The Eder, Möhne and Sorpe operation

PFilliputtiA16010126.jpg

Title

The Eder, Möhne and Sorpe operation

Description

A Lancaster flies over the explosion of an Upkeep bouncing bomb against a dam. A second aircraft has been hit by anti-aircraft fire and is plunging towards the water, engulfed in flames and smoke. A third Lancaster is visible on the right with a bomb visible below it.

Label reads “320 bis”; signed by the author; caption reads “16 MAGGIO 1943. Ore 21.28 il primo “Lancaster” inglese dell’operazione “castise” [Chastise] si alza in volo da Scampton, con a bordo il tenente colonello Guj Penrose Gibson [Guj Penrose Gibson] della RAF, pilota notturno dagli obiettivi impossibili, prima sull‘Italia settentrionale, poi sulle dighe della Rhur. Si prova la bomba rotante, o rimbalzante a forma cilindrica, alta m 1.50 diametro di 1.27 pesa 4.196 Kg con carica esplosiva di 2.992 Kg. – 18 bombardieri in 3 ondate attaccano le dighe di Mohne [Möhne], di Sarpe [Sorpe], di Scwelme [Schwelm], e al 3o tentativo quella di Eder, squarciata, 110 milioni di metri cubi d’acqua precipitano a valle. La contraerea spara a zero, 8 bombardieri su 19 sono abbattuti, il 20 settembre 1944 Guj Penrose Gibson [Guy Penrose Gibson] decorato con “Victoria cross” in azione con “master bomber” su Rheidt [Rheydt], sarà abbattuto.”

Caption translates as: “16 May 1943, 9.28 pm. The first British Lancaster involved in operation Chastise took off from Scampton, carrying the RAF Lieutenant Colonel Guy Penrose Gibson. He was the night pilot of impossible operations: at first on the North of Italy, then on the Rhur dams. They tried the rotating bomb, or the bouncing one, a cylindrical device which measuring 1.5 metres in height, 1.27 metres in diameter, weighing 4,196 kilograms, and with an 2.992 kilograms explosive charge. 18 bombers attacked the Möhne, Sorpe and Schwelm [sic} dams in three waves. On the third attempt they hit the dam in Eder. They collapsed and 110 million cubic metres of water rushed downstream. The anti-aircraft artillery fired point blank, shooting down eight bombers out of nineteen. On 20 September 1944, Guy Penrose Gibson, who was honoured with the “Victoria Cross”, was shot down in action as “master bomber” over Rheydt.”

Temporal Coverage

Language

Type

Format

One tempera on paper, pasted on mount board

Rights

This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.

Identifier

PFilliputtiA16010126

Citation

Angiolino Filiputti, “The Eder, Möhne and Sorpe operation,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed March 19, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/215.

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