Being there . . . . in the Autumn of 1943 when Britain’s Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, with
his Knighthood decoration, urgently recommended to Prime Minister Churchill that a joint
Royal Air Force and US Air Force “wreck Berlin from end to end . . . although the cost would be
at least 500 bombers, but, in the end, cost Germany World War II”. Churchill immediately
agreed, although the Americans said, “NOI”, not only because of their heavy losses in bombers
that summer, but also because at that time it was contrary to the USAAF policy in Europe.
Harris was forced to abrupt change his mind, and, on November 18, launched the first of 16
major attacks, all dangerous, on the German capital. Airmen quickly understood that Berlin’s
defensive measures were more formidable than believed. Said one British pilot, “From a great
distance, Berlin appears so tranquil, quiet, and innocent as moonlight bounces off the lake
surfaces. But as one gets closer, the whole city explodes with intensive barrages of artillery fire
and shrapnel.” Angrily, Josef Goebbels, a city gauleiter (governor), shouts repeatedly to his
audiences, “The air is filled with smoke and the stench of fires. The Wilhelmstrasse and
Wilhelmplatz are devastated. But we are learning to adapt to our new primitive way of life. On
my street, Goringstrasse, we have no heat, no light, no water. I can’t shave, bathe, or even
wash my face.”
CASEMATE PUBLISHERS INTRODUCE TWO OF BRITAIN’S LEADING WWII AVIATION WRITERS
WHO VIVIDLY RELIVE BERLIN IN THE THROES OF EXTREME PAIN, ANGUISH, AND AGONY AS THE
ONCE BEAUTIFUL GERMAN METROPOLIS IS SYSTEMATICALLY POUNDED INTO RUIN AND
RUBBLE –
Reviewed and Highly Recommended by Don DeNevi
“THE BERLIN BLITZ – By Those Who Were There”, by Martin W. Bowman. Air World, an imprint
of Pen & Sword Books Ltd, distributed by CASEMATE PUBLISHERS; 2022, 245 pages, 6 ½” x 9 ½”,
hardcover; $42.95. Visit, www.pen-and-sword.co.uk; www.penandswordbooks.com; or, E-mail:
Uspen-and-sword@casematepublishers.com.
“PARACHUTE To BERLIN”, by Lowell Bennett, Foreword by his son, Alan Bennett. CASEMATE
PUBLISHERS, World War II/Memoir; 2023, 226 pages, paperback, 6” x 9”; $24.95. Visit,
www.casematepublishers.com.
The total strategic air offensive against Germany cost the lives of some 50,000 British aircrew
and a like number of Americans. It resulted in the death of between 750,000 and a million
Germans. The destruction of virtually the entire German war economy, which was eventually
achieved, proved to be a far more formidable task than even cautious advocates had estimated.
“THE BERLIN BLITZ” draws attention in detail to the major raids on the Reich capital by RAF
Bomber Command from the late summer of 1940 to September 1943. It begins with the reliable
but largely ineffective twin-engined Blenheims, Hampdens, and Wellingtons through to the
introduction into front-line service of the four-engined “heavies”, the Stirlings, Manchesters
and Halifaxes, which from 1942 bore the brunt of the bomber offensive. Author James Holland
praises Bowman’s achievement best, “Martin’s deep knowledge and empathy with the young
men flying these bombers exudes off every page, bringing new life into this extraordinary
generation and giving voice to their unquestioned courage”.
In “PARACHUTE To BERLIN”, buffs, from armchair strategists to occasionally, vaguely
interested WWII readers, will appreciate this riveting, lively, totally engrossing first-hand
account of what it was like to truly “be there” when the bombs exploded all around. It
happened that as Allied air force bombers mercilessly pounded Nazi Germany every night in
late 1943, the decision was made, presumably by Hitler himself, to allow a number of eager
journalists to “fly along” and participate in a night attack against Berlin. One of them was Lowell
Bennett, a young American journalist from Kansas City who had made a name for himself by
reporting on the Allied invasion of Tunisia. When their Avro Lancaster is hit by Luftwaffe
fighters, everyone is forced to bail out. Bennett is captured after the aircraft is able to make a
safe landing. Before being delivered to a prison camp for the duration of the war, a German
officer decides to take him on a tour of various German cities, a submarine base, and the
industrial Ruhr. In his vivid first-hand account, Lowell expresses personal indignation at the
terrible suffering of the civilian population – the prime target of Allied bombing. Unable to
contain his shock, he offers a criticism of the British-American strategic bombing policies based
on his own eye-witness accounts and experiences. First published in 1945, Bennett’s writings
remain the only first-hand reports by an Allied journalist of the RAF and USAAF bombing raids
seen at the ground level.
