617 Sq Dams Raid AJ-O O for Orange, Enepper dam

Now, many moons ago, I read a Dams raid book which included many personnel stories of the people involved in and on the raid. Both ground and air crew.

One of the many accounts referred to the releasing of their Upkeep (mine) while on the ground, by the in appropriate operation of the bomb release lever by a WAAF during a pre departure tour of the aircraft.

The Bomb was reloaded, after the quick exiting of the aircrew and reporting of said incident.

Thinking at the time, this dropping of a 10,000lbs mine would not do the casing and balance any good at all.


Moving forward, many years, and earlier last month, Hardthrash a U-Tuber, made 3 videos of the raid, see links below.





Where in, on No.3 at 18:12 he states, AJ-O flown by Townsend and crew, while diverted to Eneppen Dam, while attempting to rotate the mine, for dropping, was subjected to severe vibration and had to drop without spinning the mine.

My question, does anyone remember the book of the dam raid which had a wealth of personnel stories painting a picture of the build, raid and return, and the Upkeep dropping incident in particular.

If so does the story of the dropped upkeep, refer to aircraft AJ-O and Townsends crew?


Which would seem to account for the out of balance, while attempting to spin, and why the drop on target was unsuccessful. Too short, from the dam wall.

If the powers that be, had know the mine had been dropped, and was more then likely to now be well out of balance. This mine should have been one of those chosen for the static, non rotation Dam drops.

Just trying to may sense of this and unfortunately unable to find the reference book now.

Thanks,
Bydand.

 

The letter code would have been “O-Oboe”, in 1943.

Jim

 

In "A Hell of a Bomb. How the Bombs of Barnes Wallis Helped Win the Second World War" by Stephen Flower, notes that it was Lancaster ED909/P piloted by Flt Lt H.B. "Micky" Martin, that suffered the mishap with its "Upkeep" bomb.

This occurred on Sunday 16th May while the aircraft was being prepped by the crew. They and the ground crews had a lot to do that day to prepare the aircraft for the raid. No mention of a WAAF being involved. The bomb aimer, Hay, called for a hasty evacuation as he thought that the bomb was armed. Once the Armament Officer had arrived and reassured everyone that it wasn't, it was reloaded onto the aircraft and then painted black. This aircraft, part of the first wave, was the third to attack the Mohne Dam with Gibson flying just ahead to starboard to draw the flak. It was hit by flak during the run and that probably caused its "Upkeep" to strike the water at an angle and veer to the left, exploding short of the dam itself.

The aircraft had all been allocated a /G suffix to their serial numbers, although it was not actually painted on them. That meant that the aircraft had to be under constant guard while on the ground. Add in the great secrecy surrounding the whole operation and how nervous the crews were becoming that Sunday as take off time approached, I think it highly unlikely that a WAAF would have been getting a tour of a loaded aircraft.

Lancaster ED886/O (usually given as O for Orange in accounts - the book just uses aircraft letters with no phonetic alphabet codes) was flown by Flt Sgt W.C. Townsend as part of the third wave of 5 aircraft. Two of these were shot down on the outbound journey. Townsend was the last to bomb any target that night. He was directed to attack the Ennerpe dam but postwar research indicated that he attackeed the Bever Dam, which was only 5 miles away and which held back a similar shaped lake. He made 4 runs. "A pronounced gyroscopic effect made reading the cockpit instruments difficult" is how it is put in the book. His bomb exploded short of the dam. No mention of it being dropped without being spun nor is that statement made in the video at the place you referred to (18.12). Neither the Ennerpe nor the Bever dam was damaged that night. Another discrepancy is that the book says that Townsend saw the floodwaters of the Mohne on his way home not en route to the target.

With regard to the question of damage to the "Upkeep" itself two points:-
1. It didnt have far to fall; see the photo of it on Gibson's Lancaster on the ground
Operation Chastise - Wikipedia
2. Martin does not seem to have experienced any vibration problems when he dropped it.

It should be noted that the attack profile for the Sorpe dam was different from those for the other dams due to the different method of its construction (concrete core with earth banks on either side rather than masonry walls of the others). Those attacking the Sorpe were instructed to fly along its length and drop their "Upkeeps" without being spun. They would then roll down the slope on the water side and explode. There was much less liklihood of a successful breach of it however.

Two aircraft attacked the Sorpe, which proved to be a very difficult target. McCarthy in ED923/Q in the second wave made 10 runs before dropping, and Brown in in ED918/F in the third, who encountered increasing mist during his multiple runs. Anderson in ED924/Y another third wave aircraft was also allocated but couldnt find the target so took his bomb home. Ottely in ED910/C was told en route to attack the Lister dam, ackowledged the instruction, then had his target changed to the Sorpe, which he didn't acknowledge. He was shot down over Germany with the loss of all but one of the crew.

I hope that this fills some gaps for you.

 

May be yes, may be No,

and did O Orange, drop their Upkeep on the Bever Dam, not the Enepper. But that's another question.
Page 79/80. Dambusters The Forging of a Legend by Chris Ward.

See.

WW2 RAF Lancaster Aircraft Recognition Call Sign Codes (Phonetics)

&

 

Thanks for that.

It would not be the book, that I read with the eye witness statement of the Upkeep release, still digging, a more 617, and Dambusters raid orientated read with many personal statements to colour and develop the story.

Unlikely indeed for WAAF tours of loaded aircraft, but is what I dimly recollect and thinking somewhat strange at the time for obvious reasons.
Dropping 10,000lbs onto a concrete hard stand would do dynamic balancing no good.
As would poorly compacted explosive filler etc.(out of balance+ vibration)

Thanks also for answering the second question, Bever/Enepper.

ED886

https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/58873

 

Colorised film:

 

Aha! Still not the book I originally read it in but The Dambusters Raid by John Sweetman 2012 edition. See page 115, Lancaster AJ-P (Martin) Once loaded and during crew inspection checks , Squadron mythology has it that one WAAF officers attraction for a lever in the cockpit caused the premature release onto the tarmac.

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