The Dam Busters
film by Anderson [1955]
The Dam Busters, British World War II film, released in 1955, that chronicles the preparations for and the execution of Operation Chastise (May 16–17, 1943), in which a British air squadron used bouncing bombs to destroy hydroelectric dams that were vital to Germany’s production of war matériel. Barnes Wallis (played by Michael Redgrave) had an unorthodox idea for attacking Germany’s heavy industrial capacity: destroy German dams in the Ruhr valley with his innovative bouncing bombs, or “dambusters.” Dangerously low-flying aircraft would be needed to deliver the bombs, which would skip across the water to their targets, sink to the base ...(100 of 235 words)