Posted on by PerchSpective

These Canadians flew in a secret WWII mission to destroy German dams – thestar.com

by Ted Barris – Excerpt from Dam Busters – via msn.com

a group of people in uniform posing for a photo: Sixteen of the surviving Dam Busters were pictured at the English airfield the day they returned from the raid. All in this photo were Canadian except American Joe McCarthy (second from right in back row), who had trained in Canada.
© Provided by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited Sixteen of the surviving Dam Busters were pictured at the English airfield the day they returned from the raid. All in this photo were Canadian except American Joe McCarthy (second from right in back row), who had trained in Canada.

On May 16, 1943, an unprecedented operation was launched by Squadron 617 of the Royal Air Force. The mission was to destroy three German dams in the Ruhr Valley with a new kind of bomb, dropped from a low-flying Lancaster, to cause flooding and chaos, disrupt key industries and possibly shorten the Second World War. In Dam Busters, Ted Barris tells the dramatic story with a focus on the large number of pilots, engineers, navigators and bombers on the mission who were Canadian or trained in Canada.

Read Ted Barris’s full article here to learn more about these brave young Canadians and how their efforts helped stem German advances and lead Canada and the Allies to victory.

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