Bombing Berlin
Bombing Berlin
In 1943, the RAF contacted the BBC with a dramatic offer - they were willing to send a two-man radio crew on a bombing raid over Berlin. The BBC chose Wynford Vaughan-Thomas for the mission. He accepted, knowing he might never return.
So on the night of 3rd September 1943, Vaughan-Thomas recorded for the BBC live from a Lancaster Bomber during a bombing raid over Berlin.
Wynford Vaughan-Thomas's experiences as a wartime reporter were remarkable; he was at Belsen and at the Normandy landings, reporting as it happened. The recording over Berlin shows his remarkable courage, literally under fire, and his description of the bombing and the views from the plane are rich indeed.
Vaughan-Thomas went on to become one of post-war Britain's most prominent media-intellectuals, a regular commentator and journalist, but those hours aboard the plane clearly remained a defining time in his life. Forty years later, interviewed by Parkinson, he called it "the most terrifying eight hours of my life. Berlin burning was like watching somebody throwing jewellery on black velvet - winking rubies, sparkling diamonds all coming up at you."
Stephen Evans puts Wynford Vaughan-Thomas's recordings in context. He looks at the experience on the ground in Berlin that night, reflects on the place of the broadcast in journalistic history, and dips into a lifetime of reflections from Vaughan-Thomas on a night which changed his life for ever.
BBC broadcast
So on the night of 3rd September 1943, Vaughan-Thomas recorded for the BBC live from a Lancaster Bomber during a bombing raid over Berlin.
Wynford Vaughan-Thomas's experiences as a wartime reporter were remarkable; he was at Belsen and at the Normandy landings, reporting as it happened. The recording over Berlin shows his remarkable courage, literally under fire, and his description of the bombing and the views from the plane are rich indeed.
Vaughan-Thomas went on to become one of post-war Britain's most prominent media-intellectuals, a regular commentator and journalist, but those hours aboard the plane clearly remained a defining time in his life. Forty years later, interviewed by Parkinson, he called it "the most terrifying eight hours of my life. Berlin burning was like watching somebody throwing jewellery on black velvet - winking rubies, sparkling diamonds all coming up at you."
Stephen Evans puts Wynford Vaughan-Thomas's recordings in context. He looks at the experience on the ground in Berlin that night, reflects on the place of the broadcast in journalistic history, and dips into a lifetime of reflections from Vaughan-Thomas on a night which changed his life for ever.
BBC broadcast
thanks for the link - very interesting
I think this was mentioned on here a few years ago. Although I am not sure about the ‘live’ part of it. Richard Dimbleby had already done a similar thing, recording his impressions ( that were broadcast the following day) on raid on Berlin in Jan 1943. His pilot being none other than Guy Gibson.
As a boy of 11 (1971), I was living in MQs in Bielefeld; my father was based at Catterick Barracks there. Our next door neighbour was a splendid caricature of an RAF pilot (handlebar moustache and all) who was also based there. He lent me a recording of this broadcast (can't recall if they were LPs or 78s) which I listened to time and time again.
Perhaps time to listen to it again...
Perhaps time to listen to it again...
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I just listened to the BBC item and many thanks for the link.
Two things struck me;
1. The incredible bravery of that crew and the sang froid of the crew. The only time they displayed any sort of excitement was when the tail gunner shot down the night fighter. Oh, and the request for a song from the engineer as they approached the UK coast!
2. Max Hastings can be an annoying get! First he states, quite boldly, that the British Army was doing nothing between 1940 and 1943. Really? Then he goes on to state that there was perhaps something unfair" about the de-housing policy as the British public had not been told about it. By coincidence, I watched a documentary on the Battle of Britain on TV this afternoon. In this, Churchill was shown making speeches during the blitz on London, Liverpool, Coventry etc and in those speeches he declared quite unequivocally that the Germans will receive an equal measure and then some more for their relentless attacks on UK infrastructure and the population. I wonder if he was among the anti Bomber Command idiots who claimed the big raid on Dresden was wrong and was aimed at helpless civilians. It wasn't. I took the trouble a few years ago to go along to Kew and saw the plans, target info and the pre-raid briefings and all the areas targeted contained military targets.
I think the recording mentioned that the pilot of F for Freddie had already flown something like 82 sorties. Does anyone know if he survived the war?
Two things struck me;
1. The incredible bravery of that crew and the sang froid of the crew. The only time they displayed any sort of excitement was when the tail gunner shot down the night fighter. Oh, and the request for a song from the engineer as they approached the UK coast!
2. Max Hastings can be an annoying get! First he states, quite boldly, that the British Army was doing nothing between 1940 and 1943. Really? Then he goes on to state that there was perhaps something unfair" about the de-housing policy as the British public had not been told about it. By coincidence, I watched a documentary on the Battle of Britain on TV this afternoon. In this, Churchill was shown making speeches during the blitz on London, Liverpool, Coventry etc and in those speeches he declared quite unequivocally that the Germans will receive an equal measure and then some more for their relentless attacks on UK infrastructure and the population. I wonder if he was among the anti Bomber Command idiots who claimed the big raid on Dresden was wrong and was aimed at helpless civilians. It wasn't. I took the trouble a few years ago to go along to Kew and saw the plans, target info and the pre-raid briefings and all the areas targeted contained military targets.
I think the recording mentioned that the pilot of F for Freddie had already flown something like 82 sorties. Does anyone know if he survived the war?
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The pilot was Fg Off Ken Letford who did survive the war and remained in the RAF afterwards. He had a further moment in the limelight when he was the captain of the Sunderland that landed alongside HMS Amethyst to rescue the injured during the 'Yangtze Incident'.
Of the other crew of F for Freddie on the trip to Berlin that night in 1943, only the mid-upper gunner failed to survive the war. On the 40th anniversary in 1983, I had the privilege of hosting them all at 207Sqn for their first meeting since the war, along with Wynford V-T and Reg Pidsley who was the BBC sound engineer on that flight. A wonderful bunch of gentlemen!
Of the other crew of F for Freddie on the trip to Berlin that night in 1943, only the mid-upper gunner failed to survive the war. On the 40th anniversary in 1983, I had the privilege of hosting them all at 207Sqn for their first meeting since the war, along with Wynford V-T and Reg Pidsley who was the BBC sound engineer on that flight. A wonderful bunch of gentlemen!
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This is a great broadcast. A snippet also on this link
http://www.49squadron.co.uk/personne...tail/Letford_K
If you ever get the chance to watch the "Night Bombers" it is equally impressive and in color. I first saw that 30 years ago on PBS.
http://www.49squadron.co.uk/personne...tail/Letford_K
If you ever get the chance to watch the "Night Bombers" it is equally impressive and in color. I first saw that 30 years ago on PBS.
Last edited by b1lanc; 22nd Jul 2018 at 14:35. Reason: added another link
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friendlypelican: Many thanks for the info. What an incredibly brave man Fg Off Letford was! I was going to ask why he remained a Fg Off for so long but now I have found a memoir describing his court martial as Sqn Leader. He apparently taxied a Valiant into a ladder and snapped off a pitot tube. He was exonerated.
BBC - WW2 People's War -
BBC - WW2 People's War -
Churchill and Dresden
An order addressed to Harris surfaced a couple of years ago ordering the bombing of Dresden and three other cities signed by Churchill and the allied commander which had been kept secret. Harris had refused to carry out the raids without one.
The bomber boys were well and truly shafted by politicians.. just like the army in northern Ireland.
The bomber boys were well and truly shafted by politicians.. just like the army in northern Ireland.
blind pew,
Oh please! Stop trying to paint Harris as the 'poor little oppressed victim!" The man was a total advocate of area bombing of ALL german cities and a known opposer of what he called 'panacea targets" that diverted his force away from what he saw was their primary task of destruction of the built up areas of German cities and towns. This included opposition to bombing of the oil industry, ball bearings, transport targets in the build up to D-Day and the Dams Raid, he even opposed the formation of the Pathfinders.
A month prior to the raid Harris was asked for his opinion on the idea of a raid to support Russian advance and hamper the German withdrawal and he replied with an idea for a combined simultaneous raid on Chemnitz, Leipzig and Dresden. He was a known advocate for heavy raids on German cities still relatively undamaged and Dresden fell right into that category.
Churchill certainly DID press for a Dresden raid and was most definitely a keen advocate for it, and then, hugely hypocritically, equally a severe critic when the actual impact of the raid on the city became clear, which does nothing for his reputation, but then again this was the man who said of Hamburg, .."drench them in poison gas." But it was not his idea, the idea came from the Joint Intelligence Committee and was reinforced by pleas from Stalin.
Anyone concerned about the raid needs to look at it in the context of the time, and the military situation, it was NOT a war crime, just an extremely effective area bombing raid on a largely undefended city. Those defending it as a "precision raid" need only look at the target maps, all the undamaged built up areas but not the industry in the city.
Oh please! Stop trying to paint Harris as the 'poor little oppressed victim!" The man was a total advocate of area bombing of ALL german cities and a known opposer of what he called 'panacea targets" that diverted his force away from what he saw was their primary task of destruction of the built up areas of German cities and towns. This included opposition to bombing of the oil industry, ball bearings, transport targets in the build up to D-Day and the Dams Raid, he even opposed the formation of the Pathfinders.
A month prior to the raid Harris was asked for his opinion on the idea of a raid to support Russian advance and hamper the German withdrawal and he replied with an idea for a combined simultaneous raid on Chemnitz, Leipzig and Dresden. He was a known advocate for heavy raids on German cities still relatively undamaged and Dresden fell right into that category.
Churchill certainly DID press for a Dresden raid and was most definitely a keen advocate for it, and then, hugely hypocritically, equally a severe critic when the actual impact of the raid on the city became clear, which does nothing for his reputation, but then again this was the man who said of Hamburg, .."drench them in poison gas." But it was not his idea, the idea came from the Joint Intelligence Committee and was reinforced by pleas from Stalin.
Anyone concerned about the raid needs to look at it in the context of the time, and the military situation, it was NOT a war crime, just an extremely effective area bombing raid on a largely undefended city. Those defending it as a "precision raid" need only look at the target maps, all the undamaged built up areas but not the industry in the city.
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Harris, like Montgomery, had been effective in the worst days of the war ans built up by the politicians and the press to God-like status
The politicians couldn't get rid of these popular icons later during the war when their weaknesses became clear but they could (and did) get revenge later (think of Dowding as well)
Similarly it took a long time for the USA to get rid of McArthur and the USSR Zhukov.................
The politicians couldn't get rid of these popular icons later during the war when their weaknesses became clear but they could (and did) get revenge later (think of Dowding as well)
Similarly it took a long time for the USA to get rid of McArthur and the USSR Zhukov.................
Harris was also constantly at loggerheads with the Chief of the Air Staff, the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, the Director of Bomber Operations and others in the RAF command chain over him. Any other commander who acted as he did would have been sacked for disobeying direct orders.
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Harris was also constantly at loggerheads with the Chief of the Air Staff, the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, the Director of Bomber Operations and others in the RAF command chain over him. Any other commander who acted as he did would have been sacked for disobeying direct orders.
I think the thing one has to remember, is that aside of night strategic bombing,what else could Bomber Command do? The doctrine that Bomber Command was following was one that was left over from WW1 and was then re affirmed in the 30s. Its idea of precision daylight bombing was over by December 39. The whole force was geared to a night offensive. Aside of calls from the navy and army looking to take aircraft for their own means, Battle of the Atlantic and Western Desert etc, the only thing it could do was bomb Germany. A whole industry employing tens of thousands of people was geared to bomber production, that could not easily be stopped without disrupting the war economy. Until Harris was appointed, BC was going no where.
blind pew,
Oh please! Stop trying to paint Harris as the 'poor little oppressed victim!" The man was a total advocate of area bombing of ALL german cities and a known opposer of what he called 'panacea targets" that diverted his force away from what he saw was their primary task of destruction of the built up areas of German cities and towns. This included opposition to bombing of the oil industry, ball bearings, transport targets in the build up to D-Day and the Dams Raid, he even opposed the formation of the Pathfinders.
A month prior to the raid Harris was asked for his opinion on the idea of a raid to support Russian advance and hamper the German withdrawal and he replied with an idea for a combined simultaneous raid on Chemnitz, Leipzig and Dresden. He was a known advocate for heavy raids on German cities still relatively undamaged and Dresden fell right into that category.
Churchill certainly DID press for a Dresden raid and was most definitely a keen advocate for it, and then, hugely hypocritically, equally a severe critic when the actual impact of the raid on the city became clear, which does nothing for his reputation, but then again this was the man who said of Hamburg, .."drench them in poison gas." But it was not his idea, the idea came from the Joint Intelligence Committee and was reinforced by pleas from Stalin.
Anyone concerned about the raid needs to look at it in the context of the time, and the military situation, it was NOT a war crime, just an extremely effective area bombing raid on a largely undefended city. Those defending it as a "precision raid" need only look at the target maps, all the undamaged built up areas but not the industry in the city.
Oh please! Stop trying to paint Harris as the 'poor little oppressed victim!" The man was a total advocate of area bombing of ALL german cities and a known opposer of what he called 'panacea targets" that diverted his force away from what he saw was their primary task of destruction of the built up areas of German cities and towns. This included opposition to bombing of the oil industry, ball bearings, transport targets in the build up to D-Day and the Dams Raid, he even opposed the formation of the Pathfinders.
A month prior to the raid Harris was asked for his opinion on the idea of a raid to support Russian advance and hamper the German withdrawal and he replied with an idea for a combined simultaneous raid on Chemnitz, Leipzig and Dresden. He was a known advocate for heavy raids on German cities still relatively undamaged and Dresden fell right into that category.
Churchill certainly DID press for a Dresden raid and was most definitely a keen advocate for it, and then, hugely hypocritically, equally a severe critic when the actual impact of the raid on the city became clear, which does nothing for his reputation, but then again this was the man who said of Hamburg, .."drench them in poison gas." But it was not his idea, the idea came from the Joint Intelligence Committee and was reinforced by pleas from Stalin.
Anyone concerned about the raid needs to look at it in the context of the time, and the military situation, it was NOT a war crime, just an extremely effective area bombing raid on a largely undefended city. Those defending it as a "precision raid" need only look at the target maps, all the undamaged built up areas but not the industry in the city.