Chastise: The Dambusters Story 1943
A masterly history of the Dambusters raid from bestselling and critically acclaimed Max Hastings. Operation Chastise, the overnight destruction of the Möhne and Eder dams in north-west Germany by the RAF’s 617 Squadron, 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 won the VC leading the raid. In the 21st Century, however, Hastings urges that we should review the Dambusters in much more complex shades. The aircrew’s heroism was wholly authentic, as was the brilliance of Barnes Wallis, who invented the ‘bouncing bombs’. But commanders who promised their young fliers that success could shorten the war fantasised wildly. What Germans call the Möhnekatastrophe imposed on the Nazi war machine temporary disruption, rather than a crippling blow. Hastings vividly describes the evolution of Wallis’ bomb, and of the squadron which broke the dams at the cost of devastating losses. But he also portrays in harrowing detail those swept away by the torrents. Some 1,400 civilians perished in the biblical floods that swept through the Möhne valley, more than half of them Russian and Polish women, slave labourers under Hitler. Ironically, Air Marshal Sir Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris gained much of the credit, though he opposed Chastise as a distraction from his city-burning blitz. He also made what the author describes as the operation’s biggest mistake – the failure to launch a conventional attack on the Nazis’ huge post-raid repair operation, which could have transformed the impact of the dam breaches upon Ruhr industry. Chastise offers a fascinating retake on legend 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.
Читать Chastise: The Dambusters Story 1943 онлайн беплатно
William Collins
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
This eBook first published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2019
Copyright © Max Hastings 2019
The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Cover photograph © IWM
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780008280529
Ebook Edition © September 2019 ISBN: 9780008280543
Version: 2019-08-01
In memory of the aircrew who achieved the almost impossible on the night of 16/17 May 1943; and of the men, women and children on both sides who perished
Contents
1 Cover
2 Title Page
3 Copyright
4 Dedication
5 Contents
6 List of Illustrations
7 Epigraph
8 RAF Ranks and Army Equivalents
9 Abbreviations Used in the Text
10 Introduction
11 Prologue
12 1 Grand Strategy, Great Dams 1 THE BIG PICTURE2 HARRIS3 THE ‘PANACEA MERCHANTS’
13 2 The Boffin and His Bombs 1 WALLIS2 GESTATION3 FIRST BOUNCES
14 3 Command and Controversy 1 TARGETS2 GIBSON3 ‘A DISASTER OF THE FIRST MAGNITUDE’
15 4 Men and Machines 1 FLIERS2 FLYING
16 5 The Brink of Battle 1 SIXTY FEET2 ‘NO NEWS THAT WOULD INTEREST YOU FROM HERE’
17 6 Chastise 1 TAKE-OFF2 GETTING THERE
18 7 At the Dams 1 THE MÖHNE AND THE SORPE2 THE EDER AND AFTER
19 8 The Möhnekatastrophe1 ‘A WALL OF WATER, BLACK AS COAL’2 ‘CLOSE TO A SUCCESS’
20 9 Heroes 1 GARNERING THE LAURELS2 SQUANDERING THE SACRIFICE
21 10 Landings 1 ‘GOODNIGHT, EVERYONE’2 RECONCILIATIONS
22 Appendix I: 617 Squadron’s Crews Who Flew on the Night of 16/17 May 1943
23 Appendix II: Landmark Dates in the Evolution of Chastise
24 Appendix III: A Chronology of Operation Chastise 16/17 May 1943
25 Picture Section
26 Acknowledgements
27 Notes and References
28 Bibliography
29 Index
30 Also by Max Hastings
31 About the Publisher
LandmarksCoverFrontmatterStart of ContentBackmatter
List of Pagesivvxixiixiiixivxvxviixixxxxxixxiixxiiixxivxxvxxvixxviixxviiixxixxxxxxxixxxiixxxiiixxxivxxxv1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041424344454647484950515253545556575859606162636465666768697071727374757677787980818284858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175178179180181182183184185186187188189190191192193194195196197198199200201202203204205206207208209210211212213214215216217218219220221222223224225226227228229230231232233234235236237238239240241242243244245246247248249250251252253254255256257258259260261262263264265266267268269270271272273274275276277278279280281282283284285286287288289290291292293294295296297298299300301302303304305306307308309315316318319320322323324325326327328329330331332333334335336337338339340341342343345346347348349350351352353354355356357358359360361362363364ii
The Möhne, the Eder and the Sorpe.
Barnes and Molly Wallis in 1925. (Estate of Mary Stopes-Roe)
The Wallis home in Effingham, Surrey. (Cambridge University Library/MS Vickers)
Wallis in his study with an assistant. (Cambridge University Library/MS Vickers)
1940 cartoon showing the Wallis-designed Wellington bomber.
The scaled-down model of the Möhne at Nant-y-Gro in Powys, eight minutes after a test explosion in 1942. (The National Archives/AVIA 10/369)
Recording apparatus attached to scale-model dam at Watford. (The National Archives/DSIR 27/43)
Test explosion at Nant-y-Gro. (The National Archives/AVIA 10/369)
Cherwell, Portal, Pound and Churchill watching a display of anti-aircraft gunnery, June 1941. (Imperial War Museum/H 10306)
Air Vice Marshal the Hon. R.A. Cochrane. (Imperial War Museum/CH 14564); Sir Charles Craven. (Cambridge University Library/MS Vickers); Sir Norman Bottomley. (National Portrait Gallery, London/Howard Coster); Arthur Collins; Air Marshal Sir John Linnell. (Imperial War Museum/CM 5259); Gp. Capt. F. W. Winterbotham. (Barry James Gilmore/Fairfax Media/Getty Images)
