Following our 70th anniversary Battle of Britain tour in 2010 we now turn our attention to the 'Bomber Boys'. Not for them the glamour and fame of the fighter pilots, but a steady and sustained courage - missions over hostile territory against fighters, flak and weather. During training, a crew bonded into a tight unit, almost like a family, with the hope of staying together and surviving the tour of 30 missions. Skill and experience were needed, but luck played its hand; sometimes the best crew was lost early or the worst crew survived.

Bomber Command's effectiveness improved in 1942 with the arrival of Air Chief Marshal Arthur Harris and the four-engined Lancaster and Halifax. Airfields came to life at dusk as the final crew briefings were delivered and the 'target for tonight' revealed. But the toll was a heavy one: 56,000 men of Bomber Command would perish in the Bomber offensive. Then the Americans arrived – The 'Mighty Eighth' with its B17s and B24s, well-cut uniforms, money, silk stockings, chewing gum, and the jive! The Americans chose to bomb in daylight, and losses were initially high. It took experience, tactics and arrival of the P51 Mustang for life expectancy to improve – but odds were always formidable.

During this tour, accompanied by John Grimwood, we are based in Cambridge, remembering the young men of Bomber Command and the 8th Air Force, both the air crews and the ground staff that sustained the force and kept the aeroplanes flying. We tour the airfields that still evoke an extraordinary sense of time and place, and we attend the Memorial Day commemorations at the American Cemetery at Madingley, near Cambridge. We celebrate the spirit of the 'Bomber Boys'.

ITINERARY
Day 1 (Friday): Depart Victoria Coach Station London 09:00. St. Clement Danes Royal Air Force Church, The RAF Museum at Hendon, Bomber Hall, the archives and lunch break. Drive north to Bassingbourn Tower Museum Hotel at Barr Hill, near Cambridge. (3 nights)
Day 2: The 95th BG at Horham. The Red Feather Officers' Club. The base hospital and dispersal site. Lunch break in Diss. Thorpe Abbotts and the 'Bloody Hundredth'. Quiet visit to Madingley Cemetery. Optional dusk visit to an RAF bomber airfield. Group dinner.
Day 3: Harrington memorials, Secret War Museum, The Carpetbaggers and Northants Aviation Museum. Lunch break. Twinwood Airfield, Control Tower (Glenn Miller) and Museums. Free time and the 'Airman's Pub' in Cambridge. Commemorative Dinner.
Day 4: A lecture, followed by Memorial Day Commemorations at the American Cemetery at Madingley. Lunch break. The Imperial War Museum and Airfield at Duxford, to include RAF Hangars, the American Air Museum, Land Warfare Hall, and Battle of Britain Operations Room. Arrive London Victoria 19:00 (approx).