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Dambusters' 75th anniversary to be marked with a Lancaster tour | Royal Air Force
BBMF is scheduled to fly its Lancaster bomber down the Derwent Valley and over the Eyebrook Reservoir.
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Operation Chastise was an attack on the major dams of western Germany, carried out during the night of 16-17 May 1943 by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, later called the "Dambusters", using a purpose-built "bouncing bomb" developed by Sir Barnes Wallis. The dams of the Derwent Valley and Eyebrook Reservoir were amongst practice sites used in preparation for the raid.
The "dambusting" mission was given to Squadron X of the No. 5 Group of the British Royal Air Force, led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, targeting Möhne, Sorpe, and Eder dams in the Ruhr River region of Germany. The aircraft Gibson's men flew were Lancaster Mk III bombers, with modified bomb bays, added special altimeters, and lightened by the removal of some armor plating. The attack, code named Operation Chastise, was organized into three groups. Formation 1 was to attack Möhne Dam, and if there were unused bombs, the formation was to perform an attack on Eder Dam.
Arial recce showing Mohne Dam flooding.
Formation 2 was to attack Sorpe Dam. Formation 3 was a mobile reserve group that would take off two hours after the first two groups departed, and remain in the air to receive further instructions, possibly making a second run on one of the three primary targets that Formation 1 or 2 might fail to destroy, or this third group might be ordered to attack the smaller dams at Schwelm, Ennepe and Diemel.
The "Upkeep" bombs were delivered to the squadron on 13 May 1943, and the operation was launched at 2110 on 16 May. The first group of bombers took off at 2139 hours on 16 May, and the final (reserve) group took off at 0009 hours on 17 May.
Whilst the breaching of the iconic Ruhr dams raised the morale of the British public and helped persuade the United States that the war was going well, it was also a huge affront to German prestige and self-esteem. Although Albert Speer, for one, expressed post-war curiosity on the British failure to conduct follow-up attacks to compound the damage to the Ruhr region, the British ability to precisely deliver a weapon of such power troubled the Germans enormously.
A disarmed "Bouncing Bomb"
The immediate effects of the tsunami-like flood waters which resulted from the breaching of the Möhne and Eder dams was devastating, several power stations were destroyed or temporarily put out of action, twelve war production factories were completely destroyed and many more damaged (sources vary between 91 and 114), and railways, locomotives and rolling stock were also destroyed or damaged. In addition, the flood waters disrupted river and canal transport, which was vital to the Germans; after the floods subsided, canal banks had to be repaired and long stretches of the rivers and canals had to be dredged of silt.
The "Dambusters raid" was not just a spectacular propaganda exercise, It did real damage to the German ability to wage war, psychologically, materially, logistically and financially. Fifty three brave young Allied airmen paid the ultimate price but their heroic sacrifice very clearly shortened the war to quite a considerable extent. Despite the dams' significant military value, there were some who questioned whether such attacks were justified, for that the attacks had killed over a thousand lives, many of whom innocent civilians without a direct connection to the German military.
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The Incredible Story Of The Dambusters Raid
On the night of 16-17 May 1943, Wing Commander Guy Gibson led 617 Squadron of the Royal Air Force on an audacious bombing raid to destroy three dams in the Ruhr valley, the industrial heartland of Germany. The mission was codenamed Operation 'Chastise'.
www.iwm.org.uk
In 1942 British engineer Barnes Wallis began working on plans for a bomb that could skip across water. He developed the idea by experimenting with bouncing marbles across a water tub in his back garden. Wallis thought the new weapon could be used to attack moored battleships, but research soon focused on using it against the dams that were vital to German industry.
The Admiralty and the RAF carried out extensive tests at sites around the country. These revealed that the drum-shaped bomb (codenamed 'Upkeep') needed to be dropped from a height of 60 feet (18m), and at a ground speed of 232mph. The bomb would spin backwards across the surface of the water before reaching the dam. Its residual spin would then drive the bomb down the wall of the dam before exploding at its base.
All that was needed now was men to fly specially modified Lancaster bombers which would carry the 'Upkeep'.
In late March 1943, a new squadron was formed to carry out the raid on the dams. Initially codenamed Squadron X, 617 Squadron was led by 24-year old Wing Commander Guy Gibson (pictured in door of aircraft) and was made up of aircrew from Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. With one month to go before the raid, and with only Gibson knowing the full details of the operation, the squadron began intensive training in low-level night flying and navigation.
They were ready for Operation 'Chastise'.
The three main targets were the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams.The Möhne dam was a curved 'gravity' dam and was 40m high and 650m long. There were tree-covered hills around the reservoir, but any attacking aircraft would be exposed on the immediate approach. The Eder dam was of similar construction but was an even more challenging target. Its winding reservoir was bordered by steep hills. The only way to approach would be from the north. The Sorpe was a different type of dam and had a watertight concrete core 10m wide.
At each end of its reservoir the land rose steeply, and there was also a church spire in the path of the attacking aircraft.
From 9.28pm on 16 May, 133 aircrew in 19 Lancasters took off in three waves to bomb the dams. Gibson was flying in the first wave and his aircraft was first to attack the Möhne (pictured here) at 12.28am, but five aircraft had to drop their bombs before it was breached. The remaining aircraft still to drop their bombs then attacked the Eder, which finally collapsed at 1.52am.
Meanwhile, aircraft from the two other waves bombed the Sorpe but it remained intact.
In this photograph, Air Marshal Sir Arthur Harris (left) observes as Wing Commander Guy Gibson's crew is debriefed after the raid.
Of the 133 aircrew that took part, 53 men were killed and three became prisoners of war. On the ground, almost 1,300 people were killed in the resulting flooding. Although the impact on industrial production was limited, the raid gave a significant morale boost to the people of Britain.