Dam Busters cover art

Dam Busters

The Race to Smash the Dams, 1943

 Preview
Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Dam Busters

By: James Holland
Narrated by: James Holland
Try Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

The night of May 16th, 1943. Nineteen specially adapted Lancaster bombers take off from RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, each with a huge 9,000lb cylindrical bomb strapped underneath them. Their mission: to destroy three dams deep within the German heartland, which provide the lifeblood to the industries supplying the Third Reich's war machine.

From the outset, it was an almost impossible task, a suicide mission: to fly low and at night in formationover many miles of enemy occupied territory at the very limit of the Lancasters' capacity, and drop a new weapon which had never been tried operationally before at a precise height of just sixty feet from the water at some of the most heavily defended targets in Germany.

More than that, the entire operation had to be put together in less than ten weeks. When visionary aviation engineer Barnes Wallis' concept of the bouncing bomb was green lighted, he hadn't even drawn up his plans for the weapon that was the smash the dams. What followed was an incredible race against time, which, despite numerous set-backs and against huge odds, became one of the most successful and game-changing bombing raids of all time.

 Military World
All stars
Most relevant
This is the fifth book by Mr. Holland I've read or listened to. I recommend them all highly.

Brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Brought lovingly to life by the Author all the trials of young men playing an extraordinary part in a raid that took RAF Bomber command Lancaster’s and their crews to the very edge of their performance, Brilliantly Brilliant

The Extraordinary efforts of ordinary men

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A brilliant piece of work, great detail and absolutely narrated perfectly. Great work, great author and narration.

amazingly informative

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Most detailed research of this operation well read by James Holland. Good Luck to him, all best for his future works. GeoInt.

Excellent reading and research.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Like most of my early 60’s generation I read Paul Brickhills Dam Busters as a youngster, and was enthralled, and closely followed up with Gibson’s Enemy Coast Ahead. James Holland’s book does not seek to replace either, but rather enhances both through access to material either classified or otherwise not available until now. Outstanding!

A truly brilliant expansion of the well know story!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.