Historical Background

Barnes Wallis was a very important man in the history of the 6l7 Dambuster Squadron. He believed that conventional bombing would be very wasteful in terms of destroying German industry. Thus, instead of trying to bomb all the widely dispersed war factories in Germany, it would be more economic and effective to attempt to destroy something of common need to all of them, such as raw material or power. He decided to hit upon the water which was most vital to the manufacturing processes and the production of hydro-electric power in Germany. So was born the concept to breach the dams which provided that energy.

Wallis devised a technique of the attack on the dams. The exact size and shape of the bombs were determined, and twenty-three Lancaster aircraft were modified to carry these bombs. The first three of these were dispatched to Farnborough and Boscombe Down for performance and handling trials with the minimum delay as the first operation was planned to take place in May. On March 21 1943, a special squadron was formed to take this particular weapon into action; based at Scampton it was given the number 6l7, under the command of Wing Cdr Guy Gibson.

The nineteen aircraft of number 6l7 Squadron were divided into three waves. The first wave consisted of nine aircraft and they started to attack at the Mohne dam. The first four attacks proved unsuccessful. However, Flight Lt Maltby dropped the bomb in the fifth attack, which settled properly and breached the dam. Later Plt Off Knight breached the Eder Dam. At the Sorpe Dam, McCarthy hit the parapet with his weapon but failed to breach the dam. Flt Sgt Townesend in his group went to the Ennepe Dam, where he made a successful drop but without a breach.

The effect of the raid was much as had been hoped, with factories as far as 40 miles away flooded and a serious shortage of water providing a significant blow to German industry. Thus took place the mission that earned the name of "Dam Busters" for number 6l7 Squadron and captured the imagination of the British nation at the time.

Test System AMD Athalon 1.2 Ghz Win XP Pro 256 MB SDRAM nVidia GeForce 2 Mx400 Video Card 50x CD ROM Yamaha MS30 Multimedia Speakers Logitech Wingman Extreme Joystick KDS 19" Monitor Flying Time: 27 hours Recon photo Lancaster cockpit Starting engine #1 Engines running Takeoff roll Departing base Enroute to target Nose gunner Tail gunner Incoming flak Aiming device

Documentation and Installation

The game comes with a 96 page briefing manual of which 68 pages are in English and the remainder of the manual in German.

The manual is broken down into sections dealing with installation, hints and tips, briefings for the missions and descriptions of the aircraft included in the sim. Most of the commands used in CFS2 are repeated in this sim with a few exceptions described in the manual.

The installation is very quick and easy, but I was wondering how the sim was going to load a European theatre campaign into a Pacific theatre simulation—the sim installs a completely different game within the game. The sim places a new icon on your screen to activate the Dam Busters program; however you still have to have the CFS2 CD in your reader.

Opening graphic

Flight options

Opening options

Game Play

One of the most important features in this game is the bomb aiming tutorial. Unlike conventional bombing, this sim utilizes the same system that was used in 1942. The aircraft was flown at low level with a system of spot lights shining from fore and aft underneath the aircraft. When the aircraft was at 60 feet above the water, the two lights merged to indicate correct altitude; the plane also has to be flying at 195 knots. The bomb aimer then used a "piece of wood and two nails" held at arms length to line up the two turrets of the dam to know at what distance from the dam face to release the bomb.

Of course this bomb was no conventional bomb. It skipped across the water, rotating backwards to achieve its intended target… the dam face. The bomb then sank to a predetermined depth after smacking the dam and then detonated. Any deviation from the prescribed procedure would result in the bomb sinking before reaching the dam or bouncing over the dam. To achieve your goal you must practice, practice, practice.

The game also allows you to select historically accurate missions or you can modify them to play during daylight or night time hours. This is done during one of the start-up screens with the "authentic raid times" or 'alternate raid times" selections. Using authentic raid times has most of the flights happening at night and the presentation is darker than most sims and sometimes difficult to see.

The raids are historically correct in the seasons as well. Raids occurred both during the summer and winter months.

Missions

This sim comes with 25 missions. These missions can be played as separate missions, or incorporated into a campaign.

The missions vary to include true training missions, dambusting, ground target attacks and naval target attacks. The missions are all based on the historical missions of 617 Squadron.

The missions are very realistic. Anyone who has seen the Dam Busters movie knows what to expect when flying at relatively low level over German occupied territory. The tracers are very dramatic during night time raids and the flak is relentless. You have the ability to "warp" to the next waypoint, but only after you have gotten away from the enemy's ground fire and supporting fighters that may be in the area.

The enemy flak coming right at you during bombing runs must have been extremely unnerving for the actual pilots that had to fly into this. Fortunately, the "pucker factor" isn't as high sitting in front of a computer screen.

During several of the ground and naval attack missions, the traditional style of high altitude bombing comes into play. While you still have to be wary of incoming flak and enemy fighters, flying straight and level at the time of bomb release is a lot easier than the low level extremely accurate aircraft setup previously mentioned.

Aircraft and Weapons

The simulation provides you with three different types of aircraft. The Avro Lancaster, the DeHavilland Mosquito and the Vickers Wellington. Details of the flight characteristics of each aircraft are included in the manual.

The cockpit layout for each aircraft is well done, but for the non-technical flyers, they can be cluttered since these are multi-engined aircraft.

The variety of weapons that are included with this sim are the Wallis "bouncing bomb" (which was actually a mine), the 12,000 lb "Blockbuster" bomb and the high altitude 12,000 lb "Tallboy" bomb.

Lancaster and Tallboy

In formation with the Tallboy bomb

The traditional gunners' positions are also included with the compliment of aircraft in the sim.

Summary

This sim is unique in that it focuses on the events of one squadron during the Second World War. A lot of work can be seen in the sim and gives a pleasant break from the Pacific campaign in CFS2. The sim is also different by nature of the missions carried out by 617 Sqn. Thus the challenge is to perfect the system of dropping the bomb and waiting to see what your results are. Again, the emphasis is on the practice missions.

The concept of dedicating a sim to one specific time period and offering it as an add-on opens the possibilities of a complete historical campaign being played. However, the campaign may take as long to play as the actual historic event. Thankfully there is no worry of attrition with the advent of the re-start button.

If you are looking for a unique add-on to play, then this sim offers just that, but overall it's just another add-on. Dam Busters can be purchased for £24.99 / €39.99 / $34.99 at the Just Flight website.