BBMF ~ 617 flypast, tomorrow 16 May 08.
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BBMF ~ 617 flypast, tomorrow 16 May 08.
Looking forward to some cracking shots from the usual suspects. It should be a great day and humbling too, especially when you remember what the boys achieved that night. And lets not forget either - the men who took part in the raid still haven't had the long hard slog that this action was a part of, recognised with something as routine as a campaign medal. All the best to the Flight for tomorrow, there will be a few flypasts (with fighters past and present) and I think I heard mention, the DC3 too.
Edit:
The Flight will be privileged to help commemorate the 65 Anniversary of the Dambuster Raids. The event will take place on 16 May 2008, starting at 1000hrs with a short service lead by Reverend Sqn Ldr John Ellis. This will be followed by a flypast of the Lancaster, Tornadoes of 617 Sqn, Hurricane Spitfire and Dakota. This event is by ticket only on advice from the Emergency Services. There will be no vehicular access to Derwent Dam or the Derwent Valley north of the A57. Police will enforce strict parking controls on the A57 and surrounding roads.
The reason for limiting access is purely related to public safety and the number of car park passes being issued is directly related to the number of vehicles which can be safely accommodated in the valley without impeding access for Ambulances or other Emergency Vehicles. Anyone who arrives by public transport and is prepared to walk in to the valley on foot is welcome to do so.
The Lancaster will take the following route on the 16 May 08, depart RAF Coningsby 0940 , towards Middle Trent Power station, North Rotherham towards the wind farm at Spicer Hill will then approach the dam from the North complete three passes over the dam wall and then continue down the valley over Bamford Church Tower continuing on towards Chatswoth House and then East towards Scampton, allowing a number of other opportunities to view the aircraft.
Edit:
Commemoration of 65th Anniversary of Dambusters Raid
The Flight will be privileged to help commemorate the 65 Anniversary of the Dambuster Raids. The event will take place on 16 May 2008, starting at 1000hrs with a short service lead by Reverend Sqn Ldr John Ellis. This will be followed by a flypast of the Lancaster, Tornadoes of 617 Sqn, Hurricane Spitfire and Dakota. This event is by ticket only on advice from the Emergency Services. There will be no vehicular access to Derwent Dam or the Derwent Valley north of the A57. Police will enforce strict parking controls on the A57 and surrounding roads.
The reason for limiting access is purely related to public safety and the number of car park passes being issued is directly related to the number of vehicles which can be safely accommodated in the valley without impeding access for Ambulances or other Emergency Vehicles. Anyone who arrives by public transport and is prepared to walk in to the valley on foot is welcome to do so.
The Lancaster will take the following route on the 16 May 08, depart RAF Coningsby 0940 , towards Middle Trent Power station, North Rotherham towards the wind farm at Spicer Hill will then approach the dam from the North complete three passes over the dam wall and then continue down the valley over Bamford Church Tower continuing on towards Chatswoth House and then East towards Scampton, allowing a number of other opportunities to view the aircraft.
Last edited by Al R; 15th May 2008 at 19:29.
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Never got a ticket ..... took the day off too 
Last edited by NutLoose; 15th May 2008 at 20:31.
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Get them walking boots out!
There was a good piece on BBC News earlier, and it'll be live from the Dam within the next hour. I wonder if News 24 will broadcast from there later today too.
There was a good piece on BBC News earlier, and it'll be live from the Dam within the next hour. I wonder if News 24 will broadcast from there later today too.
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Brilliant to see, I'd have loved to have been there. And well done BBMF too. 
And without labouring the point.. the Bevan Boys were rightly remembered, as were the Land Girls. Why not the Bomberboys??? Those lads didn't have the luxury of 65 years of languid navel gazing or ideological hill climbing - they just got on with the job and 55,000+ of them died as a result.
Their efforts need remembering with a Campaign Medal. The oversight is a disgrace.
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=296590
And without labouring the point.. the Bevan Boys were rightly remembered, as were the Land Girls. Why not the Bomberboys??? Those lads didn't have the luxury of 65 years of languid navel gazing or ideological hill climbing - they just got on with the job and 55,000+ of them died as a result.
Their efforts need remembering with a Campaign Medal. The oversight is a disgrace.
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=296590
Bomber Command aircrew already have a campaign medal - the Air Crew Europe star or the France and Germany star.
The Air Crew Europe Star was was awarded to Commonwealth aircrew who participated in operational flights over Europe, from UK bases.
Two months operational flying was required between 3 September 1939 and 5 June 1945 in order to qualify. The 1939-1945 Star must have been earned before commencing qualifying service for the Air Crew Europe Star. From 6 June 1944 (D-Day), operational flying over Europe qualified aircrew for the France and Germany Star.
British uniform regulations stipulated that neither the Atlantic Star nor the France and Germany Star would be awarded to a recipient of the Air Crew Europe Star. Subsequent entitlement to the Atlantic Star or the France and Germany Star was denoted by the award of the appropriate clasp to the Air Crew Europe Star.
Any specific Bomber Command medal would be a slap in the face to the aircrew of Coastal, Fighter and Transport Command, whose sacrifice and courage was no less than that of their Bomber Command comrades. It would be unfair and divisive, and is unnecessary.
Bomber Command's 55,000 losses and its sacrifices and achievements are rightly acknowledged and recognised, and have been widely written about, featured in TV and film documentary and drama, and are widely known.
The same cannot be said of wartime Coastal Command, for example.
The Air Crew Europe Star was was awarded to Commonwealth aircrew who participated in operational flights over Europe, from UK bases.
Two months operational flying was required between 3 September 1939 and 5 June 1945 in order to qualify. The 1939-1945 Star must have been earned before commencing qualifying service for the Air Crew Europe Star. From 6 June 1944 (D-Day), operational flying over Europe qualified aircrew for the France and Germany Star.
British uniform regulations stipulated that neither the Atlantic Star nor the France and Germany Star would be awarded to a recipient of the Air Crew Europe Star. Subsequent entitlement to the Atlantic Star or the France and Germany Star was denoted by the award of the appropriate clasp to the Air Crew Europe Star.
Any specific Bomber Command medal would be a slap in the face to the aircrew of Coastal, Fighter and Transport Command, whose sacrifice and courage was no less than that of their Bomber Command comrades. It would be unfair and divisive, and is unnecessary.
Bomber Command's 55,000 losses and its sacrifices and achievements are rightly acknowledged and recognised, and have been widely written about, featured in TV and film documentary and drama, and are widely known.
The same cannot be said of wartime Coastal Command, for example.
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I accept your perspective Jacko. But there are huge differences in reality, and this is about repaying a debt and not just offsetting or comparing one set of sacrifices against another, although I'm sure the bomber boys would be first to shrug off suggestions for unwarranted attention. Its true that no medal was awarded for the Battle of Britain either – but wasn’t there a clasp? And even there, we find injustice. If you were shot down on 1st Nov or on the 9th of July, whilst flying your Spitfire against Dorniers over Kent, then you weren’t fighting and dying in the Battle of Britain! lets face it, this lack of recognition was due to political sensitivity, and its that which needs to be addressed - no one is suggesting the efforts of the Coastal Command lads were anything other than heroic, but Bomber Command lost 55,500 men - the sacrifice is just mind mumbing. And its that which is being remembered, not the individual actions, the efforts or the merits of one Command against another.
I know that many veterans would probably not give a flying fig about the gong, but if we can remember the Bevan Boys and the Land Girls for their specific endeavours, and (I know this isn’t a p#ssing contest) if many thousands more died in their bombers than they ever did in their Spitfires, then we surely should extend to them this minor almost token gesture? Its not too much to ask for, surely, and I have yet to hear of anyone who would begrudge them it. Lets not get egalitarian (sp?!) and say that because some haven't got a medal, none should get it. Lets award it on merit, and god knows, the bomber boys earned it.
Lie in the dark and listen.
It's clear tonight so they're flying high,
Hundreds of them, thousands perhaps,
Riding the icy, moonlit sky.
Men, machinery, bombs and maps,
Altimeters and guns and charts,
Coffee, sandwiches, fleece-lined boots,
Bones and muscles and minds and hearts,
English saplings with English roots
Deep in the earth they've left below.
Lie in the dark and let them go;
Theirs is a world we'll never know.
Lie in the dark and listen.
Lie in the dark and listen.
They're going over in waves and waves,
High above villages, hills and streams,
Country churches and little graves
And little citizen's worried dreams;
Very soon they'll have reached the sea.
And far below them will lie the bays
And cliffs and sands where they used to be.
Taken for summer holidays.
Lie in the dark and let them go.
Deep in the earth they've left below.
Lie in the dark and let them go;
Theirs is a world we'll never know.
Lie in the dark and listen.
City magnates and steel contractors,
Factory workers and politicians.
Soft hysterical little actors,
Ballet dancers, reserved musicians,
Safe in your warm civilian beds.
Count your profits and count your sheep,
Life is passing above your heads,
Just turn over and try to sleep.
Lie in the dark and let them go;
There's one debt you'll forever owe,
Deep in the earth they've left below.
Lie in the dark and let them go;
Theirs is a world we'll never know.
Lie in the dark and listen.
Nöel Coward
I know that many veterans would probably not give a flying fig about the gong, but if we can remember the Bevan Boys and the Land Girls for their specific endeavours, and (I know this isn’t a p#ssing contest) if many thousands more died in their bombers than they ever did in their Spitfires, then we surely should extend to them this minor almost token gesture? Its not too much to ask for, surely, and I have yet to hear of anyone who would begrudge them it. Lets not get egalitarian (sp?!) and say that because some haven't got a medal, none should get it. Lets award it on merit, and god knows, the bomber boys earned it.
Lie in the dark and listen.
It's clear tonight so they're flying high,
Hundreds of them, thousands perhaps,
Riding the icy, moonlit sky.
Men, machinery, bombs and maps,
Altimeters and guns and charts,
Coffee, sandwiches, fleece-lined boots,
Bones and muscles and minds and hearts,
English saplings with English roots
Deep in the earth they've left below.
Lie in the dark and let them go;
Theirs is a world we'll never know.
Lie in the dark and listen.
Lie in the dark and listen.
They're going over in waves and waves,
High above villages, hills and streams,
Country churches and little graves
And little citizen's worried dreams;
Very soon they'll have reached the sea.
And far below them will lie the bays
And cliffs and sands where they used to be.
Taken for summer holidays.
Lie in the dark and let them go.
Deep in the earth they've left below.
Lie in the dark and let them go;
Theirs is a world we'll never know.
Lie in the dark and listen.
City magnates and steel contractors,
Factory workers and politicians.
Soft hysterical little actors,
Ballet dancers, reserved musicians,
Safe in your warm civilian beds.
Count your profits and count your sheep,
Life is passing above your heads,
Just turn over and try to sleep.
Lie in the dark and let them go;
There's one debt you'll forever owe,
Deep in the earth they've left below.
Lie in the dark and let them go;
Theirs is a world we'll never know.
Lie in the dark and listen.
Nöel Coward
Al,
The point is that Air Crew Europe is effectively the Bomber Command campaign medal - but one which includes relatively small numbers of RAF aircrew who also participated in the air campaign against the Reich.
And the other Commands are no less worthy than Bomber Command, and no less deserving of recognition than the Bomber Boys (though they have received much less).
If you really, really must have some bauble unique to No.s 1, 2 (presumably they count?), 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 Groups (and 100, I guess) then give them a clasp or a rosette or a badge like the Arctic emblem.
Differentiating Bomber Command from all others by issuing a separate medal raises their contribution above that of all other Commands, which is divisive, unjust and unfair.
The point is that Air Crew Europe is effectively the Bomber Command campaign medal - but one which includes relatively small numbers of RAF aircrew who also participated in the air campaign against the Reich.
And the other Commands are no less worthy than Bomber Command, and no less deserving of recognition than the Bomber Boys (though they have received much less).
If you really, really must have some bauble unique to No.s 1, 2 (presumably they count?), 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 Groups (and 100, I guess) then give them a clasp or a rosette or a badge like the Arctic emblem.
Differentiating Bomber Command from all others by issuing a separate medal raises their contribution above that of all other Commands, which is divisive, unjust and unfair.
I made the excruciating trip up to Bamford to see it. Driving that road is akin to self-harm.
Worth every burst vein though - cracking sight to see. Can I thank the crews involved (if they read here) for a great display and the Police in attendance that had to deal with the stupidity of the general public. Hats off to all.
Cheers
Ginger
Worth every burst vein though - cracking sight to see. Can I thank the crews involved (if they read here) for a great display and the Police in attendance that had to deal with the stupidity of the general public. Hats off to all.
Cheers
Ginger
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TV coverage
Great TV coverage, well done, BBC! 
BZ also to Danny Savage and others for falling silent so we could turn up the volume and revel in the sound of those lovely Merlins!
Mrs Ex even silenced her Dyson in sympathy.
BZ also to Danny Savage and others for falling silent so we could turn up the volume and revel in the sound of those lovely Merlins!
Mrs Ex even silenced her Dyson in sympathy.
Driving that road is akin to self-harm.
We maintain it like that to try to keep the riff-raff out of the Hope Valley.
Good display though - if I'd known you were there you could have bought me a pint in the Angler's Rest
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Not the Yorkshire Bridge?
Is the Yorkshire Bridge just for the tourists, then? 
I spent the best years of my life in Sheffield and its environs, spending most of my grant in the Hope Valley pubs; now I'm classed as a tourist and bl**dy riff-raff from the PDRoSY.
I spent the best years of my life in Sheffield and its environs, spending most of my grant in the Hope Valley pubs; now I'm classed as a tourist and bl**dy riff-raff from the PDRoSY.
