Regular
Shipping is 
Currency
converter
Join
our Newsletter
"They too, were
heroes" By : Deborah Susan Jones : EditorIt
was not just Guy Gibson and crew who faced extraordinary dangers on the
infamous Dams Raid, there were other ways to risk death apart from
enemy flak, other ways that low-level flying could shorten your life
expectancy.One crew's brush with the unexpected . . . .
A
new departure: a night raid, to be flown at extremely low altitude and
navigating at zero feet. Operation Chastise was the first of many
hazardous missions undertaken by 617 squadron - to breach the Eder,
Sorpe, Mohne and Ennepe dams, situated in South Westphalia. To strike
at the very heart of Germany’s armaments industry; to disrupt output
from the Ruhr, her most important industrial region. This was the
mission for which 617 Squadron had been formed and rigorously trained.UPKEEPAlso
and specifically for this purpose Barnes Wallis had designed a new and
most secret weapon known as “Upkeep” or bouncing mine. 19 Lancaster
bombers were modified and adapted to carry this new weapon, having no
upper gun turret or bomb doors and extensive alterations to the bomb
bays.ED936/GPeter
Andrew Jones' painting depicts aircraft AJ-H (ED936/G), the fourth
aircraft in the second wave, flown by Pilot Officer G. Rice, which
suffered a most extraordinary accident while still en route to the
target and survived to limp back sad and dejected to RAF Scampton,
where the Squadron was based.The
second wave had been detailed to attack the Sorpe dam, flying in loose
formation and crossing the enemy coast by the northern route as a
diversion, splitting and confusing the German defenses. FAILURE OF “GEE"Although
flying conditions appear to have been well-nigh perfect, accurate
navigation was a problem: not only was it easy to stray off-course
flying entirely alone at night and at extremely low altitude, but once
inside the Zuber Zee the water was dark and flat - absolutely
treacherous for judging height (The artist has used license here for
dramatic effect). GEE (see above) had failed and lured too low,
aircraft met water with inevitable and shattering results.The
crew felt the aircraft shudder twice, the first violent impact
apparently causing buckling in the panels of the main section of the
fuselage, tearing the belly out of the Lancaster. The bomb, wrenched
from its moorings, hit the fixed tail wheel, driving it through the
main spar of the tailplane.A
sudden deluge of cold seawater inside the aircraft came as something of
a shock to the crew, followed by general confusion and consternation.
However, the damage was done. The bomb gone, it was no-longer feasible
to continue. Their role in Operation Chastise has been abruptly and
uncompromisingly written out of the script . . . . . . .Deborah Susan Jones : EditorNOTESZUIDER
ZEE : Former inlet of the North Sea, northeastern Nederlands. A
drainage project (begun 1920) separated the inlet from the sea by a
dyke (completed 1932), dividing it into IJSSELMEER and the WADDENZEE.CHASTISE : Codename for operation
against German dams with Upkeep.UPKEEP : Codename for large bouncing
mine or revolving depth charge for use in Lancaster.GEE : navigational aid.
