On the night of 16/17 May, 1943, 19 aircraft of Royal Air Force No 617 Squadron took off to breach a number of important dams in and around the Ruhr area of Germany. There were three primary targets, namely the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams, and three alternative targets, the Lister, Ennerpe and Diemel dams.

Of those 19 aircraft, eight failed to return. The attack was considered an outstanding success in spite of these losses, and the Eder and the Möhne dams were breached, and the Sorpe damaged. This was Operation Chastise, which made No 617 Squadron famous ever afterwards as the ‘Dam Busters’.

Now the ever-expanding data website TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk) has digitised records of this daring raid and made them available online to subscribers.

Prior to the start of the war, the British Air Ministry had identified Germany’s heavily industrialised Ruhr Valley and especially the dams as important strategic targets. Repeated air strikes with large bombs could be effective but Bomber Command had struggled for accuracy in the face of heavy enemy fire.

Finally Operation Chastise was devised using a specially designed ‘bouncing bomb’ invented and developed by British engineer Barnes Wallis.

The operation was tasked to No 5 Group RAF, which formed a new squadron to undertake the mission. Led by 24-year-old Wing Commander Guy Gibson, a veteran of more than 170 bombing and night-fighter missions, 21 bomber crews were selected from existing squadrons in 5 Group. These crews included RAF personnel of several different nationalities, as well as members of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). The squadron was based at RAF Scampton, about five miles north of Lincoln.

The attack was divided into three waves. The first wave of nine aircraft subdivided into three sections of three aircraft each, took off at 10 minute intervals, in perfectly clear weather, and with a full moon to assist them. They were detailed for the Möhne and the Eder dams, in that order of priority. The second wave, consisting of five aircraft, took off to attack the Sorpe Dam, taking a different route, but timed to cross the enemy coast at the same time. The third wave, consisting of the remaining five aircraft, formed an air bomb reserve and took off three hours later, each detailed for one of the alternative targets.

Of the five aircraft detailed to attack the Sorpe dam, two returned early, one is known to have attacked, and two went missing without trace. A sixth aircraft from the mobile reserve was also detailed to attack the target, and did so successfully.

Two of the remaining four aircraft of the mobile reserve were detailed to attack the Sorpe dam: one attacked successfully and one went missing, and it is believed did not attack. The fourth aircraft was detailed to attack the Lister dam, and acknowledged the order. There is no further trace of it, and it is not known if an attack took place. The fifth aircraft successfully attacked the dam at Enneppe.

The Operation Record Book now put online by TheGenealogist provides an in-depth analysis of the mission. The fascinating information includes an account of each aircraft’s flight, including full crew list and details of the awards made to each of the crew members after the mission. The site’s Dam Busters records also provide a brief guide to researching the crew further through records at The National Archives and other sources.

Operation Chastise was success at a very high price: 53 air crew members were killed and three taken prisoner. With the new records added at TheGenealogist, it is now possible to look at every airman involved in the raid. Commencing the story with their last training flight, to the operation itself, to the visit by the King and Queen to congratulate the surviving aircrews, all the details on the famous raids are thus now online. This will be ideal if you had a relative involved with 617 Squadron, or for anyone interested in one of the most iconic RAF missions of World War Two.