Bomber Command (70 page)

1
Goebbels Diaries
(Secker and Warburg 1978), p. 86 (9 March 1945).

2
See David Irving,
Rise and Fall of the Luftwaffe
(Weidenfeld 1973), p. 82.

3
See Appendix F for comparative figures.

4
Milward,
The German Economy at War
(London University 1965), p. 10. Milward is invaluable for any study of German industry at this period.

5
Speer,
Inside the Third Reich
(Weidenfeld 1970), p. 214.

6
Ibid., p. 284.

7
Frankland,
The Bombing Offensive against Germany
(Faber 1965), p. 76.

8
See Speer Interrogations 24.

9
Irving, op. cit., p. 230.

10
Speer, op. cit., p. 209.

11
Irving, op. cit.,

12
Speer Interrogations, op. cit.

13
Irving, op. cit., p. 230.

14
Goebbels Diaries
, pp. 138–9.

15
Ibid., p. 208.

16
Dated 7 July 1942.

17
Speer memoirs, op. cit., p. 278.

18
Webster and Frankland, op. cit., vol. II, p. 95.

19
In his book
Most Secret War
(Hamish Hamilton 1978).

20
Galland,
The First and the Last
(Methuen 1955), p. 188.

21
Ibid., p. 198.

22
Irving, op. cit., p. 153.

23
Ibid., p. 153.

24
Speer,
Spandau: The Secret Diaries
(Collins 1976).

25
Total includes aircraft missing and crashed in England.

10. Bomber Command Headquarters, Buckinghamshire, 1943–44

1
Former High Wycombe staff officer in conversation with the author, June 1978.

2
For instance, see Taylor, op. cit., p. 130.

3
Harris himself denies this story, but it was offered to the author by one of his personal staff who claimed to have been present.

4
Harris conversation with the author, 14 October 1976.

5
Sir Archibald Forbes to the author, November 1978.

6
Speer,
Spandau Diaries
, op. cit., p. 29.

7
To the author, May 1978.

8
Ibid.

9
Lord Elworthy conversation with the author, March 1977.

10
Collins,
Faith under Fire
, p. 69.

11
Ibid., p. 89.

12
From the original text in possession of the author.

13
Ibid.

14
From the internally circulated 1945 ‘Review of the Work of Int I’, loaned to the author by a former High Wycombe staff officer.

15
See Chapter 9.

16
‘Review of the Work of Int I’, op. cit.

17
Harris conversation with the author, 25 April 1978.

18
Ibid.

19
Ibid.

11. Conflict and Compromise, 1943–44

1
Musgrove,
Pathfinder Force
(Macdonald & Janes 1976), pp. 85 and 87.

2
From ‘Review of the Work of Int I’, op. cit.

3
Goebbels Diaries
, op. cit., p. 438.

4
Cochrane conversation with the author, November 1976.

5
To the author, April 1978.

6
To the author, July 1978.

7
Webster and Frankland, op. cit., vol. II, p. 193.

8
To the author, November 1976.

9
Craven and Cate, op. cit., vol. III, p. 11.

10
Ibid., vol. III, pp. 51, 63 and 730.

11
Ibid., vol. III, p. 715.

12
Harris conversation with the author, October 1976.

13
Zuckerman, op. cit., p. 276.

14
Harris, op. cit., p. 192.

15
Bufton conversation with the author, July 1978.

16
See Zuckerman, op. cit., p. 352.

12. Pathfinders: 97 Squadron, Lincolnshire, 1944

1
Loaned to the author by Group-Captain C. B. Owen.

2
Cochrane conversation with the author, November 1976.

3
8 Group post-war Station MO’s report in PRO.

4
Harris,
Bomber Offensive
.

5
Tait, CO of 83 Squadron and subsequently of 617 Squadron, was among the most distinguished and decorated Bomber Command pilots of the war.

6
Craven and Cate, op. cit., vol. III, p. 666.

13. ‘A Quiet Trip All Round’: Darmstadt, 11/12 September 1944

1
In his book
The Destruction of Dresden
, David Irving suggests that Darmstadt was bombed at the prompting of a Jewish former resident of the town, who in 1944 lived in the same Surbiton apartment block as an officer of the RAF’s target selection staff. There is no reason to doubt that the refugee spoke to the staff officer, but it seems open to question whether their conversation directly provoked the attack of 11 September. The RAF had been well aware of Darmstadt’s chemical plants since 1940. I am more inclined to believe that the raid was inspired by tactical considerations such as those discussed in the text.

2
Klaus Schmidt,
Die Brandnacht
, Darmstadt 1965. For this and all other quotations from the stories of the people of Darmstadt in this chapter, I am indebted to the above collection of first-hand accounts, especially valuable because so many of those who contributed have since died.

14. Saturation

1
Craven and Cate, op. cit., vol. III, p. 320.

2
Webster and Frankland, op. cit., vol. III. p. 82.

3
Milward, op. cit., p. 170.

4
Galland, op. cit., p. 279.

5
Speer,
Inside the Third Reich
, p. 286.

6
Harris conversation with the author, 14 October 1976.

7
Portal to the Air Ministry, 30 September 1959, commenting on draft of Webster and Frankland. Quoted Richards,
Portal
, op. cit., p. 330.

8
Verrier, op. cit., p. 283.

9
See Chapter 11 above, Inglis to Portal.

10
Milward, op. cit., p. 188.

11
Goebbels Diaries
, ed. Trevor-Roper (Secker & Warburg), p. 24.

12
Goebbels
, op. cit., p. 96.

13
Milward, op. cit., p. 188.

14
Eaker to Spaatz, 1 January 1945, quoted Craven and Cate, op. cit., vol. III, p. 733.

15
Craven and Cate, op. cit., vol. III, p. 638.

16
For instance, Harris to Churchill, 30 August 1944: ‘I would much have liked to give you my views personally in response to your invitation to dine, but I have the sort of cold which I would not bring within ten miles of you and yours. . . .’

17
Quoted in ‘A Review of the Work of Int I,’ op. cit.

18
Craven and Cate, op. cit., p. 727.

19
Musgrove, op. cit., p. 181.

15. The Balance Sheet

1
Transcribed from the original in possession of S/Ldr Ronald Barton.

2
Churchill, op. cit., vol. VI, p. 434.

3
Nuremberg hearings, 13 March 1946.

4
Ibid., 15 March 1946.

5
Quoted as Appendix 5 of Zuckerman, op. cit.

6
Craven and Cate, op. cit., vol. III, p. 716.

7
Zuckerman, op. cit., p. 353.

8
Milward, op. cit., p. 163.

9
Frankland,
The Strategic Air Offensive against Germany
, p. 106.

Glossary

1. Royal Air Force commissioned ranks with their army equivalents

A British bomber squadron in the Second World War was commanded by a wing-commander with squadron-leaders as flight commanders. Fighter squadrons were commanded by squadron-leaders.

2. Abbreviations, codenames and technical terms

ABC
AirBorne Cigar – aircraft-mounted transmitter which jammed German fighter frequencies
AI
Airborne Interception radar equipment fitted to fighters