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Thanks to the 1955 film The Dam Busters that thrilled cinema audiences all over Britain, the wartime exploit of an elite RAF bomber squadron assumed legendary status almost overnight. It is doubtful whether any other RAF squadron – or indeed any flying unit in any other air force, either then or now – could have achieved such fame for a single operation.

The squadron in question is, of course, No. 617, and the operation was the attack on 16–17 May 1943 by 19 Avro Lancaster bombers on the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams in western Germany, using Barnes Wallis’s revolutionary bouncing bomb.

In the eyes of the wartime British press, 617 Squadron and Operation ‘Chastise’ (as the attack on the Ruhr dams was codenamed) had all the ingredients of a classic war story – a miracle weapon, an eccentric inventor, a secret squadron formed from the very best crews the RAF could muster, and the seemingly impossible task of destroying a clutch of hitherto unassailable targets.

Success in the task would almost certainly alter the course of the war; but in the end the result was a pyrrhic victory. Two of the three main targets were destroyed, a Victoria Cross (VC) was awarded to Wing Commander Guy Gibson, the squadron's gallant leader, but aircrew losses were unsustainable with nearly half of 617's crews killed in action.

In the The Dam Busters Jonathan Falconer tells the story of Operation 'Chastise' - from the inspired development of the bouncing bomb and the specialist planning of the raid, to the intensive training of 617 Squadron's aircrew and the daring attack itself. He reviews the aftermath of the operation, describing its devastating effect on Germany and how the men of 617 Squadron became the most decorated aircrew in the RAF. The story concludes with a look behind the scenes at the making of Michael Anderson's classic film, The Dam Busters.

Supported by more than 150 photographs and illustrations, many in colour, The Dam Busters brings vividly to life one of the greatest feats of arms of the 20th century.

"An impressive book"  Aeroplane Monthly
"Thoroughly enjoyable"  Contemporary Review
"An unusually refreshing approach"  Aviation News

Om författaren: Jonathan Falconer has written widely on RAF Bomber Command in the Second World War. His published work on the subject includes Stirling at War, RAF Bomber Airfields of World War Two, Stirling Wings, Bomber Command in Fact, Film and Fiction, The Bomber Command Handbook 1939-1945, Filming The Dam Busters and The Dam Busters Story. He lives in Wiltshire in southern England.

ISBN:  9781844258673
Bok NR:  H4867
Språk:  Engelska