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NEXT PAGE NEXT PAGE NEXT PAGE 0845 835 0644MobileEmail ino@militaryhistorytours.co.ukWeb www.militaryhistorytours.co.ukFor the latest news and tour inormation ollow MilitaryHistory World War Two Tours Operation Chastise: Dambusters RaidOperation Chastise – better known as the Dambusters Raid – was an attack on the mighty Dams o the Ruhr Valley, the industrial heartland o Nazi Germany. It was here on the night o May 16/17th 1943 Wing Commander Guy Gibson led the brave men o 617 Squadron in their quest to drop the pioneering “bouncing bombs” designed by scientist Barnes Wallis.The mission grew out o a concept or a bomb designed by Wallis and developed by his team at Vickers, where he was Assistant Chie Designer. Previously Wallis had worked on both the Vickers Wellesley and Vickers Wellington bombers. While working on the Vickers Windsor he had also begun work, with support o the Admiralty, on a bomb designed initially or attacking ships, although dam destruction was soon considered.Eventually the Chie o the Air Sta, Air Chie Marshal Charles Portal heard o the project. Portal saw the ilm o the Chesil Beach trials and was convinced. Over-riding Harris, Portal ordered on 26 February 1943 that thirty Lancasters were to be allocated to the mission and the target date was set or May, when water levels would be at their highest and breaches in the dams would cause the most damage. With eight weeks to go, the larger bomb, code-named ‘Upkeep’, that was needed or the mission, and the modiications to the Lancasters had yet to be designed. What’s included:Hotel Bed & Breakast Barnes Wallis The Mohne Dam Military History Toursthe ‘experience’. Naturally we take care o all local accommodation, transport and entrances but what sets us aside is our on the ground knowledge and contacts, established over many, many years that enable you to really get under the surace o your chosen subject matter.By guiding guests around these historic locations we eel we are contributing greatly towards ‘keeping the spirit alive’ o some o the most memorable events in human history.Let their sacriice not be in vain. 0845 835 0644MobileEmail ino@militaryhistorytours.co.ukWeb www.militaryhistorytours.co.ukFor the latest news and tour inormation ollow MilitaryHistory The operation was given to No. 5 Group RAF which ormed a new squadron to undertake the dams mission. It was initially called Squadron “X”, as the speed o its ormation outstripped the RAF process or naming squadrons.Led by 24 year-old Wing Commander Guy Gibson, a veteran o over 170 bombing and night-ighter missions, twenty-one bomber crews were selected rom existing squadrons in 5 Group. These crews included RAF personnel o several dierent nationalities, as well as members o the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF), who were requently attached to RAF squadrons under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. The squadron was based at RAF Scampton, about 5 mi (8 km) north o Lincoln.The targets selected were the two key dams upstream rom the Ruhr industrial area, the Möhne Dam and the Sorpe Dam, with the Eder Dam on the Eder River, which eeds into the Weser, as a secondary target. While the loss o hydroelectric power was important, the loss o water supply to industry, cities, and canals would have greater eect. Also, there was the potential or devastating looding i the dams broke.The aircra were modiied Avro Lancaster Mk IIIs, known as B Mark III Special (Type 464 Provisioning). To reduce weight, much o the internal armour was removed, as was the mid-upper machine gun turret. The size o the bomb with its unusual shape meant that the bomb-bay doors had to be removed, and the bomb itsel hung, in part, below the uselage o the aircra. It was mounted on two crutches, and beore dropping it was spun up to speed by an auxiliary motor.Bombing rom an altitude o 60  (18 m), at an air speed o 240 mph (390 km/h), and at a pre-selected distance rom the target called or expert crews. Intensive night-time and low-altitude light training began. World War Two Tours ‘Upkeep’ - the bouncing bomb Guy Gibson and the crew o Lancaster AJ-G Hangars at RAF Scampton The Mohne Dam ‘Nigger’ - 617 Sqn mascot buried at RAF Scampton Wing Commander Guy Gibson Gibson’s oce at RAF Scampton 0845 835 0644MobileEmail ino@militaryhistorytours.co.ukWeb www.militaryhistorytours.co.ukFor the latest news and tour inormation ollow MilitaryHistory There were also technical problems to solve, the irst one being to determine when the aircra was at optimum distance rom its target. Both the Möhne and Eder Dams had towers at each end. A special targeting device with two prongs, making the same angle as the two towers at the correct distance rom the dam, showed when to release the bomb. (The BBC documentary Dambusters Declassiied (2010) stated that the pronged device was not used due to issues related to vibration and that other methods were employed, including a length o string tied in a loop and pulled back centrally to a ixed point in the manner o a catapult.)The second problem was determining the aircra’s altitude, as the barometric altimeters then in use lacked sucient accuracy. Two spotlights were mounted, one under the aircra’s nose and the other under the uselage, so that at the correct height their light beams would converge on the surace o the water.The Möhne and Edersee Dams were breached, causing catastrophic looding o the Ruhr valley and o villages in the Eder valley, while the Sorpe dam sustained only minor damage. Two hydroelectric power plants were destroyed and several more were damaged. Factories and mines were also either damaged or destroyed. An estimated 1,600 people drowned. The damage was mitigated by rapid repairs by the Germans, with production returning to normal in September.The raid may have had a limited success but it was at a time that the nation needed to strike back – and strike back they did – but it came at a price: 144 young men took o rom RAF Scampton, 56 ailed to return, 3 being taken prisoner, 53 making the ultimate sacriice. On this trip MHT pays tribute to the ingenuity and bravery o these men. World War Two Tours The Eder Dam The Mohne Dam The Mohne Dam The Eder Dam Todd and Redgrave in ‘The Dambusters’ “Dambusters’ by Anthony Saunders 0845 835 0644MobileEmail ino@militaryhistorytours.co.ukWeb www.militaryhistorytours.co.ukFor the latest news and tour inormation ollow MilitaryHistory For more inormation on this, or any other MHT tour, or to make a booking please call us on 0845 835 0644Alternatively you can email us at ino@militaryhistorytours.co.uk and we will get back to you as soon as possible. World War Two ToursAnniversary TripOn this trip we visit the Möhne and Eder which were breached as well as the Sorpe which was hit but not breached. We also visit one o the secondary targets, the Diemel Dam and various crash sites and cemeteries.Guests are met at by the MHT Team in the heart o the Ruhr Valley at Dortmund airport. This location was the centre o the Nazi war industry and the reason behind the raid. From here we head out to the Dams. On our way we visit the crash sites o Ottley, who was shot down over Hamm and Hopgood (crashed just north o the Möhne aer dropping his bomb). We then arrive at the Mohne Dam where we take in or the irst time the vast size o the operational targets. Aer settling into our nearby hotel we have a talk on the background o the Operation and the personalities involved.Day Two We start at the Mohne Dam and its vicinity. Aer going through the inal approach and attack o the Möhne we also visit areas o nearby destruction including houses and a church swept away. We then travel on to the Eder Dam. We drive to the top o the mountain and position ourselves to be able to look down rom the Castle, the reerence point or the Lancs as they approached. We like to read the words written by the men themselves at such poignant moments as it adds so much to the atmosphere. We then drive down the mountain to the Dam itsel where once again we see up close the mechanism that caused so much destruction. On our way back we we drive to the Diemel Dam, one o the secondary targets. Aer returning to our hotel and dining – or those that wish to do so – we return to Möhne Dam late at night at the time the Dam was attacked some 71 years ago that very night or no doubt what will be a moving moment or all.Day Three We drive to the Sorpe Dam which was attacked but not successully breached. The Sorpe is a Dam o a dierent construction and guests will see why perhaps the “bouncing bomb” was not the most appropriate weapon to be used. We end our moving trip by driving to 2 cemeteries where crews are laid to rest: Reichswald CWGC (Ottley, Maudslay, Barlow, Astell) and Rheinberg CWGC (Hopgood). We then return to Dortmund airport ready to make out way back to the UK.Throughout the trip we have various talks which cover the personalities involved, the history o the operation, the Squadron both beore and aer the raid, the alternatives open to the breaching o the Dam and o course we relect on the impact o the raid both in terms o the destruction and cost in lives. MHT’s expert on the Dambusters trip is Andy Johnson. Andy was commissioned in the RAF in 1981 as a ighter controller and spent ten years serving in air deence radar stations. From 1992, he lew on the AWACS as crewmember, mission crew commander, instructor, and aircrew evaluator. During his lying service, Andy lew extensively in air operations over Bosnia, Kosovo, Aghanistan and Iraq.Andy has a lietime interest in military aviation and in the campaigns o the British Army, particularly o the Second World War, and has visited battleields in Sicily, Italy, Normandy and Northwest Europe. With his lying experience, Andy has an insider’s view o the air environment and o the integration o air power into the battleield. Andy retired rom the RAF in 2009 to pursue a second career in battleield guiding and military and aviation research. He is a volunteer guide at RAF Waddington Heritage Centre and RAF Digby Operations Room Museum, where his ighter control background is o particular use. Andy Johnson Flt Lt W. Astell DFC Ottley’s crash site NEXT PAGE NEXT PAGE NEXT PAGE BACK BACK BACK NEXT PAGE BACK BACK BACK NEXT PAGE NEXT PAGE BACK BACK BACK