A Bird Over Berlin

RAF World War II
ISBN 1-873203-74-8
New Edition
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by Tony Bird DFC
Experiences of a 61 Squadron Lancaster pilot who later became a POW at Stalag Luft III

As well as a remarkably apt name for a pilot, Tony Bird has a remarkable tale to tell, having survived a full year of operational sorties with RAF Bomber Command and two near-fatal incidents, one of which earned him a DFC.

In this riveting saga, Tony Bird DFC regales us with tales from his time as a Lancaster bomber pilot with No. 61 Squadron of RAF Bomber Command during the infamous Battle of Berlin in 1943/44. It was a period when the night skies were ablaze with bombers, and the casualty numbers could make even the bravest quiver.

Tony and his crew were right in the thick of it, launching assault after assault on the heavily defended German capital, all while dodging enemy night fighters and anti-aircraft fire that could make your hair stand on end. Many succumbed to the chaos, but Tony’s narrative is peppered with miraculous escapes, as he managed to give death a rather cheeky wave on two separate occasions.

The first of these close shaves occurred on September 22, 1943, over Berlin, when a bizarre set of circumstances led Tony to coax his battered aircraft back to base. This, despite losing most of his crew, including his navigator who took the express route out the hatch. For his gallantry, Tony was rightly awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC).

Fast forward nearly a year, and he was shot down again in almost the same spot. Incredibly, he survived the mid-air fireworks display caused by a night fighter armed with Shrage Musik upward-firing cannons. Alas, not all his crew were so lucky. Tony found himself parachuting right into the heart of Berlin, only to be captured and interrogated by the Gestapo, who rather inconveniently rescued him from a lynch-happy mob.

As a prisoner of war, Tony was packed off to Stalag Luft III—the camp immortalized by the film The Great Escape. Sadly for Tony, there were no Steve McQueen-style antics, just a tedious wait for liberation. This finally came—after a game of musical chairs with his locations and a winter that could chill your very soul—courtesy of the US 3rd Army, led by the indomitable General George Patton.

This extraordinary tale of grit and survival against the odds will enthrall military historians, researchers, aviation buffs, and anyone with a penchant for the RAF's daring escapades during World War II.

details softback | 140 x 205mm | 150 pages | b/w photos