Operation Chastise
In 1943 he was selected to command the new 617 Squadron asked to destroy dams in the Ruhr area. To accomplish this they were provided with the bouncing bomb designed and developed by Barnes Wallis. The bombs had to be dropped from 60 feet (18 m) from a predefined distance to skip across the water into the dam face and then roll down it to explode at predefined depth. To stand any chance of success Operation Chastise had to be flown at night.
Flying at such a low level at night was deemed difficult by even the most experienced pilots. Altimeters (using air pressure) were unreliable in the mountainous terrain so close to the ground. To achieve the correct height they fixed two spotlights to the nose and tail of the Lancaster and directed their beams downwards so that they crossed 60 feet (18 m) under the craft. The navigator would direct the pilot up or down until the spots touched, forming a figure 8. The bomb aimer found the correct distance from the dam by looking through a simple hand-held wooden triangle with dowel markers. When the dowels lined up with the towers on the dam he released the bomb.
On the night of 16 May 1943, despite the full moon, both Bomber Command and Fighter Command flew a number of sorties which were spread widely over Germany and the Low Countries. As 617 Squadron needed a full moon to carry out its mission, it was thought that the only way it could penetrate German anti-aircraft defences was to fly the whole mission as close to the ground as possible. The 19 Lancasters carried one bomb each. It took five attempts to breach the Moehne Dam. Gibson then led the three remaining Lancasters to attack and breach the Eder Dam. Two other dams were attacked but not breached. 11 of the bombers survived the mission; 53 crew members died in the raid.
The devastation caused by the raids was extensive but the Germans managed to rebuild and recover much more quickly than was expected. However they were forced to use assets to protect key installations like dams to a greater extent than they had before. These assets would have been useful on other fronts.
The propaganda boost given to the allied war effort was considerable.
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