By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-10-06 10:01:06 | Updated at 2026-10-06 10:40:00
42 minutes ago
A new exhibition with never-before-seen footage showing the aftermath of the Dambusters raid officially opens to the public in Lincoln today.
‘After Me, The Flood’ brings together hundreds of photographs and rare film recordings captured in the immediate aftermath of the May 1943 raid and during the rapid rebuilding of the dam.
Sourced from archives, private collections and local historians across the Möhne region, the exhibit offers a different perspective on the impact of the operation.
Yesterday, special guests were invited to the International Bomber Command Centre to be among the first in the UK to see the material.
Nicky van der Drift OBE, the Chief Executive of the IBCC, told GB News: “I'm really proud of what the team have achieved. I think it's a great exhibition.
“It's a very small space, but I think they've told the story well and I think it's very balanced and that's hugely important.
“In the UK, particularly, our whole memory about the Dambusters raid is that film.
“We have a mission at the IBCC, which is that no one should come to our site, no matter how many times they've been, and not walk away learning something that they didn't know before they arrived.
“I think this exhibition is a huge part of that.”
‘After Me, The Flood’ brings together hundreds of photographs and rare film recordings
IBCC DIGITAL ARCHIVE
The 617 Squadron was formed at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, with Wing Commander Guy Gibson as its commander.
Setting off in three waves on the evening of May 16, 1943, each wave targeted a different dam.
The Möhne and the Eder were breached, but the Sorpe could only be damaged.
Of the 19 crews that had set out on the raid, eight did not return.
The exhibition includes correspondence between Barnes Wallis, inventor of the bouncing bomb, and German historian Dr Helmuth Euler, together with the diary of Piet Hilkmann, a Dutch prisoner who was forced to work on the reconstruction. It is the only known surviving diary from that time.
Dr Dan Ellin is one of the historians who curated the exhibition and described putting it all together.
The images were captured in the immediate aftermath of the May 1943 raid and during the rapid rebuilding of the dam
IBCC DIGITAL ARCHIVE
Tthe exhibit offers a different perspective on the impact of the operation
IBCC DIGITAL ARCHIVE
He said: “It's really a matter of trying to pick out some of the photographs, some of the stories from this amazing collection, which I don't think anyone in this country ever dreamed of seeing.
“The devastation on the ground was absolutely tremendous, but what's also equally impressive is how important the dams were to the Nazi war effort.
“You can see that with the amount of resources they threw into repairing the dams.
“It's a great feeling to finally have people see what's here.”
The Dambusters had to fly at just 60 feet to be able to drop their bombs on target.
Guy Gibson’s crew were given just eight weeks for intensive low-level training and technical preparation.
When the Möhne dam burst, a flood over 12 metres high poured into the valley
IBCC DIGITAL ARCHIVE
When the Möhne dam burst, a flood over 12 metres high poured into the valley. By morning, floodwaters had reached more than 50 miles away.
Despite the new footage in the exhibition showing the scale of the impact of the flood, it was only a matter of days before the Nazi regime began using forced labour to rebuild it.
Dr Lena Lewald from the Möhnesee Archive, where much of the new material has been sourced, explained to GB News.
She said: “The dam was destroyed in the night from May 16-17 and the first labourers were there on May 20, so three days after.
“The plan was to have the dam finished by October 1, they actually managed to finish the dam on September 24.
“Many of them [forced labourers] died, so this is also why it’s very important that we're having this [exhibition] here now.
“It isn’t that well known in England.”
