COMMUNITY, DEFENCE
Dambusters debated
Was the legendary and courageous 1943 RAF Dambusters Raid a ‘strategic success or a conjuring trick’? PAUL STODDART from the RAeS Air Power Group provides a report on an academic debate on the effectiveness of Operation CHASTISE.
Lancasters on the way to the target – a still from the Dam Busters film. (RAeS/NAL)
Seventy years have elapsed since 617 Squadron led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson breached the Mohne and Eder dams in western Germany on the night of 16-17May 1943. Despite the passage of time, the release of previously classified information and the intensive study by historians, opinion remains divided as to the effectiveness of the operation. To commemorate what remains one of the most, if not the most famous single air power action, on 4 April the Cranwell branch of the RAeS devoted its annual Trenchard Lecture to a debate on Operation Chastise.
The three speakers were the distinguished historians and authors Professor Eric Grove, Dr Peter Caddick-Adams and James Holland (biographical details below). The debate was hosted by the Royal Air Force College Cranwell and took place in the splendid setting of College Hall Officers’ Mess with an audience of around 80. Cranwell is a few minutes flying time south of RAF Scampton from which 617 Squadron flew on the Dams Raid
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