To Shatter the Sky, subtitled Bomber Airfield at War, is a book

Book

A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...

 and also BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 Television programme of the same name by the military historian, author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 and screenwriter

Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

 Bruce Barrymore Halpenny

Bruce Barrymore Halpenny

Bruce Barrymore Halpenny is a widely respected English military historian and author, specialising in airfields and aircraft, as well as ghost stories and mysteries. He is also a broadcaster and games inventor.-Parents:...

.

The book was already being worked on when the author was approached by the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 to produce a related theme for a history programme, hence the programme and book sharing the same name. The programme was aired on BBC 1 in late 1983 and the book launched in early 1984.

The Book

The book (ISBN 978-0850596786) tells of the day to day activities on bomber stations between 1939 and 1945, where the author had researched his material meticulously. It draws extensively on reminiscences from surviving crew members who served such as at Waddington

RAF Waddington

RAF Waddington is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England.-Formation:Waddington opened as a Royal Flying Corps flying training station in 1916 until 1920, when the station went into care and maintenance....

, Scampton

RAF Scampton

Royal Air Force Station Scampton is a Royal Air Force station situated north of Lincoln in England, near the village of Scampton, on the site of an old First World War landing field.-First World War:...

, Skellingthorpe

RAF Skellingthorpe

The former Royal Air Force Station Skellingthorpe, more commonly known as RAF Skellingthorpe was a station of the Royal Air Force during World War II. It was located in the city of Lincoln, England...

, Binbrook

RAF Binbrook

RAF Binbrook was a Bomber Command station during World War II. After the war it was amongst others the home of the Central Fighter Establishment...

, Fiskerton

RAF Fiskerton

RAF Fiskerton was located in the Lincolnshire village of Fiskerton, 5 miles east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire. It was one of many new bomber airfields built in the early part of World War II. The airfield was situated north of the village...

, Bardney

RAF Bardney

RAF Bardney was a RAF station situated near Bardney, in Lincolnshire, England. It was built as a satellite to RAF Waddington in 1943.-Time line:* Opened on 13 April 1943 as home to No. 9 Squadron...

, Woodhall Spa

RAF Woodhall Spa

-History:Constructed on farmland 1 km south of Woodhall Spa, the station opened in February 1942 as a satellite station to RAF Coningsby. In August 1943 it became No 54 Base Substation. After victory in Europe the airfield was used as an assembly and kitting out point for Tiger Force...

, and many other bomber stations.

The book also recalls the stories of those that didn't make it or were shot down over enemy territory. A routine flight from Skellingthorpe

RAF Skellingthorpe

The former Royal Air Force Station Skellingthorpe, more commonly known as RAF Skellingthorpe was a station of the Royal Air Force during World War II. It was located in the city of Lincoln, England...

 that turned into a nightmare, and memories of raids on Nuremberg

Nuremberg

Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

, Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...

 and Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

, where airmen watched their comrades shot out of the sky by a barrage of deadly enemy flak

Anti-aircraft warfare

NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...

, all go to paint a picture of what being an airman

Airman

An airman is a member of the air component of a nation's armed service. In the United States Air Force and the Royal Air Force , it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank...

 based in wartime England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, was really like.

The Programme

The book was also the basis for a BBC television programme of the same title, which plots the history and present conditions of seven RAF and USAF airfields in the East Midlands. Bruce Barrymore Halpenny scripted the programme and merged wartime film footage with up-to-date shots. Film cameraman was Dick Kursa, Film Editor was John Rosser and Producer Mike Derby.

First shown on BBC1 at 10.15pm on the 11th February 1983, the TV listing was:
"To Shatter the Sky, A History of Seven Airfields of the East Midlands. Military historian and author Bruce Halpenny has written a history of seven Royal Air Force and USAF bases in the east midlands. From the deserted airfield in the forest to the modern jet terminal, he traces the part they played in the air war over Europe and their use today."