Book Review - Tail End Charlies by John Nichol ,Tony Rennel

[dieg777]

Book : Tail End Charlies
Author : John Nichol and Tony Rennel
Pages : 470
Photographs : 22
Maps 0
Published 2004- paperback -2005

This is the story of the bomber crews, from RAF and USAAF who flew in the last year of the war and in particular of the rear gunners who manned the Lancasters and B17s.

It uses the flyers own words but also goes into detail on the political and strategic reasons for the bombing campaign and the tactics employed by the airforces involved.

It gives clear and unambiguous profiles of the leaders such as Air Marschal Harris and General Carl Spaatz and puts their decisions in the context of the time but at the heart of the book are the stories of the men who flew these missions.

The fighter pilots often get the glory and press and for many reasons the bombers crews stories are not as well known and the sacrifice they made is often overlooked. This is a fitting tribute to those who took part in this area of aerial warfare.

[ytareh]

Also read this recently ....Title quite misleading.I was expecting a specialist book on rear gunners or at least bomber gunner crew in general.I was looking forward to indepth treatment of guns /ammo/ tactics etc of the gunner.
In fact this book is much more a general bomber command study with a taste of the USAAF "8th" also.There was an interesting (or dull -depending on your viewpoint!) large section on the revisionist view of the bombing of Dresden etc-how the bomber crew were rapidly looked at in a very different light after(and even during ) the war as murderers of innocent civilians by many in UK .The title I think is meant to refer as much to Bomber Commands less glamorous image within the RAF as to tail gunners.NB Bomber crew never recieved an official campaign medal....
Very gruesome picture of a crewman with a 'cannon' shell(werent they meant to explode?)/slug stuck in his leg.Not a bad read if got at a bargain price....68%ish score?