Operation Chastise

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Genre : History
Author : John Sweetman
Publisher :
Release : 1982
File : 272 Pages
ISBN-13 : WISC:89010251940


5 Group Bomber Command

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During the immediate period before World War Two, the RAF modified its command structure to rationalize for rapid expansion. Bomber Command was divided into six operational groups, each flying the same type of aircraft. In 1939 5 Group was flying the Handley Page Hampden, a fast, modern aircraft that carried a large payload. However, during the early daylight raids into enemy occupied Europe it suffered great losses due to its defensive armament leaving too many blind spots. The Group now turned to night bombing and mine-laying operations. During November 1940, the first Avro Manchesters entered service but were to prove dangerously unreliable. It was not until the Avro Lancaster began arriving in strength that the Group began its proud history of successful and often highly dangerous raids into the Reich, the most famous of which was No 617 Squadrons attack on the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe dams.Between 1939 and 1945 the Group flew 70,351 sorties with the loss of 1,888 aircraft. This book contains a lengthy narrative of the groups operations and contains individual squadron statistics, their commanding officers, stations and aircraft losses. It provides a detailed reference for one of the RAFs most important and successful operational groups.

Product Details :

Genre : History
Author : Chris Ward
Publisher : Pen and Sword
Release : 2007-10-06
File : 375 Pages
ISBN-13 : 9781844687367


Special Operations And Strategy

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This book argues that the root of effective special operations lies in understanding the relationship between moral and material attrition - this is achieved by examining both strategic theory and real-life case studies.

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Genre : History
Author : James D. Kiras
Publisher : Routledge
Release : 2006-07-29
File : 257 Pages
ISBN-13 : 9781135989897


Dambuster In Chief

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“A fascinating biography of one of the most important figures in Bomber Command during the Second World War.” —History of War Ralph Cochrane was born in 1895 into a distinguished naval family. After joining the Royal Navy, he volunteered in 1915 to serve with the RNAS in airships and was an early winner of the Air Force Cross. In 1918 he transferred to the fledgling RAF and learned to fly, serving in Iraq as a flight commander under “Bomber” Harris. His inter-war career saw him as a squadron commander in Aden before he became the first Chief of Air Staff of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. During the Second World War he served mainly in Bomber Command and commanded 5 Group from early 1943. He formed 617 Squadron and was instrumental in planning the legendary Dambuster Raid, the most spectacular of the War, as well as the sinking of the battleship Tirpitz. An inspirational leader, he trained 5 Group in low level target marking skills. Post war, Cochrane held a string of senior appointments commanding Transport Command, Flying Training Command and finally as Vice Chief of Air Staff, retiring in 1952. He died in 1977. “A brilliantly researched biography of a fascinating fighter . . . adds a new name to rank alongside Great Britain’s most heroic warriors.” —Argunners “The Dambusters is one of my absolute favourite stories from WWII . . . and this bio of Cochrane tells the story of an extraordinary man. Brilliant.” —Books Monthly

Product Details :

Genre : Biography & Autobiography
Author : Richard Mead
Publisher : Pen and Sword Aviation
Release : 2020-12-30
File : 378 Pages
ISBN-13 : 9781526765086


Dambusters

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In May 1943 a specially established RAF squadron made its permanent imprint on military aviation history by flying a high-risk, low level, nighttime attack against German hydro-electric dams vital to the Nazi armaments industry in the Ruhr Valley. A comparatively tiny part of Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris' four-month-long “Battle of the Ruhr” this one raid had an impact totally out of proportion to the small number of aircraft involved. It highlights the synergy of science and technology, weapons development and production, mission planning and practice, and the unflinching courage in the execution of a highly dangerous bombing raid. Furthermore, it established a legend that still resonates today.

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Genre : History
Author : Douglas C. Dildy
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Release : 2012-02-20
File : 131 Pages
ISBN-13 : 9781780964621


Guy Gibson

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A new assessment of the life of one of the most famous and controversial airmen of the Second World War, this book covers Guy Gibson's sometimes troubled upbringing and the impact on him of his time at St Edward's School, Oxford. In particular, the story of his career in the RAF is relayed, including his stunning leadership achievement in creating No 617 Squadron and leading its attack on the dams of western Germany. The much-discussed circumstances of his unnecessary death and the theories, which have grown up around it are examined, as well as his legacy—he remains a great British hero almost 70 years after his death in a world utterly different to the one he knew.

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Genre : History
Author : Geoff Simpson
Publisher : Casemate Publishers
Release : 2013-08-19
File : 321 Pages
ISBN-13 : 9781783469734


Dam Busters

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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

Product Details :

Genre : History
Author : James Holland
Publisher : Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Release : 2013-11-04
File : 322 Pages
ISBN-13 : 9780802193063


The High Peak Dambuster

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Operation Chastise, the audacious attack on the dams in the Ruhr valley, is arguably one of the most famous airborne attacks in history. During the night of 16/17 May 1943, 133 men in nineteen specially-adapted Lancasters – the famous Dambusters – set off to attack six dams deep in the heart of Germany. Eight of the bombers, and 56 of the aircrew, did not come home. Three of the aircrew who took part were from the High Peak region of Derbyshire. Flight Lieutenant Bill Astell, the pilot of ED864 who hailed from Coombs near Chapel-en-le-Frith, was killed after flying into electricity pylons on the way to the dams. The navigator in ED924, Sergeant John Nugent, from Stoney Middleton, survived the Dambusters Raid but was killed later in the war. The third High Peak Dambuster, on whom this biography concentrates, is the little-known Sergeant Jack Marriott from Chinley, the flight engineer on Lancaster ED937 during the attack. Marriott’s Lancaster, Z-Zebra, reached the Möhne Dam, only to discover that it had been breached, some five bouncing bombs already having been released at it. The crew, led by Squadron Leader Henry Maudslay DFC, then flew on to the Eder Dam where their ‘bouncing bomb’ exploded beneath the Lancaster after hitting the parapet of the structure. The damaged Lancaster struggled homeward, but was shot down on the Dutch border; Jack, together with his crew, was killed in the crash. In this autobiography, Frank Pleszak explores Jack’s life, his RAF service prior to joining 617 Squadron, and then the events leading up to and during Operation Chastise itself. But for Jack, one the immortal Dambusters, his story continued on after that historic night – particularly during the filming of the 1955 epic Dam Busters in which his aircraft features.

Product Details :

Genre : Biography & Autobiography
Author : Frank Pleszak
Publisher : Air World
Release : 2022-05-12
File : 369 Pages
ISBN-13 : 9781399097475


Audacious Missions Of World War Ii

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Winning World War II was about more than military force. It required guile, and tremendous acts of bravery by Special Forces and intelligence operatives who had the odds stacked against them. Using hundreds of documents and images from The National Archives, including some that have never been seen in print before, this book reveals some of World War II's most audacious missions. These include Operation Anthropoid, the plot to assassinate SS General Reinhard Heydrich in Czechoslovakia in 1942, Operation Chariot, the attempt to damage the mighty German warship Tirpitz while she was in dock in St-Nazaire in France; and Operation Mincemeat, a complex plot whereby a corpse, replete with documentation designed to mislead the enemy, was dropped in southern Spain to spread misinformation.

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Genre : History
Author : The National Archives
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Release : 2020-01-23
File : 218 Pages
ISBN-13 : 9781472829948


Breaking The German Dams

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“This was Der Tag for 617 Squadron [...] from eight o'clock onwards the scenes outside the crew rooms were something to be remembered." “I watched each Lancaster become airborne from the window of my office but I did go outside to see all the boys roaring away into the fast approaching twilight, and that was a great thrill because they were flying at less than 150 feet from the ground. I just stood and gaped, hardly able to realise the significance of it all.” On the evening of Sunday 16 May, 1943, the sound of Lancaster bombers fills the night air around Lincolnshire as two waves of Allied aircraft start their engines and take off from RAF Scampton in the direction of the Ruhr Valley. The mission? Attack the German dams on the Eder, Möhne and Sorpe rivers using special “bouncing bombs”. This was Operation Chastise. In this remarkable work, No. 617 Squadron expert Dr Robert Owen takes a microscope to the raid, guiding readers through the events of 16 and 17 May 1943 in astounding chronological detail. Each action leading up to, throughout, and following the raid is signposted with a precise time stamp, affording readers an informative, gripping and easy-to-follow reading experience. Owen’s compilation of a wide range of first-hand accounts from those involved in the Dambusters Raid complements this minute-by-minute retelling perfectly, and adds to the readers’ understanding and appreciation of this astonishing military operation. With a foreword by World War II aviation expert and author James Holland, Breaking the German Dams is a hugely impressive feat of non-fiction writing about one of the most awe-inspiring operations in British military history. Readers will be left incredibly well-versed in — and moved by — the extraordinary story of Operation Chastise.

Product Details :

Genre : History
Author : Robert Owen
Publisher : Casemate Publishers
Release : 2023-04-24
File : 375 Pages
ISBN-13 : 9781784389635