Monday 10 June 2013

The Nuremberg raid - 30-31 March 1944

Completely random digression, prompted by my lunchtime reading.

Apparently (via a link on Facebook from someone involved in the production) there's a new documentary coming out:
...Timeline Productions, of New York, USA, are at present well advanced with the pre-production stages of a 90-minute documentary which will at last dispel the many myths surrounding this night...
The Nuremberg raid was the worst single night of losses for the RAF in WW2 - 96 aircraft shot down - and it would appear that with the desclassifying of the WW2 Ultra crypto efforts, there were theories afoot that, in the same way as is claimed for the German raid on Coventry, it went ahead despite being compromised, so as not to reveal what Bletchley Park knew.

Judging by the 'source' material they appear to be drawing from, and the fact that the person promoting it seems to want to challenge the research in Martin Middlebrook's excellent and impartial book on the subject, and run with the Ultra angle, I'm a little wary of this one. There's a bit of the 'my theory is right, the burden of proof is on you' attitude, as well.

However? See what you think.

This document contains a 'first person' account of the raid, which (and I quote):
...[seems to have] originated in Australia, it was in fact given to me by a British airman, then serving with RAF Germany, and its route from Down Under to Deutschland remains a mystery to this day. 
Hrm. Mysterious. Having read it, and being something of a writer myself, it feels wrong. The crew it's attributed to did exist, and did fly on that mission (aircraft DV407), though. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but even if the writer is Australian, the writing feels... contrived. Too much verbatim dialogue, too much slang.

Thoughts? I'm quite surprised at my own reaction, which is... actually... annoyance.


2 comments:

  1. First impression: enough red flags for a May 1st parade in Pyongyang.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Another spoof like the Hitler's Diaries from some decades ago?

    ReplyDelete

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