Crecy published (2006) softcover (288 pages) book titled ‘Enemy Coast Ahead - Uncensored’ by Guy Gibson.
First published in 1944, Enemy Coast Ahead combines Gibson’s RAF career, including the famous Dambuster raid which he himself led, with the inside story of life in Bomber Command and is still a riveting read for the immediacy and vibrancy of its writing.
And yet, what has not been widely known is that the published edition of Enemy Coast Ahead was carefully cut by wartime censors to conceal not only specific details of his career and secret aspects of Bomber Command operations, but more explicitly his views of the conduct of the bombing campaign, his opinion of senior officers and his thoughts on the behaviour of the general population in wartime conditions. Much has been written and said about Gibson and his controversial character, and much about the true Gibson has remained shrouded in mystery and rumour.
The publishers, Crécy Publishing, have now published Gibson’s original manuscript which was archived for almost 60 years. This uncut edition provides not only previously unpublished details of Gibson’s career, but also reveals his true view of the course of the war, of the wartime population, of his pilots and crews and of Bomber Command tactics. Combined with newly added photographs and diagrams Enemy Coast Ahead – Uncensored remains one of the outstanding accounts of WWII seen through the eyes of one of its most respected and controversial personalities, but now allows the reader to know Gibson’s own story in his own words