dambuster-raid-crash-sites

by chris-ward

Many of the 617 Squadron crews who took part in the famous attacks on the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe Dams and also the raids on the Dortmund-Ems Canal did not return.

This book takes the reader to many of the crash sites that resulted. They include the coast off Texel, Rees, Marbeck, Emmerich, Hamm, Ostonnen, just north of the Mohne Dam, the former airfield at Gilze-Rijen in Holland and Castricum-aan-Zee, also Holland. The Dortmund-Ems Canal sites are Noordhorn, Recke, Bergeshovede, Ladbergen and Den Ham in Holland. All these sites can be visited within a week’s tour by car or public transport.

The book is illustrated with then-and-now photographs of the sites, the personnel involved and the aircraft originally flown. Local places of interest are listed to allow those aficionados of this famous squadron to broaden their knowledge and also enjoy a continental break.

Genres: Aviation

115 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2008

Reviews

[Susan Paxton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly useful if you're going to actually make the trip to Europe and want to visit some of the crash sites from Operation Chastise and the even more horribly botched Dortmund-Ems operation. The maps would be more helpful in color. Some minor mistakes in the text are jarring, but overall this clarifies some of the mysteries surrounding several of the lost aircraft.