'Apres mpi le deluge'

摘要

ACM Sir Arthur Harris, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Bomber Command, called the idea of attacking the Ruhr dams "tripe of the wildest description". The chairman of Vickers-Armstrongs, Barnes Wallis's boss, described it as "silly nonsense". The technical hurdles that needed to be overcome in order to make the mission possible were substantial. Yet the Operation 'Chastise' raid of 16-17 May 1943 proved to be one of the RAF's, and the British aviation industry's, greatest achievements. To mark the 75th anniversary of No 617 Squadron and its most famous mission, a leading 'Dambusters' historian explores three lesser-known aspects of the dams raid: the fraught lead-up, the role of Avro's outstanding designer Roy Chadwick, and fears of German retaliation against British dams