RAF BOMBER COMMAND AT WAR 1939-45 (Vol 1)
Audio CDs on CD41 label

Largely unheard for more than sixty years, the astonishing actuality recordings on Vol. 1 were made by plucky BBC engineers, who bravely joined the crews of Lancaster heavy bombers for night raids on German targets during the Second World War. The recordings were made on portable 'midget' disc cutting machines plugged directly into the aircraft intercom system, and capture the drama as it unfolds of anti-aircraft fire, night fighter attack, evasive action, "bombs away" and the ever-present danger of mid-air collision. To read liner notes and recording information click here. To purchase CD click here


RAF BOMBER COMMAND AT WAR 1939-45 (VOL 1) CD41-013 £10
CD41 are proud to announce a 76 minute audio CD collection of rare archive recordings from the Second World War, featuring broadcast and actuality recordings made during RAF Bomber Command raids on Essen, Stettin, Kleve and Berlin in 1943, together with crew debriefs and war correspondent reports. The war correspondents featured include such celebrated names as Wynford Vaughan Thomas, Edward R. Murrow and Richard Dimbleby. The CD also features recordings made by aircrew after returning safely to base, including an air gunner's account of the devastating raid on Dresden in February 1945, and a remarkable report on the daring raid on the Dortmund-Ems Canal in August 1940, for which the speaker (Flt Lt Roderick Learoyd) was awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest gallantry award. The booklet features detailed recording and historical notes by James Hayward as well as rare photographs. All audio content has been carefully digitally restored for CD release. The CD is an absolute must for all historians and researchers, as well as collectors of archive sound and broadcast recordings. To read CD liner notes click here. Full tracklist: Target for Tonight March (1.11), address by Air Marshall Sir Arthur Harris 1943 (1.36), Dortmund-Ems Canal raid 8/1940 (3.59), Essen raid 4/1943 (3.36), Stettin raid 4/1943 (3.41), at a Lancaster bomber station 1944 (5.59), Berlin raid 9/1943 (30.45), Berlin raid 12/1943 (17.25), Kleve raid 2/1945 (5.30), Dresden raid 2/1945 (2.41). ISBN 978 09554335 04

Reviews: "This is a captivating insight into Bomber Command operations - you can't get a more direct link than by hearing it from those who were there, as it happened. Perhaps the most absorbing tracks are the recordings made during operations over Essen, Stettin, Berlin and Cleeve via the intercom system. On the Essen raid you hear the crew going about their duties in a very calm, matter-of-fact way, despite the fact that one is able to read his watch by the searchlights, and that flak is blasting all around them - and hits the aircraft on one occasion"(Flypast, 10/06); "Chilling and evocative, valuable history and a genuine human testament" (Pilot Magazine, 03/07); "Raiding with the Lancasters! Excellent - highly recommended" (Best of British, 9/06)


FOR VALOUR: VICTORIA CROSS WINNERS 1914-1945 CD41-022 £10
This unique archive audiobook CD features first-hand accounts by and of thirteen recipients of the VC between 1915 and 1945, include four from Bomber Command: Learoyd, Middleton, Ward and Thompson. The booklet features archive images and detailed historical notes. To read notes click here. Full tracklist: Sergeant Edward Dwyer (1915), Flight Lieutenant Roderick Learoyd (1940), Flight Lieutenant J.B. Nicolson (1940), Lieutenant Charles Upham (1941/1942), Sergeant Pilot James Ward (1941), Commander Robert Ryder (1942), Sergeant Quentin Smythe (1942), Flight Sergeant R.H. Middleton (1942), Lieutenants B.C.G. Place and D. Cameron (1943), Naik Nand Singh (1944), Fusilier F.A. Jefferson (1944), Major John Mahony (1944), Sergeant-Major Stanley Hollis (1944), Lieutenant G.R. Norton (1944), Flight Sergeant George Thompson (1945).

Reviews: "Fifteen original recordings, including five from the RAF. It's fascinating to hear these tales from those who earned the decoration, or listen to the posthumous tributes from those who were there. Well worth the price of admission" (Flypast, 10/2007); "Forgotten voices that offer a fascinating insight into heroism in wartime" (Jive Magazine, 10/2007)

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