Secret History - The Dambusters Raid

Saved this from circa 1993, interesting presentation of the events of Operation Chastise and commentary from surviving crew members.

[@PatrickBergersen]

Thank you for posting this.

[@adrianrosenlund-hudson8789]

The Möhnesee dam was a day trip when I was a boy, my dad being stationed in Germany in the 1970s. The raid was still very much in living memory then. Fascinating for a small boy, surrounded by soldiers and war veterans

[@peterovenden4489]

This was a feat of sheer genius ,by the inventor Barnes Wallis flown by young brilliantly brave airmen . They accomplished this with 6 weeks practice . Incredible

[@janiceduke1205]

(-_-)ゞ゛─=≡Σ((( つ◕ل͜◕)つ

[@bromyardcoachouse4876]

Tall Boy and Grand Slam weapons should be talked about as well, equally amazing and destructive from Barnes Wallis, used by 617 on untouchable targets. The Lancaster the only bomber able to carry such weights and size of bomb, even the B29 couldn't carry either. The only weapons capable of destroying underground bunkers at almost any depth. Today there is nothing to match not even JDam

[@bromyardcoachouse4876]

Not high profile but there are other amazing raids on German and Japanese targets that used technology not revealed today. being a former RAF Mission Planner, improvements in bombers and accuracy has continued to the point when I planned a mission we had to have an accuracy of within 3 inches for our missions, and today we know one aircraft can achieve what took 1,000 aircraft in 1944. Today one aircraft could reliable destroy a dam for one bomb. But dams are illegal targets. Indeed once the RAF demonstrates how effective we can be with a new weapon the UN makes it illegal, as with the JP 233.

[@Trek001]

From the good old days when Channel 4 produced good documentaries

[@NigelOgden]

So we talk about the inhumanity but we don't talk about who imprisoned the people to enable the drowning? As a propaganda mission, it was first class and as much as they say it didn't hurt them too much, yes it did. I served in this area during the 80's and I speak German. I spent a lot of mine time in the local hostilities talking to older people. This hurt them. If anyone in this film wants to talk about terror bombing, let them discuss Coventry.

[@janiceduke1205]

👏👏👏

[@magna4100]

An incredible feat of flying by such brave warriors and a major boost of morale just when it was most needed. What puzzles me though, is why no attempt to disrupt the repairs (eg a carpet bombing attack) was ever made, thus destroying lots of strategic materials at a time when the Reich was getting increasingly short of everything...and further delaying repairs to these important structures?

[@darkknight1340]

The primary reason for not following up the dams raids with further raids against potential dam repair materials and personnel would have been that the main materials required to effect repairs to the Mohne and Eder dams would have been quarried and a quarry is one of the few targets that bombing raids would be unable to destroy.Additionally,the dams raid was surprisingly ineffective In that it did not delay production by the factories in the Ruhr valley by very much at all,the dams raid was undertaken more for propaganda purposes.

[@Ah01]

@@darkknight1340 Spot on. The dam raids caused minimal delays for the german industrial capacity, the damage was repaired fast and the actual casualties were mostly lost civilian lives. In that manner it seems very similar to the missile campaign that the russian now wage against Ukraine: terror against civilians, for propaganda purposes. Pointless…

[@andybawn1]

Consider how many men and aircraft it would cost to put just one German factory out of commission even for one day with the conventional bombing of the time, So how many factories did this raid put out of commission for weeks if not months. For me it's a no brainer.

[@neddyladdy]

How is this in any way secret?

[@rupertbear6883]

failed completely but drowned lots of young ladies working as slaves down the valley.

[@STANLIZ4]

Wrong, it assisted greatly in the success of the D day landings, boosted national morale and gave Churchill political capital to influence the US

[@jdavison8551]

Might be a good idea to take a break from playing “Poo Sticks” and read the book “Chastise” by Max Hastings. It’s a very thorough and well researched account. You might well have a different opinion after reading it.

[@stephenvince9994]

@@jdavison8551 Hmmmm I doubt it. these types have already ignored observable evidence counter to their view and yet remain to hold their view. Placing further evidence before them is a wasted effort I'm afraid. One could call it ignorance in the literal sense. They ignore.

[@jdavison8551]

@@stephenvince9994 you are probably right. Stuffed toys can be remarkably dim and slow to learn, but it’s hopefully worth trying to point them in the right direction, a courtesy they would be unlikely to have been afforded but for the sacrifices of Gibson and his 55,000 colleagues.

[@andrewey2083]

I am amazed by the indignation of the Germans, when at the time Operation Reinhardt was in full swing