The Sylt Raid 1940: Eyewitness World War II series

By Leonard James

An ebook containing eyewitness accounts of the RAF’s first big night raid on Germany. Complete with explanatory text and background on the men and machines involved.
By March 1940 World War II was six months old and yet the RAF had still not launched a major night raid on Germany. They had been held back by the French who insisted that only military bases could be bombed - not weapons factories or transport links - and by their own navigational problems that made finding small bases at night a problem.
But in March 1940 Geman bombs killed a British civilian in Scotland and the RAF was ordered to carry out a major raid in retaliation. The target chosen was the great German air base at Sylt. It would prove to be a crucial raid, teaching the RAF how little they in fact knew about night navigation and night bombing. The lessons of Sylt had to be learnt, and learnt fast.
The “Eyewitness World War II” series is a growing collection of ebooks that contain original eyewitness accounts and contemporary newspaper reports of the action in question. You can find more ebooks in this series by searching for “Eyewitness World War II” or by visiting the military page of our website.

Contents
Chapter 1 Background
Chapter 2 Men and Machines
Chapter 3 Contemporary Press Reports
Chapter 4 Eyewitness Reports

About the Author

Leonard James has written dozens of books, mostly on history or military subjects for a wide audience. He is uniquely placed to analyse and comment upon the accounts used in the “Eyewitness World War II” series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bretwalda Books
• Release date: Apr 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9781909698208

Leonard James

About the AuthorLeonard James is the son of an RAF veteran who fought in the Battle of Britain until wounded. Leonard grew up in a household dominated the RAF, and later married the daughter of an RAF squadron leader.

Book preview

Eyewitness Second World War

The Sylt Raid 1940

by Leonard James

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Published by Bretwalda Books at Smashwords

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This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

First Published 2013

Copyright © Bretwalda Books 2013

Leonard James asserts his moral rights to be regarded as the author of this work.

ISBN 978-1-909698-20-8

Contents

Chapter 1 Background

Chapter 2 Men and Machines

Chapter 3 Contemporary Press Reports

Chapter 4 Eyewitness Reports

Chapter 1

Background

The Sylt Raid of 19 March 1940 was announced in the House of Commons, featured in the newspapers and was very much a talking point. All this despite the fact that the damage inflicted on the target was rather less than impressive.

The raid hit the headlines at the time for various reasons. Not the least of these