5. The Dam Buster Raid
On the night of May 16th, 1943, nineteen Lancaster bombers of 617 Squadron, divided into three formations with separate assignments, flew out along routes chosen to avoid known flak concentrations. Losses began soon as the bombers reached the European coast: two bombers turned back after one flew too low and struck water, losing its explosives, while another had its radio damaged by antiaircraft fire. Then a third bomber was shot down, a fourth went down after striking electric pylons, and a fifth crashed after flying into power lines. At the Mohne dam, Guy Gibson made his attack run, then flew his Lancaster across the dam to draw antiaircraft fire while other bombers made their approaches. One Lancaster was lost and another damaged, but the dam was finally breached after the fifth bombing run. Gibson then led the planes that still had bombs to the Edersee dam, which was undefended.
Unfortunately, the angle of approach was difficult, and made even more hazardous by fog. After numerous aborted runs, the Edersee dam was finally breached. The attack on the Sorpe dam failed. The breached dams resulted in a flood that killed about 1700 civilians, of whom 1000 were forced laborers. The greatest impact was the loss of hydroelectric power to factories and residences in the Ruhr for two weeks, as two power stations were destroyed and seven more damaged. Coal production also dropped, declining 400,000 tons that month. The damage was not permanent, however, and two months later, the Ruhr was back to normal. The raid nonetheless gave a boost to British morale as an impressive feat of derring-do, Guy Gibson was awarded a Victoria Cross, and 617 Squadron, known thereafter as the “Dam Busters”, went on to fly further successful special raids.