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    The Red Line: The Gripping Story of the RAF’s Bloodiest Raid on Hitler’s Germany
    The Red Line: The Gripping Story of the RAF’s Bloodiest Raid on Hitler’s Germany
    The Red Line: The Gripping Story of the RAF’s Bloodiest Raid on Hitler’s Germany
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Red Line: The Gripping Story of the RAF’s Bloodiest Raid on Hitler’s Germany

    Written by John Nichol

    Narrated by Andrew Wincott

    5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    From best-selling author of Tail-End Charlie and Tornado Down comes this powerful and deeply moving account of Bomber Command’s 1944 Nuremberg Raid – the RAF’s bloodiest night of the Second World War

    More men from Royal Air Force Bomber Command died on one single night of the Second World War than the total RAF aircrew losses during the whole of the four-month-long Battle of Britain.

    This is the story of the air raid intended to be the climax of Sir Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris’s relentless campaign to defeat Nazi Germany. The target was Nuremberg: 795 aircraft set out, nearly 700 men did not return. In ‘The Red Line’, we meet the young aircrew who flew on the night of 30 March 1944. John Nichol has interviewed the few surviving veterans, British and German, in the air and on the ground, to record the voices of a diminishing generation.

    While the airmen of Bomber Command were among the greatest heroes of the conflict, their contribution and sacrifice has, until recently, been sidelined in the face of post-war criticism of Bomber Command’s tactics. Yet they were among the best of their generation. John Nichol’s dramatic tribute to the men who flew on the RAF’s bloodiest raid has provided the surviving veterans with the chance to tell the story of that terrible night – the night they flew to Nuremberg.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins Publishers
    Release dateApr 25, 2013
    ISBN9780007508990
    The Red Line: The Gripping Story of the RAF’s Bloodiest Raid on Hitler’s Germany
    Author

    John Nichol

    John Nichol served in the Royal Air Force for fifteen years. On active duty during the first Gulf War in 1991, his Tornado bomber was shot down during a mission over Iraq. Captured, tortured and held as a prisoner of war, John was paraded on television, provoking worldwide condemnation and leaving one of the most enduring images of the conflict.  John is the bestselling co-author of Tornado Down and author of many highly acclaimed Second World War epics including Spitfire and Lancaster, both of which were Sunday Times bestsellers. He has made a number of TV documentaries with Second World War veterans, written for national newspapers and magazines, and is a widely quoted commentator on military affairs. 

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    • 5/5
      This is the most explicit description I’ve been exposed Toby the heroic deeds of the British night bombing raids in WWII. So extraordinarily recounted in each detail of the crews courage, strategic short comings of homer command that I wept at times for the senseless loss of life due to military stoicism regardless of using common senses in preserving their bomber squads efficiency for the most achievable offensive outcomes. These men snd women of the RAF et al are all worth the highest commendation of valor and honor. My headmaster of a private British prep school was an RAF SPIT Fighter pilot- shot down seven times and captured twice by the Nazis. He escaped both times from France to fight another day. His name was Mr Oaks- a great and compassionate man that Left
      a lasting impression on my of the debt we owe these warriors of the sky’s over Britain in its darkest hours. As an American I’m grateful for Mr Oaks compassion towards me in my mathematical achievements. I pray to God he’s with his squadron in heaven today; among all the other brave souls who fought for England’s freedom from Hitlers fascism. I tip a pint to all veterans and surviving relatives as a toast of heartfelt indebtedness to a band of heroes that saved England in the face of most certain death.
    • 5/5
      A detailed and very moving story of an unfashionable topic.
    • 5/5
      Wow... Just wow. I have a very different point of view on Bomber Command now. What an incredible book
    • 5/5
      Intriguing storylines with insight into the men who faced death on every mission. Superb narration with a great blend of voices to keep you wanting more. These men were the forgotten warriors of the RAF’s uphill fight to save the nation and the west. Bomber Command paid a high price in the fight and this book brings that price front and center.