On the night of May 16, 1943, a Squadron of nineteen Lancaster bombers departed from Scampton Airfield in Lincolnshire destined for the German industrial heartland.

   Their targets were three of the most important dams in the Ruhr Valley - the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe. Successfully destroying them would seriously disrupt German manufacturing, hamper their war effort and in turn, effect the morale of the German people.

   617 Squadron, or the 'Dambusters', as they became known, were led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, a highly decorated twenty-four year old pilot and leader. He and his men were charged with carrying Sir Barnes Wallis' revolutionary 'bouncing bomb' right into the heart of enemy territory on one the first low altitude wartime bombing raids.

   The raid constituted one of the most audacious events of the War, but plans for the destruction of the dams had been in circulation since 1937. However, two key elements were lacking - a weapon capable of inflicting the required damage and a method of delivering it. The breakthrough would come from a middle-aged engineer, Sir Barnes Wallis. Born into a humble background, one of four children of a doctor in Derbyshire, Wallis, despite facing ridicule and at times, outright opposition to his ideas, eventually won over the top brass and developed a weapon capable of delivering the decisive blow.

   Together with Gibson and 617 Squadron, Wallis brought catastrophe to the industries of the Ruhr, crippled German war production and reduced the Third Reich's ability to supply its front lines. It literally turned the tide of the war.

   The raid itself sent shock waves around the world. Stalin sent congratulations by telegram and Churchill was received with adulation in Washington when addressing Congress on May 19. Newspapers carried reconnaissance photographs of the dam walls, showing in detail the accuracy of the Allied aircrews and the damage wrought by the cascading torrents through the narrow valleys of the Ruhr.

   However, the successes were tempered with sobering realities. Eight aircraft out of a total of nineteen were lost during the raid, resulting in the loss of fifty-three young lives. Despite this, the Allies concluded that the raid was justified by its outcome. It was clear that the physical damage would take months to repair, the psychological damage inflicted on the enemy much longer.

   Thus, the legend of the 'Dambusters' was born.

The following links are for two cracking websites dedicated to the Dambusters:
 

http://www.thedambusters.org.uk

http://www.dambusters.org.uk