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Air raids on the Glane culverts in the Dortmund-Ems Canal in September 1943
Operation Garlic was an operation to attack the Dortmund-Ems Canal by No. 617 Squadron RAF carried out on 14-16 September 1943. The operation was unsuccessful as the canal was not significantly damaged by the attack, while 617 Squadron lost six of the nine aircraft and crews involved in the operation.
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Operation Garlic was an operation to attack the Dortmund-Ems Canal by No. 617 Squadron RAF carried out on 14-16 September 1943. The operation was unsuccessful as the canal was not significantly damaged by the attack, while 617 Squadron lost six of the nine aircraft and crews involved in the operation.
The Dortmund-Ems Canal was a waterway vital to the war economy, making it a suitable target. It was believed that if several 12,000lb bombs were dropped on the two Glane culverts in the old and new canal branches west of Ladbergen at low level then they could be breached. The large bombs used had a poor aerodynamic design. To deliver them accurately they had to be dropped from a low level. For this reason, 617 Squadron was assigned the job of destroying the canal.
The raid was undertaken by eight Avro Lancaster aircraft of 617 Squadron supported by six de Havilland Mosquito aircraft from 418 and 605 Squadrons. The raid was scheduled for the night of 14/15 September; however, the aircraft were recalled whilst over the North Sea due to fog and mist over the target. Whilst returning, Squadron Leader (S/Ldr) Maltby's aircraft hit the sea, possibly after colliding with a Mosquito which was returning from a different raid, and all the crew were killed. Flight Lieutenant (F/Lt) Shannon and his crew circled the wreckage site for two hours waiting for rescue. Maltby's body was the only one recovered.
The attack was re-launched on the night of the 15/16, with the same Lancasters involved, except that F/Lt Martin took the place of Maltby. The point of attack was north of Münster and west of Ladbergen where the canal divided into two branches. The attacking force was split into two groups with three Mosquitos for each four Lancasters, the main purpose of the Mosquitos being to defend the Lancasters from Flak. The visibility on the raid was reported to be very bad, preventing accurate location of the target.
All Mosquitos returned safely.
The canal was eventually breached the following year. On the night of the 23/24 September 1944 aircraft of 617 Squadron attacked the canal using the more effective 12,000 lb Tallboy bomb, which had a seismic effect that breached the canal embankments. Further attacks followed. During the attack on 4/5 November 1944, the culvert in the Alte Fahrt (i.e. the old branch) was destroyed and not repaired. After every successful attack, shipping had to be suspended and the canal repaired by the Ladbergen Canal Authority. It was not until the attack on 3/4 March 1945 that the canal became unnavigable for the remainder of the war.
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