The Dam Busters is a 1951 book by Paul Brickhill about Royal Air Force Squadron 617, originally commanded by Wing Commander Guy Gibson V.C. during World War II. The squadron became known as the "Dam Busters" because of Operation Chastise, a mission using highly specialised bombs to destroy Ruhr dams in Germany. The original edition of the book did not include some of the details of the dams raids, as these were still classified at the time, most significantly that the weapons bounced on the water surface before reaching the target. Later editions included these details.