During the Operation Chastise in the Second World War there were planned attempts to blow up German dams on the 16th and 17th of May 1943. The goal was to cease the electricity and water production of the hydroelectricity plants which provided the war industry in the Ruhr area.
During the attacks a specially designed bouncing bomb was used. The attack was carried out by the RAF No. 617 Squadron, better known as the Dam Busters. The operation was lead by Guy Gibson.
The Lister dam was a secundary target in the operation, besides 2 other dams and also 3 primary targets, which were also dams. The attack on the Lister dam was part of the third attack wave, which took place in the night of 16 and 17 May 1943. The bombardment eventually failed because the fog made it impossible to find the target.
The aircraft which was assigned to perform the attack had the callsign Y. York with commander Anderson and eventually landed with a live mine on RAF Scampton in England.
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- Text: Henny van Loenen
- Photos: Henny van Loenen