Even before WWII began, the British military analysts determined that destruction of German dams in the industrial Ruhr Valley would cripple industrial production. When the war began, the mission was green lit. Bernard Wallis, assistant chief designer for the Vickers company, was given the task of designing a bomb that could breach a dam. Clearly, with the poor accuracy record of British bombers, conventional bombing would not work. This was ironic because Wallis had designed the Wellington and Wellesley bombers and was working a new 6-engine super bomber (which never materialized). The problems included that the bomb had to avoid the torpedo nets in front of the dams and the necessity for the bombs to explode next to the dam surface, underwater. Wallis practiced bouncing marbles across a water tank in his backyard. Wallis invented a bomb that would bounce over the torpedo net and then roll down the dam surface. It was a 9,000 pound device shaped like a barrel and was essentially a depth charge. It had to be delivered at a precise height and distance. The height was a dangerously low 60 feet. Not only did the bomb have to bounce, it had to do it with a reverse spin so it would roll down the dam. While he was working on the bomb, a special squadron of Lancaster bombers was organized to train for the mission. The commander was 24 year-old Guy Gibson. The training took 8 weeks. On the night of May 16, 1943, 19 bombers took off. They flew at 100 feet to avoid radar. Two of the bombers crashed because they hit electric lines. 11 of the 19 bombers hit their dams. Two of the dams (the Mohne and the Eder) were brought down. Only 11 of the 19 bombers returned. 53 crewmen were killed and 3 were captured. That was a high 42% casualty rate. Gibson was awarded the Victoria Cross (the British equivalent of the Medal of Honor). The results were crowed about in Great Britain, but we now know the results were not spectacular. The walls of water did kill around 1,600 people (including many prisoners of war and forced laborers). The damage to German war production was limited and temporary. But the raid was a great example of daring and bravery. It deserved a classic movie and got one in “The Dam Busters” in 1962.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Chastise
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-incredible-story-of-the-dambusters-raid
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