Dam Busters Failed to Return

On the night of 16/17 May 1943 a select group of young RAF Bomber Command airmen carried out one of the most audacious and daring low level raids of the Second World War. Nineteen aircrews of No.617 Squadron, flying modified Avro Lancasters, each armed with a 'bouncing bomb', were detailed to attack specific dams, viewed as essential to Germany's war effort. Two were indeed breached in an extraordinary display of skill and courage, but at a cost of eight Lancasters lost. Of the 56 airmen flying these aircraft, 53 were killed and 3 were captured. In Dam Busters: Failed to Return Fighting High Publishing brings together notable Bomber Command historians to recount the lives of some of the Dam Busters who were lost that fateful night. Drawing upon family archives, official documents, wartime memoirs and letters, flying logbooks, and relative and witness recollections, and illustrated throughout with colour and black and white photographs and documents, the authors piece together the extraordinary, gripping, yet ultimately tragic stories of these select young men. AUTHOR: Robert Owen is an aviation historian and the Official Historian of the No. 617 Squadron Association. A Trustee of both this Association and the Barnes Wallis Memorial Trust, he has contributed to numerous publications and television documentaries. He is currently a postgraduate research student with the University of Huddersfield Arms and Armour Research Group. Steve Darlow is a Bomber Command historian and established military aviation author, with fourteen books to date. In 2009 Steve founded Fighting High Publishing - which seeks to publish books focusing on human endeavour in military situations. Sean Feast works in PR and advertising and is an acclaimed Bomber Command historian and author. Sean has written eight books to date focusing on the Second World War air battle. Arthur Thorning studied Engineering Science at Oxford University followed by a career in industry and the UK Civil Aviation Authority. He is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He was a pilot for 40 years and is a Past Master of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators. He is the author of 'The Dam Buster Who Cracked the Dam - the Story of Melvin "Dinghy" Young'. Colour and b/w