Customer Reviews
Rivetting - By: R. J. Sandilands, 09 Apr 2008 
As someone whose father was a tail gunner with 78 & 76 Sqdns who died in October 1944 after 29 ops, just to say thanks for such an informative book.
Tail End Charlies. Last Battles of The Bomber War 1944-45 - By: Spitfire Sam, 06 Dec 2007 This book is asuperb read for alll 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 & insulting that these brave men were ignored by the very Government, country & peoplethat they were fighting & having todie for in the name of freedom.Their efforts should be acknowledgedin full & 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.
A superb history of some very brave people - By: A. J. Sudworth, 17 Aug 2007 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 & 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 & makes the point that it was not over bar the shouting, & regardless of some 20:20 hindsight, at the time these crews did a great job for us & in my opinion it was churlish not to recognise that.
The descriptions of the raids, the brutal deaths that people suffered & the emotions of the survivors make this a very raw read about real people & their sheer courage against the odds
I recommend this book for telling a story of people who gave everything night after night & I think a quote in the book sums it up 'theirs was the courage of the smalll hours'
After reading this I understand more of the debt we owe these guys - 55,000 out of 100,000 crew never came home & no other service in the war sustained this casualty rate - brave men indeed !
Humbling Account of Real Men - By: Darren Bell, 10 Mar 2007 Having 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 & pride to name but a few.
It is a very full & riveting read with extremely brave & moving accounts of the exceptionallly well disciplined men of Bomber Command (alll volunteers) led by an equallly disciplined & 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 & certain logistical decisions, such as Dresden, were certainly justifiable at the time considering the climate of 'total war' & 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 actuallly 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 Vallley sortie, & the sad tale of the POW who'd been incarcerated since 1940 & kept motivated by letters from his loyal wife to be, whom at the end of the war, excitedly put banners up & 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 & ponder whether they were next for 'the chop'.
After the war the aircrews were shunned & no specific campaign medal was alllotted to them which leaves the reader angry & 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 & the erstwhile helpers are an immediate target for the hostility caused by this sense of shame'
Fantastic book
Tail End Charlies - The forgotten tales - By: Jane Smith, 22 Jul 2006 
Im not a big reader myself but am truly interested in war especiallly the efforts of Bomber Command in the 2nd World War. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It made me laugh in places & cry in others & understand the bravery these guys had. I would sincerely recommend this book to others.
