Our base was the Seegarten Hotel near the Sorpe Dam, for 3 nights. The Sorpe was one of three dams bombed with the famous bouncing bomb, the Upkeep, designed by Barnes Wallis, and it was hit once but not breached. BW reckoned it would take six such bombs to breach it as it is of earth construction and not concrete.
First of all, we left the Sorpe for the Möhne Dam, a concrete construction that was breached. I was impressed by the marker for the water level at 211m and recalled reading that the timing of the raid was when the dams were expected to be full. As it is now:
After the bombing, from archive:
It was the Möhne Dam's 100th anniversary (1914-2014).
Our group at the Möhne
The skills required were awesome, flying 60' above the water, in the dark, to release the bouncing bomb at just the right distance so it skipped over the torpedo nets and dropped in the front of the dam. The technical aids were crude - two spotlights converging on the water to indicate that the height was right, and a wooden 'Y' frame with 3 nails was used to sight the distance was right from the two towers on the dams. No GPS or laser guiding in those days, and they flew at tree-top height to get there and back below enemy radar and flak!
Many runs were made before conditions were right, exposing the aircraft to sustained attack by flak. Barnes Wallis' calculations were spot on, that a (relatively) small bomb and one that could be carried on a Lancaster, could breach such a strong structure if detonated at depth using the water and pressure to concentrate the explosion. The Lancasters must have been below the top of the tower behind us in the lower photo, not forgetting that it was in the dark!
The bouncing bomb had only been successfully tested for the first time days before the raids took place, and the crews had been trained in a matter of weeks, not knowing until the last minute what they were going to be asked to do. They really must have been quite remarkable people and only a few survive today.
Next, it was on to a biker cafe for coffee and Bratwurst:
a very friendly place it was too!
before heading for the Eder Dam, the other one to have been breached. We were only able to view this dam from the lake side:
After the breach, 17.5.43:
Close by, there is a Dam Busters' museum, with an Upkeep outside:
The metal bit is it!
It had a model of the Eder Dam with a cut-out of the section that was breached, plus many other pictures and artefacts to see.
1,300 were reported to have died as a result of the two breaches and the Ruhr Valley weapons production impacted because of the destruction of the hydro-electric generation at the dams. However, the Germans quickly mobilised thousands of labourers and they were rebuilt within a matter of months. At the time, there was much criticism in UK that they should have been attacked again, or at least the rebuilding impeded. However, analysis since then has shown that large parts of the Atlantic Wall were not completed because of this diversion of labour at a critical turning point of WWII, and that in turn helped the D-Day landings when they took place. There was also a major morale impact that helped fuel the anticipation of defeat in Germany.
The cost of aircraft, 8 lost out of 19, and lives to the RAF was significant. The pilots and crew were led by the famous Wing Commander Guy Gibson, only 24 at the time and declared unfit to fly by his doctor, due to exhaustion, on the day the planes took off for the raids!
One notable hero was Flt Lt John Hopgood, who flew his badly flak-damaged Lancaster until the last, allowing two of his crew to bale out for two of the lowest parachute landings from 200' recorded in the war. He and the four other fatalities are buried at Rheinberg Cemetery, which we visited on the return leg to Bruges:
We did visit a couple of other dams on our two days of touring, neither of which were attacked:
Diemelsee
Biggesee
We also managed to find another biker cafe in the hills near Versetalsperre Lake. The group had become split into two in the urban traffic leaving the Ruhr Valley but managed to arrive at this remote oasis from different directions within a few minutes of each other nearly an hour later!
In all, we covered 1,500 miles, over 300 of which was spent touring the dams and lakes area over two days. When not in the saddle, nourishment and liquid refreshments were partaken in the tradition of such trips and the group was able to make light of some of the awful weather thrown at us.
In fact, the weather wasn't as bad as forecast for the two days around the dams and lakes, staying mostly dry if rather dull, but it made up for it otherwise! Worst was the leg from Sorpe back to Bruges via the cemetery and a spontaneous detour to a Harley dealership in Hamminkeln. (I resisted buying another T-shirt, to my surprise). Pleasant as the stop was, it made the riding day long in the high winds and driving rain and into one that was endured and survived rather than enjoyed. Fortunately, the rain didn't materialise for the last leg home but the wind remained strong, blowing us around the motorway lanes. But, as roughty-toughty bikers, you have to take what is thrown at you!
We had some good laughs, we saw some mighty dams and lakes behind them, and the Ultra is now serviced and ready to be cleaned and prepped for the next foray, to Croatia.
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