617 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command, carried out an attack on several German dams on the night of 16th /17th May 1943. The attack on the Ruhr valley dams was called Operation Chastise but was commonly known as “The Dambusters Raids” andwas carried out by using special “bouncing bombs”. Barnes Wallace was an English scientist, engineer and inventor, who designed and developed the bombs whilst being employed by Vickers-Armstrong Aircraft Co. RAF Bomber Command thought large bombs would be effective but a weapon suitable for this task was not available nor the necessary degree of accuracy to achieve this. The concept of bouncing an object over the surface of water was a well-known phenomenon and this theory was taken up as the project. Wallis’ experiments proved that a smaller spinning barrel shaped bomb would suffice providing it exploded against the dam wall below the water line. Originally the preferred aircraft was to be the Vickers Wellington bomber, but was changed when the first modified Avro Lancaster bombers became available. Testing the bomb at Chesil Beach in Dorset often proved to be unsuccessful, but after many modifications a decision was reached as regards to the releasing of the bomb from the aircraft. With Air Ministry approval, thirty Lancaster bombers were allocated for the mission. A new squadron was formed and led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, a veteran of over 170 bombing and night fighter raids. Twenty one bomber crews were selected and they were stationed at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire. The crews practised low-level flying in the dark whilst the bombers were being modified to allow the mission to proceed in May 1943. The water levels at the dams were at their highest allowing any breach of the dam to cause the most damage. The targets selected were the Möhne and Sorpe Dams with the Eder Dam as a secondary target. The attack comprised three separate formations departing Scampton on the night of the 16th/17th May 1943 following two separate routes. Both routes were timed to allow the formations to cross the enemy coast at the same time. Formation No 1 comprised of nine aircraft, led by Gibson, taking off in groups of three for the attack on the shorter route for the raid on the Möhne Dam. Any aircraft with bombs remaining would continue on to attack the Eder Dam. Formation No 2 was to fly the longer route to the Sorpe Dam and consisted of five aircraft. Formation No 3 was a five aircraft mobile reserve leaving Scampton at midnight on the 16th/17th May 1943. Of the twenty one aircrew of 617 Squadron two were unable to fly the mission owing to illness.
When Formation No 2 reached the enemy coastline they suffered the first casualties of the raids. Flt. Lt. Les Munro (RNZAF) lost his radio to flak and turned back to base. Whilst flying at low altitude of 100 ft. (30 m) to avoid radar detection, P/O Geoff Rice (RCAF) flew too low and struck the sea. He recovered but lost his bomb to the water. He also returned to base. P/O Vernon Byers (RCAF) was shot down by flak and Flt. Lt. Norman Barlow (RAAF) hit an electricity pylon and crashed. The bomb was thrown clear of the crash and eventually examined by the Germans. The only aircraft of Formation No 2 to reach its target was piloted by American Flt. Lt. Joe McCarthy (serving with the RCAF). He had been delayed when his bomber developed a coolant problem and he finally took off in a reserve aircraft 34 minutes late. The only other bomber which did not reach its target was piloted by Flt. Lt. Bill Astell (RAAF) from Formation No 1. His Lancaster hit high voltage electrical cables in the dark and crashed in a field.
Upon arrival at the Möhne Dam, Gibson, leader of Formation No 1 made the first attack. His bomb exploded short of the dam, but he went around again to draw anti-aircraft fire away from the second bomber to attack. The second bomber was piloted by Flt. Lt. John Hopgood (RAF) who released his bomb which bounced over the dam wall. Whilst attacking the bomber was shot down by flak and only two crew members survived. Australian Flt. Lt. “Micky” Martin (serving with the RAF) piloted the third Lancaster and Gibson flew alongside to draw the flak away from Martin’s bomber. Martin’s bomb successfully exploded against the dam wall, but did not breach it. The next bomber, piloted by Sqd. Ldr. “Dinghy” Young (RAF) made a successful attack, followed by Flt. Lt. David Maltby (RAAF) whose bomb breached the dam.
Gibson, accompanied by Young, led the remaining bombers on to the Eder Dam. The dam was not defended by anti-aircraft guns as the surrounding hills were thought to make an attack impossible. The attack was hindered by heavy mist, but the first to attack was Flt. Lt. Dave Shannon (RAAF) who made six attempts before taking a break. An attack by Sqd. Ldr, Henry Maudsley (RAF) resulting in the bomb hitting the top of the dam, the blast of which damaged the Lancaster. On the return to England, Maudsley’s aircraft was shot down. Shannon resumed his attack and successfully hit the dam wall, but failed to breach it. The dam wall was breached following a successful attack by the last bomber piloted by P/O Les Knight (RAAF). Of the nine crews who attacked the Möhne and Eder Dams only five returned to England.
The Sorpe Dam was the least likely dam to be breached. Rather than the concrete and steel gravity dams of the Möhne and Eder Dams, the Sorpe was a large earthen dam. Of No 2 Formation, for various reasons, McCarthy piloted the only Lancaster to attack the dam. The other four aircraft of the formation either had to return to base or crashed on the outward journey. Aircraft of No 3 Formation were diverted to the Sorpe Dam of which only three of the five arrived near the target owing to misty conditions. One Lancaster piloted by Flt.Sgt. Anderson (RAF) couldn’t find the target and returned to Scampton and landed with the armed bomb on board. The other two were shot down on the outward journey. The only other Lancaster to actually attack the Sorpe Dam was piloted by Flt. Sgt. Ken Brown (RCAF) from No 3 Formation. Coming from different directions, both he and McCarthy attacked separately. They both realised the approach was more difficult than anticipated due to the topography of the land. As expected the approach for the attack was along the length of the reservoir. The flight path led over a church steeple located on a hillside overlooking the dam. They then had to drop to bombing height, release the bomb and rapidly climb to avoid hitting the hillside at the other end of the dam. For the attack on the Sorpe Dam the bomb was not required to spin, as it was intended to hit the wall and explode. It took McCarthy nine attempted runs until finally the bomb was successfully dropped on the tenth run. The bomb exploded causing some damage but the wall remained intact. Later, on the eighth attempt Brown’s bomb exploded on the dam wall but failed to breach the dam wall.
The last Lancaster of No 3 Formation, piloted by Flt.Sgt. Townsend (RAF) flew on to attack the Ennepe Dam and hit the target but to no apparent effect.
On the return journey, still flying at low level, two more Lancaster bombers were lost. After attacking the Möhne Dam and hitting the target and causing a small breach, Sqd. Ldr. H.M,Young’s aircraft was shot down over the Dutch coast,
Eleven aircraft began to land back at Scampton, about 3.00am with the final one arriving at 6.15am. The reason being they had to close down one engine whilst over the Dutch coast. Sir Arthur Harris, head of Bomber Command was among the dignitaries to greet the last crew to land, Harris originally opposed the allocation of the Lancaster’s but was over-ruled by Air Chief Marshall Charles Portal, Chief of the Air Staff.
The breaching of the Möhne and Eder Dams caused catastrophic damage to the Rhone Valley. Two hydroelectric power stations were destroyed and a further two were damaged. Mines and factories were either destroyed or damaged. German production did not resume until Sept 1943 despite rapid repairs. The flooding killed an estimated 1,600 civilians, 600 of whom were Germans and the remaining 1,000 were mainly Soviet forced labourers. The RAF lost 53 aircrew killed and two captured and eight Lancaster’s destroyed.
Of the survivors, 34 were decorated at Buckingham Palace on the 22nd June 1943. Gibson was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC). In addition there were five Distinguished Service Orders (DSO), ten Distinguished Flying Crosses (DFC) and four bars, two Conspicuous Gallantry Medals (CGM) and one Distinguished Flying Medals (DFM) and one bar.
Apart from the morale the Raids gave to the British civilians, they forced the Germans to divert their construction efforts back into Germany. They had to forfeit the continuation of the civil engineering projects in the land war in both the Eastern and Western Fronts.
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FOOT NOTE!!
All 617 Squadron aircrews were part of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and consisted of:-
Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF)
Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)
The ranks of the pilots were:-
Squadron Leader (Sqd. Ldr.)
Flight Lieutenant (Flt. Lt.)
Flight Sergeant (Flt. Sgt.)
Pilot Officer (P/O)
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The Bay Museum & Research Facility 