The men who flew with Bomber Command were viewed by contemporaries as an elite force.  Throughout the war, they were appreciated and admired -- particularly by the opposite sex. They enjoyed status and privileges envied by their non-flying comrades. Although a remarkably diverse group, they nevertheless shared many characteristics and their image was unique and distinct from that of the "Fighter Boys." Because of the prevailing doctrine that "the bomber would always get through" and the associated conviction that a war would be won by the side that bombed the best and the heaviest, the RAF (like the Luftwaffe) emphasized bombers and bomber training throughout the interwar years. Although this doctrine nearly cost Britain the war (through neglect of the Fighter Arm until it was almost too late), it re-asserted itself almost the moment the Battle of Britain was over.  In order to hit back at Hitler, distract attention from the Eastern Front (i.e. to provide a "

  617 Squadron was by no means the only RAF unit engaged in precision bombing. The Mosquito bombers likewise proved to be extremely accurate when in capable hands -- far ahead of anything the USAAF ever delivered. Two examples of their outstanding accuracy will serve to prove the case.    As the war progressed, the French Resistance grew increasingly strong and effective. In anticipation of the Allied landing on the Continent, the French Resistance played an increasingly vital role in both providing intelligence and sabotaging German installations. By late 1943, however, many French Resistance cells had been infiltrated by German spies and in the winter of '43/'44 the Germans struck with mass arrests. On 14 Februrary 1944, a Resistance leader who literally "knew too much" about the Allied invasion plans was arrested by the Gestapo and put in Amiens Gestapo prison. He was not alone. Four American spies, three British agents, a Belgian spy, and over 800 othe

After the attack on the Ruhr Dams, the second most famous achievement of 617 Squadron was the probably sinking of the German Battleship Tirpitz. By the time 617 was tasked with her destruction, she had withstood more than 30 other attacks by conventional bombers, dive-bombers, torpedo planes, and mini-submarines. But 617 Squadron also found the Tirpitz a tough nut to crack. It took them three tries.    The Tirpitz was the terror of the Royal Navy because she was the largest battleship ever launched by a European power. She possessed tremendous firepower in eight 15-inch, twelve 6-inch, 16 4-inch and 28 smaller calibre guns. Despite being heavily armored, she had a top speed of 30 knots -- faster than any British battleship. Clearly, if she got in among the convoys, she would wreck havoc, and the Royal Navy were determined to prevent that. From 1942 onwards, the Tirpitz was based in Norway, threatening the convoys that kept the Soviet Union supplied with the munitions and equipment nec

The "Dambusters" got their name and fame from an attack on the Ruhr dams in May 1943. In that attack, they famously used the extraordinary bouncing bombs developed by Barnes Wallis. Yet, despite the success of the strike, those bombs were never used again. "The Dambusters" did, however, destroy another dam of arguably equal importance in another dramatic and dangerous operation.     By October 1944, the Allies ground forces were already planning for an assault on Germany, and the U.S. military high command expected the Germans to destroy all the bridges over the Rhine and withdraw behind this formidable defensive barrier. U.S. plans therefore called for an amphibious assault, which would undoubtedly be costly and dangerous. One threat seemed particularly great. A large double-decker dam, the Kembs Barrage near the Swiss city of Basel, controlled the flood levels of the river. If the sluices were opened suddenly and simultaneously, a wall of water would rush down ri