617 Squadron - After The Dams
 

In case anyone is at a loose end this Bank Holiday Monday evening:

"What The Dambusters Did Next" - Channel 5, 2100

What the Dambusters did next: The missions that changed the course of WWII | World | News | Daily Express

THE film is also on next week

On Sunday last, that which was nearest to the anniversary, one hymn in our church was to the tune. Those in the know [including Mrs LB] smiled broadly.

Pity I missed it, because I was bell-ringing in another church.

Thanks for the heads up on that one John,

I have set the system to record it, if I fail to remember to watch it live.

Smudge:ok:

John ... I hope you don't mind me adding the following to your thread ...

If you were a former Air Cadet and flew in a 1 AEF Chipmunk from RAF Manston in the late 60's/70's and still have your 3822 ... do check to see if you have a F/L Hamilton recorded ... if you do ... you might be interested to know that your pilot was in fact Squadron Leader Malcolm "Mac" Hamilton DFC of 617 Squadron when Group Captain Leonard Cheshire was CO. Amongst many wartime missions ... he flew on the attack against the Tirpitz.

Sadly he passed away in April 2008 ...

Coff.

Hello, John. Long time no see. Thanks for the heads up. I can now receive C5 again (with a bigger dish for the Southern Europe Astra crisis) and your post came just in time. :ok:

617 After the Dams ...
 

The Dambusters - Red Bull Soapbox Race 2013 - YouTube

ThrungeSSC Dambusters - YouTube

617 Sqn Dambusters - Red Bull Soap Box Race- London 2013 - Go Pro Crash Footage (Camera 1) - YouTube

Redbull Soapbox Race 2013. RAF fail - YouTube

Coffman - nope, wasn't a cadet. But I have read quite a bit about Hamilton - amazing career.

Courtney Mil - you too. Hope all's well.

Best to all

The film is on this evening before the documentary (Channel 5, all times BST)

1830 - The Dambusters
2100 - What the Dambusters did Next
2230 - Raid on Rommel

Not a bad way of spending an evening, has to be better than Eastenders and Coronation Street or whatever they usually put on.

Given the recent furore that cost BBC Radio Devon DJ David Lowe his job, I wonder if anyone from Channel 5 will be quitting having shown an unmolested version of the film?

Having watched 12 years a Slave, it must have been full of Black Labradors, they kept calling out its name, but not one appeared...... Curious that.

Point being, that too is a film that uses the word in a historical context... Odd isn't it, that one made last year does not have the world up in arms, but one made in 1954 does. And both portray a factual use of the word.

Cracking documentary, and nice to see a good amount of the last 617 Sqn Lancaster, which I was blocked from recovering back to the UK a few years back. Maybe with all the renewed interest I ought to try again - even if its just to stop the flow of parts showing up on ebay.

Shame the expert wasn't slightly more clued up; the turret examined wasn't the mid upper, its the shell of the FN5 front turret. Had the camera been poked in the back of the bomb bay, you can still see the Tallboy shackles.

Shame about the poor continuity work - period film and photos displayed back to front stood out amongst standard TV production errors when dealing with military aviation. And as to the presenter's incredulity that the crews went back to the Dortmund-Ems canal after not dropping on the first pass...............

I thought it a good programme although there was little of note revealed by all that examination of top secret files that wasn't in Paul Brickhill's book "the Dam Busters" from decades ago.

Maybe it would have been better if the programme presenter hadn't started the thread. I'm sure I'd still have found it and watched it.

Rgds,

Vernon

I think you're being a bit harsh there, Vern me old.

A lot of viewers have short memories and won't know who JN is - so the intro. was pitched correctly, in my view. Also, the programme was aimed at the genpub rather than at experts, so the presentation manner was entirely appropriate. The V3 tunnels were astounding and the interviews with German survivors added an extra, very welcome dimension.

Yes, there were some continuity errors (I'm pretty sure that 617 never flew the Lancaster B II, for example), but overall a cracking programme well presented.

Now, could we have something on the Lincoln / Canberra / Vulcan / Tornado era and a look ahead to the F-35B please, John?

Very enjoyable and informative, to me at any rate.

I kept waiting for somebody to say "unlike that bastard Gibson" after praising Cheshire's leadership style and personal qualities, but they probably felt those sentiments were best left unsaid!

I enjoyed it. I did not know of the V3 gun or the detail of the Tirpitz and Canal raids. Well done John. Thanks for posting.

I watched the film and the above programme and enjoyed both. There piece on the Dortmund Ems can canal was a bit vague. Other than that, BZ.

Easy Elsie
 

The one question I have after watching it , is what is the future of the wreckage of 'Easy Elsie' as it is the only known 617 Survivor/link to the crews courage.
Surely there is some merit in recovering the wreckage before the trophy hunters strip it out further and destroy a valuable peice of Heritage.

Some interesting footage I hadn't seen before, particularly of the remains of E-Elsie; the implication that much of this was unknown or secret was stretching things a bit. I recall reading about most if not all of the ops in Paul Brickhill's book, serialised in John Bull magazine in the 1950s. Certainly the Ems Canal, Bielefeld viaduct, 'ski sites' and supergun, U-boat pens and Tirpitz. And the D-day 'window' phantom fleet.

Most enjoyable programme to watch. As has been said, pitched for general consumption but still interesting for former RAF old codgers. I'd forgotten about the 'supergun'. Chilling to think of the consequences had it become operational. Humble respect, as always, to those courageous crews.