The actions described here begin with the fruitless Battle of France in May 1940 and go through to the final stages of the bomber defensive over Germany in February 1945.  Several awards came about through volunteering, while other brave men were simply caught up in the melee of unpredictable events which hang over any operation in a bomber from the moment it lifts off the runway to the point it returns.

This book details some 20 raids from the Carnage over the Albert Canal in May 1940 where Donald Garland and Thomas Gray were among the crews who bombed the Vroenhoven and Veldwezelt bridges, to the raid on Dortmund-Ems Canal near Ladbergen when George Thompson rescued both mid upper and rear gunners from the burning fuselage of their 9 Squadron Lancaster when their Lancaster was hit by a Flak shell.

Martyn Chorlton is an experienced writer on aviation history.  His most recent book was the much acclaimed The RAF Pathfinders.