Dambusters - The Amazing Story of Operation Chastise

WHEN WAR was declared on September 3,1939, Britain was in no position to mount any serious bombing raids on Germany. The aircraft may have been reasonably modern but the bombs, bomb-sights and methods of accurate targeting were lacking. So the plans that had been worked out by the RAF Air Targets Sub Committee in October 1937 to attack strategic targets in Germany remained on paper. Among the key targets that had been identified as important was the Ruhr valley, where the
bulk of German steel production was concentrated and where many armament and heavy industry producers were located. An Air Ministry committee had worked out that 3,000 sorties would be required to destroy the Ruhr area in Germany and bring the area to a standstill. However, they also worked out that the number of missions could be significantly reduced if the six important reservoir dams that fed the factories of the Ruhr could be breached. The problem the planners faced was that there was no aircraft or weapon large enough to carry out the task. To consider the possibilities and find a solution, an Air Ministry Bombing Committee was formed. At a meeting on July 26,1938, they concluded that a low-level aerial attack on the dams was possible and that the subject deserved further investigation.

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