Dam busters

[dhermann1]

I just caught the tale end of the Foyle's War episode involving the secret Dam Busters raid. I mean, yes it was a cool operation, but it wasn't achieved until late in the war, and the results were very mixed. There were LOTS of other amazing commando and special ops operations that the Brits pulled off that were every bit as cool. So why the big obsession with the Dam Busters??? And really, in spite of the circumstaces in the episode, I don't think our scientist guy would have told Inspector Foyle about it. I really don't.

 

[Smithy]

Actually Dhermann I'd disagree with your assessment of the outcomes of Operation Chastise. The raid had a very large affect upon both German industrial and food production at a time when (although the war was tipping the Allies way) this was tantamount and total Allied victory was not ensured.

Probably another reason why the Dambusters raid is so popular and admired is the sheer brilliance of the flying skill and crewing needed to successfully destroy a dam with the bouncing bomb. A four engined Lancaster bomber had to be held at a precise height and an exact speed with the bomb released at exactly the right time. All this whilst being fired upon by AA guns and without any computer assistance or guidance systems.

That's probably why many pilots of the war said that the raid by 617 represented some of the most impressive piloting of 6 years of the war.

 

[Spitfire]

Right you are Smithy.
Couple of years ago there was a thing on TV where young trained moderne day RAF personel should try the bombrun in a simulator. They trained for it the same amount of time as the crews trained back then. But as far as I remember, they failed. The reason they failed, was that they were used to moderne day computers doing all the work. They just could not "get the feel for it".
The Dambusters Raid was a truely great effort.

 

[dhermann1]

I saw the original movie a couple of years ago, and it was definitely a great accomplishment. There was also a documentary at the time that implied that the raid's ultimate effects were not as great as hoped for. Anyhow, I certainly didn't want to denigrate the Dam Busters, I just think there are a lot of other amazing exploits that deserve recogntion. One example that comes to mind is the use of mini subs to blow up (which German battleship was it?) I'm in the middle of volume 4 of Churchill's WWII history. I think Americans tend not to realize how much fighting the Brits did while they were all alone against the Nazi juggernaut, for over 2 years. They had some ups and downs, but they fought on against huge odds with great resolution and courage.

 

[Twitch]

Barnes Wallis' ingenious bomb shape and it's development lends to the drama too. As an inventor he simply never gave up. The fact that using spotlights angled to merge at 60 foot altitude beat the low altimeter reading problem was unique. The spinning of the bomb before it was launched so it would skip just right was a first also.

And as mentioned, night navigating and flying in a completely blacked out condition is a major feat. It's one thing to land a 747 at night at Heathrow and quite another to find your way to esoteric parts of Germany in the dark via star and compass navigation and proceed to accurately bomb one precise area of a target.

 

[Smithy]

Couldn't agree more with you Twitch, Barnes Wallis was a genius. The combination of his invention and the outstanding abilities of the crews combined to make one of the most incredible acts of war flying.

Spitty, I saw that series as well, most interesting, and humbling for the modern RAF aircrews involved.