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Operation Millennium: Bomber Harris's Raid on Cologne, May 1942
Operation Millennium Bomber Harris's Raid on Cologne May 1942 Author:Eric Taylor A detached yet moving account of the first thousand bomber raid which ultimately reduced the population of Cologne by 95%, Operation Millennium was the terrible culmination of months of pressure from 'Bomber Harris' to get this new and deadly strategy accepted. Operation Millennium was an extraordinary feat of organisation involving 1,048 bom... more »bers, over 6,000 aircrew and 53 British airfields. To ensure the success of this first strike of the Allied blitz, maximum effort was the order and the Royal Air Force waged a merciless campaign against any airmen who showed faltering commitment, ruthlessly trying them by court martial as 'lacking moral fibre'. In this impressive and uncompromising picture of the war in the skies, the atmosphere of night bomber stations is vividly recalled - the comradeship, the courage lightly worn, the pity and the fear. The raid on Cologne is remembered by the crews of Bomber Command and the unfortunate citizens of Cologne who endured the catastrophic rain of steel. The author has interviewed Britons and Germans, aggressors and victims and their eye-witness accounts testify to the horror and heroism on both sides of this unprecedented raid.« less