Airlife, uk first edition, hard bound in dust jacket, 203 pp, illus, maps, lists of planes & crews for both raids. The bombing of germany ;s cities during the second world war became of crucial importance after the fall of france in 1940 because it was the only way that germany could be attacked directly until the allied forces were ready to launch operation overlord, the invasion of europe, four years later. The toughest of all the cities to attack and the most important psychologically was berlin.spasmodic attacks were made early in the war but in the winter of 1943/44 the city was subjected to a concentrated series of heavy attacks stretching over five months. The german night fighter force was by then at the peak of its strength and efficiency and bomber casualties were heavy. The sprawling city defied attempts by pathfinders to mark the target accurately while the massed heavy gun batteries and hundreds of searchlights produced a nightmare unequalled in the experience of veterans - and they were few indeed