Dam Busters - Good Stuff
- Thread starter Ron Earp
- Start date
Yep,
Watched it live on the TV, made all the hairs on my arms stand up. Thank god for men like them, those who gave their tomorrows that we might live.
Didn't realise that Guy Gibson was only 24 when he led the dambusters raid! Not only that, but it was his THIRD tour of duty and that he already had been awarded the DSO AND the DFC!!!!!!!!!
Proper men.
Watched it live on the TV, made all the hairs on my arms stand up. Thank god for men like them, those who gave their tomorrows that we might live.
Didn't realise that Guy Gibson was only 24 when he led the dambusters raid! Not only that, but it was his THIRD tour of duty and that he already had been awarded the DSO AND the DFC!!!!!!!!!
Proper men.
Is maybe Duxford based Lancaster?
Too nice plane, also if my dad still has nightmares cause him (they were always here at nights..working..daytime was B-17 and B-24 time..)
Too nice plane, also if my dad still has nightmares cause him (they were always here at nights..working..daytime was B-17 and B-24 time..)
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Charlie Farley
Supporter
Paolo,
The Lancaster is not based at Duxford.
I believe its still based at RAF Conningsby , with the Spitfire & Hurry of The Memorial Flight.
Barnes Wallis , after seeing so few planes return from the raid , is said to have been deeply upset and expressed the wish , that he ' had never invented the damn thing ' .
My Father was in Gibson's original Squadron , namely 76th , but only joined months after he had left.
In my opinion , Bomber Command became an embarrassment towards the end of the war, in the eyes of Churchill. They were never properly recognised for their dangerous work. Indeed , percentage wise , they suffered heavier casualties than any other branch of the services .
To end on a lighter note.
Head of Bomber Command , 'Bomber' Harris , was known to drive his car around the country lanes at great speed , when returning home from his HQ. He is reputed to have been flagged down by a policeman on his bicycle . The policeman, upon recognising the driver said , ' Sir, if you continue to drive like that , late at night with blacked out headlights , you could easily end up killing someone
Harris replied, ' Kill someone !!?? , I kill thousands every night !!!
Here's a useful link to some of Barnes Wallis's other weapon inventions.
Big & Bouncy - the special weapons of Sir Barnes Wallis
The Lancaster is not based at Duxford.
I believe its still based at RAF Conningsby , with the Spitfire & Hurry of The Memorial Flight.
Barnes Wallis , after seeing so few planes return from the raid , is said to have been deeply upset and expressed the wish , that he ' had never invented the damn thing ' .
My Father was in Gibson's original Squadron , namely 76th , but only joined months after he had left.
In my opinion , Bomber Command became an embarrassment towards the end of the war, in the eyes of Churchill. They were never properly recognised for their dangerous work. Indeed , percentage wise , they suffered heavier casualties than any other branch of the services .
To end on a lighter note.
Head of Bomber Command , 'Bomber' Harris , was known to drive his car around the country lanes at great speed , when returning home from his HQ. He is reputed to have been flagged down by a policeman on his bicycle . The policeman, upon recognising the driver said , ' Sir, if you continue to drive like that , late at night with blacked out headlights , you could easily end up killing someone
Harris replied, ' Kill someone !!?? , I kill thousands every night !!!
Here's a useful link to some of Barnes Wallis's other weapon inventions.
Big & Bouncy - the special weapons of Sir Barnes Wallis
Not daring to question what these "proper men" actually did is just another form of PC to me.
So just to put things into perspective:
They killed 1.500,00 civilians (including many POWs) but hardly any German military personnel, the attack had no lasting effect on the Ruhr industry (production figures peaked only as late as 1944) and the dams were fully rebuild only a couple of months later.
Believe me, they weren´t going onto their mission enlighted by the fact that they contribute to freeing Europe from a criminal and murderous regime. They just did their job as highly trained aircraft crews.
And you may also rest assured that those German bomber crews bombing London and Coventry didn´t do their job being enlightened by the fact that they serve the Nazi regime.
But by looking at what they did to English civilians I would never dare calling them heroes (or proper men for that matter).
If at all, the term in my view rather applies to those aircrews defending their defenceless civilian population, be it above the cliffs of Dover in a Spitfire or the nightskies above Cologne in a Me109.
Marcus
P.S.: So Ron, this is no "Good Stuff", but just another wartime tragedy, unless of course you call the death of 1.500 old men, women and children "Good Stuff"...
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No problem, I´ve always had a good laugh when that famous quote was brought up to me.
But please accept that other views on this issue have to be allowed.
Best,
Marcus
Ron Earp
Admin
Hi Marcus,
I'm a fairly well-traveled soul from the US and I certainly accept view points from around the globe on war and other issues. My intent of bringing up the news story is not motived by war, heroes, or other such things. Sorry if it seemed that way. My interest is purely technical - I find the Lancaster a beautiful airplane and enjoy seeing even a low resolution clip of such a rare aircraft flying.
Had the commemorative been of AR234s and ME262s in 1944 trying to destroy the Ludendorff bridge at Remagen, or HE111s overflying London on the 70th anniversary of the Blitz, my tag line would have read the same - Good Stuff.
Ron
I was driving home from a sporting event in Norfolk a couple of weeks ago and this Lanc flew across right in front of me - what an unexpacted treat !
This may be the only FLYING Lancaster in the UK, but it's not the only one around.
Theres a farm (in Linconshire I think) where the two brothers own their own Lancaster. They bought it after the war as a tribute to their brother who was killed flying in one. It is complete and lives in a hangar at East Kirkby airfield. Every now and then, the museum run all the engines up and taxi it around for a bit. Sadly it is no longer certificated to fly, but they will taxi around with all the engines running with you as a passenger!
Simon
Theres a farm (in Linconshire I think) where the two brothers own their own Lancaster. They bought it after the war as a tribute to their brother who was killed flying in one. It is complete and lives in a hangar at East Kirkby airfield. Every now and then, the museum run all the engines up and taxi it around for a bit. Sadly it is no longer certificated to fly, but they will taxi around with all the engines running with you as a passenger!
Simon
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Sorry Ron, I should have thought so.
BTW, only a couple of weeks ago I´ve been to former RAF base Elvington near York...good stuff, indeed.
Best,
Marcus
when I saw duxford museum I saw a lancaster and they told me it was obtained from a lancastrian (civil post war version).
It was a flying plane, a true masterpiece.
Thats why I thought it was based there.
searching in duxford website, but cant find more, where can I read the real story (if we are talking of the same plane eh...probably I am wrong
)
It was a flying plane, a true masterpiece.
Thats why I thought it was based there.
searching in duxford website, but cant find more, where can I read the real story (if we are talking of the same plane eh...probably I am wrong
)Since I am almost 50 now and too young to know anything about the war I really understand Ron's phrase "good stuff".I like most technical things about ww2,they made such a progress in a few years.The most I like the planes.Spitfires,mustangs,B17 and ofcourse the Lancaster.To me they are pieces of art in the purest form.Ok they were once killing machines but when you see through it they are a masterpiece of technics.Its a shame there are not more Lancasters around and that brings me to the fact I have a very great admiration for the people and organisations who keep these machines in the air.Last month we had a fly in in Antwerp and there was a Mustang and a Spitfire.The first time for me to see a mustang in real live,the spitfire I have already seen a few times since I go looking for the last 6 years.The sound when they start and when they fly over is amazing.I just keep going only for the looks and sound.I once like to see a B17 and a lancaster but think I will have to go to bigger events because here in Belgium it will not happen.(foolish football and cycling country,oops).So this is so exciting about this site,I like forties a lot but every now and then some very interesting topics pop up here and this small video clip deserves a triple AAA.Even on a clip my hairs are rising and the vieuw is fantastic.Thanks for sharing Ron.
There really is something about seeing an old WWII plane flying overhead. I am lucky - I live DIRECTLY in the flight path between McMinnville where the Spruce Goose is, and another airport where they have a big airshow every year. (This is Oregon, USA) Just this past weekend, I saw no less than 3 times a B17 (the same one presumably) fly directly overhead only a few hundred feet off the ground. I try to imagine hundreds of them up there all at once and try to picture the crews on board going out to fight for our country. It's one of those moments where you literally drop whatever you're doing and stare until the plane is no longer in sight....
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