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Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A masterly history of the Dambusters raid from bestselling and critically acclaimed Max Hastings. Operation Chastise, the overnight destruction of the Moehne and Eder dams in north-west Germany by the RAF's 617 Squadron, was an epic that has passed into Britain's national legend. Max Hastings grew up embracing the story, the classic 1955 movie and the memory of Guy Gibson, the 24-year-old wing-commander who won the VC leading the raid. In the 21st Century, however, Hastings urges that we should review the Dambusters in much more complex shades. The aircrew's heroism was wholly authentic, as was the brilliance of Barnes Wallis, who invented the 'bouncing bombs'. But commanders who promised their young fliers that success could shorten the war fantasised wildly. What Germans call the Moehnekatastrophe imposed on the Nazi war machine temporary disruption, rather than a crippling blow. Hastings vividly describes the evolution of Wallis' bomb, and of the squadron which broke the dams at the cost of devastating losses. But he also portrays in harrowing detail those swept away by the torrents. Some 1,400 civilians perished in the biblical floods that swept through the Moehne valley, more than half of them Russian and Polish women, slave labourers under Hitler. Ironically, Air Marshal Sir Arthur 'Bomber' Harris gained much of the credit, though he opposed Chastise as a distraction from his city-burning blitz. He also made what the author describes as the operation's biggest mistake - the failure to launch a conventional attack on the Nazis' huge post-raid repair operation, which could have transformed the impact of the dam breaches upon Ruhr industry. Chastise offers a fascinating retake on legend by a master of the art. Hastings sets the dams raid in the big picture of the bomber offensive and of the Second World War, with moving portraits of the young airmen, so many of whom died; of Barnes Wallis; the monstrous Harris; the tragic Guy Gibson, together with superb narrative of the action of one of the most extraordinary episodes in British history. THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A masterly history of the Dambusters raid from bestselling and critically acclaimed Max Hastings. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780008280536
Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. Seller Inventory # B9780008280536
Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9780008280536
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Book Description PAP. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # AR-9780008280536
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Book Description Condition: New. 2019. Paperback. . . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Seller Inventory # KKD0012906
Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Rapidly dispatched worldwide from our clean, automated UK warehouse within 1-2 working days. Seller Inventory # mon0000239433
Book Description Condition: New. 2019. Paperback. . . . . . Seller Inventory # KKD0012906
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 464 pages. 9.13x5.98x1.34 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # 0008280533