The Killer Canal
617 Squadron took on the toughest targets -- the Ruhr Dams, the battleship Tirpitz, U-boat pens, the V1 and V2 launch sites -- yet in two years of operation only one target killed the squadron's CO. It might just have been bad luck, of course, but on 15 September 1943 an attack on this target resulted in the loss of six of the nine aircraft sent against it. At 62%, this represented the highest percentage loss of any 617 operation.
It was the Dortmund-Ems Canal.
The Dortmund-Ems Canal -- what the Germans call the Mittelland Kanal -- was a 160-mile-long infrastructure link between the ports of the Baltic and North Seas and the industrial heart of German. The barges that traveled sedately upon its waters carried enormous quantities of coal and iron ore from the East, including from Poland and Sweden, to the steel plants and foundries of the Ruhr. It also transported finished arms and ammunition to the Eastern Front and prefabricated parts for U-boats being assembled on the Baltic.
But a canal is a singularly difficult structure to destroy. Even direct hits tended only to make the canal a little deeper or wider without disrupting the flow of water or traffic. The Mittelland Kanal, however, had one acute vulnerability. Just north of Muenster, near Ladbergen, the canal was lifted over the Glane river on two parallel aqueducts that rose slowly from the surrounding countryside on either side. In theory, only one direct hit from a 12,000 lb "High Capacity" bomb on the aqueduct itself or the embankments leading up to it ought to have been enough to drain the canal. This would have the effect of stranding millions of tons of Nazi war materiel from reaching its destination -- until repairs had been effected.
617 Squadron was tasked with the knock-out blow and nine aircraft were detailed, led by the then CO George Holden. Their orders were to approach the target at night at extremely low level (30 feet) and then climb to 150 feet and bomb at 180 mph. They were told to concentrate on one of the two embankments rather than aqueduct itself.
On 14 September 1943, the eight aircraft designated to carry out the attack flew in two sections of four aircraft each, and they were to be proceeded by six Mosquito bombers to "take out" the flak on route. Leading one of those Lancaster sections was Squadron Leader David Maltby, the man whose bomb had breached the Moehne Dam. Due to weather over the target, the raid was called off after take-off, but tragically, Maltby collided in the dark with a Mosquito from another squadron returning from different operation. Although other aircraft from 617 circled the crash site until air-sea rescue arrived, no survivors were found.
The next night, 15 September, again eight aircraft of 617 again took off heading for the same target with the same instructions. Mick Martin's crew had replaced David Maltby's. All eight aircraft carried an extra crewman, an additional gunner to man the forward guns so the bomb aimer was free to concentrate on his job and all gun turrets would be manned at all times. Leading the loose formation was the CO George Holden. They took off at midnight on a clear, moonlit night.
Although they climbed to clear the flak batteries on the Dutch coast they then returned to very low level flying, dodging church towers and hopping over high tension wires. No one in 617 Squadron at this time was better at this than Mick Martin, and his crew remembers him complaining that Holden was flying "too high," while he flew between the smoke-stacks of the factory at Nordhorn. Shortly afterwards, Holden was caught by flak at 400 feet and his aircraft instantly became an inferno that incinerated all eight men on board before or after it crashed -- nearly taking a second aircraft of 617 with it as the burning wreck fell. Aboard the doomed Lancaster were the crew that had flown with Guy Gibson on the dams raid.
The remaining seven aircraft reformed with Martin taking over the lead, but when the arrived over the target they found it shrouded in fog. Furthermore, the moon was reflecting off the fog. Having come so far, the remaining crews were reluctant to return with their bombs and so they started circling, hoping the wind would blow the fog away enough for them to get a glimpse of the target. Meanwhile they were attracting hostile attention, and a second aircraft was brought down by flak. Another flew into trees and damaged both port engines too severely to be able to return to England. The crew bailed out, but the pilot, Les Knight, crashed with it and was killed.
The remaining aircraft were still trying to find and bomb the target. One Lancaster dropped its bomb in the canal only to crash into the opposite bank with the loss of all on board. Another Lancaster was lost to flak. After thirteen passes, Martin's bomb aimer felt he could see well enough to release his bomb -- which landed close but not near enough to breach the canal. When the surviving three aircraft finally returned to England, the canal was unharmed.
This disastrous raid nearly sealed the fate of 617 Squadron. After months of inactivity, this costly failure suggested that the squadron wasn't all that special after all. Or, that it wasn't any good without Guy Gibson leading it. Ultimately the decision was made to retain it and give it a new CO. Before the end of the war, it had proved its worth.
Yet it is understandable that a return to the "Dortmund-Ems Canal" was not greeted with wild enthusiasm. Just over a year after the failed attempt of 14/15 September, 617 was again tasked with the destruction of the canal's aqueduct over the Glane. This time the squadron was tasked to bomb from 18,000 feet using Wallis' "Tallboys."
They were scheduled to fly to the target at the same time as a massive Main Force raid on Dortmund, which was expected to draw away the night fighters. Even so, a number of 617 aircraft were attacked by German fighters but only one was shot down with the loss of three lives, the others bailing out successfully. Furthermore, this time the sacrifice was not in vain. The impact of the Tallboys, several of which fell on the banks of the river under the aqueduct, caused it to collapse and the water to drain away. Shipping along the canal came to a halt on the muddy bottom of the waterway.
The second attack on the Dortmund-Ems Canal is an episode in "Moral Fibre," which -- like all my novels about the RAF in WWII -- is intended as a tribute to the men in the air and on the ground that made a victory in Europe against fascism possible.
they took the war to Hitler.
Their chances of survival were less than fifty percent.
Their average age was 21.
This is the story of just one bomber pilot, his crew and the woman he loved.
It is intended as a tribute to them all.
or Barnes and Noble.
"Where Eagles Never Flew" was the the winner of a Hemingway Award for 20th Century Wartime Fiction and a Maincrest Media Award for Military Fiction. Find out more at: https://crossseaspress.com/where-eagles-never-flew
For more information about all my aviation books visit: https://www.helenapschrader.com/aviation.html
Outstanding. Such men should not be forgotten. Thaks Professor.
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