UK bomber flypast marks 70 years since Dambusters raid

A British World War II Lancaster bomber performed a flypast Thursday over a reservoir used for practice runs by the legendary "Dambusters" airmen, marking 70 years since their daring raid over Nazi Germany's industrial heartland. The four-engined aircraft was joined by two vintage Spitfires and two modern-day Tornado jets as they swept over the Derwent Reservoir in Derbyshire, central England, where the Royal Air Force (RAF) trialled the famed "bouncing bomb" used in the raids.
The devices, invented by engineer Barnes Wallis, literally bounced on water towards their target and were used to attack three dams in the Ruhr Valley either side of midnight on May 16, 1943. The raid, which breached two of the dams and damaged a third, was immortalised by the 1955 film "The Dam Busters".
Thursday's flypast began when the Lancaster took off from the RAF Scampton airbase in Lincolnshire, eastern England, from where 19 of the bombers had set off in darkness across northern Europe on their mission 70 years ago. The RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and 617 Squadron flew the aircraft the length of the reservoir before passing the nearby Chatsworth stately home where thousands had gathered to witness the occasion. Roy Taylor, 66, from Hadfield in Derbyshire, was among spectators who climbed up the side of the Hope Valley to watch the flypast.
"I was very impressed - the flying was superb," said Taylor, who used to work in the aircraft industry. Later, a sunset ceremony was to take place at RAF Scampton, where veterans and invited guests were to gather for the event, set to include a further flypast. The Dambusters raid required the men to fly the Lancaster bombers at just 60 feet (18 metres) above the ground.
The raid, named Operation Chastise, damaged the Sorpe and breached the Mohne and the Eder dams, causing an estimated 1,600 people to drown in the Ruhr Valley. The damage required the Third Reich to divert significant resources towards repairing the damage though the direct effect on the Nazi wartime economy has been downplayed by historians in recent decades. Les Munro, the last surviving pilot from the mission, said he believed the attacks were justified due to the morale-boosing effect they had in Britain at the time, despite the fact that 56 of the 133 airmen failed to return alive.