The rise of RAF
Precision Bombing, March 1943-May 1944 * Complete coverage in detail of all the
missions flown by the 617 Squadron “Dambusters”, including training missions *
Complete coverage of all the
equipment used by the squadron, including armament, electronic devices and
airplanes * Complete tables, indexes and descriptions of all flying personnel,
losses, awards, airbases and targets * The most complete, encyclopedia
description of the most famous RAF Bomber squadron during the war. Includes all
information one would ever need * Colour profiles and maps by renowned artist
Marie Gaetan, Bill Dady and Laurent Lecocq
It is a story that has been told on numerous occasions. Still, it has
an air of improbability about it. A low flying aircraft, faced with an onslaught
of Flak, releases a cylindrical, back spinning bomb that bounces across the
water, against a dam, and succeeds in destroying it. Operation Chastise has
captured the imagination of generations since its completion on 17th May 1943,
but few know that the same squadron charged with the destruction of the dams was
also involved in many of the most daring and devastating air attacks of the war,
taking on the targets deemed too difficult, too well-defended and too strong for
regular squadrons.
Over the next two years this one squadron would go on to sink the
battleship Tirpitz, demolish impregnable U-boat pens and smash deadly V-weapon
sites. They would pioneer new methods of attack and target marking, and forever
erase the RAF’s reputation for inaccuracy. Their story is both unique and
familiar, serving to remind us all of the sacrifice made by a generation to
ensure the freedoms all of us enjoy today. They must not be forgotten - this is
their story.
Available late 2012
