History Extra | 19 September 2019 | 0h 37m | Listen Later | iTunes
Interview with Max Hastings about his book Chastise: The Dambusters Story 1943. A retake on a familiar story. Hastings argues that while the airmen were brave and Barnes Wallis, the inventor of the bouncing bomb was innovative, that the disruption to the Nazi war effort was temporary rather than crippling. Arthur Harris, the head of Bomber Command, opposed the attack, received much of the public credit, and failed to capitalise by attacking the repair operation.