Marsdinho Posted 16 May, 2013 Share Posted 16 May, 2013 http://news.sky.com/story/1091537/dambusters-flypast-to-mark-raid-anniversary Guy Gibson was 24.....twenty f*cking four !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 16 May, 2013 Share Posted 16 May, 2013 Sorry if it sounds like flag-waving, but I watched the film last night and for me this one of this countrys finest moments ever. The whole attack, including the weapon, was put together in 10 weeks. they had to fly at 60ft in the dark, and drop their bombs at a precise speed in a window measured in cm Astounding. All 133 men who were involved are heroes, and Barnes Wallis was a f**king genius. Oh, and the dogs name.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derry Posted 16 May, 2013 Share Posted 16 May, 2013 I knew the navigator on Ken Brown's F for Freddie, they were in the third wave and the second and last aircraft to attack the Sorpe dam. Dudley Heal won a DFM for his part and became a customs officer after the war. That was when I knew him from 1971 onwards when he was the senior customs officer at Southampton Airport. In between flights the customs officers could be found propping up the bar upstairs in the old terminal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitey Grandad Posted 16 May, 2013 Share Posted 16 May, 2013 An incredible story of unbelievable heroism. What is surprising is how little is known about it in the wider world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatch Posted 16 May, 2013 Share Posted 16 May, 2013 seeing a Lancaster fly past is one of the greatest things I have ever seen in my life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
View From The Top Posted 16 May, 2013 Share Posted 16 May, 2013 (edited) I would suggest you all read Bomber Boys. After reading it I went to pay homage at the Commonwealth cemetery in Berlin where 1000s of aircrews are buried. Edited 16 May, 2013 by View From The Top Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 16 May, 2013 Share Posted 16 May, 2013 seeing a Lancaster fly past is one of the greatest things I have ever seen in my life. This. The BBMF flew over my house in Swaythling when I was a kid. Heard it coming a couple of minutes before, got outside as it went over. Hairs on my neck standing up now thinking about it. The sound is utterly incredible. I really hope Peter Jackson gets on with the remake of the film in the next year. I want to hear 4 Merlins in THX or Dolby Digital, on full blast. EDIT : Wasnt the BBMF Lancaster based at Soton airport for a week last summer ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dimond Geezer Posted 16 May, 2013 Share Posted 16 May, 2013 seeing a Lancaster fly past is one of the greatest things I have ever seen in my life. It was at the Maritime Festival in the docks, during the last bank holiday weekend. It flew over me twice. The first time was on the Sunday whilst I was up at Midanbury, the second time was on the Monday at the festival. It was a hell of a lot closer at Midanbury. A truly awesome sight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clapham Saint Posted 16 May, 2013 Share Posted 16 May, 2013 An (inherited) claim to fame. Amoungst other things, my Great Grandfather developed the spotlight method allowing the crews to fly at 60ft and the pins/towers method for calculating the point at which to drop the bombs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Lockspeiser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dimond Geezer Posted 16 May, 2013 Share Posted 16 May, 2013 EDIT : Wasnt the BBMF Lancaster based at Soton airport for a week last summer ? I think it was, it circled over me several times as I was running around Riverside Park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted 16 May, 2013 Share Posted 16 May, 2013 what is tragic. when I was a kid, these WW2 types were 10-a-penny now they are so few and far between in numbers. absolute heroes, all of them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 16 May, 2013 Share Posted 16 May, 2013 what is tragic. when I was a kid, these WW2 types were 10-a-penny now they are so few and far between in numbers. If you mean the aircraft, we can at least take comfort in the news that England will have a second flying Lancaster by next summer, hopefully.. Look up NX611 "Just Jane" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_surviving_Avro_Lancasters what the UK really needs is a flying Mossie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minsk Posted 16 May, 2013 Share Posted 16 May, 2013 seeing a Lancaster fly past is one of the greatest things I have ever seen in my life. One of the ships I served on was HMS Lancaster. Hence we enjoyed a number of fly-pasts. Often flanked by spitfires and generally when The Duke of Lancaster (aka The Queen) was about. I have to admit, I loved every second of every single one of them!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted 16 May, 2013 Share Posted 16 May, 2013 I've been fortunate to have visited the Mohne dam. Standing in the middle of the dam, the thing that strikes you is how small it actually is. It's been rebuilt in the middle of course, and you can just discern the repairs. However the towers are original. The height of the dam wall is actually not that great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine_saint Posted 16 May, 2013 Share Posted 16 May, 2013 I've been fortunate to have visited the Mohne dam. Standing in the middle of the dam, the thing that strikes you is how small it actually is. It's been rebuilt in the middle of course, and you can just discern the repairs. However the towers are original. The height of the dam wall is actually not that great. Didnt they just fix it with a plain wall, and the disruption to the pattern of the sluice gates is clearly discernable ? EDIT: no sorry, thats the Eder Dam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamilton Saint Posted 16 May, 2013 Share Posted 16 May, 2013 This. The BBMF flew over my house in Swaythling when I was a kid. Heard it coming a couple of minutes before, got outside as it went over. Hairs on my neck standing up now thinking about it. The sound is utterly incredible. I really hope Peter Jackson gets on with the remake of the film in the next year. I want to hear 4 Merlins in THX or Dolby Digital, on full blast. EDIT : Wasnt the BBMF Lancaster based at Soton airport for a week last summer ? There is an operational Lancaster bomber at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum at Mount Hope Airport - just outside Hamilton. http://www.warplane.com/ It is flown over my neighbourhood nearly every weekend in the summer. As you say, you can recognise the sound of those four engines immediately. I always hear it coming and rush out into the back garden to watch it go over. Always impressive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy Posted 16 May, 2013 Share Posted 16 May, 2013 seeing a Lancaster fly past is one of the greatest things I have ever seen in my life. Absolutely. The noise is incredible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Stand Posted 18 May, 2013 Share Posted 18 May, 2013 I knew the navigator on Ken Brown's F for Freddie, they were in the third wave and the second and last aircraft to attack the Sorpe dam. Dudley Heal won a DFM for his part and became a customs officer after the war. That was when I knew him from 1971 onwards when he was the senior customs officer at Southampton Airport. In between flights the customs officers could be found propping up the bar upstairs in the old terminal. I hate outdoing you in name dropping Dave, but when I joined BOAC in 1965 one of my instructors on the conversion to the VC10 was Bob Knights who flew with 617 Squadron on the raid to the dams. He was the Captain on one of the first BOAC B747's into JFK in 1972, when we were carrying an extra co-pilot just to appease BALPA. I was that extra Co-pilot on this occasion. We struck a pod, number 3 to be precise and if you get hold of a 747 model and try to see the odd angle you have to get a 747 to scrape an inboard engine it was mildly frightening!! I got to know Bob well in fact when we went up to Petworth House Hotel near Scampton a few years back to do a speaking job as soon as I walked into the reception and saw Bob's photograph on the wall, which I pointed out to my wife, and the Manager heard me say that I had flown with him we were upgraded to a large suite. So it's not what you know!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooney Posted 18 May, 2013 Share Posted 18 May, 2013 Never get fed up in hearing the story or seeing the film.Magnificent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derry Posted 19 May, 2013 Share Posted 19 May, 2013 I hate outdoing you in name dropping Dave, but when I joined BOAC in 1965 one of my instructors on the conversion to the VC10 was Bob Knights who flew with 617 Squadron on the raid to the dams. He was the Captain on one of the first BOAC B747's into JFK in 1972, when we were carrying an extra co-pilot just to appease BALPA. I was that extra Co-pilot on this occasion. We struck a pod, number 3 to be precise and if you get hold of a 747 model and try to see the odd angle you have to get a 747 to scrape an inboard engine it was mildly frightening!! I got to know Bob well in fact when we went up to Petworth House Hotel near Scampton a few years back to do a speaking job as soon as I walked into the reception and saw Bob's photograph on the wall, which I pointed out to my wife, and the Manager heard me say that I had flown with him we were upgraded to a large suite. So it's not what you know!!! Interestingly Eric, Bob Knights DSO DFC didn't fly on the dams raid but joined 617 later and flew on most of the raids undertaken by 617 under Leonard Cheshire and the sinking of the Tirpitz under Willie Tait. He had already flown a complete tour in 619 prior to that subsequently joined BOAC in 1944 on secondment from the RAF then stayed on. It was an Australian, PO Les Knight who flew on the dams raid, he was killed on a raid not long after. That must have been a lot of sideslip to hit that pod, presumably scraped the bottom. We were lucky because quite a few of the Captains were ex WW11 when we started out. Did you fly with Tony Liskutin Czech fighter pilot who instructed at Hamble, he used to do the aerobatics there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHAPEL END CHARLIE Posted 19 May, 2013 Share Posted 19 May, 2013 As a long time WWII enthusiast (if that's the right term) I have until recently shared in the long held view that this raid was, however courageously conducted by the men of 617 Squadron, costly and not terribly damaging to the Nazi war effort. But history is forever being rewritten, and it's most interesting to see that that old assessment is now being challenged by the latest research: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22510300 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheaf Saint Posted 19 May, 2013 Share Posted 19 May, 2013 By pure coincidence, I was trying to get home from Manchester over the Snake Pass on thursday and got stuck in all the traffic caused by everybody stopping to watch the flypast over the Derwent / Ladybower reservoir (where all of 617 squadron's training runs took place). Sadly, I didn't get to see it and only heard the noise of the two Tornadoes (today's 617 squadron) that accompanied it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldNick Posted 19 May, 2013 Share Posted 19 May, 2013 Going to the BomberCommand memorial in London was uplifting. If you are in London you should go and visit and show the respect those young men deserve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aintforever Posted 19 May, 2013 Share Posted 19 May, 2013 Enemy Coast Ahead by Gibson is a brilliant read. The skill and bravery of these guys was unbelievable. The bomber pilots lives were a weird one in that they lived a fairly normal life in england, then they would be sent into the most terrifying and dangerous situation imaginable over Germany. Then hours later they would be back in Lincoln having a fry up, minus some of their friends. It must have taken a special person to be able to cope with the nerves. The Dambusters raid was British invention, skill, bravery and determination at it's finest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted 19 May, 2013 Share Posted 19 May, 2013 As a long time WWII enthusiast (if that's the right term) I have until recently shared in the long held view that this raid was, however courageously conducted by the men of 617 Squadron, costly and not terribly damaging to the Nazi war effort. But history is forever being rewritten, and it's most interesting to see that that old assessment is now being challenged by the latest research: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22510300 Good spot. I'll have to read Holland's book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint137 Posted 19 May, 2013 Share Posted 19 May, 2013 The pilots of the three bombers who breached the dams were all dead by September 43... 1 died on the way back, the other 2 on an ill-fated raid on the Dortmund-Ems canal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derry Posted 20 May, 2013 Share Posted 20 May, 2013 The pilots of the three bombers who breached the dams were all dead by September 43... 1 died on the way back, the other 2 on an ill-fated raid on the Dortmund-Ems canal. When I was training at Kidlington I stayed with Wing Cmdr Rupert Oakley DSO DFC DFM AFC in Woodstock, he flew Hampdens, Manchesters, Lancasters and Mosquitoes on 73 bombing raids ending up as a Master Bomber in the Pathfinders. To cut a long story short I was looking at his log book together with a scrap book his mother had kept, in it he was shown receiving his DFC for controlling a raid on the Dortmund Emms Canal. I pointed this out to him and he burst out laughing, "Bombed the wrong bloody place but wrecked it so well they gave me the DFC" He stayed in the RAF sfter the war. After the prototype Vickers Valiant 'V bomber'crashed killing the RAF project pilot he took the job and then was the first Valiant squadron commander. Involved in the Atom Bomb Christmas Islands tests in the fifties. He was a really interesting person to talk to, especially telling stories about crashes always emphasising some funny angle. Les Knight was one of those pilots killed in the DEC raid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now