in 1943 is just the book to hand history buffs committed to knowing everything about WWII."

Booklist

One of the most enjoyable [accounts] I have ever read; hard to put down.

The 8th Air Force Historical Society

A detailed history of WWII air campaigns. Airborne in 1943 is just the book to hand history buffs committed to knowing everything about WWII.

Booklist

2018-09-11

A densely detailed, chronological, frequently gruesome account of British bomber operations against Germany in 1943.

In that year, writes journalist Wilson (Blood and Fears: How America's Bomber Boys of the Eighth Air Force Saved World War II, 2017), bomber crews "who made up only 7 percent of Britain and her empire in uniform yet took 25 percent of the total fatalities, dropped nearly four times the tonnage compared to that dropped by the Eighth Air Force. The tonnage of the USAAF, who suffered so much in Europe's fight, would leap the following year." The author has mined the archives and interviewed dozens of elderly survivors, so his accounts of perhaps 100 missions are rich in anecdotes as well as nuts-and-bolts technical descriptions, fireworks, blunders, courage, and death. Wilson disagrees with historians who denounce the massive air strikes of World War II. He denies that they were revenge for the Blitz because Allied airmen were already believers in strategic bombing. He also takes a dim view of postwar research that concluded the bombing was ineffective, agreeing that it was less effective than enthusiasts predicted but no more so than, say, the Italian campaign. The author admits that German war production increased throughout 1943, but he also points out that bombing made it increasingly expensive and inconvenient; air defenses required several million men, immense resources, and the majority of Luftwaffe planes that would have been better employed in Russia. Wilson's vivid picture of the inaccuracy of nighttime bombing does not prevent him from emphasizing damage to industries from each attack—unlike most authors, who focus mostly on civilian casualties.

This record of essentially all 1943 British air operations will appeal to military buffs more than general readers, who may prefer three Martin Middlebrook masterpieces on missions from that year: The Battle of Hamburg, The Peenemünde Raid, and The Berlin Raids.

Kirkus Reviews