Dambusters

[Kitty]

This old chestnut again.

Now much is made about the raid itself. The amazing flying skills of the crews involved. The British genius and ingenuity behind the bomb and its mode of delivery. The myths and the legends that have sprung up.

However the dams were rebuilt within months under the control of Albert Speere. The winter rains were caught behind them and the industry of the Ruhr valley continued on unabated.

Now statements of Speere at the time and other German officials states that if the RAF had returned the following night then the Ruhr Valley industry would have been crippled. Was the RAF right not to return after one squadron lost nearly 50% of its aircraft and crews? Remember this was the loss of 8 aircraft to cripple an entire area for weeks.

Should ordinary raids have been mounted each night to try and slow down the repair work on the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe?

Did this mammoth task of repair have a knock on effect elsewhere? If the manpower used to repair the dams had not been brought in would Hitler's Atlantic Wall have been near completion in time to slow the D-Day landings at Normandy?

What do you think?