Operation Chastise

The RAF's Most Brilliant Attack of World War II

By: Max Hastings

Narrated by: Max Hastings, Peter Noble

One of the most lauded historians of our time returns to the Second World War in this magnificent retelling of the awe-inspiring raid on German dams conducted by the Royal Army Force’s 617 Squadron.

The attack on Nazi Germany’s dams on May 17, 1943, was one of the most remarkable feats in military history. The absurdly young men of the Royal Air Force’s 617 Squadron set forth in cold blood and darkness, without benefit of electronic aids, to fly lumbering heavy bombers straight and level towards a target at a height above the water less than the length of a bowling alley. Yet this story—and the later wartime experience of the 617 Squadron—has never been told in full.

Max Hastings takes us back to the May 1943 raid to reveal how the truth of that night is considerably different from the popularized account most people know. The RAF had identified the Ruhr dams as strategic objectives as far back as 1938; in those five years Wing Commander Guy Gibson formed and trained the 617 Squadron. Hastings observes that while the dropping of Wallis’s mines provided the dramatic climax, only two of the eight aircraft lost came down over the dams—the rest were shot down on the flight to, or back from, the mission. And while the 617 Squadron’s valor is indisputable, the ultimate industrial damage caused by the dam raid was actually rather modest.

In 1943, these brave men caught the imagination of the world and uplifted the weary spirits of the British people. Their achievement unnerved the Nazi high command, and caused them to expend large resources on dam defenses—making the mission a success. An example of Churchill’s ""military theatre"" at its best, what 617 Squadron did was an extraordinary and heroic achievement, and a triumph of British ingenuity and technology—a story to be told for generations to come.

Excellent

Forget about the movie Dam busters. This is the true story of the man who attempted to bust dams in Germany.

Well written, Well narrated and definitely worth reading.

Well written

A page turner and well documented you learn all aspects of this momentous event.I loved this book.

JUST A BIT OUTSIDE

As with most all of Max Hastings books, it is filled with detail and written very well. My biggest complaint about this book is MH's lumping this raid along with many city bombing ie Dresden as equivalent. So to paraphrase Bob Uecker this is just a bit outside or over the top. 56 men died in this attack on a specific target and about 1200 to 1500 civilians died as a result. Compared to so many other operations done by Germans, British, and Americans, this raid is very different. Also many of the civilian deaths were due in a poor response from the Germans. Also, many of the deaths--mostly women-- who were slave laborers being starved and worked to death. I bring this up because in another book many Jews in the camps wished the allies had bombed the camps. Churchill asked the free French his concerns about bombing France and the expected civilian casualties and was told by the French to proceed for to free France this was to be expected. Sorry to prattle but this really bothered me.

A thorough, balanced historical narrative

This is but another gem of accurate, balanced military history from a highly respected historian.

More detailed than the movie.

If you enjoy history books that detail little known WW II actions or events readers will learn a-lot about the evolution, and successful allied Dam Busters mission.