Dambusters raid: a feat of courage and skill whose cost outweighed its achievement

By Tim Luckhurst, Principal of South College, Durham University

Operation Chastise, as the Dambusters’ May 1943 bouncing bomb attack on the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams was officially called, was a heroic example of precision bombing by the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was also a very temporary victory.

The Nazi regime deployed slave labour and the dams were soon repaired. The raid killed so many aircrew and destroyed so many aircraft that the RAF did not even return to attack those completing the repairs.

The truth is that Chastise was…

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