Description

This is a limited edition version of the 75^th Anniversary Revised 617 Squadron Profile and contains the same information with a handful of additional photos. It is Chris Ward’s celebration of twenty years of research on the subject, and an opportunity to reproduce the photographs in higher resolution and colour where appropriate. It also presented a chance to team up with artist Simon Atack, whose work Chris has always admired, and in doing so to sandwich the most detailed account yet written of 617 Squadron’s war between two of the finest portrayals ever produced of Operation Chastise.

Originally formed in 1943 to attack the Ruhr Dams, 617 Squadron was subsequently tasked with highly specialised and incredibly risky missions which have become the stuff of legend. The unit carried out hazardous raids against the Dortmund-Ems Canal, strongpoints linked to the dreaded V2 rockets, and attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz, as well as other problematic targets.

The story of the ‘Dambusters’ is widely known but many myths and inaccuracies have crept in as the tale has been retold. Chris Ward’s profile of the unit sets the record straight on these and relates the full wartime history of 617 Squadron. Comprehensively illustrated, this book sheds new light on the most famous unit in the history of aerial warfare.