The Dam Busters

Having been born at the very end of the war, I have no real recollection of what it was like to live through that dreadful period. I have just finished re watching the classic film The Dam Busters which is based on the book by Wing Commander Guy Gibson “Enemy Coast Ahead” and the book by Paul Brickhill called “The Dam Busters.”

It tells the true story of how Barnes Wallace invented a bouncing bomb, which would successfully breach the three main dams in Germany which supplied the water to the Ruhr Industrial complex, and of the brave men who trained and flew in the special squadron formed to attack the dams.

Initially these pilots were requested to fly their specially adapted Lancaster bombers at 160 feet above the water, but after problems with the experimental bomb cases breaking they had to fly at a mere 60 feet above the water, hold their aircraft steady at that height in the face of enemy fire and drop their bomb at a precise distance from the dam wall.

Some eight crews were listed as “missing – presumed dead” at the end of the operation, but the successful mission no doubt greatly shortened the war.

As in many areas of conflict, brave service personnel gave their lives for our freedom.