The 'Dambusters'. The true story behind one of World War II's most daring bombing missions.

you story of the Dambusters raid begins not during the Second World War but much earlier in the early 1930s when the National Socialist government of Germany rose to power almost immediately they began to rearm the country as much to the alarm of its European neighbors by 1937 Germany had a formidable war machine at its disposal and a leader determined to utilize it for his own ambitions in Britain a committee was set up to evaluate how Germany could be attacked in the event of hostilities after all it was only some 20 years since Germany had thrown the world into the great wall central to this plan was the bomber in the nineteen thirties proponents of strategic bombing considered that a force of armed aircraft could fight their way across an enemy's frontiers and bomb its industry thus rendering him unable to prosecute a war the air targets subcommittee identified 45 industrial targets and earmarked them for destruction the Royal Ballet was at the heart of Germany's industrial war machine it was here that hundreds of factories were producing steel for the guns tanks ships and munitions that would eventually feed Hitler's Third Reich water was an essential element for the production of steel it took on average 100 tons of water to produce one ton of steel the water was supplied to the Ruhr Valley by means of enormous dams located to the east of the industrial area of the many times in Germany air staff singled out six for possible attack the three largest were chosen as main targets the Myrna ADA and thus are paid in total they contained three quarters of the water on which the Rohr relied for its steel production if somehow these dams could be destroyed then it was reasoned that the production of the Third Reich would suffer a severe blow and reduce their capacity to wage war effectively extensive flooding would create widespread damage as well as depriving hydroelectric plants and local communities of their water supplies however there was one serious difficulty to overcome dams are very formidable structures solid strong and very large the planners paused could they be destroyed a major problem for RAF Bomber Command in attacking such targets was important sighs at the outbreak of war in September 1939 the standard weapon carried by bombers such as the Wellington was the 500 pound general-purpose bomb all agree that even if hundreds of these were dropped on a target as huge as a dam it would barely damage it it seemed an insurmountable problem but by the spring of 1941 man thought he might have an answer a brilliant aeronautical designer named Barnes Wallis had been working on his own ways of shortening the war one is work for the vickers-armstrong Aircraft Company and was already well established as one of Britain's chief aircraft he had a string of successful designs to his credit including the Wellington bomber which have been in re F front-line service since 1938 this outstanding aircraft utilized a unique structure known as geodesics basically comprising an interlacing latticework of aluminium it was both light and strong it was an aircraft able to absorb amazing amounts of damage and still get its crews safely home in private one is have been studying ways to deprive Germany of its sources of natural power so vital to modern industrial production through his exhaustive research he had also identified the dams as important targets from late 1939 he set himself the personal task of finding out whether these structures could be destroyed his studies unearthed much about Germany's water usage the Ruhr Valley dams owed their existence to the region's susceptibility to flooding from heavy spring and autumn rainfall dams are usually constructed across a flood valley over time rainfall fills the valley to form a reservoir if the water can then be drawn off to supply hydroelectric plants and local towns whilst controlling the unexpected flooding problem and ensuring vast amounts of water are available to heavy industries and domestic properties during dry periods the ravanna dams consisted of two main types firstly a gravity dam a design that is effectively a tapering stone wall triangular in section with the widest points being at the base to withstand the immense water pressure which acts against it some gravity dams are also curved to resist the tendency for water to try and push a structure downstream they are anchored to the valley at each end and are held in place by their sheer weight the Myrna and ADA dams are fine examples of this particular design to illustrate the size this scale computer model shows a person standing on the crest of the myrna dam which itself is over a quarter of a mile wide [Music] secondly is the shallower earth type which is a totally different design to the gravity dam it comprises a central concrete core with each side being built up of sloping banks of earth and rubble these pose different problems for a potential attacker since the earth banks effectively shield the watertight core from a bomb the only earth dam chosen by the air staff was the survey shown here an immense structure over six times thicker at its base than the Myrna these three dams would form the heart of any proposed attack up to this point several ideas have been put forward to destroy the dams one of the first considered was to airdrop a self-powered skimmer containing explosives which would prepare itself to the dam wall sinking upon contact a fuse would detonate the explosives at a set depth this was rejected because the Germans had installed floating defensive booms across the reservoir in anticipation of such an attack another proposal was to drop special torpedoes which was also rejected because the booms supported thick steel nets which would block their passage even a commando raid by parachute to apply demolition charges to vital parts of the structure was considered however due to the potential high casualty rate to the attacking force this plan was shelved Wallis however had a more viable proposition for the air planet once his idea was more conventional if less heroic he proposed dropping a 10-ton bomb from 40,000 feet on descent the angled tail fins would started rotating and as it entered the earth at the speed of sound the spin would help the bomb to penetrate the earth in a blue motion the Air Ministry greeted the idea with skepticism they argued that to develop a bomber through its design testing and introduction to service phases had taken an average of six years furthermore written it was claimed did not have the capacity or the space an existing aircraft production to build it after a year Wallis his big bomb concept and its parent aircraft were canceled Wallis returned to the drawing board still considering his ideas to be sound he abandoned large bomb development for the moment deciding to concentrate on accuracy issues rather than size this he hoped would open up new avenues of possibility Wallis his work had however aroused interest in other circles [Music] his persistence that German dams were worth investigating led one is to seek the assistance of the road research laboratory at Harmons worth since 1940 engineers under the direction of dr. William Granville had been conducting tests upon scale models they have been trying to discover how much charge will be necessary to breach the myrna dam after early disappointments they made a breakthrough it was discovered that if a charge was detonated in water instead of air the shock waves from the explosion would be applied against the dam wall for longer than the explosion itself to simply to water being much denser than air it was simple physics with this in mind one is wondered whether a form of death charge could be used although a submerged detonation was more efficient than air another problem presented itself the water between the dam and the explosion was absorbing much of the generative pressure to destroy a dam with this method still required a weight of explosive far in excess of the carrying capacity of any available aircraft in early 1942 the desperately needed breakthrough was made if the charge was placed hard against the dam wall the shockwaves would be focused and amplified instead of absorbed thus cracking the masonry the enormous weight of water which have been blasted away from the dam face in the initial explosion would then return once the initial shock waves had dissipated and breach it [Music] his next experiment would be on a much grander scale the Birmingham City Corporations allowed the test team to conduct experiments at the disused nanty-glo dam in Wales this structure was one-fifth the size of the myrna from dr. Glanville's tests on scale models one is knew that 279 pounds of explosive would be required to make a breach this first test carried out in early 1942 shows the result of a non-contact explosion the water between the explosion and the dam wall absorbs the pressure shock waves cancelling up the pressure [Music] [Music] [Music] for the next test the team plan to carry out a contact detonation Glanville was able to acquire a 500 pound and his submarine mine it was lowered into position against the face of the dab while observers including Barnes Wallis retired to a safe distance [Music] at five o'clock on July the 24th the mine was detonated [Music] the result was conclusive Wallace was elated Wallace realized that a contact detonation was the key to destroying the dams they calculated that the weight of explosive needed to breach the burner was 6,500 pounds well within the carrying capacity of bomber commands new aircraft the Avro Lancaster now coming into service but could the RAF deliver a weapon to within a few feet of the target a report published in 1941 did not make encouraging reading it estimated that only 1 in 10 bombers were getting within 5 miles of their target in regions close to the German frontier aircraft were even bombing the wrong country as a result of poor navigation and bomb aiming equipment clearly high-level bombing had not yet come of age Wallace would have to find a new method of delivering his weapon one which had to be dropped with uncompromising accuracy the question was how switch from a single cannonball to increase the range of this cannon because fire down at the water and the bomb the Cannonball would bounce and hit a ship further away but I discovered that if you rotate it so the underside of the rotation is going in the same direction as the bomb you can get a long run I've actually run a ball to the quarter miles in the open sea of during April 1942 he tested this idea in the privacy of his Surrey garden he had built a homemade catapult and spent hours firing his daughter's marbles of the family washtub in an attempt to calculate the feasibility of using such a principle later at the National Physical Laboratory at ellington he conducted further tests Perry was able to refine his work by firing balls of different weights sizes and materials until he could calculate the bounce ratios necessary to reach a dam wall a breakthrough was made when he applied backspin to the projectiles which had the effect of increasing their range it would travel to the target in a series of tremendous leaps across the surface of the water the added backspin would also help by drawing the projectile back against the wall hugging it as it sank to the required depth now calculated at thirty feet three hydrostatic pistols would then detonate the charge interest was such that one us was able to obtain a Wellington bomber and specially converted for testing the principles from the air the bomb bay doors were removed and Goering installed to impart backspin to the spherical bombs on December the 4th 1942 a group of observers assembled on the shore of chesil beach near Weymouth as the Wellington approached with Wallace's bomb aimer a team on shore began to operate a slow-motion camera patiently waiting for the flash that would signal the moment of release one is held his breath to everyone's dismay it burst undeterred Wallace had the remaining pieces strengthened these early drops experimented with different release heights of Aspen and varying backspin revolution ratios [Music] over successive weeks the trials became more and more successful one story at the time of the trial suggest that the Wellington was engaged by a flak battery on its flight to the Test range Gunners below seemingly confused by the unusual shape of its cargo failed to recognize it as friendly an open fire veteran Vickers test pilot Matt summers often of the flying controls and who six years earlier had test flown the prototype Spitfire denied the incident ever tripped range after the success of these trials Wallis was ready to explain the science behind his idea confident that he could win over his critics he wrote all of his data into a paper simply entitled air attack on dams in February 1943 a copy reached the commander-in-chief of Bomber Command Arthur Harris he was not impressed he wrote of his strong disapproval in a letter to air vice-marshal song b this is tripe of the wildest description there are so many ifs and ands that there is not the smallest chance of it working Harris was notorious for having a mistrust of inventors the idea of bouncing a five-ton ball of steel across a lake was to him worthy of nothing but contempt Wallace later visited him with his test films and after viewing them Harris did admit that the weapon had potential one man who also saw the film was the First Sea Lord said Dudley power and he was not so skeptical indeed he was very keen to try the weapon against capital ships the Navy sponsored a version to be developed which will be used by the smaller faster mosquitoes as it would transpire this naval version would evolve parallel to Wallace's Dam busting designs on his return to Vickers at Weybridge Wallace was summoned to the office of the managing director of vickers-armstrong Sir Charles Craven he informed oneness that all work was to cease on a dams project as it had to be transferred a shocked one is now offered his resignation an angry Craven slammed his fist into the desk and cried mutiny the dams had to be attacked during the spring when rains would have filled the reservoirs to their highest level it would also had to coincide with the short full moon period so the crews could locate the target the last possible date for an attack would be May the 26th this decision to go ahead left Wallace barely eight weeks to perfect his bomb as long as when to work on his bomb Harris assigned air vice-marshal Cochrane the task of forming a squadron capable of carrying out the attack initially known only as squadron X it would become six one seven squadron and be formed by air crews most of whom had or were about to complete their current tours of 30 operations re s Camden was chosen as its base and Harris recommended that it be led by Wing Commander guy Gibson Gibson was a seasoned veteran who had completed over 160 missions earning him the Distinguished Flying Cross and Distinguished Service Order by the age of 24 by March 27th most of the 133 crew Mel Gibson and chosen along with the ground staff arrived these were some of the most experienced men in Bomber Command ages range from 20 to 32 with some from the UK America and Canada others from Australia initially Gibson and the men were told that they would make just one trip an attack of lightly defended target over water at low level and at night they would have to fly to Germany at less than 200 feet to have any chance of evading the defenses and reaching their targets as a result six one seven squadron practice flying low over the large lakes and reservoirs in England of Wales to a degree well beyond any other aircraft Oh meanwhile the Navy were making advances with its smaller spherical weapon now codenamed eyeball design changes were made throughout its development in this film a mosquito drops to high walls the first ones outer casing shatters due to the violent battering it receives on impact with a scene this tendency to burst required the strengthening of the whole weapon experimental casings were dropped from various Heights had Porton Down on Salisbury Plain [Music] these tests were carried out to determine the strength required to survive high speed impacts or the water and ultimately the formidable side armor of battleships spinning trials were also carried out of written down on a grounded mosquito this aircraft acted as a balancing test bed to check the weight distribution and unevenly filled weapon rotating at high speed could easily tear itself from the parent aircraft and result in serious damage development then moved to a more realistic target an old battleship named HMS Malaya was anchored in the west coast valley of locks driven de Havilland mosquitoes uses vulnerable ship as a guinea pig for most of their dummy rounds the advantage highball had over other forms of attack was that it could reach more sensitive parts of the ship most battleships have reinforced decks and protection added to the side of the hull known as the belt if high ball hit the belt it would sink below the surface and via backspin crawl under the vulnerable keel before exploding high ball weighed around 1,000 pounds enough to create significant damage to the submerged overlapping hull plating and cause severe flooding within the interior of the vessel a special squadron six one eight was formed shortly after it was eventually deployed to the Pacific to engage the Japanese battle fleet but the war ended before they could be used in action by this time Wallis had designed the full-size dam busting bomb codenamed upkeep the term bouncing bomb is somewhat of a misnomer as the weapon is more accurately described as a revolving depth charge it consisted of a metal cylinder 50 inches by 60 inside three hydrostatic pistols would detonate the 6,500 pounds of top X explosive with a fourth central fuse time to explode 90 seconds after the bomb was dropped in case the pistols failed with the outer casing the weapon weighed a total of nine thousand two hundred and fifty pounds the original intention was for the bomb to be spherical similar to earlier versions but due to the pressures of war it was found easier to manufacture steel cylinders so Vickers engineers spherical eyes the drum with wooden staves which were held in place by metal bands the first aircraft flown by Sam Braun dropped its weapon from 120 feet but due to the excessive height it sank almost immediately the second aircraft piloted by Mudd summers released at 60 feet the outer casing burst upon impact sending splintered staves and steel bands flying in all directions one wooden staves smashed into the Lancaster's elevator jamming it causing summers to have serious problems upon landing watching his film Wallis notice how the bare cylinder kept bouncing even after the casing had departed this led him to dispense with the outer casing altogether the weapon to be used against the dams had now been agreed and the development process was underway firstly alterations had to be made to the standard factory Lancaster's this involved a number of modifications including the removal of the bomb doors this would enable to external v-shaped caliper arms to be fitted these would grasp the bomb 1 a hydraulic motor within the fuselage provided its rotation via a belt the motor would be started 10 minutes before the bombing run when the aircraft flying at a speed of 232 miles per hour reached the dropping point the bomb aimer pressed the release button tension springs would force the arms outward and the upkeep mind now spinning at 500 revolutions per minute would fall clear of the aircraft what ice knew from the trials that the height was causing the cylinders to sink to mainly to the acute drop angle upon asking Gibson if they could lessen the angle by reducing the drop height from 150 feet to 60 Gibson was perturbed flying an aircraft as large as a Lancaster was hazardous enough at 150 feet at 60 a pilot only had to drop a wing and it would be on the ground it also raised another problem the low-level rendered there altimeters useless with noise insisting on a drop height of 60 feet how to maintain it over water at night was now the problem it was solved not in a London theater as the feature film suggests but by benlloch spider at the Ministry of aircraft production he remembered how trials are being conducted by Coastal Command in 1942 using spotlights the idea had been abandoned due to its ineffectiveness in choppy seas the dam attack however would be made across relatively still makes [Music] engineer Zafar bura fitted the Lancaster with two-spot lamps one in the front camera aperture and the second in the rear of the bombe both were angled to shine down and to starboard enabling the navigator to watch the lights positions through a perspex blister on the side of the canopy from here he could advise the pilot if he was too high or too low the correct height would be achieved when both beams crossed forming a figure of eight six one seven squadron practice over skempton airfield before practicing over water during the next few days Vickers test pilots continued to perfect the weapon 607 squadron air crews flew to recover to practice with inert upkeep bars instead of flying parallel to the shore they approach from head-on to deliver the dummy weapons against the incline BP pilots David Shannon less Munroe and less night arrived on the 12 of May [Music] attending witnesses watched as shannon's bomb bounced a good distance rolling up the beach [Music] les Monroe was not so lucky when he released under the stipulated sixty feet and the resulting water spray damaged his tail plane fortunately it was repairable [Music] not so the following day when Henry Maudsley suffered a similar fate to Monroe his aircraft was badly damaged and could not be repaired in time for the operation the squadron was now down to 19 aircraft with the upkeep mine being carried externally why Chadwick from Ambrose makers of the Lancaster's recommended that the aircraft should have their top turret removed to help cancel out the added drag and to save weight this meant that the top turret gunner would not have a position within the aircraft he was relocated permanently into the front turret which was frequented on normal occasions by the bomb-aimer this allowed him to assist with navigation lying in the front Vista communicating visual information to the navigator as well as keeping watch for hide tension pylons and other obstacles to prevent the Gunners legs from dangling in his face stirrups were installed in all aircraft to keep them out of the way the attack procedure would require a high degree of teamwork the pilot would be responsible for direction the flight engineer for speed the navigator for height the bomb-aimer for range and the front and rear Gunners would fire at the defenses it was decided to load the guns with 100% tracer ammunition in order to provide the greatest scare effect the bomb aimer had to release the bomb at a specific point too early and it would not reach the wall too late and it would bounce over with the risk of it exploding underneath the aircraft and killing the crew from aerial photographs of the Myrna and ADA the engineers came up with a simple solution the distance between the two slew stars on the Myrna Dam for example was calculated at 700 feet [Music] the drop point for the bomb was 476 yards from the wall these three points formed a triangle whose information was transferred into a rudimentary bomb site [Music] on the attack run the bomb aimer would need to look through a peephole and wait until the two nails lined up with the damn tires only then would the bomb be released however once the principal have been established many bomb aimers devise their own variations which were easier to use on May the 13th 1943 the only test of a live upkeep took place two Lancaster's had flown to RAF Menston in Kent to be readied one would carry the weapon and the second would film the result Squadron Leader Longbottom would pilot the releasing aircraft which would fly at seventy-five feet and the second flown by Bob hand essayed would follow behind at 1,000 feet to record the results the explosion created a waterspout of over 1,500 feet only 72 hours remain until up key would be dropped in anger [Music] on Sunday May the 16th all 133 crew learnt what their targets were to be many were relieved they thought it might be the fearsome German battleship the Tirpitz for many it was the longest briefing they had ever attended throughout the day bombers navigators pilots and wireless operators were briefed on their specific roles bombs Wallace explained the science behind the weapon they were soon to deliver and the crucial code words were finalized goner would signal a successful drop but no breach [ __ ] a breach in the mirna and dingy a breach in the AIDA the aircraft would take off in three waves wave one would consist of nine Lancaster's taking off in sections of three ten minutes apart they would proceed directly to the manner using VHF radio to coordinate the attack moving on to the ADA only when a breach in the murder had been achieved wave 2 consisting of five Lancaster's would head straight for the zuhr pay and attack independently of each other wave three would form an airborne reserve of five Lancaster's departing 90 minutes after the main force this wave would only proceed to a target if it had not been destroyed or called to do so by five group after the briefing the men retired sampei cricket lost others bust in the early summer sun some had a sense of foreboding convinced they were going to be killed on the mission sergeant gotcha [ __ ] the one is operated with flight leftenant Astral's crew choked a parody of Churchill's famous quote on his aircrafts bomb has so much been expected of so few it would prove to be a solemn statement in less than five hours he and the rest of his crew would be killed in action Gibson also had another reason to reflect the previous afternoon his black labrador dog [ __ ] had been run over and killed outside scant ins main gate the dog had been with Gibson for many years and often flew with him on operations he was popular with the other crews who would often buy him a pint in the officers mess Gibson requested that [ __ ] be buried at midnight outside his office the time he would be in action over the murder at 8 o'clock the crews boarded the buses that would take them to their aircraft as nine o'clock approached Gibson's wireless operator flight left hand and Bob Hutchinson fired a red flare as the signal for all first and second wave aircraft to start their engines they tax it slowly from their departure points and lined up on the grass runway in their respective orders the runway control van flash green and the first aircraft began to roll [Music] the Lancaster's continued to taxi and takeoff until all 14 aircraft had departed the remaining five would follow later if they were needed [Music] as the Lancaster's headed for the North Sea they settled at 100 feet testing their spot laps although most Gunners refrain from testing their guns preferring to save their pressures and emission soon the call resounded around each aircraft enemy Coast ahead [Music] crossing the coast Gibson adjusted cross after realizing with flora that they were over the heavily defended well Sharon Island a stronger winds had carried themselves over this heavily defended area fortunately the enemy Gunners did not appear to see them the low height was providing some protection but the moonlight was silhouetting them against the night sky accurate navigation was proving extremely difficult and all waves experienced problems in keeping to their designated flight paths unexpected flack also proved troublesome gibson was forced to break radio silence north of the room when a battery of guns and searchlights engage them Gibson's section of three aircraft reached the myrna relatively unscathed as its section two led by Squadron Leader diggie yard the love section of wave 1 was not so much as flight leftenant bill astral collided with high tension cables north of door stern and his aircraft became engulfed in flames crashing with the loss of whole crew at this time Gibson was orbiting the myrna with the other two aircraft in his section flown by flight left tenants Hopgood and Martin respectively [Music] Gibson decided to make a reconnaissance of the dam the flak defenses opened up 6 20 millimeter flak guns defended the dam some situated in the village of gun just below the dam others on the crest of the dam and on each tower attacking aircraft would have to fly between the towers [Music] after completing his reconnaissance Gibson radio to the other aircraft that he was going into the attack starting his run at the core Becker bridge Gibson headed straight for the dam with a rotating mine causing considerable vibration throughout the aircraft as the spot lamps were switched on the navigator pilot officer terram guided Gibson lower and lower until they were skimming the reservoir at 60 feet the German Gunners fired at the illuminated aircraft racing towards him at nearly 240 miles per hour in response right sergeant Deering in the front turret and sprayed the enemy defenses with tracer fire as the dam rapidly approached Pilot Officer Stafford lying in the bomb Amos position watched the two towers grow larger in his bomb site bomb gone up Keith dropped away and bounced and exploded creating a huge column of water several hundred feet high Hutchinson had fired a red flare to signal a successful release illuminating the dense spray blood-red the dam the signal gana was transmitted back to England successful attack but no breach Hopgood was next Gibson had called him on the VHF radio and advising him to commence his attack when ready the Gunners were waiting and Hopkins aircraft was hit on the approach resulting in his bomb being released late it bombs over the crest of the dam destroying the power station below only to mate before the tanks exploded Huff good and the remaining crew members were killed Martin was next to aid his attack Gibson decided to fly ahead in an attempt to draw the enemy far away despite this Martin's aircraft was hit but he managed to drop his bomb correctly he radio Gibson when he was clear at the flank by this time section two of the first wave had arrived flown by squadron leader young and flight left Hannon Shannon and multiple young attacked first and did more damage Gibson again engaged the flag was Martin flew alongside to split the defences he dropped his bomb successfully making a small breach again the code word Ghana was sent most be unattached Gibson and mountain once again engaged the Gunners [Music] his bombs bounced and hit as the spray subsided the Dan began to crack as tons of masonry gave way the crews were transfixed at this amazing site millions of tons of water were beginning to pour down the valley back at Grantham wing commander Walley done five groups signals officer had been listening through his earphones reporting the incoming Morse code signals to the assembled officers across the room Wallace was staring into space at this moment transmissions started and his ears instantly recognized first the letter n then I then G then he heard done shout [ __ ] they had done it Harris congratulated wise who was ecstatic Squadron Leader male flight left Hannon Shannon and pilot officer Knight headed for the ADA Dam with Gibson and yarn whilst the remaining aircraft headed for home the ADA was undefended but rested among steep hills at the end of a winding Valley these hills would prove to be the greatest problem only a fraction of the space was available for the crews to get the air speed and height correct compared to the manner the approach run would take them in a dive past Waldeck castle and then turning steeply the port hopping over a narrow spit and heading for the dam Myst was beginning to form in the valley and Dave Shannon found himself lost Gibson radiated and fired a flare to guide him to the correct area pilots found the steep approach difficult after several attempts by Maudsley and Shannon the letter released his bomb which bounced and hit the wall but did not breach the dam Maudsley then made another attempt his aircraft may have been damaged on the flight in and his weapon was released late exploding on the parapet his aircraft survived and headed for home but was shot down near a mesh approaching the Rhine all the crew were killed night at the last bomb he made a successful run his weapon bounced and hit the dam perfectly [Music] the dam began to collapse to the jubilation of the cruise the codeword dinghy was transmitted the aircraft headed back to England the aircraft of wave 2 had taken off singly to attack the zorp a they flew on the northern roof to cross the Dutch coast 120 miles north of wave 1 due to their flight path being longer they took off fast this was intended to split the defenses and possibly convince the Germans that these were nothing more than mutants attacks on the route to the zuhr pay to Lancaster's flown by jeff rice and les Monroe were forced to turn back to skempton while two more was shot down rice had lost his bomb when coming into contact with the sea and Munro had been hit by flag flight leftenant McCarthy reached the zorb a followed later by flight sergeant Brown from the reserve wave both using a different method of attack as brief because as or-fay was a shallow sleeping earth warm any upkeep attack could cause the bomb to roll straight over the crest as this test film shot of rickover illustrates the lack of slew stars would also rule out any range release reference for the Bamiyan the preferred method was for the aircraft to fly along the dam as opposed to at it dropping the bomb dead center from a height of some 30 feet and with no rotation Joe McCarthy made ten runs of the dam dropping his bomb dead center and damaging the crest Brown arrived to discover the dams shrouded in mist with only the spire of Lange shade Church for reference disorientated he flew up the wrong side realizing his error he had to perform a stall turn due to his falling airspeed after six attempts he released causing more damage to the crest but no breach of the dam the waiting night was heralding dawn so both headed back to England as the returning aircraft the ride packets captain the full cost of the mission became apparent eight of the nineteen Lancaster's had been lost 53 aircrew are being killed upon hearing the news Wallace was inconsolable he felt personally responsible for the deaths and remained deeply affected by them for the rest of his career it was of course not his fault the residents of the Myrna and ADA valleys awoke to a changed landscape the breach in the Myrna dam measured 76 metres wide by 22 metres deep by noon the following day 87% of the reservoir had disappeared through it in a tidal wave 10 metres high in towns located in the path of the deluge damage was extensive in nehi Malone eight miles away over 850 people were killed in places foundations were all that remained of houses over a dozen factories have been destroyed with a further hundred damaged 2800 hectares of land was submerged beyond use and numerous railway bridges have been swept away in total nearly 1500 people had been killed many had sought shelter underground when the air-raid sirens at first sounded the ADA Valley saw similar scenes over 30,000 tons of masonry had been dislodged with the floodwaters affecting areas up to 250 miles away there were other indirect results of the raid the German armaments minister Albert Speer visited the area and ordered that both dams be repaired as soon as possible before the autumn rains arrived to achieve this he ordered 27,000 men diverted from other vital construction work many of whom have been working on Hitler's Atlantic Wall project by October the dams had been repaired and 10,000 frontline troops were assigned to defend them from further Bomber Command attacks the zuhr pay escaped destruction experiencing only superficial damage to its crest and the power station located below upkeep proved to be an unsuitable weapon for earth-type dams the surviving crews were highly decorated including five distinguished service orders twelve distinguished flying medals fourteen Distinguished Flying crosses and two conspicuous gallantry medals Gibson received the Victoria Cross the presentations were held at Buckingham Palace after the raid Gibson left 6 1 7 squadron to perform public relations duties he subsequently returned to flying and on the 19th of September 1944 he was master bomber directing an attack on rights and mönchengladbach on the return flight there mosquito crashed in Holland Gibson and his navigator Squadron Leader Jim Warwick were killed instantly Gibson was 26 after the success of the raid Wallace attained an enormous amount of credibility he later developed his original 10-ton bomb design into two weapons six one seven squadron used both of these weapons in late 1944 and early in 1945 tallboy succeeded in capsizing the fearsome battleship the Tirpitz in a Norwegian Fjord and Grand Slam felled the mighty Bielefeld viaduct after the war Wallace developed variable geometry aeronautics insisting that all of the testing be carried out by unmanned drones following the raid on the dams he had vowed never to risk another man's life 60 years later his work lives on in the swing-wing aircraft of today six one seven squadrons still occupied the skies today proud of their heritage they continue to undertake or inspiring feats of flying in both times of war and of peace their heroic bravery continues to ensure them an exalted place in history forever known simply as the dam Busters [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Military Aviation TV

Views: 701,318

Rating: 4.820353 out of 5

Keywords: World War Two, World War II, WWII, Avro Lancaster, Lancaster Bomber, Royal Air Force, Dambuster, Dambusters, 617, 617 Squadron, 617 Sqn, Germany, Dam, Dams, Mohne, Sorpe, Eder, Bouncing Bomb, Barnes Wallis, War, Conflict, Nazi, England, America, United States, Scampton, Red Arrows

Id: aHGgXi4Kwqw

Length: 50min 25sec (3025 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 29 2020