Operation Chastise

E7462

Operation Chastise was a famous World War II Royal Air Force raid in 1943 in which specially modified bombers attacked German dams using innovative “bouncing bombs” to disrupt industrial production in the Ruhr Valley.

Aliases (6)
  • Dambusters raid ×2
  • Dambusters Raid ×1
  • Dambusters raid on German dams in 1943 ×1
  • Dambusters raid on Ruhr dams ×1
  • Operation Chastise (Dambusters raid) ×1
  • RAF Dambusters raid ×1

Statements (49)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Royal Air Force operation
World War II operation
military operation
aircraftType Avro Lancaster heavy bomber
aircraftUsed Avro Lancaster
alsoKnownAs Dambusters Raid
belligerent Nazi Germany
United Kingdom
casualties significant German civilian casualties
codename Operation Chastise
commandedBy Wing Commander Guy Gibson
commander Guy Gibson
conflict World War II
country United Kingdom
date 1943-05-16
1943-05-17
endDate 1943-05-17
engineeringBy Barnes Wallis
hasMediaAdaptation The Dam Busters (1955 film)
hasParticipant No. 617 Squadron RAF aircrews
innovation low-level night bombing techniques
specialized bomb aiming methods
legacy symbol of precision bombing in World War II
locationOfTargetRegion North Rhine-Westphalia
notableFor use of bouncing bombs
objective destroy German dams
disrupt industrial production in the Ruhr Valley
operator Royal Air Force
partOf Allied strategic bombing campaign
place Germany
Ruhr Valley
planningBy British Air Ministry
preparation specialized training for low-level night flying
RAFcasualties loss of several attacking aircraft
result breaching of Eder Dam
breaching of Möhne Dam
damage to German industrial infrastructure
flooding in the Ruhr Valley
startDate 1943-05-16
target Eder Dam
Möhne Dam
Sorpe Dam
theatre European theatre of World War II
typeOfTarget hydroelectric dams
reservoir dams
unit No. 617 Squadron RAF
usedWeapon Upkeep bouncing bomb
weaponDesigner Barnes Wallis
year 1943


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