Originally Posted by
Downwind.Maddl-Land
...the seemingly endless attacks mounted on the effectiveness of the raid by the post-war revisionists. .
That’s one of the aspects of the Dams Raid that Hastings has something new to say; it was widely accepted before the raid that the Sorpe was unlikely to be breached and thus any effect on Germany’s industrial capacity would be limited and short term. Yet in the context of the time it was considered a worthwhile operation.
I found it a great read; Hasting’s portrait of Guy Gibson in particular is nuanced and avoids any easy good guy/bad guy conclusion, although Arthur Harris is most definitely a bad guy in Hasting’s view.
The raid was an epic feat of courage and technical improvisation which should make our generation shake our heads in awe. To me, this book is the fairest and most comprehensive telling of the story yet.