Why Bother? |
THE Second World War was arguably the defining event of the 20th Century. The United Kingdom, together with the Commonwealth and other Free Forces, for a period stood alone in the defence of liberty and tolerance.
Initially after the Nazi Forces had overwhelmed mainland Europe, the chivalrous act of "The Few" in the Battle of Britain, had thwarted the Luftwaffe and staved off the threat of imminent invasion. The subsequent "Blitz" on the UK still caused massive destruction and civilian casualties, whilst the Battle of the Atlantic and German U-boats were slowly starving island Britain into submission. So how could the war actually be won?
At the time almost the only method to strike back and carry the conflict to the Nazi war machine was to use long-range aerial bombardment. RAF Bomber Command, with its aircrews drawn from across the Commonwealth and Europe, was tasked with an all-out offensive to bring to a final end the Nazi aggression.
From very crude beginnings methods and technologies were evolved to improve the accuracy and survivability of operations. The impact of these developments in science and engineering are still with us even today. These included complex navigation and communication advances, out of which came such things as the post-war boom in air travel, radio astronomy, and even the humble domestic microwave oven....
