On the night of May 16, 1943, nineteen specially modified Lancaster bombers from the Royal Air Force’s 617 Squadron took off from England. Their target was deep inside Germany. The mission, codenamed Operation Chastise, aimed to destroy three major dams that supplied power and water to German industry in the Ruhr Valley. The aircraft carried a revolutionary new weapon designed by Barnes Wallis called the Upkeep bomb. This cylindrical mine had to be dropped from low altitude while spinning backward at high speed so it would skip across the water like a stone before sinking and exploding against the dam wall. The crews flew at extremely low level, often below 100 feet, to avoid radar and enemy fighters. They navigated through darkness using moonlight and basic maps. Several aircraft were lost on the way in after hitting power lines or crashing into the terrain.
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