Dambusters: A Landmark Oral History

by Max Arthur (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2009

  $3.25

  On the night of 16-17 May 1943, nineteen Lancaster bombers from 617 Squadron headed for Germany. Their mission, for which they had been trained under a cloak of absolute secrecy, was to destroy the dams of the Ruhr Valley and in doing so cripple the Nazi industrial war effort. It was to become one of the most famous raids of WW2. For the first time, acclaimed oral historian Max Arthur has gathered together the voices of the 'Dambusters', including Guy Gibson, commander of the mission and Barnes Wallis, who developed the iconic Bouncing Bomb. These voices tell of the hard training and sheer bravery that went into this legendary mission. We also hear from the German civilians who suffered the attack, who speak of the devastation that was wrought in their lives. This was a raid like no other, and in this extraordinary collection Max Arthur has created an enduring record of a unique event in British military history.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2008

  $3.25

  On 16 May 1943, nineteen Lancaster bomber crews gathered at a remote RAF station in Lincolnshire for a mission of extraordinary daring and high risk - a night raid on three crucial and heavily defended dams deep in the German industrial heartland. The raiders would have to fly across occupied Europe at a perilously low level and drop their bombs at a mere 60 feet above the water to destroy the dam walls. Eight planes never returned. Bestselling author Max Arthur has collected together first-hand accounts of the preparation, practise, experimentation and the raid itself, and the sense of emptiness and loss at RAF Scampton when 56 men failed to return. From RAF personnel to German civilians who witnessed the raid, this landmark oral history collection paints a moving and personal picture of one of the most famous operations of the Second World War.