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Tail End Charlies: The Last Battles of the Bomber War 1944-45Snagging.org In association with Amazon.co.ukOnline Shop | Property Guides | Kitchen & Home | Garden Tools | Power Tools | Consumer Electronics Get the Snagging Checklist Here!  List Price: £18.99 Price: £4.99 You Save: £14.00 (74%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Dewey Decimal Number: 940 EAN: 9780670914562 ISBN: 0670914568 Label: Viking Manufacturer: Viking Number Of Pages: 470 Publication Date: November 04, 2004 Publisher: Viking Studio: Viking Related Items:
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 Rating:  - RivettingAs someone whose father was a tail gunner with 78 and 76 Sqdns who died in October 1944 after 29 ops, just to say thanks for such an informative book. Rating: - Tail End Charlies. Last Battles of The Bomber War 1944-45This book is asuperb read for all aviation buffs.It is real life stories by people who were quite simply doing their duty as instructed, under horrendous risks of death,by the Government of the time.As the bombers were the then only source of revenge that this country had to return the horrific realities of war back at Hitler. It is criminal and insulting that these brave men were ignored by the very Government, country and peoplethat they were fighting and having todie for in the name of freedom.Their efforts should be acknowledgedin full and by those whose heads should be bowed in deep shame.This book is a superb read.A memorial should be set up for the 55,000+ who gave their lives as a lasting tribute to their ultimate sacrifice. These men have been ignored too long. Rating: - A superb history of some very brave people This book is not a comfortable read - over half the people of Bomber Command never came back from their missions over Germany - yet they kept going and sustained more casulaties in one raid for example over Nurnberg that in the entire Battle of Britain. This is not to say their sacrifice was worth more - but it just shows the sheer scale of the sacrifice. The book covers the last two years of WW2 and makes the point that it was not over bar the shouting, and regardless of some 20:20 hindsight, at the time these crews did a great job for us and in my opinion it was churlish not to recognise that. The descriptions of the raids, the brutal deaths that people suffered and the emotions of the survivors make this a very raw read about real people and their sheer courage against the odds I recommend this book for telling a story of people who gave everything night after night and I think a quote in the book sums it up 'theirs was the courage of the small hours' After reading this I understand more of the debt we owe these guys - 55,000 out of 100,000 crew never came home and no other service in the war sustained this casualty rate - brave men indeed ! Rating: - Humbling Account of Real MenHaving read many Bomber Command books, i found this one particularly good. The authors bring out a roller coaster of emotions within the reader... sorrow, joy, anger and pride to name but a few. It is a very full and riveting read with extremely brave and moving accounts of the exceptionally well disciplined men of Bomber Command (all volunteers) led by an equally disciplined and robust commander (Harris). The book is very well balanced in its views, making the reader aware of the fact that the 'tail end' of the war was a very uncertain time and certain logistical decisions, such as Dresden, were certainly justifiable at the time considering the climate of 'total war' and the fact that there could not be any 'give' whatsoever, not to mention the fact that Harris was leaned upon from above to hammer Dresden (which was actually bristling with war industry, contrary to popular belief) to assist Russian movements into Germany. Some of the more personal accounts left me with a lump in my throat. Sad, sad tales of aircrew dying on thier very last op, often just shy of the airfield after getting through a very rough Ruhr Valley sortie, and the sad tale of the POW who'd been incarcerated since 1940 and kept motivated by letters from his loyal wife to be, whom at the end of the war, excitedly put banners up and gathered family for his return, only for him to be killed as the overloaded Lancaster bringing him home crashed. The pyschological strain on the aircrews was massive, going from the relative comfort of rural English airbases to horror of major bombing raids deep into Germany, losing comrades at an alarming rate, witnessing gory death in its dirty glory then returning to the almost tranquil countryside of England a few hours later to sit and ponder whether they were next for 'the chop'. After the war the aircrews were shunned and no specific campaign medal was allotted to them which leaves the reader angry and dismayed. The public effectively turned against them. To quote one Lanc airman, Miles Tripp... 'The plain fact is that when one's survival is threatened, one is grateful to those who offer protection. Once the danger is past, one is ashamed that ones intellectual theories were so easily overruled by a primitive instinct or emotion and the erstwhile helpers are an immediate target for the hostility caused by this sense of shame' Fantastic book Rating:  - Tail End Charlies - The forgotten talesIm not a big reader myself but am truly interested in war especially the efforts of Bomber Command in the 2nd World War. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It made me laugh in places and cry in others and understand the bravery these guys had. I would sincerely recommend this book to others.  Try searching the Internet for "Tail End Charlies: The Last Battles of the Bomber War 1944-45" or Ebay for "Tail End Charlies: The Last Battles of the Bomber War 1944-45". You might also be interested in the following great products:
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