The Role of the Bomber

by Ronald William Clark, Anne Horton (Contibutor-Picture Research)

XOS-629.3C Role of the Bomber from Bolloning to Wright Brothers through WWII, Korea and Vietnam conflicts.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Ronald William Clark was a British author of biography, fiction and non-fiction. He was educated King's College School. In 1933, he embarked on a career as a journalist, and served as a war correspondent during the Second World War after being turned down for military service on medical grounds. As a war correspondent, Clark landed on Juno Beach with the Canadians on D-Day. He followed the war until the end, and remained in Germany to report on the major War Crimes trials. After his return to Britain he embarked upon a career as an author.

Reviews

[Michael Burnam-Fink · Rating 2 out of 5]

mid-70s British popular history book about the bomber. As might be expected, it focuses almost entirely on Bomber Command and the Nazis in WW2, with some decent background on the development of specialized bombers during WW1. Clark argues that the strategic bomber as a unitary war-winning force never really had an honest chance to prove itself, with both the Luftwaffe and the Allies diverted away from the "strategic" objective of leveling enemy cities to tactical missions like smashing rail-lines in France prior to Operation Overlord. Even so, low accuracy and high attrition rates meant that the pre-nuclear strategic bomber doctrine of Douhet and Mitchell might not have been workable, given the psychological resilience of civilians. Carriers in the Pacific get a mention, along with the weakness of airpower in Korea and Vietnam, but this book misses important and interesting stuff about tactical and nuclear bomber missions. Lots of photos, the best of which are borrowed from Nazi propaganda, and lots more blurry messes.

I'd have really enjoyed this book when I was 12, but it hasn't aged well.

[Cws]

XOS-629.3C