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<title>Operation Chastise</title>

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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Chastise</span></span>

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</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Not to be confused with <a href="Operation_Chastity" title="Operation Chastity">Operation Chastity</a>.</div>

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</style><table class="infobox vevent" style="width:25.5em;border-spacing:2px;"><tbody><tr><th class="summary" colspan="2" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;font-size:110%;">Operation Chastise</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" style="background-color:#DCDCDC;color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;">Part of the <a href="Second_World_War" class="mw-redirect" title="Second World War">Second World War</a></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align:center;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;line-height:1.5em;"><span typeof="mw:File"></span><br>The <a href="M%C3%B6hne_Dam" class="mw-redirect" title="Möhne Dam">Möhne Dam</a> the day following the attacks</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><table style="width:100%;margin:0;padding:0;border:0;display:inline-table"><tbody><tr><th style="padding-right:1em">Date</th><td>16–17 May 1943</td></tr><tr><th style="padding-right:1em">Location</th><td><div class="location"><a href="Eder_(Fulda)" title="Eder (Fulda)">Eder</a>, <a href="M%C3%B6hne" title="Möhne">Möhne</a> and <a href="Sorpe_(R%C3%B6hr)" title="Sorpe (Röhr)">Sorpe (Röhr)</a> rivers, Germany</div></td></tr><tr><th style="padding-right:1em">Result</th><td class="status">

British victory</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;font-size:110%;">Belligerents</th></tr><tr><td style="width:50%;border-right:1px dotted #aaa;">

<span class="flagicon"><span class="mw-image-border" typeof="mw:File"><a href="United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom"></a></span></span> <a href="United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a></td><td style="width:50%;padding-left:0.25em">

<span class="flagicon"><span class="mw-image-border" typeof="mw:File"><a href="Nazi_Germany" title="Nazi Germany"></a></span></span> <a href="Nazi_Germany" title="Nazi Germany">Germany</a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;font-size:110%;">Commanders and leaders</th></tr><tr><td style="width:50%;border-right:1px dotted #aaa;">

<a href="Guy_Gibson" title="Guy Gibson">Guy Gibson</a></td><td style="width:50%;padding-left:0.25em">

<a href="Josef_Kammhuber" title="Josef Kammhuber">Josef Kammhuber</a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;font-size:110%;">Strength</th></tr><tr><td style="width:50%;border-right:1px dotted #aaa;">

19 <a href="Avro_Lancaster" title="Avro Lancaster">Lancaster</a> bombers</td><td style="width:50%;padding-left:0.25em">

<a href="12th_Air_Corps_(Germany)" title="12th Air Corps (Germany)">XII. Fliegerkorps</a><br>(Defending three dams)</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;font-size:110%;">Casualties and losses</th></tr><tr><td style="width:50%;border-right:1px dotted #aaa;">

8 aircraft lost<br>53 aircrew killed<br>3 aircrew taken prisoner.</td><td style="width:50%;padding-left:0.25em">

2 dams breached<br>1 dam lightly damaged<br><abbr title="circa">c.</abbr><span style="white-space:nowrap;"> 1,600</span> civilians killed<br>(including <abbr title="circa">c.</abbr><span style="white-space:nowrap;"> 1,000</span> prisoners and slave labourers, mainly Soviet)</td></tr></tbody></table>

<p><b>Operation Chastise</b>, commonly known as the <b>Dambusters Raid</b>,<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> was an attack on <a href="Nazi_Germany" title="Nazi Germany">German</a> dams carried out on the night of 16/17 May 1943 by <a href="No._617_Squadron_RAF" title="No. 617 Squadron RAF">617 Squadron</a> <a href="RAF_Bomber_Command" title="RAF Bomber Command">RAF Bomber Command</a>, later called the Dam Busters, using special <a href="Bouncing_bomb" title="Bouncing bomb">bouncing bombs</a> developed by <a href="Barnes_Wallis" title="Barnes Wallis">Barnes Wallis</a>. The <a href="M%C3%B6hne_Reservoir" title="Möhne Reservoir">Möhne</a> and <a href="Edersee_Dam" title="Edersee Dam">Edersee</a> dams were breached, causing catastrophic flooding of the <a href="Ruhr_(river)" title="Ruhr (river)">Ruhr</a> valley and of villages in the <a href="Edertal" title="Edertal">Eder valley</a>; the <a href="Sorpe_Dam" title="Sorpe Dam">Sorpe Dam</a> sustained only minor damage. Two hydroelectric power stations were destroyed and several more damaged. Factories and mines were also damaged and destroyed. An estimated 1,600 civilians – about 600 Germans and 1,000 <a href="Forced_labour_under_German_rule_during_World_War_II" title="Forced labour under German rule during World War II">enslaved labourers</a>, mainly Soviet – were killed by the flooding. Despite rapid repairs by the Germans, production did not return to normal until September. The RAF lost 56 aircrew, with 53 dead and three captured, amid losses of eight aircraft.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Background">Background</h2></div>

<p>Before the <a href="Second_World_War" class="mw-redirect" title="Second World War">Second World War</a>, the British <a href="Air_Ministry" title="Air Ministry">Air Ministry</a> had identified the industrialised <a href="Ruhr_Valley" class="mw-redirect" title="Ruhr Valley">Ruhr Valley</a>, especially its dams, as important strategic targets.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAshworth199576_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEAshworth199576-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The dams provided <a href="Hydroelectric_power" class="mw-redirect" title="Hydroelectric power">hydroelectric power</a> and pure water for steel-making, drinking water and water for the canal transport system. Calculations indicated that attacks with large bombs could be effective but required a degree of accuracy which <a href="RAF_Bomber_Command" title="RAF Bomber Command">RAF Bomber Command</a> had been unable to attain when attacking a well-defended target. A one-off surprise attack might succeed but the RAF lacked a weapon suitable for the task.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAshworth199577_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEAshworth199577-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Concept">Concept</h2></div>

<p>The mission grew out of a concept for a bomb designed by <a href="Barnes_Wallis" title="Barnes Wallis">Barnes Wallis</a>, assistant chief designer at <a href="Vickers-Armstrongs" title="Vickers-Armstrongs">Vickers</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAshworth199577_4-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEAshworth199577-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Wallis had worked on the <a href="Vickers_Wellesley" title="Vickers Wellesley">Vickers Wellesley</a> and <a href="Vickers_Wellington" title="Vickers Wellington">Vickers Wellington</a> bombers and while working on the <a href="Vickers_Windsor" title="Vickers Windsor">Vickers Windsor</a>, he had also begun work, with <a href="British_Admiralty" class="mw-redirect" title="British Admiralty">Admiralty</a> support, on an anti-shipping bomb, although dam destruction was soon considered. At first, Wallis wanted to drop a 10-long-ton (22,000 lb; 10,000 kg) bomb from an altitude of about 40,000 ft (12,000 m), part of the <a href="Earthquake_bomb" title="Earthquake bomb">earthquake bomb</a> concept. No bomber aircraft was capable of flying at such an altitude or of carrying such a heavy bomb and although Wallis proposed the six-engined <a href="Victory_Bomber" title="Victory Bomber">Victory Bomber</a> for this purpose this was rejected.<sup id="cite_ref-Sweetman40_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Sweetman40-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Wallis realized that a much smaller explosive charge would suffice if it exploded against the dam wall under the water, but German reservoir dams were protected by heavy <a href="Torpedo_nets" class="mw-redirect" title="Torpedo nets">torpedo nets</a> to prevent an explosive device from travelling through the water.<sup id="cite_ref-Sweetman44_6-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Sweetman44-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Wallis devised a 9,000 lb (4,100 kg) bomb (more accurately, a mine) in the shape of a cylinder, equivalent to a very large <a href="Depth_charge" title="Depth charge">depth charge</a> armed with a hydrostatic fuse, designed to be given a backspin of 500 <a href="Revolutions_per_minute" title="Revolutions per minute">rpm</a>. Dropped at 60 ft (18 m) and 240 mph (390 km/h) from the release point, the mine would skip across the surface of the water before hitting the dam wall as its forward speed ceased. Initially the backspin was intended to increase the range of the mine but it was later realized that it would also cause the mine, after submerging, to run down the side of the dam towards its base, thus maximising the explosive effect against the dam.<sup id="cite_ref-Sweetman59_7-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Sweetman59-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This weapon was code-named <a href="Bouncing_bomb#Upkeep" title="Bouncing bomb"><i>Upkeep</i></a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Sweetman66_8-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Sweetman66-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p>

<p>Testing of the concept included blowing up a scale model dam at the <a href="Building_Research_Establishment" title="Building Research Establishment">Building Research Establishment</a>, Watford, in May 1942 and then the breaching of the disused <a href="Elan_Valley_Reservoirs" title="Elan Valley Reservoirs">Nant-y-Gro dam</a> in Wales in July. A subsequent test suggested that a charge of 7,500 lb (3,400 kg) exploded 30 ft (9.1 m) under water would breach a full-size dam; crucially this weight would be within the carrying capacity of an <a href="Avro_Lancaster" title="Avro Lancaster">Avro Lancaster</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Sweetman60_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Sweetman60-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The first air drop trials were at <a href="Chesil_Beach" title="Chesil Beach">Chesil Beach</a> in December 1942; these used a spinning 4 ft 6 in sphere dropped from a modified Vickers Wellington, serial BJ895/G; the same aircraft was used until April 1943 when the first modified Lancasters became available. The tests continued at Chesil Beach and <a href="Reculver" title="Reculver">Reculver</a>, often unsuccessfully, using revised designs of the mine and variations of speed and height.

</p><p><a href="Avro" title="Avro">Avro</a> Chief Designer <a href="Roy_Chadwick" title="Roy Chadwick">Roy Chadwick</a> adapted the Lancaster to carry the mine. To reduce weight, much of the internal armour was removed, as was the mid-upper (dorsal) gun turret. The dimensions of the mine and its unusual shape meant that the bomb-bay doors had to be removed and the mine hung partly below the fuselage. It was mounted on two crutches and before dropping it was spun by an auxiliary motor. Chadwick also worked out the design and installation of controls and gear for the carriage and release of the mine in conjunction with Barnes Wallis. The Avro Lancaster B Mk IIIs so modified were known as <i>Lancaster B Mark III Special (Type 464 Provisioning)</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Sweetman82_11-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Sweetman82-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

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<p>In February 1943, Air Vice-Marshal <a href="Francis_John_Linnell" title="Francis John Linnell">Francis Linnell</a> at the <a href="Minister_of_Aircraft_Production" title="Minister of Aircraft Production">Ministry of Aircraft Production</a> thought the work was diverting Wallis from the development of the Vickers Windsor bomber (which did not become operational). Pressure from Linnell via the chairman of Vickers, Sir Charles Worthington Craven, caused Wallis to offer to resign.<sup id="cite_ref-Sweetman78_12-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Sweetman78-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Sir <a href="Arthur_Harris" title="Arthur Harris">Arthur Harris</a>, head of Bomber Command, after a briefing by Linnell also opposed the allocation of his bombers; Harris was about to start the strategic bombing campaign against Germany and Lancasters were just entering service. Wallis had written to an influential intelligence officer, Group Captain <a href="F._W._Winterbotham" title="F. W. Winterbotham">Frederick Winterbotham</a>, who ensured that the <a href="Chief_of_the_Air_Staff_(United_Kingdom)" title="Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)">Chief of the Air Staff</a>, Air Chief Marshal <a href="Charles_Portal%2C_1st_Viscount_Portal_of_Hungerford" title="Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford">Charles Portal</a>, heard of the project. Portal saw the film of the Chesil Beach trials and was convinced.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> On 26 February 1943, Portal over-ruled Harris and ordered that thirty Lancasters were to be allocated to the mission and the target date was set for May, when water levels would be at their highest and breaches in the dams would cause the most damage.<sup id="cite_ref-Sweetman79_14-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Sweetman79-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> With eight weeks to go, the larger Upkeep mine that was needed for the mission and the modifications to the Lancasters had yet to be designed.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Assignment">Assignment</h3></div>

<p>The operation was given to <a href="No._5_Group_RAF" title="No. 5 Group RAF">No. 5 Group RAF</a>, which formed a new squadron to undertake the dams mission. It was initially called Squadron X, as the speed of its formation outstripped the RAF process for naming squadrons. Led by 24-year-old <a href="Wing_Commander_(rank)" class="mw-redirect" title="Wing Commander (rank)">Wing Commander</a> <a href="Guy_Gibson" title="Guy Gibson">Guy Gibson</a>, a veteran of more than 170 bombing and night-fighter missions, 21 bomber crews were selected from 5 Group squadrons. The crews included RAF personnel of several nationalities, members of the <a href="Royal_Australian_Air_Force" title="Royal Australian Air Force">Royal Australian Air Force</a> (RAAF), <a href="Royal_Canadian_Air_Force" title="Royal Canadian Air Force">Royal Canadian Air Force</a> (RCAF) and <a href="Royal_New_Zealand_Air_Force" title="Royal New Zealand Air Force">Royal New Zealand Air Force</a> (RNZAF). The squadron was based at <a href="RAF_Scampton" title="RAF Scampton">RAF Scampton</a>, about 5 mi (8 km) north of <a href="Lincoln%2C_Lincolnshire" class="mw-redirect" title="Lincoln, Lincolnshire">Lincoln</a>.

</p><p>The targets selected were the <a href="M%C3%B6hne_Reservoir" title="Möhne Reservoir">Möhne Dam</a> and the <a href="Sorpe_Dam" title="Sorpe Dam">Sorpe Dam</a>, upstream from the <a href="Ruhr_area" class="mw-redirect" title="Ruhr area">Ruhr industrial area</a>, with the <a href="Edersee" title="Edersee">Eder Dam</a> on the <a href="Eder_(Fulda)" title="Eder (Fulda)">Eder</a> River, which feeds into the <a href="Weser" title="Weser">Weser</a>, as a secondary target. The loss of <a href="Hydroelectric" class="mw-redirect" title="Hydroelectric">hydroelectric</a> power was important but the loss of water to industry, cities and canals would have greater effect and there was potential for devastating flooding if the dams broke.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Preparations">Preparations</h3></div>

<p>Bombing from an altitude of 60 ft (18 m), at an air speed of 240 mph (390 km/h) and at set distance from the target called for expert crews. Intensive night-time and low-altitude training began. There were also technical problems to solve, the first one being to determine when the aircraft was at optimum distance from its target. The Möhne and Eder Dams had towers at each end. A special targeting device with two prongs, <a href="Similarity_(geometry)" title="Similarity (geometry)">making the same angle</a> as the two towers at the correct distance from the dam, showed when to release the bomb. (The <a href="BBC" title="BBC">BBC</a> documentary <i>Dambusters Declassified</i> (2010) stated that the pronged device was ultimately not used, owing to problems related to vibration, and that other methods were employed, including a length of string tied in a loop and pulled back centrally to a fixed point, in the manner of a catapult.)

</p><p>The second problem was determining the aircraft's altitude, as barometric <a href="Altimeter" title="Altimeter">altimeters</a> lacked accuracy. Two spotlights were mounted, one under the aircraft's nose and the other under the <a href="Fuselage" title="Fuselage">fuselage</a>, so that at the correct height their light beams would converge on the surface of the water. The crews practised at the <a href="Eyebrook_Reservoir" title="Eyebrook Reservoir">Eyebrook Reservoir</a>, near <a href="Uppingham" title="Uppingham">Uppingham</a>, Rutland; <a href="Abberton_Reservoir" title="Abberton Reservoir">Abberton Reservoir</a> near Colchester; <a href="Derwent_Reservoir_(Derbyshire)" title="Derwent Reservoir (Derbyshire)">Derwent Reservoir</a> in the Derbyshire Peak District; and Fleet Lagoon on Chesil Beach. Wallis's bomb was first tested at the Elan Valley Reservoirs.

</p><p>The lights were developed by Edward Spence Calvert (1902-91), of Northern Ireland, at the RAE in Hampshire, with an initial proposal by <a href="Ben_Lockspeiser" title="Ben Lockspeiser">Ben Lockspeiser</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> After the war, Calvert, with his assistant Jack Sparke, developed the system of aircraft landing lights mostly found across British airports today, known as 'centre line and crossbar' <a href="Approach_lighting_system" title="Approach lighting system">approach lighting system</a>, first tested in the <a href="Berlin_Airlift" class="mw-redirect" title="Berlin Airlift">Berlin Airlift</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The ICAO adopted the Calvert approach system in 1952. All NATO airfields have the lighting system, with six transverse rows of lights. With Jack Sparke, he also developed the <a href="Visual_approach_slope_indicator" title="Visual approach slope indicator">visual approach slope indicator</a> in the late 1950s. He was head of the illumination section of the RAE from 1941 to 1967.

</p><p>Gibson also had <a href="VHF" class="mw-redirect" title="VHF">VHF radios</a> (normally reserved for fighters) fitted to the Lancasters so that he could control the operation while over the target,<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> an early example of what became the <a href="Master_bomber" class="mw-redirect" title="Master bomber">master bomber</a> role.

</p><p>The squadron took delivery of the bombs on 13 May, after the final tests on 29 April. At 18:00 on 15 May, at a meeting in Whitworth's house, Gibson and Wallis briefed the squadron's two <a href="Flight_(military_unit)" title="Flight (military unit)">flight</a> commanders, <a href="Squadron_Leader" class="mw-redirect" title="Squadron Leader">Squadron Leader</a> <a href="Henry_Eric_Maudslay" title="Henry Eric Maudslay">Henry Eric Maudslay</a> and Sqn Ldr <a href="Dinghy_Young" title="Dinghy Young">H. M. "Dinghy" Young</a>, Gibson's deputy for the Möhne attack, Flt Lt <a href="John_Vere_Hopgood" title="John Vere Hopgood">John V. Hopgood</a> and the squadron bombing leader, <a href="Flight_Lieutenant" class="mw-redirect" title="Flight Lieutenant">Flight Lieutenant</a> Bob Hay. The rest of the crews were told at a series of briefings the following day, which began with a briefing of pilots, navigators and bomb-aimers at about midday.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Organisation">Organisation</h3></div>

<p>Formation No. 1 was composed of nine aircraft in three groups (listed by pilot): Gibson, Hopgood and Flt Lt <a href="Harold_Brownlow_Martin" class="mw-redirect" title="Harold Brownlow Martin">H. B. "Micky" Martin</a> (an Australian serving in the RAF); Young, Flt Lt <a href="David_Maltby" title="David Maltby">David Maltby</a> and Flt Lt <a href="Dave_Shannon" title="Dave Shannon">Dave Shannon</a> (RAAF); and Maudslay, Flt Lt Bill Astell and <a href="Pilot_Officer" class="mw-redirect" title="Pilot Officer">Pilot Officer</a> <a href="Les_Knight" title="Les Knight">Les Knight</a> (RAAF). Its mission was to attack the Möhne; any aircraft with bombs remaining would then attack the Eder.

</p><p>Formation No. 2, numbering five aircraft, piloted by Flt Lt <a href="Joe_McCarthy_(RCAF_officer)" title="Joe McCarthy (RCAF officer)">Joe McCarthy</a> (an American serving in the RCAF), P/O Vernon Byers (RCAF),<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHolland2012210_18-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHolland2012210-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Flt Lt Norman Barlow (RAAF), P/O Geoff Rice<sup id="cite_ref-hinckleypastpresent.org_19-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-hinckleypastpresent.org-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and Flt Lt <a href="Les_Munro" title="Les Munro">Les Munro</a> (RNZAF), was to attack the Sorpe.

</p><p>Formation No. 3 was a mobile reserve consisting of aircraft piloted by <a href="Flight_Sergeant" class="mw-redirect" title="Flight Sergeant">Flight Sergeant</a> Cyril Anderson, Flt Sgt Bill Townsend, Flt Sgt Ken Brown (RCAF), P/O Warner Ottley and P/O Lewis Burpee (RCAF), taking off two hours later on 17 May, either to bomb the main dams or to attack three smaller secondary target dams: the Lister, the Ennepe and the <a href="Diemelsee" title="Diemelsee">Diemel</a>.

</p><p>Two crews were unable to make the mission owing to illness.

</p><p>The Operations Room for the mission was at 5 Group Headquarters in <a href="St_Vincents_Hall" title="St Vincents Hall">St Vincents Hall</a>, <a href="Grantham" title="Grantham">Grantham</a>, Lincolnshire. The mission codes (transmitted in <a href="Morse_code" title="Morse code">morse</a>) were: <i>Goner</i>, meaning "bomb dropped"; <i><a href="Nigger_(dog)" title="Nigger (dog)">Nigger</a></i>, meaning that the Möhne was breached; and <i>Dinghy</i>, meaning that the Eder was breached. Nigger was the name of Gibson's dog, a black <a href="Labrador_retriever" class="mw-redirect" title="Labrador retriever">labrador retriever</a> that had been run over and killed on the morning of the attack.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Dinghy was Young's nickname, a reference to the fact that he had twice survived crash landings at sea where he and his crew were rescued from the aircraft's inflatable <a href="Inflatable_boat" title="Inflatable boat">rubber dinghy</a>.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="The_attacks">The attacks</h2></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Outbound">Outbound</h3></div>

<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="position: relative; top: 0px; right: 0px; width: 260px;"><div class="thumbinner noresize" style="position: relative; outline:0px; border:0px; padding:0px;top: 0px; right: 0px; height: 220px; width: 260px"><div style="position: absolute;width:260px; height:220px;top:0px;left:0px;background-color:#FFFFFF00; color:inherit;"></div><div style="position: absolute; top: 202px; left: 247px; width: 12px; height: 12px"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright" title="About OpenStreetMaps" rel="nofollow"></a></span></div><div style="position: absolute; top: 202px; left: 150px;width: 12px; height: 12px background-color: transparent; color:inherit;"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Maps_Terms_of_Use" title="Maps: terms of use" class="external"></a></span></div><div style="display:inline-block; position: absolute; background-color: #111111; color:inherit; clip-path:path(nonzero, 'M0,8 l0,4 l20,0 l0,-4 l-0.3,0 l0,3.7 l-19.4,0 l0,-3.7 z') ; width:20px; top:177px; left:214px; height:20px; transform:scale(2.5, 1.5)"></div><div style="position: absolute; top: 178px; left: 245px; font-size: 9.5px; line-height: 126%; width: fit-content;color: #444433; background-color: transparent; text-align: right; transform: translateX(-100%);">40km<br>25miles</div><div title="Lister" style="position:absolute;outline:1px solid #FFFFFF;top:185.4px;left:122.4px;width:16px;height:16px;border-radius:50%;background-color:#DB3123;color:inherit"></div><div title="Lister" style="position:absolute; line-height: 120%; top: 185.96px; left: 130.4px; width: fit-content; text-align: center; color: #FFFFFF; background-color: transparent;transform: translateX(-50%); font-size: 12px;"><b>6</b></div><div style="position:absolute;outline:1px solid #FFFFFF;top:145px;left:202.9px;width:16px;height:16px;border-radius:50%;background-color:#DB3123;color:inherit"></div><div title="Diemel" style="position:absolute; line-height: 120%; top: 145.56px; left: 210.9px; width: fit-content; text-align: center; color: #FFFFFF; background-color: transparent;transform: translateX(-50%); font-size: 12px;"><b>5</b></div><div style="position:absolute;left:201.9px;top:140px"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="Diemelsee" title="5 Diemel"></a></span></div><div style="position:absolute;left:200.4px;top:140px"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="Diemelsee" title="5 Diemel"></a></span></div><div title="Ennepe" style="position:absolute;outline:1px solid #FFFFFF;top:164px;left:83.5px;width:16px;height:16px;border-radius:50%;background-color:#DB3123;color:inherit"></div><div title="Ennepe" style="position:absolute; line-height: 120%; top: 164.56px; left: 91.5px; width: fit-content; text-align: center; color: #FFFFFF; background-color: transparent;transform: translateX(-50%); font-size: 12px;"><b>4</b></div><div style="position:absolute;outline:1px solid #FFFFFF;top:172.4px;left:233.3px;width:16px;height:16px;border-radius:50%;background-color:#DB3123;color:inherit"></div><div title="Edersee" style="position:absolute; line-height: 120%; top: 172.96px; left: 241.3px; width: fit-content; text-align: center; color: #FFFFFF; background-color: transparent;transform: translateX(-50%); font-size: 12px;"><b>3</b></div><div style="position:absolute;left:232.3px;top:167.4px"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="Edersee_Dam" title="3 Edersee"></a></span></div><div style="position:absolute;left:230.8px;top:167.4px"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="Edersee_Dam" title="3 Edersee"></a></span></div><div style="position:absolute;outline:1px solid #FFFFFF;top:148.2px;left:134.2px;width:16px;height:16px;border-radius:50%;background-color:#DB3123;color:inherit"></div><div title="Sorpe" style="position:absolute; line-height: 120%; top: 148.76px; left: 142.2px; width: fit-content; text-align: center; color: #FFFFFF; background-color: transparent;transform: translateX(-50%); font-size: 12px;"><b>2</b></div><div title="Sorpe" style="position:absolute; line-height: 120%; top: 148.76px; left: 142.2px; width: fit-content; text-align: center; color: #FFFFFF; background-color: transparent;transform: translateX(-50%); font-size: 12px;">2</div><div style="position:absolute;left:133.2px;top:140.2px"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="Sorpe_Dam" title="2 Sorpe"></a></span></div><div style="position:absolute;left:131.7px;top:143.2px"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="Sorpe_Dam" title="2 Sorpe"></a></span></div><div style="position:absolute;outline:1px solid #FFFFFF;top:127.9px;left:142.5px;width:16px;height:16px;border-radius:50%;background-color:#DB3123;color:inherit"></div><div title="Möhne" style="position:absolute; line-height: 120%; top: 128.46px; left: 150.5px; width: fit-content; text-align: center; color: #FFFFFF; background-color: transparent;transform: translateX(-50%); font-size: 12px;"><b>1</b></div><div style="position:absolute;left:141.5px;top:122.9px"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="M%C3%B6hne_Reservoir" title="1 Möhne"></a></span></div><div style="position:absolute;left:140px;top:122.9px"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="M%C3%B6hne_Reservoir" title="1 Möhne"></a></span></div><div style="position: absolute; outline-width: 1px; outline-style: solid; outline-color: white;top: 0px; left:1px; width:99px;background-color:transparent; color:inherit;"><span typeof="mw:File"></span></div><div style="position: absolute; top: 103.595px; left:69.805px;width: 12.87px; height:10.89px; outline:1px solid #AA1205; background-color:#AA120522; color:inherit;"></div><div style="position: absolute;top: 9px;left: 226px"><div style="color: white; opacity:100; font-size: 19px; font-weight:normal; text-align: left;"><a class="mw-kartographer-maplink no-icon" data-mw-kartographer="maplink" data-style="osm-intl" href="geo:51.66667,7.83333" data-zoom="8" data-lat="51.66667" data-lon="7.83333" data-overlays="["_02645793ce8f4afaaa29e3e59da7706628c359f9"]">🌍</a></div></div></div><div class="thumbcaption" style="text-align:left">Locations of the primary and secondary target dams<div class="mw-collapsible-content" style="column-count:2; column-rule:solid 1px;text-align:left;padding-top:5px"><div style="display:inline-block;line-height:110%;vertical-align:middle; padding:1px 4px;border-radius:8px;border: 0.5px solid black;background-color:#DB3123;color:#FFFFFF;font-size:88%;font-weight:bold">1</div> <a href="M%C3%B6hne_Reservoir" title="Möhne Reservoir">Möhne</a><br><div style="display:inline-block;line-height:110%;vertical-align:middle; padding:1px 4px;border-radius:8px;border: 0.5px solid black;background-color:#DB3123;color:#FFFFFF;font-size:88%;font-weight:bold">2</div> <a href="Sorpe_Dam" title="Sorpe Dam">Sorpe</a><br><div style="display:inline-block;line-height:110%;vertical-align:middle; padding:1px 4px;border-radius:8px;border: 0.5px solid black;background-color:#DB3123;color:#FFFFFF;font-size:88%;font-weight:bold">3</div> <a href="Edersee_Dam" title="Edersee Dam">Edersee</a><br><div style="display:inline-block;line-height:110%;vertical-align:middle; padding:1px 4px;border-radius:8px;border: 0.5px solid black;background-color:#DB3123;color:#FFFFFF;font-size:88%;font-weight:bold">4</div> Ennepe<br><div style="display:inline-block;line-height:110%;vertical-align:middle; padding:1px 4px;border-radius:8px;border: 0.5px solid black;background-color:#DB3123;color:#FFFFFF;font-size:88%;font-weight:bold">5</div> <a href="Diemelsee" title="Diemelsee">Diemel</a><br><div style="display:inline-block;line-height:110%;vertical-align:middle; padding:1px 4px;border-radius:8px;border: 0.5px solid black;background-color:#DB3123;color:#FFFFFF;font-size:88%;font-weight:bold">6</div> Lister<br></div></div></div></div>

<p>The aircraft used two routes, carefully avoiding known concentrations of <a href="Anti-aircraft_warfare" title="Anti-aircraft warfare">flak</a>, and were timed to cross the enemy coast simultaneously. The first aircraft, those of Formation No. 2 and heading for the longer, northern route, took off at 21:28 on 16 May.<sup id="cite_ref-oprep_21-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-oprep-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> McCarthy's bomber developed a coolant leak and he took off in the reserve aircraft 34 minutes late.<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Formation No. 1 took off in groups of three at 10-minute intervals beginning at 21:39.<sup id="cite_ref-oprep_21-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-oprep-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The reserve formation did not begin taking off until 00:09 on 17 May.<sup id="cite_ref-oprep_21-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-oprep-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Formation No. 1 entered continental Europe between <a href="Walcheren" title="Walcheren">Walcheren</a> and <a href="Schouwen" title="Schouwen">Schouwen</a>, flew over the Netherlands, skirted the airbases at <a href="Gilze-Rijen" class="mw-redirect" title="Gilze-Rijen">Gilze-Rijen</a> and <a href="Eindhoven" title="Eindhoven">Eindhoven</a>, curved around the <a href="Ruhr_(river)" title="Ruhr (river)">Ruhr</a> defences, and turned north to avoid <a href="Hamm%2C_North_Rhine-Westphalia" title="Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia">Hamm</a> before turning south to head for the Möhne River. Formation No. 2 flew further north, cutting over <a href="Vlieland" title="Vlieland">Vlieland</a> and crossing the <a href="IJsselmeer" title="IJsselmeer">IJsselmeer</a> before joining the first route near <a href="Wesel" title="Wesel">Wesel</a> and then flying south beyond the Möhne to the Sorpe River.<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>The bombers flew low, at about 100 ft (30 m) altitude, to avoid radar detection. Flight Sergeant George Chalmers, radio operator on <a href="RAF_phonetic_alphabet" class="mw-redirect" title="RAF phonetic alphabet">"O for Orange"</a>, looked out through the <a href="Astrodome_(aviation)" class="mw-redirect" title="Astrodome (aviation)">astrodome</a> and was astonished to see that his pilot was flying towards the target along a forest's <a href="Firebreak" title="Firebreak">firebreak</a>, below treetop level.<sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>24<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="First_casualties">First casualties</h3></div>

<p>The first casualties were suffered soon after reaching the Dutch coast. Formation No. 2 did not fare well: Munro's aircraft lost its radio to flak and turned back over the IJsselmeer, while Rice flew too low and struck the sea, losing his bomb in the water;<sup id="cite_ref-hinckleypastpresent.org_19-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-hinckleypastpresent.org-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> he recovered and returned to base. After the completion of the raid Gibson sympathised with Rice, telling him how he had also nearly lost his bomb to the sea. Barlow and Byers crossed the coast around the island of <a href="Texel" title="Texel">Texel</a>. Byers was shot down by flak shortly afterwards, crashing into the <a href="Waddenzee" class="mw-redirect" title="Waddenzee">Waddenzee</a>. Barlow's aircraft hit electricity pylons and crashed 5 km east of <a href="Rees%2C_Germany" title="Rees, Germany">Rees</a>, near Haldern. The bomb was thrown clear of the crash and was examined intact by <a href="Heinz_Schweizer" title="Heinz Schweizer">Heinz Schweizer</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-jasper_25-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-jasper-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>25<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Only the delayed bomber piloted by McCarthy survived to cross the Netherlands. Formation No. 1 lost Astell's bomber near the German hamlet of Marbeck when his Lancaster hit <a href="Electric_power_transmission" title="Electric power transmission">high voltage electrical cables</a> and crashed into a field.<sup id="cite_ref-oprep_21-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-oprep-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Attack_on_the_Möhne_Dam">Attack on the Möhne Dam</h3></div>

<p>Formation No. 1 arrived over the Möhne lake and Gibson's aircraft (G for George) made the first run, followed by Hopgood (M for Mother). Hopgood's aircraft was hit by flak as it made its low-level run and was caught in the blast of its own bomb, crashing shortly afterwards when a wing disintegrated. Three crew members successfully abandoned the aircraft, but only two survived. Subsequently, Gibson flew his aircraft across the dam to draw the flak away from Martin's run. Martin (P for Popsie) bombed third; his aircraft was damaged, but made a successful attack. Next, Young (A for Apple) made a successful run, and after him Maltby (J for Johnny), when finally the dam was breached. Gibson, with Young accompanying, led Shannon, Maudslay and Knight to the Eder.<sup id="cite_ref-oprep_21-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-oprep-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Attack_on_the_Eder_Dam">Attack on the Eder Dam</h3></div>

<p>The Eder Valley was covered by heavy fog, but the dam was not defended with anti-aircraft positions as the difficult topography of the surrounding hills was thought to make an attack virtually impossible. With approach so difficult the first aircraft, Shannon's, made six runs before taking a break. Maudslay (Z for Zebra) then attempted a run but the bomb struck the top of the dam and the aircraft was severely damaged in the blast. Shannon made another run and successfully dropped his bomb. The final bomb of the formation, from Knight's aircraft (N for Nut), breached the dam.<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>26<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Attacks_on_the_Sorpe_and_Ennepe_Dams">Attacks on the Sorpe and Ennepe Dams</h3></div>

<p>The Sorpe dam was the one least likely to be breached. It was a huge earthen dam, unlike the two concrete-and-steel gravity dams that were attacked successfully. Due to various problems, only two Lancasters reached the Sorpe Dam: Joe McCarthy (in T for Tommy, a delayed aircraft from the second wave) and later Brown (F for Freddie) from the third formation. This attack differed from the previous ones in two ways: the 'Upkeep' bomb was not spun, and due to the topography of the valley the approach was made along the length of the dam, not at right angles over the reservoir.

</p><p>McCarthy's plane was on its own when it arrived over the Sorpe Dam at 00:15 hours, and realised the approach was even more difficult than expected: the flight path led over a church steeple in the village of <a href="Langscheid_(Sundern)" title="Langscheid (Sundern)">Langscheid</a>, located on the hillcrest overlooking the dam. With only seconds to go before the bomber had to pull up, to avoid hitting the hillside at the other end of the dam, the bomb aimer <a href="Johnny_Johnson_(RAF_officer)" title="Johnny Johnson (RAF officer)">George Johnson</a> had no time to correct the bomber's height and heading.

</p><p>McCarthy made nine attempted bombing runs before Johnson was satisfied. The 'Upkeep' bomb was dropped on the tenth run. The bomb exploded but when he turned his Lancaster to assess the damage, it turned out that only a section of the crest of the dam had been blown off; the main body of the dam remained.

</p><p>Three of the reserve aircraft had been directed to the Sorpe Dam. Burpee (S for Sugar) never arrived, and it was later determined that the plane had been shot down while skirting the Gilze-Rijen airfield. Brown (F for Freddie) reached the Sorpe Dam: in the increasingly dense fog, after seven runs, Brown conferred with his bomb aimer and dropped incendiary devices on either side of the valley, which ignited a fire which subsequently lifted the fog enough to drop a direct hit on the eighth run. The bomb cracked but failed to breach the dam. Anderson (Y for York) never arrived having been delayed by damage to his rear turret and dense fog which made his attempts to find the target impossible. The remaining two bombers were then sent to secondary targets, with Ottley (C for Charlie) being shot down en route to the Lister Dam. Townsend (O for Orange) eventually dropped his bomb at the Ennepe Dam without harming it.<sup id="cite_ref-oprep_21-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-oprep-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Possible_attack_on_Bever_Dam">Possible attack on Bever Dam</h3></div>

<p>There is some evidence that Townsend might have attacked the Bever Dam by mistake rather than the Ennepe Dam.<sup id="cite_ref-Sweetman_27-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Sweetman-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The War Diary of the German Naval Staff reported that the Bever Dam was attacked at nearly the same time that the Sorpe Dam was. In addition, the <i>Wupperverband</i> authority responsible for the Bever Dam is said to have recovered the remains of a "mine"; and Paul Keiser, a 19-year-old soldier on leave at his home close to the Bever Dam, reported a bomber making several approaches to the dam and then dropping a bomb that caused a large explosion and a great pillar of flame.

</p><p>In the book <i>The Dambusters' Raid</i>, author John Sweetman suggests Townsend's report of the moon's reflecting on the mist and water is consistent with an attack that was heading to the Bever Dam rather than to the Ennepe Dam, given the moon's azimuth and altitude during the bombing attacks. Sweetman also points out that the <i>Ennepe-Wasserverband</i> authority was adamant that only a single bomb was dropped near the Ennepe Dam during the entire war, and that this bomb fell into the woods by the side of the dam, not in the water, as in Townsend's report. Finally, members of Townsend's crew independently reported seeing a manor house and attacking an earthen dam, which is consistent with the Bever Dam rather than the Ennepe Dam. The main evidence supporting the hypothesis of an attack of the Ennepe Dam is Townsend's post-flight report that he attacked the Ennepe Dam on a heading of 355 degrees magnetic. Assuming that the heading was incorrect, all other evidence points toward an attack on the Bever Dam.<sup id="cite_ref-Sweetman_27-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Sweetman-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Townsend reported difficulty in finding his dam, and in his post-raid report he complained that the map of the Ennepe Dam was incorrect. The Bever Dam is only about 5 mi (8 km) southwest of the Ennepe Dam. With the early-morning fog that filled the valleys, it would be understandable for him to have mistaken the two reservoirs.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Return_flight">Return flight</h3></div>

<p>On the way back, flying again at treetop level, two more Lancasters were lost. The damaged aircraft of Maudslay was struck by flak near <a href="Netterden" title="Netterden">Netterden</a>, and Young's (A for Apple) was hit by flak north of <a href="IJmuiden" title="IJmuiden">IJmuiden</a> and crashed into the <a href="North_Sea" title="North Sea">North Sea</a> just off the coast of the Netherlands.<sup id="cite_ref-oprep_21-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-oprep-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> On the return flight over the Dutch coast, some German flak aimed at the aircraft was aimed so low that shells were seen to bounce off the sea.<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-28"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Eleven bombers began landing at Scampton at 03:11 hours, with Gibson returning at 04:15. The last of the survivors, Townsend's bomber, landed at 06:15.<sup id="cite_ref-oprep_21-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-oprep-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It was the last to land because one of its engines had been shut down after passing the Dutch coast. Air Chief Marshal Harris was among those who came out to greet the last crew to land.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHolland2012345_29-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHolland2012345-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>29<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p><br>

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="List_of_aircraft_involved">List of aircraft involved</h2></div>

<th>Aircraft call sign</th>

<th>Commander</th>

<th>Target</th>

<th>Attacked target?</th>

<th>Hit target?</th>

<th>Breached target?</th>

<th>Returned?</th>

<th>Notes

</th></tr>

<tr>

<th colspan="8" align="left">First Wave

</th></tr>

<tr>

<td>G George</td>

<td><a href="Guy_Gibson" title="Guy Gibson">Gibson</a></td>

<td rowspan="5">Möhne Dam</td>

<td>Raid leader. Mine exploded short of dam. Used aircraft to draw anti-aircraft fire away from other crews.

</td></tr>

<tr>

<td>M Mother</td>

<td><a href="John_Vere_Hopgood" title="John Vere Hopgood">Hopgood</a></td>

<td>Hit by anti-aircraft fire outbound. Mine bounced over dam. Shot down over the target while attacking. (P/O Fraser and P/O Burcher survived)

</td></tr>

<tr>

<td>P Peter (Popsie)</td>

<td><a href="Harold_Brownlow_Martin" class="mw-redirect" title="Harold Brownlow Martin">Martin</a></td>

<td>Mine missed the target.

</td></tr>

<tr>

<td>A Apple</td>

<td><a href="Dinghy_Young" title="Dinghy Young">Young</a></td>

<td>Mine hit dam and caused small breach. On the homeward flight Lancaster AJ-A was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed along the shoreline 2 km south of the Dutch coastal resort of <a href="Castricum" title="Castricum">Castricum aan Zee</a>. All seven crew members lost their lives and are buried at the <a href="Bergen%2C_North_Holland" title="Bergen, North Holland">Bergen</a> General Cemetery.

</td></tr>

<tr>

<td>J Johnny</td>

<td><a href="David_Maltby" title="David Maltby">Maltby</a></td>

<td>Mine hit dam and caused a large breach.

</td></tr>

<tr>

<td>L Leather</td>

<td><a href="Dave_Shannon" title="Dave Shannon">Shannon</a></td>

<td>Mine hit target—no effect.

</td></tr>

<tr>

<td>Z Zebra</td>

<td><a href="Henry_Eric_Maudslay" title="Henry Eric Maudslay">Maudslay</a></td>

<td>Mine overshot target and damaged the bomber, which was shot down over Germany while trying to return.

</td></tr>

<tr>

<td>N Nancy (Nan)</td>

<td><a href="Les_Knight" title="Les Knight">Knight</a></td>

<td>Mine hit the dam and caused a large breach.

</td></tr>

<tr>

<td>B Baker</td>

<td>Astell</td>

<td>Crashed after hitting large-scale power lines outbound.

</td></tr>

<tr>

<th colspan="8" align="left">Second Wave

</th></tr>

<tr>

<td>T Tommy</td>

<td><a href="Joe_McCarthy_(RCAF_officer)" title="Joe McCarthy (RCAF officer)">McCarthy</a></td>

<td>Sorpe Dam</td>

<td>Mine hit the target – no apparent effect.

</td></tr>

<tr>

<td>Barlow</td>

<td>Crashed after hitting power lines outbound.

</td></tr>

<tr>

<td>Byers</td>

<td>Shot down over the Dutch coast outbound.

</td></tr>

<tr>

<td>H Harry</td>

<td>Lost the mine after clipping the sea outbound. Returned without attacking a target.

</td></tr>

<tr>

<td>W Willie</td>

<td><a href="Les_Munro" title="Les Munro">Munro</a></td>

<td>Damaged by anti-aircraft fire over the Dutch coast. Returned without attacking a target.

</td></tr>

<tr>

<th colspan="8" align="left">Third Wave

</th></tr>

<tr>

<td>Anderson</td>

<td>Sorpe Dam</td>

<td>Could not find the target due to mist. Landed at Scampton with an armed mine.

</td></tr>

<tr>

<td>F Freddy</td>

<td>Brown</td>

<td>Sorpe Dam</td>

<td>Mine hit the target – no apparent effect.

</td></tr>

<tr>

<td>O Orange</td>

<td>Townsend</td>

<td>Ennepe or Bever Dam</td>

<td>Mine hit the target – no apparent effect.

</td></tr>

<tr>

<td>S Sugar</td>

<td>Burpee</td>

<td>Shot down over the Netherlands outbound.

</td></tr>

<tr>

<td>C Charlie</td>

<td>Ottley</td>

<td>Shot down over Germany outbound. <a href="Frederick_Tees" title="Frederick Tees">Frederick Tees</a> was the sole survivor

</td></tr>

<tr>

<td>Totals</td>

<td>19 aircraft</td>

<td>2 hit power lines outbound; 3 shot down outbound; 3 returned without attacking;

<p>11 attacked; 1 shot down over target; 2 shot down homebound; 8 attacked target and returned.

</p>

</td></tr>

</tbody></table>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Bomb_damage_assessment">Bomb damage assessment</h2></div>

<p>Bomber Command wanted a <a href="Bomb_damage_assessment" title="Bomb damage assessment">bomb damage assessment</a> as soon as possible and the CO of 542 Squadron was informed of the estimated time of the attacks. A photo-reconnaissance <a href="Supermarine_Spitfire" title="Supermarine Spitfire">Spitfire</a>, piloted by <a href="Flying_Officer" class="mw-redirect" title="Flying Officer">Flying Officer</a> Frank 'Jerry' Fray, took off from <a href="RAF_Benson" title="RAF Benson">RAF Benson</a> at 07:30 hours and arrived over the Ruhr River some hours after first light.<sup id="cite_ref-proof_30-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-proof-30"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Photos were taken of the breached dams and the huge floods.<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>31<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The pilot later described the experience:

</p>

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</style><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>When I was about 150 miles [240 km] from the Möhne Dam, I could see the industrial haze over the Ruhr area and what appeared to be a cloud to the east. On flying closer, I saw that what had seemed to be cloud was the sun shining on the floodwaters. I looked down into the deep valley which had seemed so peaceful three days before but now it was a wide torrent. The whole valley of the river was inundated with only patches of high ground and the tops of trees and church steeples showing above the flood. I was overcome by the immensity of it.</p></blockquote><div class="templatequotecite"><p style="display: inline; padding-left: 2.3em;">— Jerry Fray<sup id="cite_ref-proof_30-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-proof-30"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="After_the_raid">After the raid</h2></div>

<p>Three aircrew from Hopgood's aircraft parachuted but one later died from wounds and the others were captured. A crewman in Ottley's aircraft survived its crash. In total, therefore, 53 of the 133 aircrew who participated in the attack were <a href="Killed_in_action" title="Killed in action">killed</a>, a casualty rate of almost 40 percent. Thirteen of those killed were members of the RCAF and two belonged to the RAAF.<sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>32<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p>

<p>Of the survivors, 34 were decorated at <a href="Buckingham_Palace" title="Buckingham Palace">Buckingham Palace</a> on 22 June, with Gibson awarded the <a href="Victoria_Cross" title="Victoria Cross">Victoria Cross</a>. There were five <a href="Distinguished_Service_Order" title="Distinguished Service Order">Distinguished Service Orders</a>, 10 <a href="Distinguished_Flying_Cross_(United_Kingdom)" title="Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)">Distinguished Flying Crosses</a> and four <a href="Medal_bar" title="Medal bar">bars</a>, two <a href="Conspicuous_Gallantry_Medal" title="Conspicuous Gallantry Medal">Conspicuous Gallantry Medals</a>, eleven <a href="Distinguished_Flying_Medal" title="Distinguished Flying Medal">Distinguished Flying Medals</a> and one bar.<sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-33"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>33<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Initial German casualty estimates from the floods were 1,294 killed, including 749 French, Belgian, Dutch and Ukrainian <a href="Prisoners_of_war" class="mw-redirect" title="Prisoners of war">prisoners of war</a> and labourers.<sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-34"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>34<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-bbc-20070517_35-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bbc-20070517-35"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>35<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Later estimates put the death toll in the Möhne Valley at about 1,600, including people who drowned in the flood wave downstream from the dam.<sup id="cite_ref-36" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-36"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>36<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>After a public relations tour of North America, and time spent working in the Air Ministry in London writing the book published as <i><a href="Enemy_Coast_Ahead" title="Enemy Coast Ahead">Enemy Coast Ahead</a></i>, Gibson returned to operations and was killed on a <a href="De_Havilland_Mosquito" title="De Havilland Mosquito">Mosquito</a> operation in 1944.

</p><p>Following the Dams Raid, <a href="617_Squadron" class="mw-redirect" title="617 Squadron">617 Squadron</a> was kept together as a specialist unit. A motto, <i><a href="Apr%C3%A8s_moi%2C_le_d%C3%A9luge" title="Après moi, le déluge">Après moi le déluge</a></i> ("After me the flood"), and a <a href="Heraldic_badges_of_the_Royal_Air_Force" title="Heraldic badges of the Royal Air Force">squadron badge</a> were chosen. According to <a href="Paul_Brickhill" title="Paul Brickhill">Paul Brickhill</a> there was some controversy over the motto, with the original version <i>Après nous le déluge</i> ("After <i>us</i> the flood") being rejected by the <a href="College_of_Arms" title="College of Arms">Heralds</a> as having inappropriate provenance (having been coined, reportedly, by <a href="Madame_de_Pompadour" title="Madame de Pompadour">Madame de Pompadour</a>) and <i>après moi le déluge</i> having been said by <a href="Louis_XV" title="Louis XV">Louis XV</a> in an "irresponsible" context. The motto having been chosen by King <a href="George_VI" title="George VI">George VI</a>, the latter was finally deemed acceptable.<sup id="cite_ref-37" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-37"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>37<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The squadron went on to drop the <a href="Tallboy_bomb" class="mw-redirect" title="Tallboy bomb">Tallboy</a> and <a href="Grand_Slam_bomb" class="mw-redirect" title="Grand Slam bomb">Grand Slam bombs</a> and attacked the German battleship <a href="German_battleship_Tirpitz" title="German battleship Tirpitz"><i>Tirpitz</i></a>, using an advanced bomb sight, which enabled the bombing of small targets with far greater accuracy than conventional bomb aiming techniques.

</p><p>In 1977, Article 56 of the <a href="Protocol_I" class="mw-redirect" title="Protocol I">Protocol I</a> amendment to the Geneva Conventions outlawed attacks on dams "if such attack may cause the release of dangerous forces from the works or installations and consequent severe losses among the civilian population". There is however an exception if "it is used for other than its normal function and in regular, significant and direct support of military operations and if such attack is the only feasible way to terminate such support".<sup id="cite_ref-38" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-38"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>38<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>The last surviving member of the 617 Squadron (aka Dambusters) responsible for the Operation, Johnny Johnson, died in 2022.<sup id="cite_ref-39" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-39"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>39<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-40" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-40"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>40<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Effect_on_the_war">Effect on the war</h2></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Tactical_view">Tactical view</h3></div>

<p>The two direct mine hits on the <a href="M%C3%B6hnesee" title="Möhnesee">Möhnesee</a> dam resulted in a breach around 250 feet (76 m) wide and 292 feet (89 m) deep. The destroyed dam poured around 330 million tons of water into the western Ruhr region. A torrent of water around 33 feet (10 m) high and travelling at around 15 miles per hour (24 km/h) swept through the valleys of the Möhne and Ruhr rivers. A few mines were flooded; 11 small factories and 92 houses were destroyed and 114 factories and 971 houses were damaged. The floods washed away about 25 roads, railways and bridges as the flood waters spread for around 50 miles (80 km) from the source. Estimates show that before 15 May 1943 steel production on the Ruhr was 1 million tonnes; this dropped to a quarter of that level after the raid.

</p><p>The Eder drains towards the east into the Fulda which runs into the Weser to the North Sea. The main purpose of the Edersee was then, as it is now, to act as a reservoir to keep the Weser and the <a href="Mittellandkanal" class="mw-redirect" title="Mittellandkanal">Mittellandkanal</a> navigable during the summer months. The wave from the breach was not strong enough to result in significant damage by the time it hit <a href="Kassel" title="Kassel">Kassel</a>, approximately 22 miles (35 km) downstream.

</p><p>The greatest impact on the Ruhr armaments production was the loss of hydroelectric power. Two power stations (producing 5,100 kilowatts) associated with the dam were destroyed and seven others were damaged. This resulted in a loss of electrical power in the factories and many households in the region for two weeks. In May 1943 coal production dropped by 400,000 tons which German sources attribute to the effects of the raid.<sup id="cite_ref-BBCCaselli_41-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-BBCCaselli-41"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>41<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>According to an article by German historian Ralf Blank,<sup id="cite_ref-42" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-42"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>42<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> at least 1,650 people were killed: around 70 of these were in the Eder Valley, and at least 1,579 bodies were found along the <a href="M%C3%B6hne" title="Möhne">Möhne</a> and Ruhr rivers, with hundreds missing. Of the bodies found downriver of the Möhne Dam, 1,026 were foreign prisoners of war and forced labourers in different camps, mainly from the Soviet Union. Worst hit was the city of <a href="Neheim" class="mw-redirect" title="Neheim">Neheim</a> (now part of <a href="Neheim-H%C3%BCsten" class="mw-redirect" title="Neheim-Hüsten">Neheim-Hüsten</a>) at the confluence of the Möhne and Ruhr rivers, where over 800 people perished, among them at least 493 female forced labourers from the Soviet Union. Some non-German sources cite an earlier total of 749 for all foreigners in all camps in the Möhne and Ruhr valleys as the casualty count at a camp just below the Eder Dam.<sup id="cite_ref-bbc-20070517_35-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bbc-20070517-35"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>35<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>) One source states that the raid was no more than a minor inconvenience to the Ruhr's industrial output, although that is contradicted by others.<sup id="cite_ref-43" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-43"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>43<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The bombing boosted British morale.<sup id="cite_ref-BBCCaselli_41-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-BBCCaselli-41"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>41<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>In his book <i><a href="Inside_the_Third_Reich" title="Inside the Third Reich">Inside the Third Reich</a></i>, <a href="Albert_Speer" title="Albert Speer">Albert Speer</a> acknowledged the attempt: "That night, employing just a few bombers, the British came close to a success which would have been greater than anything they had achieved hitherto with a commitment of thousands of bombers."<sup id="cite_ref-44" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-44"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>44<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> He also expressed puzzlement at the raids: the disruption of temporarily having to shift 7,000 construction workers to the Möhne and Eder repairs was offset by the failure of the Allies to follow up with additional (conventional) raids during the dams' reconstruction, and that represented a major lost opportunity.<sup id="cite_ref-45" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-45"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>45<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Barnes Wallis was also of this view; he revealed his deep frustration that Bomber Command never sent a high-level bombing force to hit the Möhne dam while repairs were being carried out. He argued that extreme precision would have been unnecessary and that even a few hits by conventional HE bombs would have prevented the rapid repair of the dam which was undertaken by the Germans.<sup id="cite_ref-46" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-46"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>46<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Strategic_view">Strategic view</h3></div>

<p>The Dams Raid was, like many British <a href="Airstrike" title="Airstrike">air raids</a>, undertaken with a view to the need to keep drawing German defensive effort back into Germany and away from actual and potential theatres of ground war, a policy which culminated in the <a href="Battle_of_Berlin_(air)" class="mw-redirect" title="Battle of Berlin (air)">Berlin raids</a> of the winter of 1943–1944. In May 1943 this meant keeping the <i><a href="Luftwaffe" title="Luftwaffe">Luftwaffe</a></i> aircraft and anti-aircraft defences away from the Soviet Union; in early 1944, it meant clearing the way for the aerial side of the forthcoming <a href="Operation_Overlord" title="Operation Overlord">Operation Overlord</a>. The considerable amount of labour and strategic resources committed to repairing the dams, factories, mines and railways could not be used in other ways, on the construction of the <a href="Atlantic_Wall" title="Atlantic Wall">Atlantic Wall</a>, for example. The pictures of the broken dams proved to be a propaganda and morale boost to the Allies, especially to the British, still suffering from the German bombing of the <a href="Baedeker_Blitz" title="Baedeker Blitz">Baedeker Blitz</a> that had peaked roughly a year earlier.<sup id="cite_ref-proof_30-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-proof-30"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Even within Germany, as evidenced by <a href="Gauleiter" title="Gauleiter">Gauleiters'</a> reports to Berlin at the time, the German population regarded the raids as a legitimate attack on military targets and thought they were "an extraordinary success on the part of the English". They were not regarded as a pure terror attack by the Germans, even in the Ruhr region, and in response the German authorities released relatively accurate (not exaggerated) estimates of the dead.<sup id="cite_ref-47" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-47"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>47<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>An effect of the dam raids was that Barnes Wallis's ideas on earthquake bombing, which had previously been rejected, came to be accepted by 'Bomber' Harris. Prior to this raid, bombing had used the tactic of <a href="Area_bombardment" title="Area bombardment">area bombardment</a> with many light bombs, in the hope that one would hit the target. Work on the earthquake bombs resulted in the Tallboy and Grand Slam weapons, which caused damage to German infrastructure in the later stages of the war. They rendered the <a href="V-2_rocket" title="V-2 rocket">V-2 rocket</a> launch complex at Calais unusable, buried the <a href="V-3_cannon" title="V-3 cannon">V-3</a> guns, and destroyed bridges and other fortified installations, such as the Grand Slam attack on the <a href="Hamm%E2%80%93Minden_railway#Schildesche_viaduct" title="Hamm–Minden railway">railway viaduct</a> at <a href="Bielefeld" title="Bielefeld">Bielefeld</a>. The most notable successes were the partial collapse of 20-foot-thick (6 m) reinforced concrete roofs of U-boat pens at <a href="Brest%2C_France" title="Brest, France">Brest</a>, and the sinking of the battleship <i>Tirpitz</i>.

</p><p>Harris regarded the raid as a failure and a waste of resources.<sup id="cite_ref-48" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-48"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>48<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Books_and_film">Books and film</h2></div>

<p>The raid was the subject of two books, <i>Enemy Coast Ahead</i> (1946) by Guy Gibson and <i><a href="The_Dam_Busters_(book)" title="The Dam Busters (book)">The Dam Busters</a></i> (1951) by Paul Brickhill, and a film, <i><a href="The_Dam_Busters_(film)" title="The Dam Busters (film)">The Dam Busters</a></i> (1955).

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Memorials">Memorials</h2></div>

<div class="gallerytext">Plaque on the monument to the German victims of the bombing of the Möhne dam, called there the Möhnekatastrophe</div>

</li>

<div class="gallerytext">Details in Germany of Operation Chastise at the Möhne dam memorial entrance</div>

</li>

<div class="gallerytext">Memorial to Operation Chastise members at <a href="Woodhall_Spa" title="Woodhall Spa">Woodhall Spa</a>, Lincolnshire</div>

</li>

<div class="gallerytext">Memorial at <a href="Castricum" title="Castricum">Castricum</a> aan Zee</div>

</li>

<div class="gallerytext">Memorial at <a href="Castricum" title="Castricum">Castricum</a> aan Zee</div>

</li>

</ul>

<ul><li><a href="Attack_on_the_Sui-ho_Dam" title="Attack on the Sui-ho Dam">Attack on the Sui-ho Dam</a> during the <a href="Korean_War" title="Korean War">Korean War</a></li>

<li><a href="Dam_failure" title="Dam failure">Dam failure</a></li>

<li><a href="Hydroelectric_power_station_failures" class="mw-redirect" title="Hydroelectric power station failures">Hydroelectric power station failures</a></li>

<li><a href="Operation_Eisenhammer" title="Operation Eisenhammer">Operation Eisenhammer</a>, a German plan to wreck critical <a href="Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet</a> hydroelectric turbines in World War II</li>

<li><a href="Operation_Garlic" title="Operation Garlic">Operation Garlic</a>, an attack by <a href="617_Squadron" class="mw-redirect" title="617 Squadron">617 Squadron</a> on the <a href="Dortmund-Ems_Canal" class="mw-redirect" title="Dortmund-Ems Canal">Dortmund-Ems Canal</a></li>

<li><a href="Proposed_bombing_of_Vietnam's_dikes" title="Proposed bombing of Vietnam's dikes">Proposed bombing of Vietnam's dikes</a></li>

<li><a href="Noah_Wolff" title="Noah Wolff">Noah Wolff</a> – German Jewish industrialist and philanthropist (1809–1907)</li>

<li><a href="Destruction_of_the_Kakhovka_Dam" title="Destruction of the Kakhovka Dam">Destruction of the Kakhovka Dam</a></li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

<p><b>Notes</b>

</p>

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</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.history.co.uk/article/just-how-much-of-a-strategic-success-was-the-dambuster-raid">"Just how much of a strategic success was the Dambuster raid?"</a>. <i>Sky HISTORY TV channel</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">9 June</span> 2022</span>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.rafbf.org/dambusters/the-story-of-the-dambusters">"The story of the Dambusters"</a>. <i>RAF Benevolent Fund</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">9 June</span> 2022</span>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEAshworth199576-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAshworth199576_3-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFAshworth1995">Ashworth 1995</a>, p. 76.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEAshworth199577-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAshworth199577_4-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEAshworth199577_4-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFAshworth1995">Ashworth 1995</a>, p. 77.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-Sweetman40-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Sweetman40_5-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Sweetman 1999, p. 40.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-Sweetman44-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Sweetman44_6-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Sweetman 1999, pp. 44–45.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-Sweetman59-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Sweetman59_7-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Sweetman 1999, pp. 58–61.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-Sweetman66-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Sweetman66_8-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Sweetman 1999, p. 66.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-Sweetman60-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Sweetman60_9-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Sweetman 1999, pp. 60–62.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080525100849/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/julie.bell102/lanc_spec.html">"Lancaster Bomber Specification."</a> <i>The Dambusters (617 Squadron)</i> via web.archive.org, 2008. Retrieved: 10 October 2010.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-Sweetman82-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Sweetman82_11-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Sweetman 1999, pp. 82–83.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-Sweetman78-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Sweetman78_12-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Sweetman 1999, p. 78.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">BBC Timewatch programme "Dam Busters: The Race to Smash the German Dams", 8 November 2011</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-Sweetman79-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Sweetman79_14-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Sweetman 1999, p. 79.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Times</i> Saturday March 23 1991, page 14</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.airwaysmuseum.com/Calvert%20cross%20bar%20lighting.htm">Calvert lights</a></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Leo McKinstry (2010) <i>Lancaster</i> John Murray Publishers <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-0-7195-2363-2</bdi>. p. 277</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEHolland2012210-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHolland2012210_18-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFHolland2012">Holland 2012</a>, p. 210.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-hinckleypastpresent.org-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-hinckleypastpresent.org_19-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-hinckleypastpresent.org_19-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.hinckleypastpresent.org/ww2geoffreyrice.html">"Geoffrey Rice DFC of RAF 617 Squadron Dambusters"</a>. <i>www.hinckleypastpresent.org</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">5 September</span> 2018</span>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/album/showphoto.php?photo=6074&size=big&cat=550">"Avro Lancaster Mk I."</a> <i>Warbird Photo Album</i>. Retrieved: 16 July 2010.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-oprep-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-oprep_21-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-oprep_21-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-oprep_21-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-oprep_21-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-oprep_21-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-oprep_21-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-oprep_21-6"><sup><i><b>g</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-oprep_21-7"><sup><i><b>h</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.dambusters.org.uk/docs/recordbook.pdf">"617 Squadron, The Operational Record Book 1943–1945, pp. 22–30."</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20101206073909/http://www.dambusters.org.uk/docs/recordbook.pdf">Archived</a> 6 December 2010 at the <a href="Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a> <i>Dambusters.org.uk</i>, 15 February 2009. Retrieved: 15 May 2009.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-22">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#refSweetman1982">Sweetman 1982</a>, p. 128.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#refSweetman1982">Sweetman 1982</a>, p. 124.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#refSweetman1982">Sweetman 1982</a>, p. 135.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-jasper-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-jasper_25-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFJasper_Copping2013" class="citation news cs1">Jasper Copping (5 May 2013). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130608185310/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/britain-at-war/10038011/New-German-plaque-for-downed-Dambuster-bomber.html">"New German plaque for downed Dambuster bomber"</a>. <i>Daily Telegraph</i>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/britain-at-war/10038011/New-German-plaque-for-downed-Dambuster-bomber.html">the original</a> on 8 June 2013<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">13 May</span> 2013</span>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/air-force-obituaries/7647326/Flying-Officer-Ray-Grayston.html">"Obituary: Flying Officer Ray Grayston."</a> <i>telegraph.co.uk</i>. Retrieved: 16 July 2010.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-Sweetman-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Sweetman_27-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Sweetman_27-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Sweetman 1999, pp. 222–224.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-28">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1404159/George-Chalmers.html">"Obituary: George Chalmers."</a> <i><a href="The_Daily_Telegraph" title="The Daily Telegraph">The Daily Telegraph</a></i>, 11 August 2002. Retrieved: 4 February 2008.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEHolland2012345-29"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHolland2012345_29-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFHolland2012">Holland 2012</a>, p. 345.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-proof-30"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-proof_30-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-proof_30-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-proof_30-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Foggo, Daniel and Michael Burke. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.today/20080526125356/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=?xml=/news/2001/07/15/ndam15.xml">"I captured proof of Dambusters' raid".</a> <i><a href="The_Sunday_Telegraph" title="The Sunday Telegraph">The Sunday Telegraph</a></i> 15 January 2001. Retrieved: 1 February 2008.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-31"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-31">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Falconer, Jonathan and Chris Staerck. <i>Allied Photo Reconnaissance of World War II</i>. London: PRC Publishing Ltd., 1998. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>1-57145-161-7</bdi>.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-32"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-32">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.cwgc.org/admin/files/The%20Dams%20Raid.pdf">Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 2005, <i>Operation Chastise: The Dams Raid, 16/17 May 1943</i></a>, pp. 4–5. Access date: 16 January 2011.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-33"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-33">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFGazette36030" class="citation magazine cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/36030/supplement/2361">"No. 36030"</a>. <i><a href="The_London_Gazette" title="The London Gazette">The London Gazette</a></i> (Supplement). 28 May 1943. pp. <span class="nowrap">2361–</span>2362.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-34"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-34">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/online-exhibitions/dambusters/20_casualties.cfm">"Casualties of the Dams Raid."</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091025202539/http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/online-exhibitions/dambusters/20_casualties.cfm">Archived</a> 25 October 2009 at the <a href="Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a> <i><a href="RAF_Museum" class="mw-redirect" title="RAF Museum">RAF Museum</a></i>. Retrieved: 11 October 2009.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-bbc-20070517-35"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-bbc-20070517_35-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-bbc-20070517_35-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/17/newsid_3623000/3623223.stm">"On This Day: 17 May 1943 – RAF raid smashes German dams"</a>. BBC.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-36"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-36">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFWatson2013" class="citation web cs1">Watson, Greig (17 May 2013). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-22481152">"Dambusters: Death and glory"</a>. <i>BBC</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">1 February</span> 2025</span>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-37"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-37">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Brickhill 1951, pp. 84, 102.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-38"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-38">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/7c4d08d9b287a42141256739003e636b/f6c8b9fee14a77fdc125641e0052b079">"Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), 8 June 1977."</a> <i>[ICRC Treaties and Documents]</i>. Retrieved: 14 February 2010.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-39"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-39">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://ukaviation.news/johnny-johnson-goodbye-to-the-last-dambuster/">"Johnny Johnson: Goodbye to the last Dambuster"</a>. <i>UK Aviation News</i>. 8 December 2022<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">8 December</span> 2022</span>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-40"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-40">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-63899393">"Tributes paid as last surviving Dambuster Johnny Johnson dies"</a>. <i>BBC News</i>. 8 December 2022<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">8 December</span> 2022</span>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-BBCCaselli-41"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-BBCCaselli_41-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-BBCCaselli_41-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22510300">"The Dambusters raid: How effective was it?"</a>. <i>BBC News</i>. 15 May 2013<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">15 May</span> 2013</span>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-42"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-42">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFBlank2006" class="citation web cs1 cs1-prop-foreign-lang-source">Blank, Ralf (May 2006). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.lwl.org/westfaelische-geschichte/portal/Internet/finde/langDatensatz.php?urlID=493&url_tabelle=tab_websegmente">"Die Nacht vom 16. auf den 17. Mai 1943 – 'Operation Züchtigung': Die Zerstörung der Möhne-Talsperre"</a>. <i>Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe</i> (in German)<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">29 January</span> 2008</span>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-43"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-43">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Falconer 2007, pp. 89–90.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-44"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-44">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Speer 1999, p. 384.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-45"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-45">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Speer 1999, p. 385.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-46"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-46">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Max Hastings, <i>Bomber Command</i>, p. 262</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-47"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-47">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">The German War – N Stargardt – 2015 – p. 361.</span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-48"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-48">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFMcKinstry2009" class="citation news cs1">McKinstry, Leo (15 August 2009). <span class="id-lock-subscription" title="Paid subscription required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6033603/Bomber-Harris-thought-the-Dambusters-attacks-on-Germany-achieved-nothing.html">"Bomber Harris thought the Dambusters' attacks on Germany 'achieved nothing'"</a></span>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6033603/Bomber-Harris-thought-the-Dambusters-attacks-on-Germany-achieved-nothing.html">Archived</a> from the original on 12 January 2022<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">5 September</span> 2018</span> – via www.telegraph.co.uk.</cite></span>

</li>

</ol></div></div>

<p><b>Bibliography</b>

</p>

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<ul><li>Arthur, Max. <i>Dambusters: A Landmark Oral History</i>. London: Virgin Books, 2008. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-1-905264-33-9</bdi>.</li>

<li><cite id="CITEREFAshworth1995" class="citation book cs1">Ashworth, Chris (1995). <i>RAF Bomber Command 1936–1968</i>. Somerset, UK: Haynes. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-1-85260-308-3</bdi>.</cite></li>

<li><a href="Paul_Brickhill" title="Paul Brickhill">Brickhill, Paul</a>. <i>The Dam Busters: An Account of 617 Squadron, R.A.F., 1943–45, with plates</i>. London: Evans Bros., 1951. "Novelised" style. Covers entire wartime story of 617 Squadron. <a href="OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/771295878">771295878</a></li>

<li>Churchill, Winston S. <i>The Second World War, Volume IV: The Hinge of Fate</i>. 2nd edition. London: Cassell, 1951. <a href="OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/978145234">978145234</a></li>

<li>Cockell, Charles S. "The Science and Scientific Legacy of Operation Chastise." <i>Interdisciplinary Science Reviews</i> 27, 2002, pp. 278–286. <a href="ISSN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISSN (identifier)">ISSN</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0308-0188">0308-0188</a></li>

<li>Dildy, Douglas C. <i>Dambusters: Operation Chastise</i>, Osprey Raid Series No. 16. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2010. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-1-84603-934-8</bdi>.</li>

<li>Falconer, Jonathan. <i>The Dam Busters Story</i>. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: Sutton Publishing, 2007. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-0-7509-4758-9</bdi>.</li>

<li>Gibson, Guy. <i><a href="Enemy_Coast_Ahead" title="Enemy Coast Ahead">Enemy Coast Ahead</a></i>. London: Pan Books, 1955. Gibson's own account. <a href="OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2947593">2947593</a></li>

<li>Hastings, Max. <i>Operation Chastise: The RAF's Most Brilliant Attack of World War II.</i> HarperCollins, New York, 2020. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-0-06-295363-6</bdi></li>

<li><cite id="CITEREFHolland2012" class="citation book cs1"><a href="James_Holland_(author)" title="James Holland (author)">Holland, James</a> (2012). <i>Dam Busters: The race to smash the dams 1943</i>. London: Bantam (Transworld). <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-0593-0667-68</bdi>.</cite></li>

<li><cite id="CITEREFNichol2015" class="citation book cs1">Nichol, John (2015). <i>After the Flood: What the Dambusters did next</i>. London: William Collins. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-0-00-810031-5</bdi>.</cite></li>

<li><cite id="refRobertson1947">Robertson, J. H. <i>The Story of the Telephone: A History of the Telecommunications Industry of Britain</i>. London: Pitman & Sons Ltd., 1947. <a href="OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/930475400">930475400</a></cite></li>

<li>Speer, Albert. <i>Inside the Third Reich: Memoirs.</i> London: Cassell, 1999, First Edition 1970. (Translated from the German by <a href="Richard_and_Clara_Winston" title="Richard and Clara Winston">Richard and Clara Winston</a>; originally published in German as <i>Erinnerungen</i> [Recollections], Propyläen/Ullstein, 1969.) <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-0-684-82949-4</bdi>.</li>

<li><cite id="refSweetman1982">Sweetman, John. <i>Operation Chastise</i>. London: Jane's, 1982. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-0-86720-557-2</bdi>.</cite></li>

<li>Sweetman, John. <i>The Dambusters Raid</i>. London: Cassell, 1999. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-0-304-35173-2</bdi>.</li>

<li><cite id="CITEREFWardLeeWachtel2008" class="citation book cs1">Ward, Chris; Lee, Andy; Wachtel, Andreas (2008) [2003]. <i>Dambusters: The definitive history of 617 Squadron at war 1943-1945</i> (2 ed.). Surrey, UK: Red Kite. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-0-9554735-3-1</bdi>.</cite></li></ul>

</div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>

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<div class="side-box-text plainlist">Wikimedia Commons has media related to <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Operation_Chastise" class="extiw external" title="commons:Category:Operation Chastise">Operation Chastise</a></span>.</div></div>

</div>

<ul><li><cite id="CITEREFBurke2025" class="citation web cs1">Burke, Myles (12 May 2025). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250509-the-true-story-of-world-war-twos-dambusters-raid">"'We did what we had to do': The true story of World War Two's Dambusters raid"</a>. <i>BBC Home</i>.</cite></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.hebels.nl/flights/20130327-1/damsraid.htm">The Dams Raid with context</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170405020620/http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/bombercommandno617squadron.cfm">Official site of the Royal Air Force about Operation Chastise Archived 5-April-2017</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080621011827/http://www.thedambusters.org.uk/">Dambusters site with details of Operation Chastise including video footage and more</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/dambusters/">Online Dambusters exhibition</a> at the UK National Archives</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/myths_legends/england/lincolnshire/article_1.shtml">BBC Online – Myths and Legends – Home of the Dambusters</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3036315.stm">60th Anniversary BBC News.</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1967218/Fly-past-marks-Dambusters-anniversary.html">"Fly-past marks Dambusters anniversary" (photographs), <i>Daily Telegraph</i>, 16 May 2008.</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.lwl.org/westfaelische-geschichte/portal/Internet/ku.php?tab=web&ID=493">German history website about Operation Chastise</a> <span class="languageicon">(in German)</span></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.awm.gov.au/virtualtour/ANZAC_hall.htm">G for George at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.hachener.de/tns.php?id=35">German photography archive</a> <span class="languageicon">(in German)</span></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.breakingthedams.com/index.html">Website about Flt Lt David Maltby and his crew</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://dambustersblog.com/">Dambusters weblog</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://completedambusters.com/">List of all 133 aircrew who took part in Operation Chastise</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2013/05/the-dambusters-20-historic-photographs-operation-chastise-70th-anniversary/">20 Historical Photographs from Operation Chastise</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.psywar.org/dambusters.php">Allied Psychological Warfare to Capitalise on the Dambusters Raid</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140720151854/http://www.psywar.org/dambusters.php">Archived</a> 20 July 2014 at the <a href="Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.dambusters.de">Dambusters site of Dambusters Museum Germany</a> (in German)</li>

<li><i>Ian Harvey</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/operation-chastise-dambusters.html">Operation Chastise: The Dambusters of WWII Explored in a New Documentary</a> // War History Online, Mar 6, 2018</li>

<li><i>Hugh Hunt</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://phys.org/news/2018-09-dambusters-raid-years.html">The Dambusters raid took place 75 years ago – here's how they made a bomb bounce</a> // Phys.org, Sept 20, 2018</li>

<li><i>Logan Nye</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/legendary-dam-busters-crippled-germany/">How the legendary Dam Busters crippled Germany</a> // We Are The Mighty, Oct 30, 2020</li></ul>

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</style><div id="RAF_strategic_bombing_during_the_Second_World_War3417" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em">RAF strategic bombing during the Second World War</div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;background-color:#DCDCDC;color:inherit;">Overviews</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="Butt_Report" title="Butt Report">Butt Report (1941)</a></li>

<li><a href="RAF_Bomber_Command#Strategic_bombing_1942-1945" title="RAF Bomber Command">RAF strategic bombing 1942–1945</a></li>

<li><a href="Area_bombing_directive" title="Area bombing directive">Area Bombing Directive (1942)</a></li>

<li><a href="Dehousing" title="Dehousing">Dehousing paper (1942)</a></li>

<li><a href="Casablanca_directive" title="Casablanca directive">Casablanca directive (1943)</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;background-color:#DCDCDC;color:inherit;">Leaders</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="Arthur_Harris" title="Arthur Harris">Arthur "Bomber" Harris</a></li>

<li><a href="Frederick_Lindemann%2C_1st_Viscount_Cherwell" title="Frederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell">Frederick "Prof" Lindemann</a></li>

<li><a href="Charles_Portal%2C_1st_Viscount_Portal_of_Hungerford" title="Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford">Sir Charles Portal</a></li>

<li><a href="Archibald_Sinclair%2C_1st_Viscount_Thurso" title="Archibald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso">Sir Archibald Sinclair</a></li>

<li><a href="Arthur_Tedder%2C_1st_Baron_Tedder" title="Arthur Tedder, 1st Baron Tedder">Arthur Tedder</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;background-color:#DCDCDC;color:inherit;">Campaigns</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="Oil_campaign_of_World_War_II" title="Oil campaign of World War II">Oil targets (1940-45)</a></li>

<li><a href="Area_bombing_directive" title="Area bombing directive">Area bombing of cities (1942–43)</a></li>

<li><a href="Battle_of_the_Ruhr" title="Battle of the Ruhr">Battle of the Ruhr (1943)</a></li>

<li><a href="Combined_Bomber_Offensive" title="Combined Bomber Offensive">Combined Bomber Offensive (1943–44)</a></li>

<li><a href="Battle_of_Berlin_(RAF_campaign)" title="Battle of Berlin (RAF campaign)">Battle of Berlin (1943–44)</a></li>

<li><a href="Transport_Plan" title="Transport Plan">Transport (1944)</a></li>

<li><a href="Bombing_of_Hamburg_in_World_War_II" title="Bombing of Hamburg in World War II">Hamburg</a></li>

<li><a href="Bombings_of_Heilbronn_in_World_War_II" title="Bombings of Heilbronn in World War II">Heilbronn</a></li>

<li><a href="Bombing_of_Kassel_in_World_War_II" title="Bombing of Kassel in World War II">Kassel</a></li>

<li><a href="Bombing_of_Pforzheim_in_World_War_II" title="Bombing of Pforzheim in World War II">Pforzheim</a></li>

<li><a href="Bombing_of_Dresden_in_World_War_II" class="mw-redirect" title="Bombing of Dresden in World War II">Dresden</a></li>

<li><a href="Bombing_of_the_Bezuidenhout" title="Bombing of the Bezuidenhout">The Hague</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;background-color:#DCDCDC;color:inherit;">Operations</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="Operation_Bellicose" title="Operation Bellicose"><i>Bellicose</i> (Friedrichshafen)</a></li>

<li><a href="Operation_Hurricane_(1944)" title="Operation Hurricane (1944)"><i>Hurricane</i> (1944)</a></li>

<li><a href="Bombing_of_Peenem%C3%BCnde_in_World_War_II" title="Bombing of Peenemünde in World War II"><i>Hydra</i> (Peenemünde)</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;background-color:#DCDCDC;color:inherit;">Aircraft</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="Bristol_Blenheim" title="Bristol Blenheim">Blenheim</a></li>

<li><a href="Douglas_A-20_Havoc" title="Douglas A-20 Havoc">Boston (Douglas DB-7)</a></li>

<li><a href="Handley_Page_Halifax" title="Handley Page Halifax">Halifax</a></li>

<li><a href="Handley_Page_Hampden" title="Handley Page Hampden">Hampden</a></li>

<li><a href="Avro_Lancaster" title="Avro Lancaster">Lancaster</a></li>

<li><a href="Avro_Manchester" title="Avro Manchester">Manchester</a></li>

<li><a href="De_Havilland_Mosquito" title="De Havilland Mosquito">Mosquito</a></li>

<li><a href="Short_Stirling" title="Short Stirling">Stirling</a></li>

<li><a href="Lockheed_Ventura" title="Lockheed Ventura">Ventura</a></li>

<li><a href="Vickers_Wellington" title="Vickers Wellington">Wellington</a></li>

<li><a href="Armstrong_Whitworth_Whitley" title="Armstrong Whitworth Whitley">Whitley</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;background-color:#DCDCDC;color:inherit;">Technology</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="Chaff_(countermeasure)" title="Chaff (countermeasure)">Chaff</a></li>

<li><a href="H2S_(radar)" title="H2S (radar)">H2S radar</a></li>

<li><a href="Monica_(radar)" title="Monica (radar)">"Monica" radar</a></li>

<li><a href="Blockbuster_bomb" title="Blockbuster bomb">Blockbuster bomb</a></li>

<li><a href="Earthquake_bomb" title="Earthquake bomb">Earthquake bomb</a>

<ul><li><a href="Tallboy_(bomb)" title="Tallboy (bomb)">Tallboy</a></li>

<li><a href="Grand_Slam_(bomb)" title="Grand Slam (bomb)">Grand Slam</a></li></ul></li>

<li><a href="Bouncing_bomb" title="Bouncing bomb">Bouncing bomb</a></li>

<li><a href="Target_indicator" title="Target indicator">Target indicator</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;background-color:#DCDCDC;color:inherit;">Tactics</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="Area_bombardment" title="Area bombardment">Area bombardment</a></li>

<li><a href="Bomber_stream" title="Bomber stream">Bomber stream</a></li>

<li><a href="Firebombing" title="Firebombing">Firebombing</a></li>

<li><a href="RAF_Fighter_Command#Invasion_of_Europe" title="RAF Fighter Command">Intruder operations</a></li>

<li><a href="Pathfinder_(RAF)#Master_bomber" title="Pathfinder (RAF)">Master Bomber</a></li>

<li><a href="Pathfinder_(RAF)" title="Pathfinder (RAF)">Pathfinders</a></li>

<li><a href="Shuttle_bombing" title="Shuttle bombing">Shuttle bombing</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;background-color:#DCDCDC;color:inherit;">Units</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="No._1_Group_RAF" title="No. 1 Group RAF">No. 1 Group RAF</a></li>

<li><a href="No._3_Group_RAF" title="No. 3 Group RAF">No. 3 Group RAF</a></li>

<li><a href="No._4_Group_RAF" title="No. 4 Group RAF">No. 4 Group RAF</a></li>

<li><a href="No._5_Group_RAF" title="No. 5 Group RAF">No. 5 Group RAF</a></li>

<li><a href="No._6_Group_RCAF" title="No. 6 Group RCAF">No. 6 Group RCAF</a></li>

<li><a href="No._8_Group_RAF" title="No. 8 Group RAF">No. 8 Group RAF</a></li>

<li><a href="No._100_Group_RAF" title="No. 100 Group RAF">No. 100 Group RAF</a></li>

<li><a href="Pathfinder_(RAF)" title="Pathfinder (RAF)">Light Night Strike Force</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;background-color:#DCDCDC;color:inherit;">See also</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li>Aerial defence of the United Kingdom</li>

<li><a href="United_States_Army_Air_Forces" title="United States Army Air Forces">United States Army Air Forces (USAAF)</a></li>

<li><a href="List_of_air_operations_during_the_Battle_of_Europe" title="List of air operations during the Battle of Europe">Air operations during the Battle of Europe</a></li>

<li><a href="Defence_of_the_Reich" title="Defence of the Reich">Defence of the Reich</a></li>

<li><i><a href="Death_by_Moonlight%3A_Bomber_Command" title="Death by Moonlight: Bomber Command">Death by Moonlight: Bomber Command</a></i></li>

<li><i><a href="Into_the_Storm_(2009_film)" title="Into the Storm (2009 film)">Into the Storm</a></i></li>

<li><i><a href="Target_for_Tonight" title="Target for Tonight">Target for Tonight</a></i></li></ul>

</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>

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