Return of the Dambusters: The Exploits of World War II's Most Daring Flyers After the Flood - Hardcover

Nichol, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 146831274X ISBN 13: 9781468312744

Publisher: The Overlook Press, 2016

Synopsis

RAF 617 Squadron, World War II's famous Dambusters, have been celebrated in books and movies for their triumphant destruction of the dams at the heart of the industrial Ruhr. But the operations after their most famous raid have been largely forgotten, even though they were often more audacious, more critical to turning back the Nazi threat, and more punishingly difficult.

The Dambusters had another nickname―they were the "Suicide Squadron," and these daring flyers were the go-to forces for dangerous precision attacks. They dropped the largest bombs ever built on Hitler's prize battleship, Tirpitz, as well as rocket sites and secret weapon establishments; they were involved in attempts on the lives of enemy leaders, including Hitler and Mussolini; and they created a false fleet on D-Day, which fooled the Germans, among other crucial missions. but they also suffered brutal losses, with 75 percent of 617 Squadron killed in action by the end of the war.

In this awe-inspiring book, John Nichol―himself a former RAF flight lieutenant―retraces the path of 617 Squadron's most dangerous sorties, the ones largely lost to history. With the sensitivity of a fellow solider, Nichol gains unprecedented access to the surviving Dambusters, whose moving personal stories add depth to this impressively researched history. The result is a tense, poignant story of courage by men who braved death time and time again in the name of freedom.

With ten color and thirty-seven black-and-white photographs, and three maps

About this title

Review

A straightforward account considers all sides to these precise missions.

A completely true story about a badass lady spy? Yes please! . . . Move over, James Bond. Daphne Park is here, and she's shaking up more than just martinis.

[D]eeply moving...Nichol's account is full of stirring stories that make you marvel.

This is both an exciting book and a saddening one... a tale of victory, in the end, magnificently told in lip-biting detail.

Drawing on interviews with survivors, as well as archive material... the book is [a] story of human suffering in the air and on the ground.

About the Author

John Nichol is the author, with John Peters, of the bestselling Tornado Down, and, with Tony Rennell, of The Last Escape and Tail-end Charlies. As a former RAF flight lieutenant in the first Gulf War, he was held as a prisoner of war when his bomber was shot down on a mission over Iraq. He is also a journalist and widely quoted military commentator.

Edition details

• Publisher: The Overlook Press
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 146831274X
• ISBN 13: 9781468312744
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384