617 Squadron [entry point]
Title
617 Squadron [entry point]
The Dam Busters; X Squadron [entry point]
Description
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Led by Guy Gibson 617 Squadron was formed at RAF Scampton in March 1943 specifically to attack the Eder, Möhne and Sorpe dams with the bouncing bomb invented by Barnes Wallis and carried by modified Lancasters. The squadron was retained as a precision bombing unit and moved, via a spell at RAF Coningsby, to RAF Woodhall Spa in January 1944. Under the leadership of Leonard Cheshire the squadron pioneered low level marking techniques using Mosquitos and a P-51. Modified Lancasters used the 12000 lb Tallboy bomb against the Saumur rail tunnel, submarine pens, V-weapons sites and the Tirpitz. The squadron was the only one to use the 22,000 lb Grand Slam bomb targeting railway viaducts and submarine pens in 1945.Refinements (item type)
Artwork Text
Map Text. Correspondence
Map. Navigation chart and log Text. Diary
Moving image Text. Log book and record book
Photograph Text. Memoir
Physical object Text. Personal research
Physical object. Clothing Text. Poetry
Physical object. Decoration Text. Service material
Sound Text. Training materialTechnical aid
Refinements (role):
pilot wireless operator
navigator wireless operator / air gunner
bomb aimer air gunner
flight engineer observer
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Citation
“617 Squadron [entry point],” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed August 24, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/6368.
Item Relations
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