First Blitz

[Dolphin]

First Blitz, ISBN 9780385611701, is an excellent account of the German aeroplane raids on England in the last two years of the War. The author well describes the suffering of the civilian population of London and the establishment of the defence organisations, as well as the problems faced by the crews of the German Gothas and Giants that were sent out against them. Much of the information is already available, and anyone wanting a more technical account of events should read Cole & Cheesman's The Air Defence of Great Britain 1914-1918, but Hanson (the author of The Confident Hope of a Miracle, a brillant book on the Spanish Armada) has done a great job in telling the reader of the effects of the bombing on the general populace.

The last chapters are most interesting, as they describe the German plan to raze London and Paris by use of massive numbers of incendiary bombs, a campaign cancelled at literally the last moment by Ludendorff himself.

However, there are several minor irritations in the book that should have been weeded out prior to publication:

Hauptmann Oswald Boelcke is called 'Max';

the SE 5a is described as being 'outmoded' in June 1917;

there's a statement that only 18 R-type aircraft were built during the War, when the production figures show that 46 R-planes were built prior to the Armistice, and 6 afterwards;

the RAF's 41st Wing is called No 41 Sqn;

the Handley Page V/1500 is called the Bloody Paralyser, a nickname that belongs to the O/100;

a photograph [reverse printed] of General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien is captioned as FM Sir John French; and

there's a a photograph of the Siemens-Schuckert R.VIII which correctly says that it was the biggest aeroplane of the War, but doesn't say that it didn't fly until after the Armistice - a photograph of a Zeppelin-Staaken R-type would have been much more appropriate.

Despite the above errors, which will hopefully be corrected in a later edition, the book is well worth reading.

Gareth

[RobL]

I have a large interest in the German aerial raids on Britain during WW1 - I currently have 'Battle of Britain 1917', will this contain more or less the same information as 'First Blitz' or is it worth me buying First Blitz?

[David B]

Gareth,

Well I never! As the book is a new issue from Doubleday I never dreamed that there would already be comments

on it in the forum. Shudda looked.

However, having said that I think the book will be a good read, have only done about 20 pages and the dum-dum comments

got me curious.

Thanks agn David

[JPAE]

Rob,

Just pop into Yeadon library and order it. The book is certainly in the Leeds network as I borrowed it last year. There is an earlier review on the forum, too.

Phil.

[Roxy]

I enjoyed the book.

I can confirm that the photo of French is indeed a reversed print of Smith-Dorrien; as to the other errors - I trust Dolphin

Roxy

[Steven Broomfield]

Paperback now out, £7.99