Operation Chastise

Operation Chastise
Part of the Second World War
The Möhne dam the day following the attacks
Date 16–17 May 1943 Location Eder, Möhne and Sorpe (Röhr) rivers, Germany Result 2 dams breached
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Guy Gibson	Josef Kammhuber
Strength
19 Lancaster bombers	XII. Fliegerkorps (Defending three dams)
Casualties and losses
8 aircraft lost 53 aircrew killed 3 aircrew taken prisoner.	2 dams breached 1 dam lightly damaged c. 1,600 civilians killed (including c. 1,000 prisoners and slave labourers, mainly Soviet)

Operation Chastise, commonly known as the Dambusters Raid,^[1][2] was an attack on German dams carried out on the night of 16/17 May 1943 by 617 Squadron RAF Bomber Command, later called the Dam Busters, using special "bouncing bombs" developed by Barnes 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. Two hydroelectric power stations were destroyed and several more damaged. Factories and mines were also damaged and destroyed. An estimated 1,600 civilians – about 600 Germans and 1,000 enslaved labourers, mainly Soviet – were killed by the flooding. Despite rapid repairs by the Germans, production did not return to normal until September. The RAF lost 56 aircrew, with 53 dead and 3 captured, amid losses of 8 aircraft.