The Jeff Topham Lecture – Operation Chastise
The historic Lancaster raid on German dams carried out on 16–17 May 1943 by 617 Squadron, subsequently known as the “Dam Busters”, using a specially developed “bouncing bomb” invented and developed by Sir Barns Wallis. The Möhne and Edersee Dams were breached, causing catastrophic flooding of the Ruhr valley and of villages in the Eder valley; the Sorpe dam sustained only minor damage.