617 The Dambusters Trackable Tag Call sign L for Lamb

Call sign L for Lamb is a Lancaster of 617 Squadron and I am manned by the following crew:

Pilot:  Sqd Ldr. C Johnson
  
Navigator: P.O. T Turner

Bomb Aimer:  Sgt. J Johnstone

Flight Engineeer: Sgt. John Pulford

Wireless oprator: Flight Lt. G Hutchinson

Front gunner: Flight Sgt. S Smith

Rear Gunner: Flight Sgt. R Myers

I am racing call sign B for Beanie and S for Suggit to the Mohne, Eder and the Sorpe Dams in Germany and would like have my photo taken whilst visiting these Dams. B for Beanie can be found at this link: http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=4683566 

A percentage of the profits of this project will be going to the Royal British Legion to enable them to support ex-service personnel. Please give them your support by purchasing one of our Tags and remember the bravery of those involved on both sides. They will only be a limited number produced and they are avaliable now.

If you wish to purchase on of these Tags please visit the 617 Dambuster Trackable Tags on:

www.negeocachingsupplies.co.uk 

Please remember the sacrifices made by both sides during the 1939-1945 conflict and those that have lost their lives in the service of their country since this time.



They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

I am a specially commissioned Trackable Tag by NE Geocaching Supplies commemorating the 70th anniversary of Operation Chastise in May 1943.

Operation Chastise was an attack on German dams carried out on 16–17 May 1943 by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, subsequently known as the "Dambusters", using a specially developed "bouncing bomb" invented and developed by Barnes Wallis. The Möhne and Edersee Dams were breached, causing catastrophic flooding of the Ruhr valley and of villages in the Eder valley, while the Sorpe dam sustained only minor damage. The damage was mitigated by rapid repairs by the Germans, with production returning to normal in September.

Attack on the Möhne Dam

 
Möhne Dam after the attack.
Formation No. 1 arrived over the Möhne Lake and Gibson's aircraft (G for George) made the first run, followed by Hopgood (M for Mother). Hopgood's aircraft was hit by flak as it made its low-level run and was caught in the blast of its own bomb, crashing shortly afterwards when a wing disintegrated. Three crew members successfully left the aircraft, but only two survived. Subsequently Gibson flew his aircraft across the dam to draw the flak away from Martin's run. Martin (P for Popsie) bombed third; his aircraft was damaged but made a successful attack. Next, Young (A for Apple) made a successful run and after him Maltby (J for Johnny) when, finally, the dam was breached. Gibson, with Young accompanying, led Shannon, Maudslay and Knight to the Eder.In the attack on the Möhne one of the bombers made a running commentary on the attack, relayed to base by an airborne TR. 1142 (Transmitter Receiver) manufactured by GEC the distance being too great for direct VHF transmission.

Attack on the Eder Dam

 
Eder Dam on 17 May 1943

 
Eder Dam in 2004: note missing sluice-gate channels on the left, which were not replaced after the attack.
The Eder Valley was covered by heavy fog but not defended. The tricky topography of the surrounding hills made the approach difficult and the first aircraft, Shannon's, made six runs before taking a break. Maudslay (Z for Zebra) then attempted a run but the bomb struck the top of the dam and the aircraft was severely damaged in the blast. Shannon made another run and successfully dropped his bomb. The final bomb of the formation, from Knight's aircraft (N for Nut), breached the dam.
Attacks on the Sorpe and Ennepe Dams.

The Sorpe dam was the one least likely to be breached. It was a huge earthen dam, unlike the two concrete-and-steel gravity dams that were attacked successfully. Due to various problems, only three Lancaster’s reached the Sorpe Dam: Joe McCarthy (in "T for Tommy”, a delayed aircraft from the second wave) and later Brown ("F for Freddie") and Anderson ("Y for York"), both from the third formation. This attack differed from the previous ones in two ways: the "Upkeep" bomb was not spun, and the approach was made along the length of the dam, not at right angles over the reservoir, due to the topography of the valley.
McCarthy's plane was on its own when it arrived over the Sorpe Dam at 00:15 hours, and realised the approach was even more difficult than expected: the flight path led over a church steeple in the village of Langscheid, located on the hillcrest overlooking the dam. With only seconds to go before the bomber had to pull up, to avoid hitting the hillside at the other end of the dam, the bombardier George Johnson had no time to correct the bomb's height and heading.