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Dambusters Blog hits the million!
At about 10pm BST today, the Dambusters blog registered its millionth hit. I can’t be sure exactly who was the visitor who took us over the magic figure, but it seems likely to have been someone...
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Stolen Fraser logbook – £5000 reward offered
Photocopy of John Fraser’s logbook, from Alex Bateman’s trial. [Pic: Metropolitan Police] Shere Fraser Lowe, the daughter of Dambuster Sgt John Fraser, has offered a £5,000 reward for information...
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They died for your freedom: Woodhall Spa’s 617 Squadron war memorial
Pic: Wikimedia Commons The 617 Squadron war memorial is in on the main street of the little town of Woodhall Spa, on the corner of the road which leads to the site of the wartime RAF station which...
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Alan Gillespie exhibition in Carlisle
If you are in the Carlisle area sometime before the end of this month, you can see a small exhibition in the town’s Museum of Military Life about Plt Off Alan Gillespie DFM. On the Dams Raid,...
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Canberra Last Post Ceremony to honour Charlie Williams
One of the most imposing buildings in the Australian capital of Canberra is the Australian War Memorial, which honours the 102,815 men and women who appear on its Roll of Honour. Carved in stone,...
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New record set for David Jagger painting
Pic: Bonhams The artist David Jagger (1891-1958) was the father of Sgt Brian Jagger, who flew on the Dams Raid as the front gunner in David Shannon’s crew. David Jagger’s paintings seemed to fall out...
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Doubts over Dams Raid bomb release switch
Four items which claim to be related to the Dams Raid are coming up for auction this Saturday (1 July) by the Northamptonshire firm of J P Humbert. Two lots are being sold by the same collector who...
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Appeal launched to fund AJ-A memorial in Netherlands
The crew of AJ-A: (L-R) Sqn Ldr Melvin Young (pilot), Sgt David Horsfall (flight engineer), Flt Sgt Charles Roberts (navigator), Sgt Lawrence Nichols (wireless operator), Flg Off Vincent MacCausland...
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Alan Gillespie: prized possessions
Alan Gillespie was a pupil at Appleby Grammar School in what was then called Westmorland from 1934 to 1939. In those days children ended state elementary schooling at the age of 14, so the only way by...
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David Maltby items for sale
Two more items which are claimed to have belonged to Flt Lt David Maltby at the time of the Dams Raid are up for sale at an auction which closes this coming Sunday, 10 September. Like several other...
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Historic dams test site on view
Pic: Diamond Geezer Short notice, I know, but if you are in the Watford area tomorrow (Saturday 9 September) you might like to visit this important site. This is the model dam which was built in the...
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Bateman ordered to pay Fraser family £12,500 for logbook theft
Alex Bateman, arriving in court while on trial in January 2017. [Pic: Pixel8000] Alex Bateman, who was jailed for two years in February for stealing the logbook of Canadian Dams Raid veteran John...
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Charlie Brennan’s trip to Berlin
PIC: Humphries collection, Lincolnshire Libraries A recent research trip to the National Archives in Kew has highlighted a previously unreported incident in the RAF career of Sgt Charles Brennan, the...
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Hopgood’s Schoolboy Diary
If you are looking for a Christmas present for the Dambusters aficionado (or Old Marlburian) in your life, then you might be interested in this limited edition of Flt Lt John Hopgood’s schoolboy...
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Filming the Dam Busters
Pic: Jan Kmiecik Michael Anderson’s 1955 film The Dam Busters is being shown again on ITV4 this afternoon – the second screening on this channel in the last six days! Experience shows that this will...
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Dams Raid 75th anniversary: first events announced
A 617 Squadron Lancaster dropping a dummy ‘Upkeep’ bomb during testing of the weapon at Reculver in Kent, a few days before the Dams Raid on 16/17 May 1943. [Pics: stills from film in the IWM...
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Season’s greetings from Dambusters Blog
‘In the bleak midwinter, frosty winds made moan’ goes the old carol. However, here on the western coast of Europe, it looks as though we might have a mild and wet festive season. Never mind! The month...
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Guy Gibson’s Ghost and the Sunday Express
Sunday Express extracts from the Enemy Coast Ahead manuscript, published on 3 December, 10 December, 17 December, 24 December and 31 December 1944. In the early spring of 1944 Wg Cdr Guy Gibson VC DSO...
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Jackson’s new WW1 film means further delay for Dambusters remake
Peter Jackson was in London this week promoting his new cinema project, using all his studio’s technical skills to bring new life to jerky film footage shot during the First World War. The Imperial...
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AJ-A memorial unveiling confirmed for Friday 18 May at 11am
News just in from the appeal for a memorial near the spot on the Dutch coast where Melvin Young’s AJ-A was shot down returning from the Dams Raid, early in the morning of Monday 17 May 1943. Local...
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