<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[subject results for "World War, 1939-1945 — Aerial operations, British."]]></title><description><![CDATA[subject results for "World War, 1939-1945 — Aerial operations, British."]]></description><link>https://gateway.bibliocommons.com/v2/libraries/westvanlibrary/rss/search?query=%22World%20War%2C%201939-1945%20%E2%80%94%20Aerial%20operations%2C%20British.%22&amp;searchType=subject&amp;origin=core-catalog-explore&amp;view=grouped</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Tue, 21 Apr 2026 04:22:05 GMT</lastBuildDate><item><title><![CDATA[Sword Beach]]></title><description><![CDATA["Between 1941 and 1944, the British army contributed relatively little to World War II. On the unremittingly bloody Eastern Front, no Russian or German soldier had experienced the luxury of having four years to prepare and train for a resumption of the European continental campaign. But on D-Day--June 6, 1944--the lives of British soldiers changed. Thiry-five thousand infantrymen, airmen, and special service operatives were sent headfirst into the whitest heat of war, almost overnight. Max Hastings's Sword Beach tells the story of a handful of British soldiers and their critical role in D-Day's parachute and seaborne offensive. On Sword, the codename of one of the two beaches assaulted by the British, scores of soldiers were killed by the first shots that they ever heard fired in anger. One British corporal insisted on apologizing to his enemy prisoners, and the Free French troops, 120-men strong, suffered 60 percent losses in the first days of fighting. With his signature blend of drama and detail, Hastings shows how the men who landed on Sword played a critical role in Britain's preeminent landmark victory and the most spectacular battlefield event of World War II in the West."--]]></description><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C2353538</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C2353538</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Hastings, Max]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/2353538074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle>D-Day Baptism by Fire</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781324117575/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bomber Command]]></title><description><![CDATA[Roddy MacKenzie's father served in Bomber Command during the Second World War, but like so many brave veterans who had survived the war, he spoke little of his exploits. So, when Roddy started on his personal journey to discover something of what his father had achieved, he uncovered a great deal about the devastating effectiveness of Bomber Command and the vital role it played in the defeat of Third Reich. He realized that the true story of Bomber Command's achievements has never been told nor fully acknowledged. Roddy became a man on a mission, and this startlingly revealing, and often personal study, is the result. Bomber Command: Churchill's Greatest Triumph takes the reader through the early days of the Second World War and introduces all the key individuals who turned the Command into the war-winning weapon it eventually became, as well as detailing the men and machines which flew night after night into the heart of Hitler's Germany. The main focus of his book is the destruction and dislocation wrought by the bombing to reduce, and ultimately destroy, Germany's ability to make war. In his analysis, Roddy dug deep into German archival material to uncover facts rarely presented to either German or English language readers. These demonstrate that Bomber Command's continual efforts, at appalling cost in aircrew casualties and aircraft losses, did far more damage to the Reich than the Allies knew. Roddy's father served with the Royal Canadian Air Force and Roddy naturally highlights its contribution to Bomber Command's successes, another aspect of this fascinating story which the author believes has not been duly recognized. Bomber Command: Churchill's Greatest Triumph will certainly raise the debate on the controversial strategy adopted by 'Bomber' Harris and how he was perceived by many to have over-stepped his remit. But most of all, this book will revise people's understanding of just how important the endeavors were of those men who flew through the dark and through the searchlights, the flak, and the enemy night fighters, to bring the Second World War in Europe to its crushing conclusion.]]></description><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C2244625</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C2244625</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[MacKenzie, Roddy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 31 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/2244625074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle>Churchill&apos;s Greatest Triumph</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781399017725/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Operation Chastise]]></title><description><![CDATA[Tells the story of the infamous British military operation, the Dambusters raid. This aerial bombing attack, called Operation Chastise, was responsible for the overnight destruction of the Möhne and Eder dams in northwest Germany by Britain's Royal air Force 617 Squadron, an epic wartime maneuver that has become military legend.]]></description><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C2035839</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C2035839</guid><category><![CDATA[BOOK_CD]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Hastings, Max]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/2035839074</comments><format>BOOK_CD</format><subtitle>The RAF&apos;s Most Brilliant Attack of World War II</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781094114620/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Dog Who Could Fly]]></title><description><![CDATA[A German shepherd who was adopted by the Royal Air Force during World War II, joined in flight missions, and survived everything from crash-landings to parachute bailouts-ultimately saving the life of his owner and dearest friend. A deeply moving story of loyalty in the face of adversity and the unshakable bond between a man and his best friend.]]></description><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C2153006</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C2153006</guid><category><![CDATA[BOOK_CD]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Lewis, Damien]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/2153006074</comments><format>BOOK_CD</format><subtitle>[the Incredible True Story of A WWII Airman and the Four-legged Hero Who Flew at His Side]</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9798200040377/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Dog Who Could Fly]]></title><description><![CDATA["A history of the first military working dog in the Royal Air Force."--]]></description><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1668148</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1668148</guid><category><![CDATA[LPRINT]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Lewis, Damien]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1668148074</comments><format>LPRINT</format><subtitle>The Incredible True Story of A WWII Airman and the Four-legged Hero Who Flew at His Side</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781410472977/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Bomber Command Memorial]]></title><description><![CDATA[The RAF Bomber Command Memorial is a memorial in Green Park, London, commemorating the aircrews of RAF Bomber Command who embarked on missions during the Second World War. The memorial, located near Hyde Park Corner, was built to mark the sacrifice of 55,573 aircrew from Britain, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Poland and other countries of the Commonwealth, as well as civilians of all nations killed during raids. Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the memorial on 28 June 2012, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.]]></description><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1604794</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1604794</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Gibb, Robin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1604794074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle>We Will Remember Them</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780957116313/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Lancaster]]></title><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1575679</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1575679</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Iveson, Tony]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1575679074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle>The Biography</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780233002705/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bomber Harris]]></title><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1249039</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1249039</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Probert, Henry]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 31 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1249039074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle>His Life and Times : the Biography of Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Harris, the Wartime Chief of Bomber Command</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780773733299/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bomber Squadrons at War]]></title><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1241501</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1241501</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Copeman, Geoff D.]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 1997 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1241501074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle>Nos. 57 and 630 Squadrons</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780750917100/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Mosquito, Typhoon, Tempest at War]]></title><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1188237</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1188237</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Bowyer, Chaz]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 31 Jan 1995 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1188237074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle></subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781856482271/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Battlefields in the Air]]></title><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1334305</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1334305</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[McCaffery, Dan]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 31 Jan 1995 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1334305074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle>Canadians in the Allied Bomber Command</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781550284911/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Greatest Air Battle]]></title><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1123759</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1123759</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Franks, Norman L. R.]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 1992 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1123759074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle>Dieppe, 19th August, 1942</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780948817588/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Odds Against Us]]></title><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1147780</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1147780</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Townsend, Peter]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 31 Jan 1987 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1147780074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle></subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780688042905/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Nuremburg Raid, 30-31 March 1944]]></title><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1133158</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1133158</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Middlebrook, Martin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 31 Jan 1973 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1133158074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle></subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780713906127/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Dog Who Could Fly]]></title><description><![CDATA[A German shepherd who was adopted by the Royal Air Force during World War II, joined in flight missions, and survived everything from crash-landings to parachute bailouts-ultimately saving the life of his owner and dearest friend. A deeply moving story of loyalty in the face of adversity and the unshakable bond between a man and his best friend.]]></description><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1656012</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1656012</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Lewis, Damien]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1656012074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle>The Incredible True Story of A WWII Airman and the Four-legged Hero Who Flew at His Side</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781476739144/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Out of the Sky]]></title><description><![CDATA[Was it one of the war's most memorable feats of valor or an act of desperation, even madness? In Out of the Sky, Matti Friedman unravels one of the strangest episodes of World War II: In 1944, a team of young women and men who had escaped the Holocaust made the inconceivable choice to parachute back into Nazi-occupied Europe under the cover of a British military operation. Yet by the end of the mission, not a single Nazi was harmed and not a single Jew was saved, and many of the parachutists died in the process. Even so, some of their names would become legendary, especially that of twenty-three-year-old Hannah Senesh, the author of the beloved Hebrew song "Eli, Eli." Their story would become one of the young state of Israel's founding myths--but what exactly was the mission, and what had the parachutists actually accomplished? What made them heroes? Using thousands of original documents from once-secret files, manuscripts, memoirs, and unpublished letters, Matti Friedman follows four of the parachutists from the spring of 1944 to the operation's dramatic end that winter. In Out of the Sky, he tells the gripping and surprising tale of a forgotten moment, demonstrating how storytelling itself can have a power even greater than warfare. And in exploring the line between myth and reality, heroism and futility, he creates an argument that has resonance in our own time.]]></description><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C2356332</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C2356332</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Friedman, Matti]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 31 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/2356332074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle>Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780771015090/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Battle of Britain]]></title><description><![CDATA[The gripping and heroic story of fighter pilots defending the skies over Britain from unprecedented Nazi attack. For 113 terrifying days in 1940, Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe, threw everything it had at Great Britain in hopes of early victory in World War II. The task of defending southern England from airborne attack fell to pilots in the Royal Air Force, supplemented in their darkest hour by more than 100 flyers from Canada. These Canadians, some from famous families, some straight off the farm, served in forty-seven different Battle of Britain squadrons. Now, for the first time, bestselling military historian Ted Barris's tells the riveting story of their crucial role in this do-or-die-battle: how they accounted for 130 German aircraft destroyed, another thirty probably destroyed and more than seventy damaged, with twenty pilots dying in action and twelve awarded Distinguished Flying Crosses. Battle of Britain: Canadian Airmen in their Finest Hour is a must for enthusiasts of military and aviation history.]]></description><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C2309574</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C2309574</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Barris, Ted]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 31 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/2309574074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle>Canadian Airmen in Their Finest Hour</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781990823930/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Battle of Britain]]></title><description><![CDATA["The gripping and heroic story of fighter pilots defending the skies over Britain from unprecedented Nazi attack. For 113 terrifying days in 1940, Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe, threw everything it had at Great Britain in hopes of early victory in World War II. The task of defending southern England from airborne attack fell to pilots in the Royal Air Force, supplemented in their darkest hour by more than 100 flyers from Canada. These Canadians, some from famous families, some straight off the farm, served in forty-seven different Battle of Britain squadrons. Now, for the first time, bestselling military historian Ted Barris's tells the riveting story of their crucial role in this do-or-die-battle: how they accounted for 130 German aircraft destroyed, another thirty probably destroyed and more than seventy damaged, with twenty pilots dying in action and twelve awarded Distinguished Flying Crosses. The Battle of Britain, And Canada's Gallant Airmen is a must for enthusiasts of military and aviation history."--]]></description><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C2305695</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C2305695</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Barris, Ted]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 31 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/2305695074</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle>Canadian Airmen in Their Finest Hour</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781990823947/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Lancaster]]></title><description><![CDATA[The epic story of an iconic aircraft and the breathtaking courage of those who flew her. A Very British  legend reveals the true cost of flying this iconic and deadly airplane - through the few authentic voices of the RAF veterans who are left to us.]]></description><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C2082892</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C2082892</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Nichol, John]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/2082892074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle>The Forging of A Very British Legend</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781471180477/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Fire and the Darkness]]></title><description><![CDATA[A gripping work of narrative nonfiction recounting the history of the Dresden Bombing, one of the most devastating attacks of World War II. On February 13th, 1945 at 10:03 PM, British bombers began one of the most devastating attacks of WWII: the bombing of Dresden. The first contingent killed people and destroyed buildings, roads, and other structures. The second rained down fire, turning the streets into a blast furnace, the shelters into ovens, and whipping up a molten hurricane in which the citizens of Dresden were burned, baked, or suffocated to death. Early the next day, American bombers finished off what was left. Sinclair McKay's The Fire and the Darkness is a pulse-pounding work of history that looks at the life of the city in the days before the attack, tracks each moment of the bombing, and considers the long period of reconstruction and recovery. The Fire and the Darkness is powered by McKay's reconstruction of this unthinkable terror from the points of view of the ordinary civilians: Margot Hille, an apprentice brewery worker; Gisela Reichelt, a ten-year-old schoolgirl; boys conscripted into the Hitler Youth; choristers of the Kreuzkirche choir; artists, shop assistants, and classical musicians, as well as the Nazi officials stationed there. What happened that night in Dresden was calculated annihilation in a war that was almost over. Sinclair McKay's brilliant work takes a complex, human, view of this terrible night and its aftermath in a gripping book that will be remembered long after the last page is turned.]]></description><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C2028162</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C2028162</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[McKay, Sinclair]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/2028162074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle>The Bombing of Dresden, 1945</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781250258014/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Operation Chastise]]></title><description><![CDATA[Tells the story of the infamous British military operation, the Dambusters raid. This aerial bombing attack, called Operation Chastise, was responsible for the overnight destruction of the Möhne and Eder dams in northwest Germany by Britain's Royal air Force 617 Squadron, an epic wartime maneuver that has become military legend.]]></description><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C2027612</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C2027612</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Hastings, Max]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/2027612074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle>The RAF&apos;s Most Brilliant Attack of World War II</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780062953636/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Chastise]]></title><description><![CDATA[A brand new history of the Dambusters raid from best-selling and critically acclaimed military historian, Max Hastings. Operation Chastise, the destruction of the Mohne and Eder dams in north-west Germany by the RAF's 617 Squadron on the night of 16/17 May 1943, was an epic that has passed into Britain's national legend. Max Hastings grew up embracing the story, the classic 1955 movie and the memory of Guy Gibson, the 24-year-old wing-commander who led the raid. In the 21st Century, however, he urges that we should see the dambusters in much more complex shades. The aircrew's heroism was entirely real, as was the brilliance of Barnes Wallis, inventor of thè bouncing bombs'. But commanders who promised their young fliers that success could shorten the war fantasised as ruthlessly as they did about the entire bomber offensive.]]></description><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1991670</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1991670</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Hastings, Max]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 31 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1991670074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle>The Dambusters Story 1943</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780008280529/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Dam Busters]]></title><description><![CDATA[It was a night that changed the Second World War. The secret air raid against the hydroelectric dams of Germany's Ruhr River took years to plan, involved an untried bomb and included the best aircrews the RAF Bomber Command could muster—many of them Canadian. The raid marked the first time the Allies successfully took the war inside Nazi Germany. It was a mission that became legendary. On May 16, 1943, nineteen Lancaster bombers filled with 133 airmen took off on a night mission code-named Operation Chastise. Hand-picked and specially trained, the Lancaster crews flew at treetop level to the industrial heartland of the Third Reich and their targets—the Ruhr River dams—whose massive water reservoirs powered Nazi Germany’s military industrial complex. Each Lancaster carried an explosive that, when released just sixty feet over the reservoirs, bounced like a skipping stone to the dam, sank and exploded. The raiders breached two dams and severely damaged a third. The resulting torrent devastated power plants, factories and infrastructure a hundred miles downstream. Every one of the 133 airmen on the mission understood that the odds of survival were low. Of the nineteen bombers outbound, eight did not return. Operation Chastise cost the lives of fifty-three airmen, including fourteen Canadians. Of the sixteen RCAF men who survived, seven received military decorations. Based on personal accounts, flight logs, maps and photographs of the Canadians involved, Dam Busters recounts the dramatic story of these young Commonwealth bomber crews that were tasked with a high-risk mission against an enemy prepared to defend the Fatherland to the death. ]]></description><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1910988</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1910988</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Barris, Ted]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 31 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1910988074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle>Canadian Airmen and the Secret Raid Against Nazi Germany</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781443455435/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Kamikaze Hunters]]></title><description><![CDATA[In May 1945, with victory in Europe established, the war was all but over. But on the other side of the world, the Allies were still engaged in a bitter struggle to control the Pacific. And it was then that the Japanese unleashed a terrible new form of warfare: the suicide pilots, or Kamikaze. Drawing on meticulous research and unique personal access to the remaining survivors, Will Iredale follows a group of young men from the moment they signed up through their initial training to the terrifying reality of fighting against pilots who, in the cruel last summer of the war, chose death rather than risk their country's dishonourable defeat and deliberately flew their planes into Allied aircraft carriers.]]></description><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1808681</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1808681</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Iredale, Will]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 31 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1808681074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle>Fighting for the Pacific, 1945</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781681771670/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Beyond the Dams to the Tirpitz]]></title><link>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1839040</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S74C1839040</guid><category><![CDATA[BK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Cooper, Alan W.]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 31 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://westvanlibrary.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1839040074</comments><format>BK</format><subtitle>The Later Operations of 617 Squadron</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781781590638/MC.GIF&amp;client=westp&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item></channel></rss>