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The Last British Dambuster

By: George Johnny Johnson
Narrated by: Michael Tudor Barnes
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Publisher's Summary

'I was anxious to fight. Hitler was the bastard who had started all this and he needed sorting out. We were under threat. Everything we stood for: our country, our families and our way of life was being attacked by this maniac. He could not be allowed to win. So for me and many, many others like me, there was no alternative. We were in a pickle and something had to be done.’

Johnny Johnson is 92 years old and one of very few men who can recall first-hand the most daring and ingenious air raid of all time. He can also vividly remember his childhood spent working on a farm with his controlling father, the series of events that led him to the RAF and the rigorous training that followed. But it was his decision to join 617 Squadron, and the consequences, that have truly stayed etched in his mind.

On 16 May 1943, Johnny, alongside 132 specially selected comrades, took off from Scampton airbase in Lincolnshire. For six weeks they had been trained to fulfil one mission that was near impossible: to destroy three dams deep within Germany’s Ruhr Valley. It was a daring task but, against the odds, Johnny and his crew survived. Sadly, 53 comrades did not.

For the first time, Johnny relives every moment of that fatal night - and the devastating aftermath. He recalls with unique wit and insight the difficult training conducted in secrecy, the race against time to release the bombs, and the sheer strength and bravery shown by a small unit faced with great adversity and uncertainty. Embodying a whole squadron, and leaving a lasting legacy for generations to come, Johnny’s story is like no other.

©2014 George Leonard Johnson and Morgan Johnson (P)2014 Isis Publishing Ltd, Random House Audiobooks

What listeners say about The Last British Dambuster

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A wonderful tale about an amazing feat

Having read Paul Brickhill's book many, many times, I was a fan of the Dam Busters story. This takes it to another level. It fills in gaps in that earlier story that were classified at the time.

Moreso than that, it is the story of a life well lived by a man from an impoverished family, whose father was emotionally distant and yet he had a wonderful life with a wife and children and grandchildren he deeply loves.

To the reviewer who gave this a 3 star review and said it's how have been written in the first person and that he could not tell which crew Johnny flew with, all I can say is you weren't listening to the same story as I was.

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Great book.

Excellent narrator. Great details of the Dambusters. Loved it from start to finish. What an incredible life he had.

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