ATTACKING THE SORPE – OPERATION CHASTISE: 16/17 MAY 1943

Commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Dambuster Raids 

“In the totally clear moonlight, it was an incredible sight. What we couldn’t understand was why nobody else was there......The answer seemed horribly obvious, but there was no time to dwell on it. We still had a job to do.” George ‘Johnny’ Johnson

Following the success of Guy Gibson and his men in breaching the Möhne and Eder Dams, Joe McCarthy and his crew in Lancaster AJ-T ‘Tommy’ arrived at the Sorpe Dam – the only crew of the Second Wave to make it.

Detailed in the book ‘The Dambusters and the Epic Raids of 617 Squadron’, published by the Military Gallery:

… As McCarthy took them over the undefended earth dam it was obvious that the topography, as at the Eder, would require enormous skill from both the pilot and bomb-aimer if their Upkeep was to be dropped as planned. Wallis and the planners had decided that being an earth dam, unlike the Möhne and Eder, the bomb at the Sorpe should be dropped un-spun from a position flying along and adjacent to the dam rather than from head on. 

Steep hills, however, rose on either side and to the west lay the village of Langscheid where to complicate matters a large church steeple stuck up like a sore thumb. If they were to have any chance then, as George Johnson wrote in his own book, “Joe was going to have to fly the Lanc like a fighter aircraft” …  

Coming in over the village, banking sharply around the steeple and diving swiftly towards the dam, Joe McCarthy had precious little time to align T-Tommy before climbing away sharply to avoid crashing into the hills on the far side. It took nine aborted attempts before, on their tenth run, George Johnson was satisfied enough to release the mine. It was 00.46 hrs when his ‘Bomb Gone!’ was met with a “Thank Christ for that!” from the rear turret; Dave Rodger had just experienced the most uncomfortable roller-coaster ride of his life.

They had scored a direct hit but, once the tower of water had subsided, the dam was damaged along part of its crest but hadn’t been breached. Disappointed not to have caused more damage but proud to have scored a bull’s-eye, McCarthy and the crew of T-Tommy turned for home.

Anthony Saunders’ dramatic painting takes us to the heart of the action as Joe McCarthy carries out his attack – a composition that Bomb Aimer George ‘Johnny’ Johnson directly helped Anthony create and later described as the most authentic representation he’d ever seen.