Dam Busters

Dam Busters, nickname of the RAF's 617 Squadron, an élite unit formed in March 1943 to breach dams in the Ruhr, Germany's primary industrial area. The Möhne and Sorpe provided a large proportion of the Ruhr's water needs while the Eder, the largest target, helped maintain the navigable waters of the river Weser and Mittelland Canal. To destroy them a canister-shaped bomb was invented by Barnes Wallis that had to be dropped only 18 m. (60 ft.) above the water. It then bounced on the water to reach its target and rolled down the dam's wall before exploding.

The raid was mounted on the night of 16/ 17 May 1943. Eight of the nineteen participating bombers were lost and their commander, Wing-Commander Guy Gibson, was later awarded the Victoria Cross (see decorations). The Möhne and Eder dams were breached, but the Sorpe was not. Though there was much flooding and dislocation of civilian life, industry in the Ruhr was hardly affected and by October the dams had been repaired.

Wallis's bomb was never used again but, with its reputation for precision bombing established, the squadron, using special Tallboy bombs, was later employed in raids against the German battleship Tirpitz and other targets. See also air power andbombs.

Bibliography

Brickhill, P. , The Dam Busters (rev. edn., London, 1977).
Cooper, A. , The Men who Breached the Dams (London, 1982).