The bombing raid over Germany by the Dambusters was an epic highlight of World War II. It was led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, the first Commanding Officer of 617 Squadron, Royal Air Force (RAF) and resulted in the breaching of two large dams in Germany. Following this successful operation, Gibson was awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy.

Guy Penrose Gibson was born in Simla, India, on August 12, 1918. When he was six, his family returned to Britain. He yearned to fly from an early age but his first attempt to join the RAF met with rejection. However, he was later accepted and underwent flying training. He chose to fly bombers. He flew an attack mission against the German fleet near Wilhelmshaven on September 3, 1939, the first day of World War II. But the mission was aborted due to bad weather. From April to September 1940, Gibson flew 34 operational missions of various types, including mine laying in sea lanes and enemy harbours, raids against shipping and attacks on military and economic targets on land. His squadron mates knew him as a fearless pilot who would not refuse any mission even in marginal weather. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in July 1940. But his hour of glory was yet to come.

In March 1943, the newlyformed 617 Squadron, under the command of Guy Gibson, was tasked with executing Operation Chastise that required three crucial dams in the Ruhr Valley, the Möhne, the Eder and the Sorpe, to be breached. The aim was to damage a vital source of power to the key industrial area of Germany, inundate large areas and greatly reduce production of war materials. A special weapon called Upkeep had been developed by Barnes Wallis for the purpose. It was a ‘bouncing bomb’ that would skim along the surface of the water before hitting the dam and exploding. The weapon required extreme accuracy in delivery, from a height of 60 feet and a speed of 385 kmph, at a precisely computed distance from the target. Adding complexity to the mission, the entire flight had to be in darkness to avoid detection. Preparatory training was accordingly intense and rigorous.

On the night of May 17, 1943, Gibson got airborne as leader of 19 speciallymodified Avro Lancaster Mk III bombers. The citation for his Victoria Cross says it all: “On the conclusion of his third operational tour, Wing Commander Gibson pressed strongly to be allowed to remain on operations and he was selected to command a squadron then forming for special tasks. Under his inspiring leadership, this squadron has now executed one of the most devastating attacks of the war, the breaching of the Möhne and Eder dams. The task was fraught with danger and difficulty. Wing Commander Gibson personally made the initial attack on the Möhne dam. Descending to within a few feet of the water and taking the full brunt of the anti-aircraft defences, he delivered his attack with great accuracy. Afterwards he circled very low for 30 minutes, drawing the enemy fire on himself in order to leave as free a run as possible to the following aircraft which were attacking the dam in turn. Wing Commander Gibson then led the remainder of his force to the Eder dam where, with complete disregard for his own safety, he repeated his tactics and once more drew on himself the enemy fire so that the attack could be successfully developed. Wing Commander Gibson has completed over 170 sorties, involving more than 600 hours operational flying. Throughout his operational career, prolonged exceptionally at his own request, he has shown leadership, determination and valour of the highest order.” Together with his earlier awards this made him the most highly decorated person in Britain and a national hero. Unsaid is that 617 Squadron lost eight aircraft and 53 of the 133 aircrew who participated in the attack, while up to 1,600 Germans were drowned in the flood.

On September 19, 1944, Gibson set out at night in a De Havilland Mosquito Mk XX, leading a huge airborne force to attack railways and industrial targets in Germany. After executing the mission and ordering the other aircraft home, Gibson did not return. It was initially supposed that he had been shot down by the enemy. But some believed that he was downed by friendly fire or simply ran out of fuel due to a faulty fuel tank selector. His death at age 26 was reminiscent of one of the titles he had proposed for his autobiography which was published posthumously, The Boys Die Young.

One of his colleagues Barnes Wallis said of Guy Gibson: “For some men of great courage and adventure, inactivity was a slow death. Would a man like Gibson ever have adjusted back to peacetime life? One can imagine it would have been a somewhat empty existence after all he had been through. Facing death had become his drug. He had seen countless friends and comrades perish. Perhaps something in him even welcomed the inevitability he had always felt that before the war ended he would join them. He had pushed his luck beyond all limits and he knew it. But that was the kind of man he was…a man of great courage, inspiration and leadership. A man born for war…but born to fall in war.”