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Dam Busters: The Race to Smash the German Dams

James Holland

Aaron Young

Timewatch: Dam Busters: The Race to Smash the German Dams

08/11/2011

BBC Two - Timewatch, Dam Busters: The Race to Smash the German Dams

A fresh look at the legendary 1943 mission that, extraordinarily, almost never happened.

James Holland presents an analysis of the 1943 mission to destroy German dams with a brand-new weapon - the bouncing bomb. Extraordinarily, the raid almost never happened.

James Holland presents an analysis of the legendary 1943 Dam Busters raid, a low-level night mission that took 19 Lancaster bombers deep into the heart of enemy territory to destroy German dams with a brand new weapon - the bouncing bomb.

Of the many extraordinary things about the Dams raid, the biggest is that it almost never happened. When finally green lit, it set off an incredible race against time to form and train a new squadron. Their mission was to deliver a weapon that did not yet exist.

Unprecedented by any scale, and even more remarkable because the crews were not the experienced elite that legend sometimes suggests, Holland believes this truly is the greatest raid of all time. Yet, whilst arguing that the true impact of the successful raid has been underestimated, he also sets out to investigate whether the results should have been even greater.

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