New this fall, Ted Barris releases his latest book – Dam Busters: Canadian Airmen and the Secret Raid against Nazi Germany – published by HarperCollins.
It was a night that changed the Second World War. The secret air raid against the hydroelectric dams of Germany’s Ruhr River took years to plan, involved an untried bomb, and included the best aircrewmen RAF Bomber Command could muster – many of them Canadian. The attack marked the first time the Allies tactically took the war inside Nazi Germany.
On May 16, 1943, 133 airmen took off in 19 Lancaster bombers on a night sortie, code-named Operation Chastise. Hand-picked and specially trained, the Lancaster crews flew at treetop level to the industrial heartland of the Third Reich and their targets – the Ruhr River dams – whose massive water reservoirs powered Nazi Germany’s military industrial complex.
Every one of the 133 airmen on the raid understood the odds of survival were low. Of the 19 bombers outbound, eight did not return. Operation Chastise cost the lives of 53 airmen, including 14 Canadians. Of the 16 RCAF men who survived, seven received military decorations. Dam Busters recounts the dramatic story of these Commonwealth bomber crews tasked with a high-risk mission against an enemy prepared to defend the Fatherland to the death.
Ted Barris is an author, journalist and broadcaster, who has hosted regularly on CBC Radio and contributed to the National Post and Legion, Air Force and Zoomer magazines; he has authored 18 published, non-fiction books.
In 2011 he received the Veterans’ Affairs Commendation and in 2012 the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. His book The Great Escape: A Canadian Story received the 2014 Libris Best Non-Fiction Book Award.
Hi Ted. Will you be attending any book signing events for your new book?
Who are the seven Albertans that you refer to in your book? My best friend’s dad was one of them. Ken Porter. Is he in the book? His name is not mentioned on the Wikipedia website.
Hi Betty. The seven Albertans were: flight engineer Charles Brennan; navigators Harlo Taerum, Ken Earnshaw and Revie Walker; wireless air gunner Gordon Brady; and gunners Fred Sutherland and Alden Cottam. It’s quite possible that Ken Porter joined 617 Squadron after the raid; consequently, all airmen in the squadron were still referred to as “the Dam Busters.” Thanks for your note.
Ted, I attended the session last evening at the Bolton library. Thanks for writing this book which my neighbour Bob Stockwell and I will share. Bob’s dad was in the Canadian Army and his tank corps was one of the first Canadian units to liberate a Nazi death camp. Bob and I attended the Bolton session. It is very important that we all remember the men who participated in this raid, some of them giving their lives in the process. Let us also all give thanks that this raid contributed to the final defeat of Nazi Germany and let us in our own ways now dedicate our lives to combat the menace of racism and state terror, elements of which today we see signs of here in Canada and elsewhere. Joe Grogan/Bolton resident and former prof., Humber College, 1969-to 2003 and Retired Member of OPSEU-Region 5/905-857-2168
Hi Ted
Thank you for signing and personalizing TheDam Busters for my husband Brian. It was a big hit for him at Christmas. (all the hijincks I went through to keep it a surprise). We have several of your books and look forward to the next one.
Just checking in with you about your next visit to the Owen Sound area. I am the Co Host of a live tv show called Grey County Life on Rogers tv (a lifestyle magazine show). I would love to have you appear as a guest. Hope this is a future possibility.