| Dam Busters: The True Story of the Inventors and Airmen Who Led the Devastating Raid to Smash the German Dams in 1943 Contributor(s): Holland, James (Author) |
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ISBN: 0802121691 ISBN-13: 9780802121691 Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press OUR PRICE: $25.20 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: November 2013 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Military - World War Ii - History | Military - Aviation - History | Military - Weapons |
| Dewey: 940.544 |
| Physical Information: 1.7" H x 6.1" W x 9.1" (1.70 lbs) 464 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1940's - Cultural Region - British Isles - Cultural Region - Germany |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The night of 16 May, 1943. Nineteen specially adapted Lancaster bombers take off from RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, each with a huge 9000lb cylindrical bomb strapped underneath it. Their mission: to destroy three dams deep within the German heartland, which provide the lifeblood to the industries supplying the Third Reich's war machine. From the outset it was an almost impossible task, a suicide mission: to fly low and at night in formation over many miles of enemy-occupied territory at the very limit of the Lancasters' capacity, and drop a new weapon that had never been tried operationally before from a precise height of just sixty feet from the water at some of the most heavily defended targets in Germany. More than that, the entire operation had to be put together in less than ten weeks. When visionary aviation engineer Barnes Wallis's concept of the bouncing bomb was green lighted, he hadn't even drawn up his plans for the weapon that was to smash the dams. What followed was an incredible race against time, which, despite numerous setbacks and against huge odds, became one of the most successful and game-changing bombing raids of all time. |