The aircraft – similar to those used by the RAF's 617 Squadron to bomb German dams in 1943 – was joined by a Spitfire, Hurricane and Dakota to commemorate the Dambusters raid. They were accompanied by two Tornado jets from the present 617 Squadron.

The period aircraft of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight passed over the Derwent reservoir and dam in Derbyshire, which the squadron used to train before their mission to destroy three dams in the Ruhr valley using Barnes Wallis's bouncing bomb.

Nineteen Lancasters set out out to destroy the Mohne, the Eder and the Sorpe dams and damage an important power source for key German industry.

The mission was hailed a success after the Mohne and Eder were breached, but eight aircraft and 53 crew were lost during the raid.

Squadron Leader Les Munro, the last surviving pilot of Operation Chastise, was among guests at the service.

"Some people have
questioned if the mission was worth the sacrifice, but I say that it had a great impact on British morale and it destroyed large areas of important German weapon-making capability," he said.

Andrew Wallis, 46, a musician from Huddersfield and the grandson of Sir Barnes Wallis, the aircraft engineer who devised and planned the raids, also attended yesterday's
flypast.

He said: "We're very humbled in thinking that all these people lost their lives so that we could be here today."

Richard Todd, 88, who played Dambusters leader Wing Commander Guy Gibson in the 1954 film, laid poppies on the surface of the reservoir.

A new book about the Dambusters, written by historians Robert Owen and Richard Morris, was published after the service.