Everyone I assume will know about the famous dambuster raids and their equally daring missions which were flown in WWII by 617 Squadron.

After the flood is a book by the former RAF Tornado Navigator and Gulf War veteran John Nichol.

The 617 Squadron in the destruction of the dams at the heart of the industrial Ruhr has been celebrated in book, magazine and film for more than seventy years as well as Barnes Wallis

The 17th May 1943, saw 133 airmen set out in 19 Lancaster Bombers with the intent to destroy the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams. 56 of them did not return. Amazingly despite these catastrophic losses, the raid became an enormous propaganda triumph. The surviving 77 were feted as heroes and became celebrities of their time, like Guy Gibson...

So what happened next? Of the 77 survivors from that Dambuster squadron’s  raid, 32 would lost their lives later in the war! with only 45 surviving to see the victory for which they fought.

I guess due to the propaganda of the film I was not aware of the extent of the Dambuster squadron’s operations after the Dams Raid as I guess a lot of others are not either.

617 Dambuster Squadron became the ‘go to’  for specialist precision attacks, dropping the largest bombs ever built on battleships, railway bridges, secret weapon establishments, rockets sites and U-boat construction pens.

The 617 Dambuster Squadron were involved in attempts on the lives of enemy leaders, both Hitler and Mussolini, and created a ‘false fleet’ on D-day which fooled the Germans, and knocked out a German super gun which would have rained 600 shells an hour on London.

‘After The Flood’, sees John Nichol retracing the path of 617 Dambuster Squadron’s most dangerous sorties as their reputation called them into action again and again.