Description
Rare Print
All was peace and quiet in the Ruhr valley on the night of 16/17 May 1943. At the Mohne , Sorpe, and Ennepe Dams situated along the river’s tributaries, and the Eder Dam to the east, bright moonlight illuminated the night sky. The normally dark waters of the reservoirs – huge lakes held back by mighty dams – glinted brightly in the moonshine, their calm reflections stretching away towards the distant hills. To the flak gunners on duty, relaxing in their turrets, it was a scene of tranquillity, even beauty. In any case, they were sure the sky was too dangerously bright for a visit by the RAF on that starry night.
Their reverie was rudely interrupted at 00:20hrs when a Lancaster, flown by Guy Gibson, made a dummy run over the Mohne Dam to test the defences. Quickly springing to action, anti aircraft flak and machine guns concentrated their fire on the aircraft, green, yellow, and red tracer reflecting on the surface of the lake. The gunners still had no idea what was to come.
Unscathed Gibson called up the five aircraft in his flight, in preparation for the attack. During the next few minutes he and the crews of No.617 Squadron were to complete one of the most daring raids in the annuls of air warfare, and overnight acquire lasting legendary status. Following Gibson’s lead one by one they flew their heavily modified Lancasters into a curtain of deadly gunfire, somehow maintaining a precise height of 60ft and speed of 230mph – both calibrated to allow their Barnes Wallace designed bouncing bomb to strike the dam wall, sink, and explode. The rest is history
Robert Taylor has painted an aviation masterpiece which captures the very essence of the Dams raids carried out 75 years ago: “Dinghy” Young, flying Lancaster AJ-A, heading through flak and machine gun fire towards the Möhne Dam at precisely 60ft, has just released his cylindrical, hydrostatically-triggered bouncing bomb – clearly visible against the huge splash created as it hits the water. The mighty Möhne Dam has but moments to live.
Signed by aircrew: Sergeant RAYMOND E. GRAYSTON, Squadron Leader George L. Johnson DFM
