Milestone
Operation Chastise: the Dambusters raid
May 17, 1943
In the early hours of 17 May 1943, nineteen specially modified Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron RAF, led by Guy Gibson, attacked the Ruhr dams with Barnes Wallis's Upkeep bouncing bomb. The Möhne and Eder dams were breached; the raid cost eight aircraft and earned the squadron its nickname: the Dambusters.