The Dam Busters

THE DAM BUSTERS is certainly one of the three or four most enthralling and -inspiring war books yet published", It is the story of 617 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, which was formed early in 1943 for one special job to breach the Moehne and Eder Dams in Germany. To carry out this operation the squadron was equipped with colossal "earthquake bombs" devised by a scientist who for a long time could obtain no official support for his invention. The overwhelming success of the great raid on the dams made the squadron famous, and it was retained as a unit and used for other equally perilous missions. It evolved a new technique of pinpointing targets, and dropped bombs accurately on tunnels and factories; it knocked out Hitler's last and most terrifying secret weapons-the V.3s, enormous guns in underground emplacements that were to have obliterated London; it destroyed the battleship Tirpitz in a Norwegian fjord. 617 Squadron has been described as the most effective unit of its size that the British forces ever possessed; for sheer velour it was unsurpassed- its members won two Victoria Crosses and over 150 other decorations. This book realistically portrays all the grimness of air warfare, but also tells of humorous episodes and of the disappointment ~ theories and plans were upset.