Dam Busters Manual: A Guide to the Weapons Technology Used Against the Dams and Special Targets of Nazi-Occupied Europe

The famous dams raid in May 1943 was made possible only by the fusion of cutting-edge technology with the raw courage of a hand-picked squadron of RAF airmen. The incredible bouncing bomb, used to devastating effect by 617 Squadron on the Ruhr dams, was the vanguard of a whole train of technical developments that made this and other precision raids possible. Using the Haynes Manual approach, Iain Murray describes the technology behind the bouncing bomb as well as the heavily modified Lancasters that were used to deliver the weapons.

Dr Iain Murray is a lecturer in the School of Computing at the University of Dundee. Iain recently acted as a consultant for the ITV drama series Foyle’s War, which featured an episode set around a group working on the ‘bouncing bomb’. He lives in Dundee.