Dambusters

Certainly one of the most daring raids to take place during WWII was Operation Chastise the official name for the attacks on German dams on 17 May 1943.

The attack was carried out by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, subsequently known as the Dambusters.

The targets were the three key dams near the Ruhr area, the Möhne, the Sorpe and the Eder Dam. The loss of hydroelectric power was important but the loss of water to industry, cities and canals would have greater effect.

The aircraft flew two routes, carefully skirting known flak hot spots.
After reaching continental Europe the aircraft flew low, at around 100 feet, in order to avoid radar. The first casualties were taken soon after the craft reached the Dutch coast. Both formations had lost an aircraft before reaching the target and two aircraft had to abort.

Formation 1 arrived over Möhne lake now flying at 60 feet (18 m) at 240 mph (390 km/h).
Five aircraft made the run across the lake each dropping it's bomb. One of the aircraft was hit by flak as it made its low-level run and was then caught in the blast of its own bomb and destroyed. However the dam was succesfully breached.

The Eder valley was heavily fogged but not defended. The tricky topography of the surrounding hills made the approach difficult and the first aircraft made six runs before taking a break. Three aircraft dropped their bombs and agin the dam was breached.

One aircraft reached the Sorpe dam alone. It was the least likely to be breached — a vast earth dam rather than the two concrete structures successfully attacked. The bomb was dropped unsuccesfully. Three of the reserve aircraft were directed to the Sorpe. One aircraft never made it another dropped the bomb unsuccesfully and the last arrivedbut the mist was too dense for him to even attempt the run.

The Möhne lake poured around 330 million tons of water into the western Ruhr region. Mines were flooded and houses, factories, roads, railways and bridges destroyed as the flood waters spread for around 50 miles (80 km) from the source. The Eder drains towards the east into the Fulda, flooding farmland and several villages. Estimates show that before 15 May 1943 water production on the Ruhr was 1 million tonnes, which dropped to a quarter of that level after the raid.

At least 1,650 people were killed: around 70 in the Eder valley, and at least 1,579 bodies were found along the Möhne and Ruhr rivers, with hundreds missing. 1,026 of the bodies found downriver of the Möhne dam were foreign prisoners of wars and forced-labourers in different camps, mainly from the Soviet Union. Worst-hit was the city of Neheim (now part of Neheim-Hüsten) at the confluence of the Möhne and Ruhr rivers, where over 800 people perished, among them at least 526 female forced-labourers from the Soviet Union. (Some non-German sources erroneously cite an earlier total of 749 for all foreigners in all camps in the Möhne and Ruhr valleys as the casualty at a camp just below the Eder Dam.[8])

In all, 53 of the 133 aircrew were killed and three bailed out to be made Prisoners of war.