Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #241715 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Synopsis
Many of the 617 Squadron crews who took part in the famous attacks on the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe Dams and also the raids on the Dortmund-Ems Canal did not return. This book takes the reader to many of the crash sites that resulted. They include the coast off Texel, Rees, Marbeck, Emmerich, Hamm, Ostonnen, just north of the Mohne Dam, the former airfield at Gilze-Rijen in Holland and Castricum-aan-Zee, also Holland. The Dortmund-Ems Canal sites are Noordhorn, Recke, Bergeshovede, Ladbergen and Den Ham in Holland. All these sites can be visited within a week's tour by car or public transport. The book is illustrated with then-and-now photographs of the sites, the personnel involved and the aircraft originally flown. Local places of interest are listed to allow those aficionados of this famous squadron to broaden their knowledge and also enjoy a continental break.

Customer Reviews

Dambuster crash sites: 617 Squadron in Holland and Germany
Having a keen interest in WWII avaition i was very keen to read this book and go to as many sites as possible.The stories about the pilots and crews is covered in some detail.It also gives the reader an idea of which sites are more worth visiting than others,a lot in Germany won't have memorials.Finding the crash site of Astell was very rewarding because it does have a memorial and its in Germany,however the nearby museum also mentioned in the guide is only open on the weekend,so my Tuesday visit ended in disappointment.The guide also takes you to the Dormund Emms canal,617's next mission after the dams which resulted in many aircraft being lost.
The main problem i had was the genral directions,they are only given from one direction,not many places are given road names so trying to find places with satnav was much harder than it needed to be,the Les knight site in Holland had completly the wrong road name,i spent hours up and down that road !So my advice would be do some location research first.

Dambuster Raid Crash Sites
This book intrigued me as part of my (increasing) library of Dambuster material, and is the work of an author who clearly retains the respectful enthusiasm for the topic. I was not disappointed.

Understandably, much of the material to date discusses the tactical and human endeavour involved [or even the canine sacrifice too!] and the subsequent post-raid acknowledgement.

This account however, provides an enthusiast with the account of those who did not return and with the road directions prompts a journey to the dams returning via these sites. See you on the road!