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Experience The ?Dambusters ? Raid Minute By Minute On Twitter

There is a Dambusters App if anyone's interested. Bloody hard :-/

The house in Grantham that was the HQ of 5 Gp subsequently became Grantham Register Office, where in July 1984 Mrs W and I were wed. A few weeks ago I was watching "the" film when I realised that they had filmed part of the movie there ("Gibson" being told to form 617). As he left the building we realised that some of the trees there when they filmed had still been there when we were married.

Greatest respect for all those who took part, and RiP those who never returned and those who have died since.

I've signed up to get the minute by minute Tweets, and without wishing to sound "soppy" it's quite moving - just got the news that AJ-B hit power lines.

Chugs,

I would commend everyone to read Harris's 'Bomber Offensive' (1947). His bitterness of the way that BC was treated is ill-concealed and his is pretty forthright throughout, and of course, paints himself in a better light that most revisionist historians have. Only when reading ti does one apprecaite the enormity of the task of running the Command, as well as dealing with the bureacracy (and interference) of the Ministry fo Aircraft Supply and the Air Staff.

I picked up my copy last year at OXFAM for a princely GBP 3.99. Damn fine read.

Wish I'd booked a room for tonight, at Petwood House, when I was there last year. Anyone know what's happening there?

Rgds SOS

We have a couple of gites here in the Vendee - Hair is standing up on my neck - woman in one gite - her parents turned up last night on their way south. Dad is German. Talking just now and subject of the Dams Raid came up - Fritz (that is his name!) says - "I remember it well - morning after the raid as a 4 year old I went to look at the Edersee and went back and told my parents someone had pulled the plug out!" Spooky or what!

Planning a "post mission bacon and eggs" night at chez sisemen tomorrow evening together with a screening of the non-PC 1955 film. Fortunately I have another ex RAF compadre to show the rest of the local colonials what it's all about :E

Lancaster
 

Just watching the BBC tribute and wondering what the hole on the upper surface of the Lancaster is for?
Its clearly visible from the camera shot taken from the upper gun turret, I think the hole is just forward from the turret.
Anybody know what its for!

Just watched the BBC broadcast from Scampton. The Royal Air Force really excelled, again, a superb parade and service, in memory of an extraordinary operation. Hearty congratulations to all involved.

Made me proud to have been just a very tiny part of the then Bomber Command in the Valiant days.

Carrier Pigeon?

Oh dear Oh dear, that probably was the worst coverage of any event that I've ever seen from the BBC, A presenter with a total lack of interviewing skills, interviews done during a fly past, A camera dollied intrusively and disrespectfully between the guests and the colours and for most of the Lancs fly past we just watched the four people on the flight deck. I wont go on

Parade it's self..........brilliant and very well presented by the RAF.

The holes are the two upper escape hatches. They were made of wood (as was the rear door) to prevent warping in the cold temperatures at altitude so that they did not jam. The Lanc tonight had the hatches removed.

The event in the Petwood was last night (Weds), organised by Aviation Heritage Lincolnshire. A Lancaster and GR4 flypast was followed by the screening of the 1955 Dambusters film in the "Kinema in the Woods" - an original 1920s cinema next door to the Petwood. Afterwards was a champagne reception in the Petwood. All black tie and miniatures of course. Johnny Johnson and Barnes-Wallace's daughter both in attendance. A good night was had by all. Well done to Phil and Dave who organised it.

Not a silly suggestion as a carrier pigeon (sometimes 2) was carried on each operational bomber sortie until November 1943. (After then, survival dinghies with radios were available to the crews).

GG
agreed. The Beeb are getting worse. Having a Welsh rugby commentator in a lead role. Gets his timing wrong, slows his speech to accord with the arrival of "two Tor-na-do G-R-4 Figh-ters"...
Fighters! Butler write one thousand times "617 was and is a bomber squadron"......

There is an emergency exit forward of the mid-upper turret, which is probably what you saw.

Bob C

You didn't catch the Jubilee River Pageant, then? And to be fair, the cockpit shots might well have been interesting to the general public.

But whatever a single-buttocked job the Beeb managed, what a fine tribute the event itself was. Wish I'd been there.

The Sky reporter was waving around one of the famous wooden bomb sights. Were these real or a best guess of a still classified item?


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See following, Tashengurt.

Gallery

Tashengurt as mentioned in TEEEJs link many of the Bomb aimers used string and chinagraph marks instead of the wooden sight. One of the documentaries recently possibly the channel 4 Dambusters: Building the Bouncing Bomb. demonstrated how they did it. Apparently the string method ensured that the same eye position was maintained to the air frame, which the wooden one didn't and which was enough to put the bomb off target.

See here second photo.
BBC Radio 2 - RAF Scampton photo tour