Dam Busters: The True Story of the Inventors and Airmen Who Led the Devastating Raid to Smash the German Dams in 1943

James Holland

Apr 2018 · Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

About this ebook

The story of the British-made bombs, Upkeep and Highball, successfully dropped on Nazi dams " has never been told in such depth before" ( Daily Mail, UK).

The night of May 16, 1943: Nineteen specially adapted Lancaster bombers take off from an RAF airfield in Lincolnshire, England, each with a huge nine-thousand-pound cylindrical bomb strapped underneath it. Their mission: to destroy three hydroelectric dams that power the Third Reich's war machine.

It was a suicide mission from the outset. First the men had to fly extremely low, at night, and in tight formation over miles of enemy-occupied territory. Then they had to drop with pinpoint precision a complicated spinning cylindrical bomb that had never before been used operationally. More than that, the entire operation had to be put together in less than ten weeks in order to hit the dams when water levels were still high enough for the bombs to be effective.

The visionary aviation engineer Barnes Wallis hadn't even drawn up plans for his concept when the bouncing bomb was green-lighted. What followed was an incredible race against time that, despite numerous setbacks, became one of the most successful and significant bombing raids of all time. "Holland has delved into the new trove" of declassified documents "to shed light on this weapons program, the politics of its development and the eventual mission" ( The Wall Street Journal).

"An impeccably researched work in the style of a fast-paced techno-thriller." — Publishers Weekly

"Extremely detailed but never dull . . . Holland offers a definitive, nuts-and-bolts history." — Kirkus Reviews

"A well-written study of engineering and invention operating under great pressure. . . . For all World War II history buffs." — Library Journal, starred review

About the author

James Holland is a historian, writer, and broadcaster. The author of The Rise of Germany, 1939-1941 and The Allies Strike Back, 1941–1943, the first two books in The War in the West series, as well as the bestselling Fortress Malta, Battle of Britain, and Dam Busters, he has also written numerous works of historical fiction. Holland regularly appears on television and radio and has written and presented the BAFTA-shortlisted documentaries Battle of Britain and Dam Busters for the BBC, among others. His writing has appeared in magazines and newspapers including the Sunday Telegraph, for whom he went to Helmand Province in Afghanistan, the Times, Daily Mail, and BBC History Magazine. A fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and cofounder and program director of the hugely successful Chalke Valley History Festival, Holland has also advised the British government on history curriculum and has his own collection at the Imperial War Museum.