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 color and black and white photographs and documents, the authors piece together the extraordinary, gripping, yet ultimately tragic stories of these select young men.

Steve Darlow is a Bomber Command historian and established military aviation author, with fourteen books to his name. Steve has made numerous radio and television appearances, and recently acted as program consultant on the BBC’s The Lancaster: Britain’s Flying Past and Channel 5’s War Hero in the Family (Robert Llewelyn). Steve is also an Ambassador of the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund.

Sean Feast is a Director and co-owner of Gravity London and the author of several books on World War II pilots.

Dr 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 Foundation, he has contributed to numerous publications and television documentaries, including authorship of the book Henry Maudslay Dam Buster. Dr Owen was also lead author on Dam Busters Failed to Return.

Arthur Thorning pursued a career in aviation, firstly in industry and then for twenty-one years with the UK Civil Aviation Authority. Since 1995 he has worked as an independent aviation consultant. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and a Past Master of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators. He is the author of The Dambuster Who Cracked the Dam: The Story of Melvin 'Dinghy' Young, published by Pen and Sword Books in 2008.

This book represents a collaborative effort in affiliation with Kees Rijken - who was an eye-witness to the raid - and Paul Schepers, whose original research into the raid forms the backbone of Thorning's narrative. Both are citizens of Eindhoven. This publication is a joint work by all three authors.