This month History of War readers have the chance to win a special 80th anniversary edition Airfix model kit, dedicated to 617 Squadron. Inside you’ll find an Avro Lancaster B.III (Special) and F-35B model kits, instruction sheets, paint layout, decals, paint, glue and a brush. Airfix has released this special edition kit in tribute to the squadron which, on the night of 16 May, 1943, launched the audacious raid on the dams in Germany’s Ruhr region.
2023 marks 80 years since the legendary Operation Chastise took place, just months after the founding of No. 617 Squadron, which today is equipped with the formidable F-35B Lightning fifth-generation combat aircraft. The squadron’s roundel, featuring a burst dam, and motto (Après moi, le déluge; After me, the flood) are both also derived from the Dams raid, which launched from RAF Scampton.
Armed with Barnes Wallis’s innovative ‘Upkeep’ bouncing bomb, the Lancasters flew low on their approach to the dams, releasing the device at the right altitude and time in order to hit their target. Both the Eder and Möhne dams were successfully breached, but at the cost of eight Lancasters and 53 airmen, which failed to return.
History of War has two model kits to be won, each worth £54.99. For your chance to win please enter below: