The Dambuster Squadron

by Colin Higgs, Bruce Vigar

Overview

Borne of a well-established partnership between the authors Colin Higgs and Bruce Vigar, this evocative and beautifully crafted piece of work is sure to appeal to the aviation fraternity as well as serving as a memorial to the veterans whose exploits characterize this most daring and iconic of raids. As we approach the 70th Anniversary of the 1943 Raid, it seems fitting that we should have such an account to mark the occasion, consolidating the collective experiences of a selection of aircrew who contributed to the proceedings.

The authors have set themselves the ambitious task of interviewing as wide a cross-section of veterans as they can, in order to fill out a book of representative recollections. Each chapter is dedicated to a separate veteran, woven together with the author's supplementary historical narrative, setting each account in context.

Complete with a selection of black and white photographs, set in plates, the finished work presents itself as a kind of scrapbook – voices, images, snippets of transcribed memoir whose cumulative effect is to create a real sense of the times as hand, with authentic commentary from those who engaged at the forefront of the action.

Veterans featured
Les Munro
George Johnson
John Bell
John Langston
Grant McDonald
Murray Valentine
Frank Tilley
Benny Goodman
Ken Lucas
Tom Bennett

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781781593714
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	08/19/2013
Series:	Voices in Flight
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Colin Higgs has more than twenty-five years’ experience in the broadcast and home entertainment industries and for much of that time has co-produced, written and researched aviation documentaries together with Bruce Vigar of Leading Edge TV. Colin’s business, A Flying History, was created to make accessible the unique Peter Keating and John Stroud aviation photograph collections and Colin and Bruce's extensive archive of first-hand interviews with RAF veterans.

Table of Contents

List of Plates vi

Acknowledgements ix

Authors' Preface x

Foreword xi

1 Squadron Leader Les Munro DSO DFC 1

2 Warrant Officer Grant McDonald 25

3 Pilot Officer George 'Johnny' Johnson DFM 38

4 Pilot Officer John Bell DFC 76

5 Flight Lieutenant Tom Bennett DFM 100

6 Flight Sergeant Frank Tilley 112

7 Flight Lieutenant Lawrence 'Benny' Goodman 133

8 Pilot Officer Murray Vagnolini (Valentine) 148

9 Pilot Officer John Langston 164

Appendix: Locations of 617 Squadron targets 187

Index 191