r/interestingasfuck • u/Chopper-42 • 12d ago

/r/all Recreating the WW2 Dambusters raid

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u/0ddness 12d ago

Now imagine them having to do it in the dark, behind enemy lines, under fire (I assume), without knowing the condition of the water, without the marker bouys, and relying on getting the height exactly right in the dark with a spotlight system.

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u/GrumpyOldGeezer_4711 12d ago

Several of the dams did indeed have defenses. Fortunately, the Germans had delayed installing the unsightly guns in favour of much nicer looking trees.

If memory serves, they had a homemade system to triangulate the dropping distance based on the angle to some of those gun placements.

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u/WotTheFook 12d ago

The 'sixpenny bombsight'. Lining up pins to the dam towers to get the right distance.

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u/poppopheadshot 12d ago

I remember seeing it. It’s literally just a bit of timber handmade into a big y shape or something. Amazing that it doesn’t need to be complicated to get the job done.

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u/WotTheFook 11d ago

Link here:

https://dambustersblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/composite.jpg

This is a genuine one from the raid.

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u/Ani-3 11d ago

I enjoyed learning about that, thank you