Current and former pupils from Scampton Primary School who did a reading at the world premiere of After Me, The Flood at the International Bomber Command Centre in Lincoln
Dambusters Exhibition opens at the IBCC
A unique exhibition entitled 'After Me, The Flood' - revealing the untold story of the Dambusters raid and its aftermath has opened to the public at the International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) in Lincoln.
A special preview event was held this week bringing together guests from the UK and Germany. One highlight of the event was a special reading by children from Scampton Primary School, celebrating the friendship that has grown between the Lincolnshire village and the German community of Möhnesee.
Students from Möhnesee also presented a plaque to the CEO of the IBCC, Nicky van der Drift, during the event, further marking the special relationship between the two communities.
More than 80 years ago, the Möhne Dam in Germany was one of three dams targeted in the famous Dambusters raid. Eight Lancaster bombers were lost, 53 RAF airmen died, and the resulting floods killed nearly 1,300 people.
Now, for the first time, hundreds of photographs, films and documents captured in the immediate aftermath of the raid – and during the extraordinary reconstruction of the dam that followed – have been brought together in one public exhibition.
The exhibition includes photographs taken by Nazi officials, local civilians and regional archivists showing flooded landscapes, shattered communities and the scale of destruction downstream from the breached dam.
Alongside these are photographs and film documenting the rapid reconstruction of the Möhne Dam, which was completed in just over four months using forced labour under the Nazi regime.
The exhibition also includes letters between Barnes Wallis, inventor of the ‘bouncing bomb’, and German historian Dr Helmuth Euler as well as the only surviving diary, kept by Piet Hilkmann, a Dutch prisoner who was forced to work on the reconstruction of the dam.
Nicky van der Drift said she’s thrilled to open this unique exhibition to the public and share these never-before-seen images and papers.
“Many people’s idea of the Dambusters raid comes from the film, but it is incomplete,” she explained.
“This exhibition allows us to look beyond that familiar story and understand what happened to the people and communities affected by the raid.
“It is particularly meaningful to see children from Scampton and students from Möhnesee coming together at the opening. Their involvement demonstrates how an event rooted in the terrible experiences of war can, more than 80 years later, help build understanding, friendship and reconciliation between communities in Britain and Germany.”
After Me, The Flood is now open to the public at the International Bomber Command Centre and runs until 28th February 2027.
Once the exhibition closes in Lincoln, it will be translated into German and tour museums, libraries and galleries in Germany, including the Museum of Military History of the Federal Forces in Berlin.
The photographs and films will also be added to the IBCC Digital Archive, housed by the University of Lincoln.
