“This is London. The Air Ministry has just issued the following communique. In the early hours of this morning, a force of Lancasters of Bomber Command, led by Wing Commander G.P. Gibson DSO DFC, attacked with mines the dams of the Moehne and Sorpe reservoirs. These control two-thirds of the water storage capacity of the Rurh Basin. Reconaissance later established that the Moehne Dam had been breached over a length of 100 yards, and that the power station below had been swept away by the resulting floods. The Eder Dam, which controls the headwaters of the Weser and Fulda Valleys, and operates several power stations, was also attacked and reported as breached. Photographs show the river below the dam in full flood. The attacks were pressed home at extremely low level with great determination and coolness in the face of fierce resistance. Eight of the Lancasters are missing.”