Bomber Command’s night offensive against Nazi Germany, which lasted for nearly six years, was one of Britain’s major contributions to the Allied effort during the Second World War. But the decision to conduct its main operations at night only came about following heavy losses by day, when its pre-war medium bombers had been found lacking in modern air warfare. The Luftwaffe, too, had its early problems. Initially without a dedicated night fighter, it was ill-equipped to defend the Reich, and so the stage was set for what would become one of the most critical strategic encounters of the war. Things had to change on both sides. Soon there came new and more capable aircraft, in ever-increasing numbers, coupled with new tactics and technology, as each side strove to gain the upper hand. It became a fascinating encounter between the crews of Bomber Command and the Luftwaffe’s night fighter force, the Nachtjagd, with no shortage of courage and heavy losses on both sides. Amongst the epic encounters were Bomber Command’s Thousand Bomber raids, the attack on the German V-weapons research establishment at Peenemunde, the campaigns against the industrial Ruhr, Hamburg and Berlin, and the disastrous raid on Nuremberg.
This new publication consolidates accounts from both sides and from all ranks of service in an effort to provide a comprehensive account of some of the most ferocious nocturnal engagements of the Second World War.
AUTHOR; Peter Jacobs served in the Royal Air Force for thirty-six years as an air defence navigator on the F4 Phantom and Tornado F3, after which he completed staff tours at HQ 11 Group, HQ Strike Command, the Ministry of Defence and the RAF College Cranwell. He has written several books including ‘Stay the Distance: The Life and Times of Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Michael Beetham’. His most recent titles for Pen and Sword include ‘Fortress Island Malta: Defence and Re-Supply During the Siege’, ‘Setting France Ablaze: The SOE in France During WW2’, and ‘Daring Raids of World War Two: Heroic Land, Sea and Air Attacks’. 60 black and white images in plates