He initially approached its former commanding officer Leonard Cheshire, who declined citing health issues and his work commitments running a hospice.

in December 1946 Cradon was approached and agreed but his services were rejected by the RAF as senior officers questioned his commitment since, during the war, he had been too interested in flying on practice flights rather than attending to his duties.

[3] At the same time Brickhill had been approached by John Pudney who had recently joined London based publisher Evans Brothers as an editor with a proposal to write a book on the Stalag Luft 3 mass escape.

[6] Once in England he a wrote to Air Chief Marshall Sir Ralph Cochrane of the RAF who had been responsible for 617 Squadron during World War II and inquiring about the status of the proposed history offered his services if they were still required.

[9] While he was obliged to write a history of the squadron, Brickhill looked for a common factor throughout its wartime service that would make it more attractive to the general public.

As the squadron had had a number of commanding officers including Guy Gibson, Harold Martin and Leonard Cheshire this was not helpful in maintaining the continuity of the narrative.

After meeting with Wallis in the summer of 1950 he decided that here was the book's central figure, a driven man who overcame great odds set against the tragedy of the heavy losses that the squadron endured.

The first (September 1951) edition did not include some of the details of the dam-raids, as these were still classified at the time, most significantly that the weapons bounced on the water surface before reaching the target.