First published in Great Britain in 2010 by Osprey Publishing,
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A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library
Print ISBN: 978 1 84603 934 8
PDF ebook ISBN: 978 1 84603 935 5
ePub ebook ISBN: 978 1 78096 462 1
Page layout by Bounford.com, Cambridge, UK
Index by David Worthington
Typeset in Sabon
Maps by Bounford.com, Cambridge, UK
3DBEVsbyAlanGilliland
Originated by PPS Grasmere Ltd, Leeds, UK
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AUTHOR’S NOTE
I would like to acknowledge my gratitude for the generous support and assistance of several key individuals. First and foremost I owe a deep debt of thanks to my wife, Ann, whose encouragement and selfless support have enabled me to bring this project to completion under the most stressful of family circumstances.
I am also deeply indebted to my pilot friend Maj Rob Mignard, USAF (Ret), who first put me on to the notion that the Upkeep weapons delivery profiles could not have been flown in the way they have been so frequently described. Maj Mignard has personally flown the so-called ‘agreed tactic’ used at both the Möhne and Eder dams, and it was his determinations – amply supported by aerial photographs – that motivated the search for the correct attack profiles. The answer was provided by aeronautical engineer (and fellow pilot and author) Arthur G. Thorning, who published his own findings in his 1998 book The Dambuster Who Cracked the Dam. He has allowed his findings to be repeated here. I thank him for his generous, thorough and insightful support for my own project. My thanks, too, go to noted historian Dr Don Alberts for his critical review, corrections and suggestions.
As with Operation Chastise itself, this book project represents a culmination of the efforts of several different individuals. These efforts have come together to provide the most realistic and accurate description possible. To each participant I reiterate my thanks.
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