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The post-raid party attended by those crews who completed the mission.
© Crown Copyright
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Home of the Dambusters |
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Time will tell
Propaganda is an essential government tool during times of conflict, its success lies in the exaggeration and manipulation of facts to make them more favourable to the propagandist. 
HM King George VI examines plans
© Crown Copyright |
How much of the Dambusters’ legend can be attributed to military success, and how much to the military propaganda machinery in place at the time?
"I feel a blow has been struck at Germany from which she cannot recover for several years", wrote Barnes Wallis, five days after the operation.
Was Operation Chastise really that successful? Certainly the British and American press wasted no time in promoting the post-operational photographs and celebrating the operation. The headline for 'Illustrated London News' on May 22 read: “A Titanic Blow at Germany: RAF Smash Europe’s Mightiest Dams” (John Sweetman’s ‘The Dambusters Raid’ ). With encouraging press coverage by the media, British civilians really began to believe that the Dambusters had inflicted a significant, long-term blow to the German war effort. James Robertson, a teenager at the time, recalls his feelings on hearing the news about the operation: “…tremendous uplift after so many defeats and…we all thought that the Ruhr had been put out of action” (John Sweetman’s ‘The Dambusters Raid’ ).
HM King George VI meets 617 Squadron
© Crown Copyright |
Despite the initial optimistic response, it soon became apparent that the overall result was one of a ‘temporary inconvenience’, rather than permanent damage to the German war production. According to historian John Sweetman, the total water production in the Ruhr on the 15 May 1943 was one million cubic metres, which dropped to 260,000 two days later. However, the original output had been restored by 27 June. The electricity shortage caused by the bombing was also short-lived.
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