The deeds and sacrifice of RAF Bomber Command's squadrons and aircrews in the Second World War are well-recorded. However, whilst there has been much focus on high profile units such as 617 Squadron (the 'Dambusters'), other units played a part in the war of attrition that was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. The heroism of their crews was every bit as prevalent as the exploits in more celebrated squadrons and tales abound of unbelievable courage, ingenuity and sheer guts. 514 Squadron was one such unit. Its service life was only eighteen months but its contribution, and the sacrifice of its crews, was considerable. Over the course of 220 operations 514 Squadron's Lancasters dropped nearly fifteen thousand tons of bombs at a cost of 88 aircraft. 437 members of the squadron gave their lives in the cause of our freedom with many others suffering serious injuries. Once shot down, those who survived tried to walk, or in some cases swim, home. One 'played dead', lying in a makeshift grave for 36 hours then, having been rescued by his Resistance helpers, shot an SS officer who chanced upon him. Others joined the Resistance or otherwise made life as difficult as possible for the Nazis. Some were sent to Buchenwald concentration camp whilst at least one was murdered by his captor. One pilot, burned alive as he struggled to keep his Lancaster steady so his crew could escape, was turned down for a VC as he had dropped his bombs seconds before, rather than after, the aircraft was hit. Nothing Can Stop Us is the companion volume to Striking Through Clouds, the War Diary of 514 Squadron. It combines the official operational record with personal stories of many who served with the unit, collated by Harry Dison who served in the squadron as a Flight Engineer. It is illustrated with over 150 contemporary photographs, most of which have never previously been published. With the benefit of painstaking research, along with contributions from veterans and their families, it is the definitive history of 514 Squadron, its people and aircraft.

Nothing Can Stop Us: The Definitive History of 514 Squadron RAF

History

Hepworth, Simon

Porrelli, Andrew

Dison, Harry

Military

Mention the War Ltd.

<p>Formed on 1st September 1943 as part of the expansion of Bomber Command’s No. 3 Group, 514 Squadron specialised in blind bombing techniques in the drawn out and bloody campaign against Nazi Germany. For the vast majority of its war, 514 Squadron was stationed at RAF Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, operating Lancaster bombers. Aircrew members were drawn not just from Britain but also Canada, Australia and New Zealand amongst others. Over four hundred members of the squadron were to lose their lives in the two years of the squadron’s existence, which saw the loss on operations of 66 aircraft, with another 14 being written off in accidents. Thrown into the Battle of Berlin in the winter of 1943/4, 514 Squadron also played a pivotal role in supporting the Allied bridgehead in Normandy after D-Day, before reverting to attacks on German infrastructure, including transport facilities and oil production plants. Drawing on the squadron’s Operational Record Book, previously only available as microfiche or poor quality print, Simon Hepworth and Andrew Porrelli have produced the first comprehensive record of 514 Squadron’s war.</p>

Striking Through Clouds: The War Diaries of No. 514 Squadron, RAF

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

<p>514 Squadron served in the RAF’s No. 3 Group, Bomber Command, between September 1943 and August 1945. After a short period of operations from RAF Foulsham, the squadron transferred to its permanent home at RAF Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, in December 1943, some aircraft travelling from the old base to the new via a raid on Berlin.It was, of course, the people of the squadron who were its heart and soul. Supported by hard-working ground crew, the focus inevitably was on the airmen who climbed into their Lancaster bombers, risking and often losing their lives in the ceaseless battle to beat the most evil regime Western Europe has ever known.224 separate crews have been identified from the squadron’s Operational Record Book. This long-awaited book lists each crew, in the name of its pilot, with every available photograph of its members. These have painstakingly been collected, collated and researched by Roger Guernon whose work in maintaining the historical archive of the unit has been invaluable.For each crew, every known operational sortie has been listed, based on the summary of each ‘op’, provided when the returning crew was debriefed. All too often, however, the final record was simply ‘Aircraft Missing’.The records have been collated by Simon Hepworth and Andrew Porrelli, the information forming the basis for the two companion volumes in the 514 Squadron trilogy, ‘Striking Through Clouds’ and ‘Nothing Can Stop Us’. This massive piece of work was painstakingly edited by Stephen Kingham. The end result is the operational record of every crew, telling in official terms the account of every aircrew member’s war.The war cost 514 Squadron 88 Lancasters shot down, crashing or damaged beyond repair on operations and a further three on training flights. The real cost, though, was its people, 437 of whom gave their lives serving with 514 Squadron. The boys from the ‘Beach, as the airfield has always been known, will never be forgotten.</p>

The Beach Boys: The Men Who Flew With 514 Squadron RAF

Guernon, Roger

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