Dambusters: The Forging of a Legend

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A senior RAF officer once described 617 Squadron as probably the most effective small force employed by the British during the war. The remarkable fact is that it had only the last two years of the conflict to make its enormous impact ... This book looks in detail at every single operation undertaken by the RAF's most famous squadron. The first two raids on German targets, the Dams and the Dortmund-Ems Canal cost it a total of fourteen aircraft and crews, but thereafter losses fell dramatically. Eyewitness accounts and official documents have been used to piece together the circumstances of each loss, and many errors perpetuated by successive writers over the years have been corrected. Much new information has been brought to light, including the circumstances of the destruction of the Tirpitze from the German viewpoint. This unique chapter examines the transcripts of the Courts Martial that followed the Luftwaffe's failure to protect the vessel, and answers all the questions