ABSTRACT
It is not war that has failed to effect its purpose. It is the negation of skilful warfare-the war of exhaustion-which has revealed its essential senselessness.
For the men of 617 Squadron, Operation Chastise and subsequent attacks against the Dortmund-Ems Canal system demonstrated their undoubted courage, as well as the price of valor. The unit was almost rendered combat ineffective due to mounting losses from their low-level attack profile. The Dambusters Raid failed in its penultimate purpose of causing the collapse of German industry. The German industrial system proved to be more complex, flexible, and adaptive in nature than a portion of the Air Staff had originally concluded. A combination of wishful thinking, driven by a desire to achieve the maximum effect for minimal effort that had sustained the Royal Air Force after the First World War, prolonged interest in the destruction of the Ruhr Valley dams long after the senior leaders of Bomber Command were faced with unequivocal proof of the resilience of German industry and civilian morale. Finally, the raid failed in its ultimate goal of influencing the moral resolve of senior Nazi leaders. A single “critical node” that could compel Adolf Hitler and his cabal to surrender, if such a target existed, eluded the Allies for the duration of the war. Despite the results of Chastise and other attempts to inflict strategic paralysis failing to achieve the moral collapse of their adversaries, such theories remain prevalent even today.
