World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseOn 26 Feb 1943, the new "Upkeep" bomb was approved for use against German dams. Designed by Barnes Wallis, "Upkeep" was a drum-shaped aerial bomb capable of spinning at the rate of 500 revolutions per second backwards, thus able to skip across water surfaces for some distance when released at a low altitude. When then make contact with the walls of dams, they would roll toward the base of the dam before their hydrostatic fuses detonated the explosives.

ww2dbaseThe "dambusting" mission was given to Squadron X of the No. 5 Group of the British Royal Air Force, led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, targeting Möhne, Sorpe, and Eder dams in the Ruhr River region of Germany. The aircraft Gibson's men flew were Lancaster Mk III bombers, with modified bomb bays, added special altimeters, and lightened by the removal of some armor plating. The attack, code named Operation Chastise, was organized into three groups. Formation 1 was to attack Möhne Dam, and if there were unused bombs, the formation was to perform an attack on Eder Dam. Formation 2 was to attack Sorpe Dam. Formation 3 was a mobile reserve group that would take off two hours after the first two groups departed, and remain in the air to receive further instructions, possibly making a second run on one of the three primary targets that Formation 1 or 2 might fail to destroy, or this third group might be ordered to attack the smaller dams at Schwelm, Ennepe and Diemel. The "Upkeep" bombs were delivered to the squadron on 13 May 1943, and the operation was launched at 2110 on 16 May. The first group of bombers took off at 2139 hours on 16 May, and the final (reserve) group took off at 0009 hours on 17 May.

ww2dbaseThe nine bombers of Formation 1 entered continental Europe between Walcheren and Schouwen in the Netherlands, then skirted many major German defense concentrations before heading south toward Möhne Dam. Flight Lieutenant Astell's bomber was lost near Roosendaal in southern Netherlands after clipping power lines as a result of flying too low.

ww2dbaseThe five bombers of Formation 2 entered continental Europe near Vlieland in northern Netherlands. They suffered early setbacks. Lieutenant Les Munro's aircraft was damaged by flak soon after entering the Netherlands and was forced to turn back, and Pilot Officer Rice returned after losing his bouncing bomb. The bomber flown by Pilot Officer Byers was shot down near the Dutch island of Texel. The two surviving aircraft met with aircraft of Formation 1 and flew in concert for a distance to approach Möhne Dam, then breaking off from the group for Sorpe Dam.

ww2dbaseThe four bombers of Formation 3 took off two hours after Formation 2 launched, as scheduled.

ww2dbaseGibson attacked first when Formation 1 reached Möhne Dam, hitting it. Flight Lieutenant Hopgood followed Gibson, but was damaged by anti-aircraft fire, then was destroyed in the blast of his own "Upkeep" bomb. With Gibson circling nearby to draw anti-aircraft fire, Flight Lieutenant Martin made the third attack run, which was successful despite receiving some anti-aircraft fire damage. Squadron Leader Young's bomber and then Flight Lieutenant Maltby attacked next in sequence, with both bombs hitting, finally breaching the dam. Upon the bursting of Möhne Dam, Gibson led the bombers of Squadron Leader Young, Flight Lieutenant Shannon, Squadron Leader Maudsley, and Pilot Officer Knight toward Eder Dam, while the others returned for Britain. Upon reaching Eder Dam, they found the dam undefended, but the topography made the attack difficult. Shannon attempted the attack first, making six separate runs without gaining enough confidence to release his bomb. Maudsley made an attempt on Eder Dam after Shannon; his bomb struck the top of the dam and detonated, taking Maudsley's bomber down in the blast. Shannon made an attempt again after Maudsley, hitting the dam. Knight was the last to make the attack run, hitting the dam successfully and breaching the Eder Dam.

ww2dbaseAmong the bombers of Formation 2, Flight Lieutenant McCarthy's bomber was the only aircraft that reached over the target, Sorpe Dam. His bomb successfully detonated, but it did not breach the earth dam. Three of the Formation 3 bombers were then ordered to attack Sorpe Dam. Pilot Officer Burpee never made it to the target. Flight Sergeant Brown dropped his "Upkeep" bomb in dense fog, hitting the dam, but failed to breach it. Flight Sergeant Anderson reached Sorpe Dam last and found the fog now so thick that he was forced to give up and return to base.

ww2dbasePilot Officer Ottley and Flight Sergeant Townsend, both of Formation 3, were sent to attack the smaller dams. Ottley was shot down en route, while Townsend's bouncing bomb detonated at the base of Ennepe Dam but failed to breach it. It was later concluded that Townsend probably attacked Bever Dam by mistake instead of the intended target of Ennepe Dam.

ww2dbaseOn the return flight, Young's bomber of Formation 1 was hit by anti-aircraft fire off the Dutch coast crashed into the sea.

ww2dbaseIn all, 53 of the 133 air crew members on this mission were killed and three were captured. The survivors were later highly decorated, including Gibson, who received the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest military honor. They were kept together as an elite bomber unit later named the No. 617 Squadron with the nickname "Dambusters".

ww2dbaseAt 0730 on 18 May, a Spitfire aircraft of No. 542 Squadron flew across the region and photographed the extent of the damage. The breach of Möhne and Eder Dams flooded the Ruhr region with over 300,000,000 tons of water, flooding mines, farms, houses, factories, and infrastructure. The dam breaches allowed RAF command to claim Operation Chastise as a victory; "I feel a blow has been struck at Germany from which she cannot recover for several years", said Barnes Wallis. Statistics showed that the attacks successfully reduced water production capacity of the region to a quarter of its pre-attack levels, which had immediate consequences for nearby industries. However, the flooding also led to the death of 1,294 people (and another 47 below the Eder), 749 of which were Ukrainian prisoners of war and most of the rest innocent civilians.

ww2dbaseEpilogue

ww2dbaseWhilst the breaching of the iconic Ruhr dams raised the morale of the British public and helped persuade the United States that the war was going well, it was also a huge affront to German prestige and self-esteem. Although Albert Speer, for one, expressed post-war curiosity on the British failure to conduct follow-up attacks to compound the damage to the Ruhr region, the British ability to precisely deliver a weapon of such power troubled the Germans enormously.

ww2dbaseThe immediate effects of the tsunami-like flood waters which resulted from the breaching of the Möhne and Eder dams was devastating, several power stations were destroyed or temporarily put out of action, twelve war production factories were completely destroyed and many more damaged (sources vary between 91 and 114), and railways, locomotives and rolling stock were also destroyed or damaged. In addition, the flood waters disrupted river and canal transport, which was vital to the Germans; after the floods subsided, canal banks had to be repaired and long stretches of the rivers and canals had to be dredged of silt.

ww2dbaseLarge swathes of arable farmland were washed away and the harvest for that year was completely ruined. In the weeks and months following the attack, steel production in the Ruhr fell significantly (by 20,000 tons in the second quarter of 1943) and coal extraction was also reduced drastically (a drop of 813,278 tons in May alone), almost half of which could be directly attributed to the "Dambuster's Raid". Waterworks, which were important for the regional coalfields, were totally out of action for months, and the loss of farmland, agricultural produces and cattle in the floods also had serious long-term implications - in June 1943 (the month after the raid) meat rations for "normal customers" in Germany were reduced for the second time in two months.

ww2dbaseThe problems faced by the Germans as a consequence of the raid were threefold. Firstly there was the cost, time and effort required to repair and rebuild the damaged factories, power stations, bridges, railways and other buildings (which has been estimated at a staggering £5.9 billion in today's money). Secondly,there was a short-term but not critical water shortage in Germany. Water which was essential for the extraction of coal and for steel production as well as for drinking, sanitation and for use by the fire services meant that the dams needed to be repaired before the autumn rains could create a longer-term problem for the following year. The third problem, was that of manpower to repair the damage. This required 7,000 Organization Todt labourers to be drafted away from constructing Hitler's Atlantic wall (which was destined to defend against the anticipated Allied invasion of France), leaving bunkers, gun positions, anti-tank ditches and beach defences incomplete when D-Day occurred on 6 June 1944; thus saving many Allied lives and enabling a successful invasion.

ww2dbaseThe "Dambusterss raid" was not just a spectacular propaganda exercise. It did real damage to the German ability to wage war, psychologically, materially, logistically and financially. Fifty three brave young Allied airmen paid the ultimate price but their heroic sacrifice very clearly shortened the war to quite a considerable extent. Despite the dams' significant military value, there were some who questioned whether such attacks were justified, for that the attacks had killed over a thousand lives, many of whom innocent civilians without a direct connection to the German military.

ww2dbaseIn 1977, Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions prohibited unjustified attacks against installations such as dams, dykes and nuclear power stations for their potential consequences on the civilian population.

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3.  Alan Chanter says:
16 Jun 2009 02:44:23 PM

Whilst the Germans were able to make good the damage in a relatively short space of time it would require some 20,000 workers to be taken off work on the Atlantic Wall to complete the repairs. Barnes Wallace would later be critical of the fact that the RAF did not make further attacks with conventional bombloads to disrupt the repair work.

Nonetheless, the raid proved a great morale booster to the hard-pressed British public, and Guy Gibson would receive the Victoria Cross from King George for his role in drawing enemy flak away from other attacking bombers making their approach to the target.

10.  Alan Chanter says:
18 May 2013 12:34:57 AM

First Wave

1. Wing Commander G.P. Gibson flying ED932/G "AJ-G"
2. Flight Lieutenant J.V. Hopgood flying ED935/G "AJ-M"
3. Flight Lieutenant H.B Martin flying ED909/G "AJ-P"
4. Squadron Leader H.M.Young flying ED887/G "AJ-A"
5. Flight Lieutenant D.J.H. Maltby flying ED906/G "AJ-J"
6. Flight Lieutenant D.J. Shannon flying ED929/G "AJ-L"
7. Squadron Leader H.R. Maudslay flying ED937/G "AJ-Z"
8. Flight Lieutenant W. Astell flying ED864/G "AJ-B"
9. Pilot Officer L.G. Knight flying ED912/G "AJ-N"

Second Wave

1. Flight Lieutenant J.C. McCarthy flying ED925/G "AJ-Q"
2. Flight Lieutenant R.N.G. Barlow flying ED927/G "AJ-E"
3. Flight Lieutenant J,L, Munro flying ED921/G "AJ-W"
4. Pilot Officer V.W Byers flying ED934/G "AJ-K"
5. Pilot Officer G. Rice flying ED936/G "AJ-H"

Third Wave

1. Pilot Officer W.H.T.Ottley flying ED910/G "AJ-C"
2. Pilot Officer L.J. Burpee flying ED865/G "AJ-S"
3. Flight Sergeant K.W. Brown flying ED918/G "AJ-F"
4. Flight Sergeant W.C. Townsend flying ED886/G "AJ-O"
5. Flight Sergeant C.T. Anderson flying ED924/G "AJ-Y"

14.  Alan Chanter says:
14 Aug 2019 06:50:04 AM

Although Barnes Wallis had been planning his revolutionary ‘bouncing bomb’ project since 1940 by January 43 he still had not been given official authorisation to even build a prototype. AVM Arthur Harris, Commander-in-Chief of RAF Bomber Command, was not convinced that Wallis’ Upkeep bomb would function as intended at all. He wrote at the bottom of the memorandum describing the new wonder weapon: ‘This is tripe of the wildest description. There are so many ifs and buts that here is not the smallest chance of it working’. However Harris was overruled by Sir Charles Portal, Chief of the Air Staff, and ‘Operation Chastise’ was given the go ahead.

When Gibson’s code-word signal of ‘Nigger’ indicating that the Mohne dam had been breached was received back at Scampton’s Operations Room pandemonium erupted. Harris, who had journeyed north to witness the attack personally, turned to Wallis and shook him warmly by the hand. “Wallis”. He exclaimed “I didn’t believe a word you said when you came to see me. But now you could sell me a pink elephant!”