Bidspirit auction | Dambusters Multiple signed book by

Dambusters Multiple signed book by Paul Brickhill 1951. David Shannons Crew. Autographed to the title page by David Shannon and his crew who survived the war Danny Walker, Len Sumpter, Jack Buckley and VERY RARE Brian Goodale. Has some photos fixed to inside pages and an old Dday newspaper map signed by Jack Buckley. Quite possibly a UNIQUE pieces of 617 Sqn memorabilia. Operation Chastise, commonly known as the Dambusters Raid, was an attack on German dams carried out on the night of 16/17 May 1943 by 617 Squadron RAF Bomber Command, later called the Dam Busters, using special bouncing bombs developed by Barnes Wallis. The Möhne and Edersee dams were breached, causing catastrophic flooding of the Ruhr valley and of villages in the Eder valley; the Sorpe Dam sustained only minor damage. Two hydroelectric power stations were destroyed and several more damaged. Factories and mines were also damaged and destroyed. An estimated 1,600 civilians - about 600 Germans and 1,000 enslaved labourers, mainly Soviet - were killed by the flooding. Despite rapid repairs by the Germans, production did not return to normal until September. The RAF lost 56 aircrew, with 53 dead and three captured, amid losses of eight aircraft.