Published by Fighting High Publishing, 2013
ISBN 10: 0957116349 ISBN 13: 9780957116344
Seller: Greener Books, London, United Kingdom
Hardcover. Condition: Used; Very Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! Greener Books.
First Edition; Demy 4to; pp. 128; text illustrated with numerous coloured and b/w. photographs, roll of honour, acknowledgements and notes, index, bound in original black cloth, title lettered in gilt on spine, dustjacket, very good copy. 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.
Published by Fighting High Ltd, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England, 2013
ISBN 10: 0957116349 ISBN 13: 9780957116344
Seller: M RICHARDSON RARE BOOKS (PBFA Member), Ashby cum Fenby, NE Lincolnshire, LINCS, United Kingdom
Association Member: PBFA
First Edition
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. A fabulous, bright copy with no owner inscriptions and clean pages throughout. The book is in wonderful condition and looks hardly read. The black cloth boards are fresh with crisp gilt title lettering on the spine. The dust jacket is bright and clean, albeit price clipped with some light surface scuffing. On the front free end paper there's a plate, probably from a signing event, which is signed by the Canadian airman, Fred Sutherland. The plate states in print: "Signed by Flt. Sgt. Fred Sutherland, Front gunner of AJ-N piloted by Les Knight who successfully attacked the Eder Dam causing the final breach." The plate has an illustration of a Lancaster Bomber above the signature and the RAF coat of arms at the foot. This is a wonderful and unique copy. A little research tells us the following information about Sutherland and his pilot. Fred Sutherland was one of the last survivors of the famous "Dam Busters" raids during WWII who died in 2019. On a later low flying mission in Sept. 1943 his plane was damaged so badly, the bomb jettisoned, that Fred and most of the rest of the crew were forced to bail out over occupied Dutch territory. His pilot, Les Knight, the same pilot as in the Dam Busters mission, was forced to crash land and, unfortunately, died in the process. Fred Sutherland had to escape across occupied Holland and France, into Spain before coming back to the UK 2 months later. He went on to live to a ripe old age back in Canada. Quite a story. Signed by Subject of Biography.