Operation Garlic was an operation to attack the Dortmund-Ems Canal by

617 Squadron Number 617 Squadron is a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron commonly known as The Dambusters for its actions during Operation Chastise against German dams during the World War II, Second World War, originally based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire ...

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.

Concept

The Dortmund-Ems Canal was a significant industrial highway, making it a suitable target. It was believed that if several 12,000lb bombs were dropped on the aqueduct at low level then it 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.

Raid

The raid was undertaken by eight

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster, commonly known as the Lancaster Bomber, is a British World War II, Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to ...

aircraft of 617 Squadron supported by six

de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the World War II, Second World War. Unusual in that its airframe was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or " ...

aircraft from

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and

605 Year 605 ( DCV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 605 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming yea ...

Squadrons. The raid was scheduled for the night of 14/15 September; however, the aircraft were recalled whilst over the

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due to fog and mist over the target. Whilst returning,

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...

(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

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took the place of Maltby. The point of attack was nearby to Münster where the canal divided into two branches. The attacking force was split into two groups with three Mosquitos for each four Lancasters plus an additional two reserve 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.

Aftermath

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. It remained out of service for the rest of the war.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garlic, Operation Aerial operations and battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom Battles and operations of World War II involving Australia Battles of World War II involving Canada Battles and operations of World War II involving New Zealand History of the Royal Air Force during World War II 1943 in Germany September 1943 in Europe