The Dam Busters; Breaking the Great Dams of Western Germany 16-17 May 1943

by Unknown

• ISBN13: 9780750940030
• ISBN10: 0750940034
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2005-04-01
• Publisher: The History Press

Summary

In probably one of the best known and most widely told stories of the Second World War, nineteen Lancaster bombers of 617 Squadron, led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, raided the great hydroelectric dams of western Germany in May 1943. Each Lancaster was equipped with the revolutionary bouncing bomb designed by the inventor Barnes Wallis, creator of the Wellington bomber. In 1954 the raid was immortalised in The Dambusters, starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd, who contributes a foreword to the book. A box office success, the film has become a classic, the music score being one of the best known of all time.

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii
Richard Todd
Acknowledgements	ix
Introduction	xiii
Prologue	xvii
Striking Back -- the RAF's Early Bombing Offensive	1	(14)
The Impossible Dream -- Developing the Bouncing Bomb	15	(26)
Training for the Dams	41	(36)
Operation Chastise	77	(20)
Breaching the Dams	97	(22)
The Aftermath -- Germany	119	(36)
The Aftermath -- Britain	155	(28)
Some Men Who Made it Happen	183	(12)
A Cinematic Legend -- Making the Dam Busters Film	195	(32)
Bibliography	227	(2)
Appendix i -- Failed to Return	229	(4)
Appendix ii -- What Happened to the Aircraft That Survived?	233	(1)
Appendix iii -- What Happened to the Dams Raid Survivors?	234	(3)
Index	237