On Saturday, 31 May 2025, our Museum hosted an exceptional event dedicated to the behind-the-scenes story of a legendary air operation from World War II, during which elite RAF pilots from 617 Squadron – the so-called Dambusters – managed to carry out a precision attack on German dams in the heart of the Ruhr Valley, using specially designed “bouncing bombs”.
At 11:00, participants of Foundry Spring had the chance to meet Łukasz Sojka – the author of the fascinating book “Sink the Third Reich” about the daring aerial Operation Chastise, carried out by the British RAF in May 1943. Its aim was to destroy German dams in the Ruhr Valley, which was to seriously disrupt the industrial production of the Third Reich.
After the meeting, we invited visitors to special screenings in our Museum cinema with real aircraft seats – which took place at: 11:30, 13:00 and 15:00.
Visitors could watch “Attack on the Sorpe Dam” – a moving, half-hour docu-drama film that sheds light on a lesser-known episode of one of the most famous air operations of World War II – the same one described in the previously mentioned book – Operation Chastise.
The film focuses on the attack on the Sorpe Dam, which – unlike the better-known Möhne and Eder dams – was constructed using earth-and-concrete technology and was an extremely difficult target. Its destruction required a different approach and precise manoeuvring of the Avro Lancaster bomber. In the precision attack on German dams in the heart of the Ruhr Valley, specially designed “bouncing bombs” were used. It is a story of courage, engineering genius and great risk. The attack on Sorpe was carried out by, among others, the crew of George “Johnny” Johnson – the last living participant of the mission (until December 2022), to whom the film was dedicated.
The production of the film took 7 years and was carried out almost entirely by a single digital artist, who was solely responsible for modelling, animations, special effects and editing. The project was preceded by 9 years of work on a digital 3D reconstruction of the Lancaster aircraft in the Dambuster version, which ultimately served as the visual basis for the film.
The lecture and film screenings were accompanied by an exhibition of aviation paintings by Mark Postlethwaite – one of the few artists who combine artistic talent with deep historical knowledge with equal mastery. His paintings, set in the realities of aviation history, stand out not only for their perfect technical precision and faithfulness to facts, but also for their exceptional sense of light and atmosphere. In his works, he captures the unique emotions accompanying aerial combat and the wonder of flight. It is no surprise that his works are found in private and museum collections around the world.
We invite you to view the photo report from the event:
