Probably one of the greatest features of the narrative is its complete lack of any hindsight on the events of the war. Coningsby ( Lincolnshire, April 13th, 1942 ) to fly bomber operations again in Avro Manchesters and Lancasters. He gives us his thoughts on the war (presumably removed from the original published version) and a brief glimpse into his private life. An average student, Gibson always had a passion for flying, and commenced flying training in November 1936 at the Bristol Flying School. An interesting and engaging autobiographical account, written by one of the pilots who flew in the infamous Dambuster raids towards the end of the Second World War.

He then explains the amazing training that took place before the attack on the two dams in the Ruhr valley. You might have to decide what is more important: learning to maintain the right altitude and speed while preparing to release ordnance, or the ability to find the dam? All this planning and preparation ends when the player decides his squadron is ready and he launches the raid. The first scenarios use only the Target Maps, while larger scenarios will use them as well as the Flight Map.The Greenhill edition also includes extensive notes by Dr Robert Owen, official historian of 617 Squadron and more than 100 photographs, many of which had not been published elsewhere before. The descriptions of the aircraft, preparations, operations and social life are well drawn and evocative. The final chapters concern the Dambusters raid carried out on the night of 16/17 May 1943 by 617 Squadron RAF Bomber Command, commanded by Gibson. The events described therein are testament to the abilities and courage of someone quite rightly held up as one of the finest leader of men in wartime.

He regularly appears on television and radio and has written and presented the BAFTA-shortlisted BBC documentaries, Battle of Britain and Dam Busters. Gibson’s account of air fighting in WW2 is authentic and fascinating, especially his account of the preparation and execution of the Dams raid.

There is a table at the start of the book referencing those pilots lost whilst he served with individual squadrons, sobering reading when he mentions a particular colleague in the text, you refer to the table and realise he subsequently died. The player assumes the role of squadron leader or one of his subordinates in team play, requisitioning bombers, ground crew, and aircrew. Not only are you presented with a variety of decisions, you play the invisible hand of fate as your crews endure the hazards of a dangerous night raid. Gibson and his comrades were living through, and very often dying in, the events as they happened - some 40% (53/133) of all the airmen who were on the Dambuster raid perished during it, and many more died during subsequent military actions, with Gibson himself killed in a bombing raid in September 1944 over Holland, his plane crashing into the side of a hill in slightly mysterious circumstances. There's also a 'poacher turned gamekeeper' year spent flying night fighters in an attempt to stem the Nazi blitz.

This contention has been comprehensively refuted by his biographer, who examined the original manuscript (Guy Gibson by Richard Morris, Penguin Books 1995). I found excitement on virtually every page and had to remind myself that it was actually a factual account of war.In the campaign game you will requisition and then train your crew to fly at exceptionally low altitude, maintain a steady speed, locate the target in the dead of night, and release ordnance at precisely the right distance from the lip of the dam. Too much recon can tip off the Germans, however, which means that the fog of war is a very important aspect of the design. Squadron leader GEORGE “JOHNNY” JOHNSON DFM – Bomb-Aimer on Lancaster AJ-T, scored a direct hit on the Sorpe. academic and scholarly books and Modern First Editions, Reference books ,and all types of Academic Literature. Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson VC DSO* DFC* was the first CO of the Royal Air Force's 617 Squadron, which he led in the Dam Busters raid (Operation Chastise) in 1943, resulting in the destruction of two large dams in the Ruhr area.