Aerial Photograph of the Möhne Dam, 15 May 1943

This aerial reconnaissance photograph shows the Möhne Dam and surrounding area on 15 May 1943, shortly before the famous raid by 617 Squadron of Bomber Command.

On the night of 16-17 May 1943, Wing Commander Guy Gibson led 617 Squadron on a bombing raid to destroy three dams in the Ruhr valley, the industrial heartland of Germany. The mission was codenamed Operation CHASTISE. Using the famous 'Bouncing Bomb' and the Lancaster bomber, the aim was to conduct a surgical, precision strike that would cause massive disruption to German war production by destroying the hydro-electric dams and flooding Germany's industrial heartland. 133 aircrew in 19 Lancasters took part. Gibson was flying in the first wave and his aircraft was first to attack the Möhne, but five aircraft had to drop their bombs before it was breached. The remaining aircraft then attacked the Eder. Meanwhile, aircraft from the two other waves bombed the Sorpe dam but it remained intact. Eight Lancasters were lost in the attacks, 53 men were killed and three became prisoners of war. On the ground, almost 1,300 people were killed in the resulting flooding. The impact on industrial production was limited; the dams had been rebuilt within five months through the Germans' use of slave labourers. But the raid gave a significant morale boost to the people of Britain at a time when the progress of the war was in flux. Since the 1955 film, the Dambusters raid has held an iconic place in the history of the Second World War in the UK.