The last in Kevin Wilson’s history trilogy detailing Bomber operations in WWII. Kevin Wilson’s even handed approach tells the story from both sides using personal accounts from air crew and civilians. This is not a judgemental history, whatever the rights and wrongs of the German bombardments, the men involved faced constant danger, their bravery still not fully recognised - and it is their story, above all, that is being told here in such absorbing detail.
Journey's End : Bomber Command's Battle from Arnhem to Dresden and Beyond Synopsis
In February 1945, British and American bombers rained down thousands of tons of incendiaries on the city of Dresden, creating one of the greatest firestorms in history. Their bombs killed an estimated 25,000 people, and wiped one of the most beautiful cities in Europe from the map. The controversy that erupted shortly afterwards, and which continues to this day, has long overshadowed the other events of the bomber war, and blighted the memory of the young men who gave their lives to fight in the skies over Germany. This book neither condemns the bombing of Dresden, nor excuses it, but simply puts it in its proper context as a devastating set of raids in a much larger campaign. To the crews who flew over Germany night after night there were other much more pressing worries: the V2 rockets that threatened their loved ones at home, the brand new German jet fighters that could strike them at speeds of over 600mph, the deadly flak over the cities of the Ruhr Valley. The bomber war had entered its final unforgiving months, and no quarter was given on either side. Kevin Wilson has interviewed over a hundred people for this book, some of whom flew on the Dresden raids, and many more who experienced other aspects of bombing, both in the air and on the ground. JOURNEY'S END chronicles the brutal endgame of a conflict that caused devastation and tragedy on both sides.
Kevin Wilson has spent most of his working life as a staff journalist on British national newspapers, including the DAILY MAIL and latterly the DAILY and SUNDAY EXPRESS. He is married with three grown-up sons and a daughter.
