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Operation Chastise: The RAF's Most Brilliant Attack of World War II – Max Hastings' Definitive Account of the 617 Squadron Dams Raid
Operation Chastise, the destruction of the Mohne and Eder dams in north-west Germany by the RAF’s 617 Squadron on the night of 16/17 May 1943, was an epic that has passed into Britain’s national legend.
Max Hastings grew up embracing the story, the classic 1955 movie and the memory of Guy Gibson, the 24-year-old wing-commander who led the raid. In the 21st Century, however, he urges that we should see the dambusters in much more complex shades. The aircrew’s heroism was entirely real, as was the brilliance of Barnes Wallis, inventor of the ‘bouncing bombs’. But commanders who promised their young fliers that success could shorten the war fantasised as ruthlessly as they did about the entire bomber offensive. Some 1,400 civilians perished in the biblical floods that swept through the Mohne valley, more than half of them Russian and Polish women, slave labourers.
Hastings vividly describes the evolution of Wallis’ bomb, and of the squadron which broke the dams. But he also portrays in harrowing detail those swept away by the torrents. He argues that what modern Germans call the Mohnekatastrophe imposed on the Nazi war machine temporary disruption, rather than a crippling blow. Ironically, Air Marshal Sir Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris gained much of the public credit, though he bitterly opposed Chastise as a distraction from his city-burning blitz. Harris also made perhaps the operation’s biggest mistake – failure to launch a conventional attack on the huge post-raid repair operation which could have transformed the impact of the dam breaches on Ruhr industry.
Here once again is a dramatic retake on familiar history by a master of the art. Hastings sets the Dams Raid in the big picture of the bomber offensive and of the Second World War, with moving portraits of the young airmen, so many of whom died; of Barnes Wallis; the monstrous Harris; the tragic Guy Gibson, together with superb narrative of the action of one of the most extraordinary episodes in British history.
Max Hastings grew up embracing the story, the classic 1955 movie and the memory of Guy Gibson, the 24-year-old wing-commander who led the raid. In the 21st Century, however, he urges that we should see the dambusters in much more complex shades. The aircrew’s heroism was entirely real, as was the brilliance of Barnes Wallis, inventor of the ‘bouncing bombs’. But commanders who promised their young fliers that success could shorten the war fantasised as ruthlessly as they did about the entire bomber offensive. Some 1,400 civilians perished in the biblical floods that swept through the Mohne valley, more than half of them Russian and Polish women, slave labourers.
Hastings vividly describes the evolution of Wallis’ bomb, and of the squadron which broke the dams. But he also portrays in harrowing detail those swept away by the torrents. He argues that what modern Germans call the Mohnekatastrophe imposed on the Nazi war machine temporary disruption, rather than a crippling blow. Ironically, Air Marshal Sir Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris gained much of the public credit, though he bitterly opposed Chastise as a distraction from his city-burning blitz. Harris also made perhaps the operation’s biggest mistake – failure to launch a conventional attack on the huge post-raid repair operation which could have transformed the impact of the dam breaches on Ruhr industry.
Here once again is a dramatic retake on familiar history by a master of the art. Hastings sets the Dams Raid in the big picture of the bomber offensive and of the Second World War, with moving portraits of the young airmen, so many of whom died; of Barnes Wallis; the monstrous Harris; the tragic Guy Gibson, together with superb narrative of the action of one of the most extraordinary episodes in British history.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published September 5, 2019
370 people are currently reading
1372 people want to read
About the author
Max Hastings
112 books1,704 followersSir Max Hugh Macdonald Hastings, FRSL, FRHistS is a British journalist, editor, historian and author. His parents were Macdonald Hastings, a journalist and war correspondent, and Anne Scott-James, sometime editor of Harper's Bazaar.
Hastings was educated at Charterhouse School and University College, Oxford, which he left after a year.After leaving Oxford University, Max Hastings became a foreign correspondent, and reported from more than sixty countries and eleven wars for BBC TV and the London Evening Standard.
Among his bestselling books Bomber Command won the Somerset Maugham Prize, and both Overlord and The Battle for the Falklands won the Yorkshire Post Book of the Year Prize.
After ten years as editor and then editor-in-chief of The Daily Telegraph, he became editor of the Evening Standard in 1996. He has won many awards for his journalism, including Journalist of The Year and What the Papers Say Reporter of the Year for his work in the South Atlantic in 1982, and Editor of the Year in 1988.
He stood down as editor of the Evening Standard in 2001 and was knighted in 2002. His monumental work of military history, Armageddon: The Battle for Germany 1944-1945 was published in 2005.
He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Sir Max Hastings honoured with the $100,000 2012 Pritzker Military Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing.
Hastings was educated at Charterhouse School and University College, Oxford, which he left after a year.After leaving Oxford University, Max Hastings became a foreign correspondent, and reported from more than sixty countries and eleven wars for BBC TV and the London Evening Standard.
Among his bestselling books Bomber Command won the Somerset Maugham Prize, and both Overlord and The Battle for the Falklands won the Yorkshire Post Book of the Year Prize.
After ten years as editor and then editor-in-chief of The Daily Telegraph, he became editor of the Evening Standard in 1996. He has won many awards for his journalism, including Journalist of The Year and What the Papers Say Reporter of the Year for his work in the South Atlantic in 1982, and Editor of the Year in 1988.
He stood down as editor of the Evening Standard in 2001 and was knighted in 2002. His monumental work of military history, Armageddon: The Battle for Germany 1944-1945 was published in 2005.
He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Sir Max Hastings honoured with the $100,000 2012 Pritzker Military Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 169 reviews
March 2, 2022
This is the second WWII history book by Sir Max Hastings that I have read this month and it was equally as well written and interesting as the first. (Operation Pedestal: The Fleet That Battled to Malta, 1942
The saga of the Dam Busters (RAF 617 Squadron) is one of the best known raids made by the RAF and one of the most talked-about WWII incidents in the European theater. A fairly accurate award winning film was made of it in 1955.
British Bomber Command, led by Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris, made decisions of targets based on their vulnerability and accessibility but did not consider the economic significance. But someone put a bug in the ear of those higher up and they decided to look at this aspect of bombing. They chose the dams/reservoirs of northwestern Germany in order to slow down the energy supply to manufacturing. Additionally, a brilliant scientist named Barnes Wallace had approached them with his invention of the "bouncing bomb". And that is exactly what it did.....bounced over the water and detonated against the wall of the dam. (Air bombing of dams was ineffective).
Although the tests did not go as well as Wallace hoped, the decision was made and the reader then meets Commander Guy Gibson, who would lead the raid. Specially outfitted Lancaster bombers would be used even though the heavy plane was never meant to be flown so low. It was feared that this was a suicidal mission.
The author follow the history of this operation from conception to aftermath and does not slow down the flow through the use of technical terms. He also gives the reader a glimpse into the lives of not only of Wallace and Gibson but also the men who flew. Many of these men did not return.
There is too much information to include in a review. The book is interesting, well written and sometimes poignant.I recommend it. (GR notes that this is the second time I have read this book but that is incorrect).
The saga of the Dam Busters (RAF 617 Squadron) is one of the best known raids made by the RAF and one of the most talked-about WWII incidents in the European theater. A fairly accurate award winning film was made of it in 1955.
British Bomber Command, led by Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris, made decisions of targets based on their vulnerability and accessibility but did not consider the economic significance. But someone put a bug in the ear of those higher up and they decided to look at this aspect of bombing. They chose the dams/reservoirs of northwestern Germany in order to slow down the energy supply to manufacturing. Additionally, a brilliant scientist named Barnes Wallace had approached them with his invention of the "bouncing bomb". And that is exactly what it did.....bounced over the water and detonated against the wall of the dam. (Air bombing of dams was ineffective).
Although the tests did not go as well as Wallace hoped, the decision was made and the reader then meets Commander Guy Gibson, who would lead the raid. Specially outfitted Lancaster bombers would be used even though the heavy plane was never meant to be flown so low. It was feared that this was a suicidal mission.
The author follow the history of this operation from conception to aftermath and does not slow down the flow through the use of technical terms. He also gives the reader a glimpse into the lives of not only of Wallace and Gibson but also the men who flew. Many of these men did not return.
There is too much information to include in a review. The book is interesting, well written and sometimes poignant.I recommend it. (GR notes that this is the second time I have read this book but that is incorrect).
March 10, 2022
An enjoyable recounting of the Dambusters' story. Its told in a journalistic style and can be dry at times, with some superfluous detail but the story of Barnes Wallis' vision coming to fruition and the challenges involved in the raid itself are compelling.
The book's style is very establishment and traditional. I am not qualified to have a view on Hastings' view on some of the protagonists - especially 'Bomber' Harris, but would have liked to hear more about the aircrews that actually breached the dam rather than the chain of command. Guy Gibson gets a lot of words devoted to him, but his Lancaster's bouncing bomb missed the dam.
Recommended for anyone who saw the black-and-white film about 40 years ago and wants to learn a bit more, but probably not for military history buffs who wanted a detailed account of all the ins-and-outs and politics of the raid.
The book's style is very establishment and traditional. I am not qualified to have a view on Hastings' view on some of the protagonists - especially 'Bomber' Harris, but would have liked to hear more about the aircrews that actually breached the dam rather than the chain of command. Guy Gibson gets a lot of words devoted to him, but his Lancaster's bouncing bomb missed the dam.
Recommended for anyone who saw the black-and-white film about 40 years ago and wants to learn a bit more, but probably not for military history buffs who wanted a detailed account of all the ins-and-outs and politics of the raid.
March 21, 2020
This is the first "overall" history of Chastise since James Holland's book six years ago, and as such Sir Max Hastings has the benefit of the ongoing research into this operation, in particular using to good effect Richard Morris' for his upcoming new biography of Sir Barnes Wallis, and last year's The Complete Dambusters, Charles Foster's book that not only included biographies of each man who participated in the raid, but also re-analyzed the formation and training of 617 Squadron (full disclosure: I helped Charles with some aspects of the research, as it overlapped with my own). Using these sources, others, and his own research (including the interviews he did decades ago for his book on Bomber Command) Hastings does a workmanlike if occasionally somewhat dry job in discussing the before, during, and after of Operation Chastise.
I had to admit I was hoping that Hastings' book would hew more closely to John Sweetman's earlier history of the raid, which still stands alone as the definitive, deep, and tightly researched history. Instead Hastings has delivered something more along the lines of James Holland, in other words a popular retelling, although again well researched and with nice human touches, if not quite the humanity Holland brought to his book.
The book does have high points; Hastings' treatment of Gibson is well-reasoned and fair, his look into the unexpected consequences of the raid - which included the mass drowning of slave laborers - is comprehensive and agonising, and his analysis of the raid is spot on. In spite of continuing popular belief, Chastise was a spectacular failure, and Hastings does not pull punches. The over-promising of the potential "war winning" effects of destroying the dams, the stubborn refusal of Sir Arthur Harris to follow the raid up and delay repairs (the two breached dams were repaired by fall), and the Allied over-estimation of how effective the hideously costly bomber offensive was all come in for sometimes harsh but balanced treatment. Most of all, Chastise likely gave Harris a real chance to cause massive havoc in Ruhr cities that lacked water for fire fighting - and he totally ignored the gift he'd been handed by the casualties of 617 Squadron.
All in all I was left with mixed feelings, probably mostly because I was expecting something different. Hastings has delivered the most recent research, well written, and this is a worthy addition to the extensive shelf of books on this famous raid.
I had to admit I was hoping that Hastings' book would hew more closely to John Sweetman's earlier history of the raid, which still stands alone as the definitive, deep, and tightly researched history. Instead Hastings has delivered something more along the lines of James Holland, in other words a popular retelling, although again well researched and with nice human touches, if not quite the humanity Holland brought to his book.
The book does have high points; Hastings' treatment of Gibson is well-reasoned and fair, his look into the unexpected consequences of the raid - which included the mass drowning of slave laborers - is comprehensive and agonising, and his analysis of the raid is spot on. In spite of continuing popular belief, Chastise was a spectacular failure, and Hastings does not pull punches. The over-promising of the potential "war winning" effects of destroying the dams, the stubborn refusal of Sir Arthur Harris to follow the raid up and delay repairs (the two breached dams were repaired by fall), and the Allied over-estimation of how effective the hideously costly bomber offensive was all come in for sometimes harsh but balanced treatment. Most of all, Chastise likely gave Harris a real chance to cause massive havoc in Ruhr cities that lacked water for fire fighting - and he totally ignored the gift he'd been handed by the casualties of 617 Squadron.
All in all I was left with mixed feelings, probably mostly because I was expecting something different. Hastings has delivered the most recent research, well written, and this is a worthy addition to the extensive shelf of books on this famous raid.
June 10, 2021
The aircraft csrrtier HMS Queen. Elizabeth is currently leading a force to the South China Sea, including in her complement F-35B fighters belonging to RAF 617 Squadron, the famous Dam Busters of the Second World War. It seems wonderful that both the RN and the RAF so preserve the memories of great achievements in their past, and ironic that Sir Max Hastings has recently emerged as a violent critic of Britain's decision to build two new carriers. Operation Chastise is not entirely a new book; the author recycles much of the research data he gathered in the 1970s when many of the principals were still living for his book Bomber Command - to my mind still one of the greatest works of military history published in my lifetime. Sir Max draws on more recent scholarship and this book is less a source to new information than an overview and assessment, though filled out like all of his books with arresting details and obsdervations about the men and machines who carried out the raid. Guy Gibson was surely a superb flyer and squadron commander, though neither his treatment of subordinates nor his manners will win many admirers. I enjoyed the return of the Australian wild man 'Micky' Martin, who settled down sufficiently after the war to become an Air Marshal . Most of the other aircrew did not survive the war - only about a quarter, a high loss -rate even by RAF Bomber Command standards. Jim McCarthy, sole American on the mission, flying for the RCAF, is a new find for me - the USAAF wouldn't have him, and he also survived the war and became a senior RCAF officer before retiring to Virginia. Thanks to their popular fame (expecially their portrayal inthe 1955 film) the Dam Busters now take their places alongside Achilles' Myrmidons in the pantheon of warriors. It is heartening that they rermain an elite unit serving with Britain's finest ship.
May 28, 2020
Too many details and should-we-have-done-its for this generalist reader. Interested in WWII but clearly not enough to really appreciate this account.
April 1, 2020
The strategic bombing of German cities remains to this day one of the most controversial aspects of World War II. Relentless, round-the-clock assaults on the German people resulted in the deaths of between 350,000 and 500,000, among them huge numbers of POWs and imported slave workers. The firebombing of Dresden and Hamburg and the reduction of Berlin to rubble are the best-known examples of this misbegotten campaign, but dozens of other German cities suffered equally. And, though the strategy was an Allied effort involving the Americans as well as the British, the man most closely identified with strategic bombing was the head of RAF‘s Bomber Command, Sir Arthur (“Bomber”) Harris. Harris pursued the decimation of the German people with ruthless single-mindedness. History has not dealt kindly with him.
In Operation Chastise, British journalist and historian Max Hastings (1945-) assesses Harris’s role in the war with his usual refusal to accept the conventional wisdom. He is unsparing in his view of Harris as a thoroughly unpleasant and often wrong-headed obsessive who should have been sacked by his superiors. Yet, in considering the value of strategic bombing of German cities from the perspective of the war years, Hastings is more charitable. Unlike other observers, he takes pains to point out the considerable resources the Nazis diverted from the battlefront to protect themselves against the attacks on their cities. On balance, he finds sounder reasoning behind the strategy than others tend to do, although with evident distaste for the horrific loss of life.
An operation apart from the strategic bombing of German cities
Yet Operation Chastise highlights a mission executed by Bomber Command that was not consistent with the strategic bombing program. In fact, Air Marshall Harris fought its adoption at every stage with fierce resolution, regarding it as a wasteful diversion of resources from his cherished strategy. And when at length it succeeded, Harris adroitly managed to take credit for the operation. For years after the war, he was incorrectly credited with the operation, which had come to be regarded by the British people as the greatest success of the RAF since Fighter Command‘s triumph in the Battle of Britain three years earlier.
Bouncing bombs used to destroy the Ruhr dams
Operation Chastise was, in fact, nothing short of brilliant. It was the brainchild of Barnes Wallis (1887-1979), an engineer working for the Vickers aircraft company. Beginning in 1938, even before Britain entered the war, he was one of many who contemplated the potential strategic importance of bombing Germany’s dams. As Hastings portrays him, Wallis was a genius. His was the inventive mind behind improvements in several of Britain’s most important aircraft and munitions. But he is best known for inventing the “bouncing bomb” used to destroy two strategically significant dams in Germany’s Ruhr region in May 1943.
In recounting the story of Operation Chastise, Hastings relates in detail how Wallis struggled for years to advance his idea for the bouncing bomb in the face of a company preoccupied with other priorities and Bomber Harris’s relentless resistance in favor of strategic bombing. On its face, the idea seemed insane. Each plane would be fitted with a nine-ton cylindrical bomb mounted sideways on the bottom of the plane and spinning at hundreds of revolutions per minute. Wallis required bomber pilots to fly at a dangerously low altitude, skimming along the water as they approached each dam, and dropping the bomb a precise distance. If the pilot and bombardier got everything right, the bomb would literally skip along the water like a stone, climb the dam, slide back down, and detonate at exactly the right spot to punch a hole in the dam’s most vulnerable spot.
The facts about Operation Chastise came to light only gradually in the years following the war. Hastings has done an admirable job, digging through diaries and long-suppressed official records as well as interviews with relatives of those who were involved. His account focuses on the men of Squadron 617, which carried out the attack. Harris highlights many of the more than 500 men (and a few women) who took part — ground crew, support staff, and upper-echelon brass as well as the 130 courageous men who took to the skies in May 1943 to deliver on the chancy promise of Operation Chastise. The squadron commander, Wing Commander Guy Gibson (1918-44), comes in for special attention, but he is far from alone.
The enormous human toll of Operation Chastise
Appropriately, Hastings reports not just on the loss of life among the airmen who raided the Ruhr that fateful night but on the Germans living in the vicinity as well:
** One hundred thirty airmen in nineteen specially-constructed Avro Lancaster Type B-III heavy bombers left England in three waves, following separate paths to the three dams targeted in the operation. Eight of those planes were lost, ending the lives of nearly half of those who flew in the operation. But many of those who survived the operation, including Guy Gibson, perished on later missions. “Less than a quarter of those men who attacked the dams survived to see VE-Day: of seventy-seven who returned safely . . . on that fateful morning two years earlier, just thirty-two remained alive in May 1945.” Operation Chastise had proven to claim casualties even higher than those of Bomber Command generally.
** For Germans living in the region where the planes dropped their bouncing bombs, Operation Chastise was a catastrophe. Estimates of the number of dead range as high as 1,400 from the flood waters released by the destruction of the Möhne and Eder dams. Tens of thousands more lost their homes. The operation “killed by inundation far more civilians than had any earlier RAF raid in Sir Arthur Harris’s ‘Battle of the Ruhr’, or indeed any operation since the British strategic air offensive began.” And, as in so many attacks on cities, a great many of those who died were Allied POWs and foreign slave workers.
Assessing the impact of Operation Chastise
Like the strategic bombing of German cities, Operation Chastise proved to have limited impact on Nazi weapons production and the morale of the German people. Hastings quotes the German journalist Joachim Fest‘s (1926-2006) explanation: “‘the next few days [after Chastise] revealed how little Harris had thought the programme through . . . he never carried out the expected incendiary raids in the Ruhr which would have wreaked havoc because the fire brigades had no water . . . The same lack of method in Allied [air] strategy manifested itself time and again.” Thus, writes Hastings, “Sir Arthur Harris must be cast as the wicked fairy of Chastise. . . [H]is failure to mount operations to impede repair of the dams seems to reflect a petulance and stubbornness that were characteristic of his tenure of command.”
The historical context
In the spring of 1943, when Operation Chastise was organized, the Allies had turned the corner. In June the previous year, the US Navy had won a decisive victory at Midway. In November 1942, Field Marshal Montgomery had won the Second Battle of El Alamein, reversing Allied defeats in North Africa and setting the stage for the invasion of Italy. And, most significantly, the USSR had forced the surrender of Field Marshal Paulus at Stalingrad in February 1943. Yet, the British people hungered for their armed forces to execute a breakthrough closer to home. Victory in the Battle of Britain had come nearly three years earlier. Morale was lagging on the home front, and Operation Chastise helped boost spirits, whatever the ultimate judgment about its strategic importance. In the final analysis, Hastings suggests, “The launching of Chastise reflected the turning of the tide; it represented a small but symbolic step towards passage of the initiative in the historic struggle against Nazism to the Allied camp.”
In Operation Chastise, British journalist and historian Max Hastings (1945-) assesses Harris’s role in the war with his usual refusal to accept the conventional wisdom. He is unsparing in his view of Harris as a thoroughly unpleasant and often wrong-headed obsessive who should have been sacked by his superiors. Yet, in considering the value of strategic bombing of German cities from the perspective of the war years, Hastings is more charitable. Unlike other observers, he takes pains to point out the considerable resources the Nazis diverted from the battlefront to protect themselves against the attacks on their cities. On balance, he finds sounder reasoning behind the strategy than others tend to do, although with evident distaste for the horrific loss of life.
An operation apart from the strategic bombing of German cities
Yet Operation Chastise highlights a mission executed by Bomber Command that was not consistent with the strategic bombing program. In fact, Air Marshall Harris fought its adoption at every stage with fierce resolution, regarding it as a wasteful diversion of resources from his cherished strategy. And when at length it succeeded, Harris adroitly managed to take credit for the operation. For years after the war, he was incorrectly credited with the operation, which had come to be regarded by the British people as the greatest success of the RAF since Fighter Command‘s triumph in the Battle of Britain three years earlier.
Bouncing bombs used to destroy the Ruhr dams
Operation Chastise was, in fact, nothing short of brilliant. It was the brainchild of Barnes Wallis (1887-1979), an engineer working for the Vickers aircraft company. Beginning in 1938, even before Britain entered the war, he was one of many who contemplated the potential strategic importance of bombing Germany’s dams. As Hastings portrays him, Wallis was a genius. His was the inventive mind behind improvements in several of Britain’s most important aircraft and munitions. But he is best known for inventing the “bouncing bomb” used to destroy two strategically significant dams in Germany’s Ruhr region in May 1943.
In recounting the story of Operation Chastise, Hastings relates in detail how Wallis struggled for years to advance his idea for the bouncing bomb in the face of a company preoccupied with other priorities and Bomber Harris’s relentless resistance in favor of strategic bombing. On its face, the idea seemed insane. Each plane would be fitted with a nine-ton cylindrical bomb mounted sideways on the bottom of the plane and spinning at hundreds of revolutions per minute. Wallis required bomber pilots to fly at a dangerously low altitude, skimming along the water as they approached each dam, and dropping the bomb a precise distance. If the pilot and bombardier got everything right, the bomb would literally skip along the water like a stone, climb the dam, slide back down, and detonate at exactly the right spot to punch a hole in the dam’s most vulnerable spot.
The facts about Operation Chastise came to light only gradually in the years following the war. Hastings has done an admirable job, digging through diaries and long-suppressed official records as well as interviews with relatives of those who were involved. His account focuses on the men of Squadron 617, which carried out the attack. Harris highlights many of the more than 500 men (and a few women) who took part — ground crew, support staff, and upper-echelon brass as well as the 130 courageous men who took to the skies in May 1943 to deliver on the chancy promise of Operation Chastise. The squadron commander, Wing Commander Guy Gibson (1918-44), comes in for special attention, but he is far from alone.
The enormous human toll of Operation Chastise
Appropriately, Hastings reports not just on the loss of life among the airmen who raided the Ruhr that fateful night but on the Germans living in the vicinity as well:
** One hundred thirty airmen in nineteen specially-constructed Avro Lancaster Type B-III heavy bombers left England in three waves, following separate paths to the three dams targeted in the operation. Eight of those planes were lost, ending the lives of nearly half of those who flew in the operation. But many of those who survived the operation, including Guy Gibson, perished on later missions. “Less than a quarter of those men who attacked the dams survived to see VE-Day: of seventy-seven who returned safely . . . on that fateful morning two years earlier, just thirty-two remained alive in May 1945.” Operation Chastise had proven to claim casualties even higher than those of Bomber Command generally.
** For Germans living in the region where the planes dropped their bouncing bombs, Operation Chastise was a catastrophe. Estimates of the number of dead range as high as 1,400 from the flood waters released by the destruction of the Möhne and Eder dams. Tens of thousands more lost their homes. The operation “killed by inundation far more civilians than had any earlier RAF raid in Sir Arthur Harris’s ‘Battle of the Ruhr’, or indeed any operation since the British strategic air offensive began.” And, as in so many attacks on cities, a great many of those who died were Allied POWs and foreign slave workers.
Assessing the impact of Operation Chastise
Like the strategic bombing of German cities, Operation Chastise proved to have limited impact on Nazi weapons production and the morale of the German people. Hastings quotes the German journalist Joachim Fest‘s (1926-2006) explanation: “‘the next few days [after Chastise] revealed how little Harris had thought the programme through . . . he never carried out the expected incendiary raids in the Ruhr which would have wreaked havoc because the fire brigades had no water . . . The same lack of method in Allied [air] strategy manifested itself time and again.” Thus, writes Hastings, “Sir Arthur Harris must be cast as the wicked fairy of Chastise. . . [H]is failure to mount operations to impede repair of the dams seems to reflect a petulance and stubbornness that were characteristic of his tenure of command.”
The historical context
In the spring of 1943, when Operation Chastise was organized, the Allies had turned the corner. In June the previous year, the US Navy had won a decisive victory at Midway. In November 1942, Field Marshal Montgomery had won the Second Battle of El Alamein, reversing Allied defeats in North Africa and setting the stage for the invasion of Italy. And, most significantly, the USSR had forced the surrender of Field Marshal Paulus at Stalingrad in February 1943. Yet, the British people hungered for their armed forces to execute a breakthrough closer to home. Victory in the Battle of Britain had come nearly three years earlier. Morale was lagging on the home front, and Operation Chastise helped boost spirits, whatever the ultimate judgment about its strategic importance. In the final analysis, Hastings suggests, “The launching of Chastise reflected the turning of the tide; it represented a small but symbolic step towards passage of the initiative in the historic struggle against Nazism to the Allied camp.”
February 27, 2024
Defraudado. Esta sería la versión corta de mi sensación con este libro.
Mi opinión sobre Hastings ha ido de más a menos. Armageddon me pareció un gran libro; Némesis, otro gran libro aunque la parte de análisis me pareció un poco floja; La guerra de Churchill ya me dio la sensación de un libro flojo con, una vez más, la parte de análisis realmente mala, parecía que el autor prefería caer en la senda de la opinión mayoritaria antes que profundizar o cuestionar las posiciones más populares (que hay que vender libros). La Guerra Secreta fue una decepción total, lo menos malo que se puede decir de él es que es "simple o poco profundo".
Así que llegue a este ejemplar esperando romper la tendencia y me temo que no lo ha hecho. Esperaba, dado el tema que trata, un libro más técnico, pero sales de él sin apenas saber como es un Lancaster (vale que ya lo sabía), cual era la forma de funcionamiento de las bombas (que algo de física no nos viene mal) o por qué se necesitaba una bomba que rebotara.... vamos que no se sabe nada de la misión, eso si, de novias y demás si que conocemos, los signos de estos tiempos (a ver cuando en una novela romántica nos describen un motor V8 y el funcionamiento de una Glock).
Y para rematar, una vez más, análisis simplón y me estoy mordiendo la lengua por no decir alguna otra cosa...
Mi opinión sobre Hastings ha ido de más a menos. Armageddon me pareció un gran libro; Némesis, otro gran libro aunque la parte de análisis me pareció un poco floja; La guerra de Churchill ya me dio la sensación de un libro flojo con, una vez más, la parte de análisis realmente mala, parecía que el autor prefería caer en la senda de la opinión mayoritaria antes que profundizar o cuestionar las posiciones más populares (que hay que vender libros). La Guerra Secreta fue una decepción total, lo menos malo que se puede decir de él es que es "simple o poco profundo".
Así que llegue a este ejemplar esperando romper la tendencia y me temo que no lo ha hecho. Esperaba, dado el tema que trata, un libro más técnico, pero sales de él sin apenas saber como es un Lancaster (vale que ya lo sabía), cual era la forma de funcionamiento de las bombas (que algo de física no nos viene mal) o por qué se necesitaba una bomba que rebotara.... vamos que no se sabe nada de la misión, eso si, de novias y demás si que conocemos, los signos de estos tiempos (a ver cuando en una novela romántica nos describen un motor V8 y el funcionamiento de una Glock).
Y para rematar, una vez más, análisis simplón y me estoy mordiendo la lengua por no decir alguna otra cosa...
October 10, 2019
Max Hastings provides a rather dry read, but an important one. I found it useful to remove the fallacy from the story, because the bravery of the people involved shines through even more. There is also due respect given to those who suffered as a result of the flooding—civilians and forced labourers.
I would have liked more on the reasons for not bombing the reconstruction efforts, as this must surely have been an almost criminal waste of the raid's achievements.
I would have liked more on the reasons for not bombing the reconstruction efforts, as this must surely have been an almost criminal waste of the raid's achievements.
October 21, 2019
The pilots and their crews were very brave young men, of that there is no doubt. But this book shows all too clearly how the leaders (Portal and Harris) under-performed. The failure to capitalise on the destruction of the dams was a very poor strategic and operational mistake. Max Hastings has produced an immensely readable account.
March 26, 2020
During World War II a debate raged among allied strategists as to how much civilians should be targeted to defeat the Nazis. As the Germans wreaked havoc on civilian populations throughout Europe and the United Kingdom the defeat of Hitler’s henchmen was deemed a necessity no matter the cost. Max Hastings, a British journalist and historian, the author of numerous volumes ranging from World War I, the Battle of Britain, World War II, Winston Churchill and Vietnam tackles the issue of civilian casualties in his latest effort, OPERATION CHASTISE: THE RAF’S MOST BRILLIANT ATTACK DURING WORLD WAR II.
By May 1943 the British had accomplished little against the Nazis when compared to the effort and suffering of the Soviet Union which was finally making its push from Stalingrad westward. Further, Winston Churchill was under a great deal of pressure to produce victories to stir the English people. The allied grand strategy to this point was cautious to allow their slow industrial buildup to take hold before making a stronger presence on the battlefield. To this point their most significant action concerned the use of heavy bombers. The British decided in October 1940 that instead of pursuing largely vain efforts to locate power plants, factories, and military installations the Royal Air Force (RAF) would bomb German cities which would continue until 1945 and the end of the war. The C-in-C Bomber Command Chief Marshall Sir Arthur Harris believed that air attacks on Germany could render a land invasion of Europe as unnecessary. Winston Churchill did not care for Harris, but he believed in his sense of purpose and his ability to create positive publicity, i.e., the thousand bomber raids” over Cologne in May-June 1940. There were a number of skeptics concerning Harris’ approach to winning the war, but Harris’ publicity machine and ability to put out positive bombing figures made him an important component in RAF leadership. By “by war’s end, Bomber Command was capable of reigning upon Hitler’s people in a single twenty-four-hour period as many bombs as the Luftwaffe dropped during the course of its entire 1940-41 blitz on Britain.”
It is at this point that Hastings introduces his main topic the bombing of German dams as a means of destroying Hitler’s Ruhr Valley industrial complex. The Ruhr and its industries accounted for 25% of Germany’s entire consumption, much of it derived from the Mohne reservoir. Flooding the low-lying Ruhr Valley would render railways, bridges, pumping stations, and chemical plants inoperative. The key figures that Hastings explores in depth are Barnes Wallis, an engineer who become the hero of Operation Chastise, the mission to destroy the Mohne Dam as well as others, as he was able to design and develop the immense bomb that could “bounce” along the water to breach the Mohne Dam. Next, Guy Gibson who led the 617 Squadron of the RAF Bomber Command that would bomb the dams of north western Germany employing a revolutionary new weapon that required plans to fly at an extremely low level after conducting over 170 successful bombing missions over Germany. Ralph Cochrane, Harris’ subordinate was in charge of the mission who was one of the RAF’s ablest senior officers who has been described as a “ruthless martinet.” Air Chief Marshall Sir Charles Portal, the head of the RAF believed in assaulting urban areas and was a prime mover behind Operation Chastise. Arthur Collins, a scientific officer in Harmondsworth’s “Concrete Section” who proved to Wallis that “a relatively small charge might achieve a wholly disproportionate result if it was detonated sub-aqueously and close to the target, using a timer or a hydrostatic pistol: it could thus harness the power of the water mass to channel the force of the blast.” Lastly, Sir Arthur Harris, the commander, who when pulled over by the military police at one time and was admonished that he could have killed someone, he responded “I kill thousands of people every night.”
Hastings does a marvelous job explaining the scientific experimentation, the training of the pilots, the shifting of resources, the strategic planning of the operation, and the different personalities with their own agendas in detail. By doing so Hastings highlights his own expertise and command of the material, but also the ability to explain complex information and make it easily understood for the reader.
Hastings introduces numerous pilots, bomb aimers, navigators, wireless operators, and gunners that made up the core of the mission. These men formed groups of seven for each Lancaster bomber that was sent into Germany the night of May 16, 1943. Hastings narrative provides intimate portraits of the men and how they interacted and were organized. The squadron reflected all social classes, but despite a degree of class consciousness they were able to form into workmanlike groups of young men most of whom were in their late teens and early twenties with a sprinkle of men in their thirties. Among these individuals included are Richard Trevor-Roper, the Squadron Gunnery Leader and bomb aimer who at 27 was the oldest among the squadron; F/.SGT Len Sumpter, a bomb aimer was a shoe makers son who left school at 14; wireless operator Jack Guterman, a very literary young man faced with the decision to follow his pilot Bill Ottley from another command joined the 617th; F/LT Joseph McCarthy, the only American pilot involved with Operation Chastise who grew up in the Bronx, NY; F/LT John “Hoppy” Hopgood, Gibson’s closest friend; F/LT David Shannon, an Australian pilot; and aircraft navigator Jock Rumbes a pilot washout who became an excellent navigator. These and many others new by the nature of the mission flying at night at an altitude of under 100 feet over water that their chances of survival were limited and the result is that 52 of the 133 men involved in Operation Chastise would not return. As Hastings points out, “the margin for error, both for successful attacks and survival was virtually zero.”
Hastings provides a blow by blow account of Operation Chastise from its takeoff on May 16, 1943 describing the difficulty of lifting off the ground with such a heavy payload, flying under 500 feet in the air to avoid German radar and flak, the mindset and experiences of the 133 men during the long flight, the final successful delivery of Wallis’ “bouncing bombs,” and the severe losses in planes, five of which crashed before reaching the target area in addition to three more at the site out of nineteen in total that took off on May 16, and the 52 men that perished. As Hastings correctly concludes, Operation Chastise was a huge extravagance and essentially a gamble, a piece of military theater, rather than serious strategy. In the end the Mohne and Eder dams were breached causing flood waters that would kill between 1400-1500 people, half of which were non-German forced laborers. In addition, the Nazis suffered an undetermined amount of economic and production losses.
Operation Chastise was largely hidden from the public until 1955 when the film, “Dam Busters” was released. Hastings follows upon the works of other historians like James Holland to describe the events and personalities surrounding the mission whose idea dated back to 1937 and presents it to an audience after conducting voluminous research and interviews over his long career as a war correspondent, journalist and historian. With the inclusion of maps, charts, and photos Hastings effort has produces a wonderful addition to monographs that focus upon the lesser known operations conducted during World War II, but were extremely important as in this case it reflected the turning of the tide, a small and symbolic step towards the ultimate defeat of Nazi Germany.
By May 1943 the British had accomplished little against the Nazis when compared to the effort and suffering of the Soviet Union which was finally making its push from Stalingrad westward. Further, Winston Churchill was under a great deal of pressure to produce victories to stir the English people. The allied grand strategy to this point was cautious to allow their slow industrial buildup to take hold before making a stronger presence on the battlefield. To this point their most significant action concerned the use of heavy bombers. The British decided in October 1940 that instead of pursuing largely vain efforts to locate power plants, factories, and military installations the Royal Air Force (RAF) would bomb German cities which would continue until 1945 and the end of the war. The C-in-C Bomber Command Chief Marshall Sir Arthur Harris believed that air attacks on Germany could render a land invasion of Europe as unnecessary. Winston Churchill did not care for Harris, but he believed in his sense of purpose and his ability to create positive publicity, i.e., the thousand bomber raids” over Cologne in May-June 1940. There were a number of skeptics concerning Harris’ approach to winning the war, but Harris’ publicity machine and ability to put out positive bombing figures made him an important component in RAF leadership. By “by war’s end, Bomber Command was capable of reigning upon Hitler’s people in a single twenty-four-hour period as many bombs as the Luftwaffe dropped during the course of its entire 1940-41 blitz on Britain.”
It is at this point that Hastings introduces his main topic the bombing of German dams as a means of destroying Hitler’s Ruhr Valley industrial complex. The Ruhr and its industries accounted for 25% of Germany’s entire consumption, much of it derived from the Mohne reservoir. Flooding the low-lying Ruhr Valley would render railways, bridges, pumping stations, and chemical plants inoperative. The key figures that Hastings explores in depth are Barnes Wallis, an engineer who become the hero of Operation Chastise, the mission to destroy the Mohne Dam as well as others, as he was able to design and develop the immense bomb that could “bounce” along the water to breach the Mohne Dam. Next, Guy Gibson who led the 617 Squadron of the RAF Bomber Command that would bomb the dams of north western Germany employing a revolutionary new weapon that required plans to fly at an extremely low level after conducting over 170 successful bombing missions over Germany. Ralph Cochrane, Harris’ subordinate was in charge of the mission who was one of the RAF’s ablest senior officers who has been described as a “ruthless martinet.” Air Chief Marshall Sir Charles Portal, the head of the RAF believed in assaulting urban areas and was a prime mover behind Operation Chastise. Arthur Collins, a scientific officer in Harmondsworth’s “Concrete Section” who proved to Wallis that “a relatively small charge might achieve a wholly disproportionate result if it was detonated sub-aqueously and close to the target, using a timer or a hydrostatic pistol: it could thus harness the power of the water mass to channel the force of the blast.” Lastly, Sir Arthur Harris, the commander, who when pulled over by the military police at one time and was admonished that he could have killed someone, he responded “I kill thousands of people every night.”
Hastings does a marvelous job explaining the scientific experimentation, the training of the pilots, the shifting of resources, the strategic planning of the operation, and the different personalities with their own agendas in detail. By doing so Hastings highlights his own expertise and command of the material, but also the ability to explain complex information and make it easily understood for the reader.
Hastings introduces numerous pilots, bomb aimers, navigators, wireless operators, and gunners that made up the core of the mission. These men formed groups of seven for each Lancaster bomber that was sent into Germany the night of May 16, 1943. Hastings narrative provides intimate portraits of the men and how they interacted and were organized. The squadron reflected all social classes, but despite a degree of class consciousness they were able to form into workmanlike groups of young men most of whom were in their late teens and early twenties with a sprinkle of men in their thirties. Among these individuals included are Richard Trevor-Roper, the Squadron Gunnery Leader and bomb aimer who at 27 was the oldest among the squadron; F/.SGT Len Sumpter, a bomb aimer was a shoe makers son who left school at 14; wireless operator Jack Guterman, a very literary young man faced with the decision to follow his pilot Bill Ottley from another command joined the 617th; F/LT Joseph McCarthy, the only American pilot involved with Operation Chastise who grew up in the Bronx, NY; F/LT John “Hoppy” Hopgood, Gibson’s closest friend; F/LT David Shannon, an Australian pilot; and aircraft navigator Jock Rumbes a pilot washout who became an excellent navigator. These and many others new by the nature of the mission flying at night at an altitude of under 100 feet over water that their chances of survival were limited and the result is that 52 of the 133 men involved in Operation Chastise would not return. As Hastings points out, “the margin for error, both for successful attacks and survival was virtually zero.”
Hastings provides a blow by blow account of Operation Chastise from its takeoff on May 16, 1943 describing the difficulty of lifting off the ground with such a heavy payload, flying under 500 feet in the air to avoid German radar and flak, the mindset and experiences of the 133 men during the long flight, the final successful delivery of Wallis’ “bouncing bombs,” and the severe losses in planes, five of which crashed before reaching the target area in addition to three more at the site out of nineteen in total that took off on May 16, and the 52 men that perished. As Hastings correctly concludes, Operation Chastise was a huge extravagance and essentially a gamble, a piece of military theater, rather than serious strategy. In the end the Mohne and Eder dams were breached causing flood waters that would kill between 1400-1500 people, half of which were non-German forced laborers. In addition, the Nazis suffered an undetermined amount of economic and production losses.
Operation Chastise was largely hidden from the public until 1955 when the film, “Dam Busters” was released. Hastings follows upon the works of other historians like James Holland to describe the events and personalities surrounding the mission whose idea dated back to 1937 and presents it to an audience after conducting voluminous research and interviews over his long career as a war correspondent, journalist and historian. With the inclusion of maps, charts, and photos Hastings effort has produces a wonderful addition to monographs that focus upon the lesser known operations conducted during World War II, but were extremely important as in this case it reflected the turning of the tide, a small and symbolic step towards the ultimate defeat of Nazi Germany.
June 3, 2020
When I was a child I was thrilled to read the wonderful WW2 adventure stories by Scottish author Alistair Maclean. I mention this because The Dam Busters, on first blush, reads like a thriller, a boys own yarn, from the aforementioned author. However, as we know, the story of the Dam Busters is not an imaginary tale but rather an audacious attack right into the heart of Nazi Germany.
It was a time of world war, stagnation, constant heavy “carpet” bombing missions under the leadership of the somewhat controversial Arthur Harris. Harris appeared to be accomplishing little, the only way to mark/pinpoint a target from a Lancaster bomber was by use of a compass, a map, and a sharp pair of young eyes. It is therefore of little surprise that targeted carpet bombing had very limited success, and it is against this background that an enigmatic Barnes Wallis unfolds his bouncing bomb.
3 dams were chosen; the Mohne, the Sorpe and the Eder. A special 617 squadron was created under the auspices of Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson, VC, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar, and a fleet of Lancaster bombers were requisitioned and accordingly modified to carry the inventors explosive device. In order to deliver the bouncing bomb at the centre of the chosen dam, great concentration, precision and nerve were demanded from the crew of the attacking plane. A modern generation can never imagine how brave and utterly fearless those young men inside the Lancaster bomber were. To fly at a height of only 60ft, under constant attack by enemy fire, and expected to destroy a specified target needs a certain type of resilience, a certain type of superhero. When you realize that an airman was expected to complete 30 missions as part of a tour it is little wonder that few survived beyond the first few.
There have been those who have voiced great concern and justification at the implementation of such at such a foolhardy mission. Not only a great loss of so many young airmen but equally devastating to those residents who lived immediately below and therefore directly in the path of a fast approaching mountainous volume of water. However Britain needed a hero, something to cheer for, in the stagnant waters of the early 1940’s, and a young boyish aircrew led by the flamboyant, abrasive Gibson aptly filled that role. Max Hasting’s “Chastise” is a truly inspiring, magnificent book. It brings to life a story of a daring mission deep into the heart of a hostile nation. How fearless young men were prepared to fight and most probably die for the greater good, free from oppression and tyranny so that future generations could live in relative freedom……. “We lived supremely for the moment. Our preoccupation was the next patrol, our horizon the next leave. Sometimes, jokingly, as one discusses winning the Derby Sweep, we would plan our lives after the war. But this had no substantial significance. It was a dream, conjecturable as heaven, resembling no life we knew. We were trained with one object -to kill. We had one hope - to live”.....Wonderful inspiring writing and highly recommended.
It was a time of world war, stagnation, constant heavy “carpet” bombing missions under the leadership of the somewhat controversial Arthur Harris. Harris appeared to be accomplishing little, the only way to mark/pinpoint a target from a Lancaster bomber was by use of a compass, a map, and a sharp pair of young eyes. It is therefore of little surprise that targeted carpet bombing had very limited success, and it is against this background that an enigmatic Barnes Wallis unfolds his bouncing bomb.
3 dams were chosen; the Mohne, the Sorpe and the Eder. A special 617 squadron was created under the auspices of Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson, VC, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar, and a fleet of Lancaster bombers were requisitioned and accordingly modified to carry the inventors explosive device. In order to deliver the bouncing bomb at the centre of the chosen dam, great concentration, precision and nerve were demanded from the crew of the attacking plane. A modern generation can never imagine how brave and utterly fearless those young men inside the Lancaster bomber were. To fly at a height of only 60ft, under constant attack by enemy fire, and expected to destroy a specified target needs a certain type of resilience, a certain type of superhero. When you realize that an airman was expected to complete 30 missions as part of a tour it is little wonder that few survived beyond the first few.
There have been those who have voiced great concern and justification at the implementation of such at such a foolhardy mission. Not only a great loss of so many young airmen but equally devastating to those residents who lived immediately below and therefore directly in the path of a fast approaching mountainous volume of water. However Britain needed a hero, something to cheer for, in the stagnant waters of the early 1940’s, and a young boyish aircrew led by the flamboyant, abrasive Gibson aptly filled that role. Max Hasting’s “Chastise” is a truly inspiring, magnificent book. It brings to life a story of a daring mission deep into the heart of a hostile nation. How fearless young men were prepared to fight and most probably die for the greater good, free from oppression and tyranny so that future generations could live in relative freedom……. “We lived supremely for the moment. Our preoccupation was the next patrol, our horizon the next leave. Sometimes, jokingly, as one discusses winning the Derby Sweep, we would plan our lives after the war. But this had no substantial significance. It was a dream, conjecturable as heaven, resembling no life we knew. We were trained with one object -to kill. We had one hope - to live”.....Wonderful inspiring writing and highly recommended.
February 4, 2020
As my father served with the RAAF as a ground engineer on the Lancaster (out of Binbrook rather than the home of 617 squadron at Scampton) this
is a plane that has always filled my heart with emotion. A beautiful vehicle that brings tears to my eyes when I see it fly. A symbol of the victory of good over the evil of Nazi rule. But one can never forget also a bringer of death and destruction.
Chastise is truly and utterly magnificent book about one of WW2’s most famous events. But this is not the bombastic story of brave heroes turning the tide of the war that many of us grew up with. Nor is it the more recent portrayal of a pointless mission achieving little and killing many. It’s probably the most balanced and nuanced history book I’ve read. The utter brilliance of Barnes Wallace and his anguish of the lives lost. The bravery of the entire 617 squadron, less than a quarter of whom survived the war. The fear, intensity and skill of the trips to the dams. The bravery of the German flak gunners. The tragic loss of thousands of innocent lives, German civilians devastated by a tsunami wiping away homes, lives and families, but also the POWs and slave workers taken too. Bomber Harris seem for his strengths but also many weaknesses yet not tarring as the hell bent carpet bomber.
It succeeds so well due to its depth. It’s depth of characters and the real people that lay behind them. The impossible argument of a “good and fair” war.
is a plane that has always filled my heart with emotion. A beautiful vehicle that brings tears to my eyes when I see it fly. A symbol of the victory of good over the evil of Nazi rule. But one can never forget also a bringer of death and destruction.
Chastise is truly and utterly magnificent book about one of WW2’s most famous events. But this is not the bombastic story of brave heroes turning the tide of the war that many of us grew up with. Nor is it the more recent portrayal of a pointless mission achieving little and killing many. It’s probably the most balanced and nuanced history book I’ve read. The utter brilliance of Barnes Wallace and his anguish of the lives lost. The bravery of the entire 617 squadron, less than a quarter of whom survived the war. The fear, intensity and skill of the trips to the dams. The bravery of the German flak gunners. The tragic loss of thousands of innocent lives, German civilians devastated by a tsunami wiping away homes, lives and families, but also the POWs and slave workers taken too. Bomber Harris seem for his strengths but also many weaknesses yet not tarring as the hell bent carpet bomber.
It succeeds so well due to its depth. It’s depth of characters and the real people that lay behind them. The impossible argument of a “good and fair” war.
January 7, 2022
"Operation Chastise: The RAF's Most Brilliant Attack of World War II" by Max Hastings was a solid entry on an interesting World War II operation—the bombing of key dams in Germany’s Ruhr Valley. Max Hastings is an award-winning British journalist who has written extensively on World War II and is very knowledgeable on the broader subject. So, what’s not to like? The two reasons I gave the book only three stars was that it seemed the author was ‘phoning it in’ just a bit and that there are very good earlier books on the same subject.
Hastings gained much and deserved fame for his 1979 tome on the British air offensive against Nazi Germany – “Bomber Command.” Some material from that earlier effort was repurposed here in Operation Chastise, so maybe Hastings didn’t have quite as much new material to bring to this offering. In addition, there have been numerous books on Operation Chastise, two of which stand out and have been mentioned by other reviewers. James Holland’s 2013 book: “Dam Busters: The True Story of the Inventors and Airmen Who Led the Devastating Raid to Smash the German Dams in 1943,” and John Sweetman’s 1982 book: “The Dambusters Raid: The Most Audacious Bombing Raid of the Second World War.”
I like Hasting’s writing, and this popular retelling of the tale will undoubtedly be a successful venture. IMHO while this tale is well told, not much new is brought to the history.
Hastings gained much and deserved fame for his 1979 tome on the British air offensive against Nazi Germany – “Bomber Command.” Some material from that earlier effort was repurposed here in Operation Chastise, so maybe Hastings didn’t have quite as much new material to bring to this offering. In addition, there have been numerous books on Operation Chastise, two of which stand out and have been mentioned by other reviewers. James Holland’s 2013 book: “Dam Busters: The True Story of the Inventors and Airmen Who Led the Devastating Raid to Smash the German Dams in 1943,” and John Sweetman’s 1982 book: “The Dambusters Raid: The Most Audacious Bombing Raid of the Second World War.”
I like Hasting’s writing, and this popular retelling of the tale will undoubtedly be a successful venture. IMHO while this tale is well told, not much new is brought to the history.
May 7, 2020
My reading Max Hastings’ “Operation Chastise: The RAF’s Most Brilliant Attack of World War II” may have been overkill: Several months ago I read James Holland’s “Dam Busters,” and then saw the 1955 film, twice.
So, yes, the timing was perhaps imperfect, but I couldn’t resist a new book about the Dambuster raids—that particular part of World War II lore that has stoked countless imaginations for 75+ years.
No point in rehashing the story, but suffice it to say that Hastings’ book is a worthy addition to the Dam Busters canon. It’s detailed-yet-readable, and tries to take some different tacks from what’s come before. For instance, Hastings shows that the actual effect of the raids on the German war machine was more ambiguous than might be represented previously; as he and many others have observed, it was more theater than strategic blow… albeit very effective theater—“a marriage of British imagination, technical brilliance and courage.” (p. 218).
However, Hastings also shows the considerable toll on the German side that resulted in the deaths of civilians and even female POWs. As Hastings points out: today the bombing of the dams would be a technical war crime… and therein lies the eternal debate: to what extent can we use modern standards to judge the actions of a previous era?
So, yes, the timing was perhaps imperfect, but I couldn’t resist a new book about the Dambuster raids—that particular part of World War II lore that has stoked countless imaginations for 75+ years.
No point in rehashing the story, but suffice it to say that Hastings’ book is a worthy addition to the Dam Busters canon. It’s detailed-yet-readable, and tries to take some different tacks from what’s come before. For instance, Hastings shows that the actual effect of the raids on the German war machine was more ambiguous than might be represented previously; as he and many others have observed, it was more theater than strategic blow… albeit very effective theater—“a marriage of British imagination, technical brilliance and courage.” (p. 218).
However, Hastings also shows the considerable toll on the German side that resulted in the deaths of civilians and even female POWs. As Hastings points out: today the bombing of the dams would be a technical war crime… and therein lies the eternal debate: to what extent can we use modern standards to judge the actions of a previous era?
November 3, 2021
I am slowly coming round to the view that the operation was indeed a waste of resources. I used to be outraged at any critical appraisal of the breaching of the Mohne and Eder dams and that my boyhood heroes (gleaned from obsessive reading of Paul Brickhill’s superb book) were somehow implicated in a war crime.
Max Hastings has supplied a sobering and reasoned account of the buildup, prosecution and aftermath of the dams raid carried out by very young men (gap year students really) who were trained to kill but hoped only to live. Even when described so vividly, the events of 16-17th May 1943 are unimaginable now. Terrifying for the aircrews struggling to align their Lancasters correctly (having already seen colleagues perish) and the poor victims trapped in the Ruhr valley as the deluge unfolded. I know this was but a pinprick in terms of the war but the testimony of those involved makes it somehow personal and you pray for the survival of airmen and civilians alike.
There is room for a little humour amid the desperation - a farmer in the Eder valley who managed to get his pig upstairs only to see it crash out through a window as the flood levels rose about them. The pig survived and was returned from where it ended up - six miles downstream. I was pathetically pleased for him.
Max Hastings has supplied a sobering and reasoned account of the buildup, prosecution and aftermath of the dams raid carried out by very young men (gap year students really) who were trained to kill but hoped only to live. Even when described so vividly, the events of 16-17th May 1943 are unimaginable now. Terrifying for the aircrews struggling to align their Lancasters correctly (having already seen colleagues perish) and the poor victims trapped in the Ruhr valley as the deluge unfolded. I know this was but a pinprick in terms of the war but the testimony of those involved makes it somehow personal and you pray for the survival of airmen and civilians alike.
There is room for a little humour amid the desperation - a farmer in the Eder valley who managed to get his pig upstairs only to see it crash out through a window as the flood levels rose about them. The pig survived and was returned from where it ended up - six miles downstream. I was pathetically pleased for him.
October 16, 2019
Just when you thought that all that could have been written about the raid on the Ruhr dams, along comes Max Hastings to prove otherwise. His book tells not only the history of the technical challenges, and how the attraction of the targets was foreseen by both British and German air ministries before the war, but also of the makeup of 617 squadron, and how that wasn’t as well planned as has been told countless times.
While the bravery of those took part is fully recognised, some of the individuals are criticised - including Guy Gibson himself.
A central them of Hastings books, is that air power alone cannot win wars, and he is damning of criticism of the blinkered approach of Bomber Command and the senior ranks of the RAF in planning, utilising and following up the raid. Although the dams were reopened fully less than 6 months after the raid, there was no attempt to disrupt, nor was there any follow up to the damaged Sorpe dam.
A well constructed book that held my attention, despite my familiarity with the subject matter.
While the bravery of those took part is fully recognised, some of the individuals are criticised - including Guy Gibson himself.
A central them of Hastings books, is that air power alone cannot win wars, and he is damning of criticism of the blinkered approach of Bomber Command and the senior ranks of the RAF in planning, utilising and following up the raid. Although the dams were reopened fully less than 6 months after the raid, there was no attempt to disrupt, nor was there any follow up to the damaged Sorpe dam.
A well constructed book that held my attention, despite my familiarity with the subject matter.
Read
May 25, 2020Did not finish. I read The Dam Busters years ago and remembered it today. It was a great story. This book was just not that interesting, also having served ten years in the army, Guy Gibson was the worst kind of officer. I found myself hating him on almost every page. Even if he was a great pilot he was a shit CO.
October 15, 2020
Hastings is a terrific military historian. My only complaint -- a tiny one -- is the level of painstaking, sometimes irrelevant detail on this mission. Still, Hastings pulls no punches on the mistakes in planning and training, as well as the minimal effect of the breaching of the dams to hasten the end of the war or slow down manufacturing. Good stuff.
December 14, 2020
An excellent account of the lead up to the Dam Busters raid, including some of the politics and technical difficulties. Very refreshing was an account of the aftermath of the raid on civilians below the dams.
May 4, 2021
Halfway through this book and I was struggling - it is as dull as ditch water. There are far too many unnecessary details and frankly it is difficult to engage with any of the characters.
I have not read a worse book in years. The story is lost in too much irrelevant detail.
I have not read a worse book in years. The story is lost in too much irrelevant detail.
August 11, 2022
Uno no puede dejar de preguntarse si valió para algo la perdida de todas esas vidas de gente tan joven.
Como siempre un libro apasionado y humano de Max Hastings. Quizá es inferior a otros pero lo suple con el interés que despierta esa misión sobre las presas tan vanguardista y devastadora.
Como siempre un libro apasionado y humano de Max Hastings. Quizá es inferior a otros pero lo suple con el interés que despierta esa misión sobre las presas tan vanguardista y devastadora.
October 30, 2019
I LKE THIS BOOK.
May 28, 2020
I didn’t actually finish it. BORING!! This story could have been written in a much more compelling fashion.
August 2, 2020
A deeply immoral book glorifying death, material destruction, suffering and poverty for the sole pleasure of knowing that his gang and not him is richer and more powerful.
July 31, 2020
As a much younger person many decades ago I remember watching the 1955 movie The Dam Busters and being impressed with the daring raid to breech several German dams during World War II with the intent to cripple the Nazi war effort. Fast forward to my reading Operation Chastise: The RAF's Most Brilliant Attack of World War II by Max Hastings and realizing that the movie was based on facts and involved the development of special ball-shaped explosives to overcome difficulties with striking dams in tight valleys. They were to be dropped into the river at low altitude such that they would skip like a stone on the water until they reached the dam where they would hit and sink before exploding underwater causing the dam to fail flooding the area below the dam. While it was successful, it cost many lives of the flight crews and, once the flooding began, approximately 1,200 lives were lost in the ensuing flood who were primarily Russian and Polish women slave laborers. More importantly, there was no follow up to bomb the reconstruction efforts such that before long operations supporting the Nazi war efforts had reverted to the status before the bombing. For anyone who like to read about WWII history, this is a must read, but anyone would likely find it interesting.
April 18, 2020
The Dam Busters story is legendary, and like many my main point of reference to this story is the 1950s film. I did also read the Paul Brickhill book when I was in high school, and I read Guy Gibson’s Enemy Coast Ahead a few years ago but Chastise by Max Hastings is the first modern retelling of the story that I have read, so I can’t compare it to any other contemporary books. However what I can say is that I thoroughly enjoyed Hastings’s work and it expanded my understanding of the context in which the raid took place and definitely was an eye opener in terms of the consequences for those caught in the flooding that resulted from the breach of the dams. Also the significance of the Sorpe dam in the whole plan was lost on me before.
I particularly enjoyed the way in which Hastings included a lot of personal information about the aircrew involved in the raid, and it certain gave me a much better understanding of Gibson.
Certainly one of the most extraordinary military actions of WWII, this is a book that I certainly recommend and perhaps I will seek out some other contemporary works on this raid in order to get some other different perspectives.
I particularly enjoyed the way in which Hastings included a lot of personal information about the aircrew involved in the raid, and it certain gave me a much better understanding of Gibson.
Certainly one of the most extraordinary military actions of WWII, this is a book that I certainly recommend and perhaps I will seek out some other contemporary works on this raid in order to get some other different perspectives.
January 12, 2022
This book offers a sober appraisal of the Dam Busters raid. It shows how history is different to film. Barnes Wallis received a lot of official support to make it all work, rather than being the lone maverick who brought it off, almost in-spite of officialdom. Guy Gibson wasn't particularly well liked and was quite unpleasant to his inferiors. Bomber Harris had little faith in anything that wasn't an area attack, but was quick to jump on the success of this raid.
Hastings demonstrates that by not smashing the Sorpe dam, an unlikely event given its different construction to the others, this operation was only going to be a partial success at best. Similarly, not following it up by bombing the repairs to the Mohne, it was only a temporary success. What it did do, though, was to demonstrate to the Americans and the Russians that Britain was hitting Germany. As a spectacle it was a success and it went a long way to raising British martial prestige.
This is far from a triumphalist account. Hastings shows the German side of events, especially the devastation wrought. This is no boy's own account of a wizard prang.
Hastings demonstrates that by not smashing the Sorpe dam, an unlikely event given its different construction to the others, this operation was only going to be a partial success at best. Similarly, not following it up by bombing the repairs to the Mohne, it was only a temporary success. What it did do, though, was to demonstrate to the Americans and the Russians that Britain was hitting Germany. As a spectacle it was a success and it went a long way to raising British martial prestige.
This is far from a triumphalist account. Hastings shows the German side of events, especially the devastation wrought. This is no boy's own account of a wizard prang.
November 21, 2019
Via Audible.
Solid account of the Dambusters which lays some myths to rest. The raids were , partly due to ineffective British follow up, not the detriment to the nazis that they could have been, though it counted well enough.
Though we like films about Individuas vs faceless beaurocracy ( eg the dam-busters film and the Turing biopic recently ) that wasn’t quite the case here. The immediate victims were civilians , POWs and foreign workers. Gibson was a complex troubled man who made free with other soldiers wives.
But for all this it dealt a psychological blow with some material set back, and sometimes that’s war.
Solid account of the Dambusters which lays some myths to rest. The raids were , partly due to ineffective British follow up, not the detriment to the nazis that they could have been, though it counted well enough.
Though we like films about Individuas vs faceless beaurocracy ( eg the dam-busters film and the Turing biopic recently ) that wasn’t quite the case here. The immediate victims were civilians , POWs and foreign workers. Gibson was a complex troubled man who made free with other soldiers wives.
But for all this it dealt a psychological blow with some material set back, and sometimes that’s war.
January 18, 2021
Chastise by Max Hastings is a gloriously informative book that takes the reader behind the scene and into the heart of the Dam Busters raid. The years preceding the operation and the politics surrounding the technical development of the weapon and aircraft is fascinating. The book reinforces the attitudes of the time and underpins the frightening fact that those who took part in the raid were not much older that modern day university students. This book is a must for readers interested in the struggle that raged across Europe in the first half of the 1940s.
October 16, 2019
A superb and balanced account of a famously heroic raid. Hastings is excellent at reporting the bigger picture and bringing in thoughts and factors that other writers miss. At the same time he adds personal details that bring the narrative alive and bring it back down to a human level. Chastise explains how the concept of such a daring raid arose, the constraints and trials that had to be overcome to make it happen, how it was executed and, finally, it’s legacy. Thoroughly recommended.
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