LOST VOICES OF THE DAMBUSTERS RAID

LOST VOICES OF THE DAMBUSTERS RAID
By Max Arthur.
2025 brings the welcome republishing of the late Max Arthur's 2008 book, 'Dambusters: A Landmark Oral History.
It includes the foreword by Steven Fry, who at the time of writing had just written the screenplay for a new Dambusters film that now seems never to be made.
As always with Max Arthur's books, he provides some brief narrative, but his main objective was to let those who were there tell their own stories.
Back in 2008 only five veterans of the raid were still alive. Along with their contributions, Max Arthur also collected material from other individual's interviews and memoirs to provide a broad range of first-hand accounts that include both Guy Gibson and Barnes Wallis.

From the forming of this secret squadron at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, their training, to the operation and its aftermath, the book is a compelling and at times a moving read.
It was an incredible operation carried out by a remarkable group of men, many who sadly did not return. We must also remember the German losses on the ground from the devastating floods caused by the breaching of the dams.

This is a truly fabulous read which many previous reviewers described as not only the author's best work, but one of the finest books to cover the Dambusters raid. It is a sentiment that I would definitely concur with.

This paperback edition will be published in April by August Books, a division of Canelo.
I thank Canelo for this review copy. 

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