Clik here to view.
The Dambusters Derry Boy
Sgt Richard Bolitho on left, with two other air gunners, Sgt Adams (centre) and Sgt Julian Bracegirdle (right). Photograph probably taken while at Air Gunnery School, summer of 1942. [Pic: Bate...
View ArticleClik here to view.
One-and-a-half million hits today
Around about 1.20 this afternoon this blog clicked up its one and a half millionth visitor, so a hearty welcome to whoever it was! The blog was set up in May 2008, and the first half million views...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why buy a fake?
This is very odd. Back in 2015 I wrote about an item which was advertised for sale at a respectable Stourbridge auction house. This was said to be a telegram sent in 1944 to 617 Squadron by Air Chief...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Charles Avey: a wartime picture
Pic: Avey family Wartime 617 Squadron member Flt Sgt Charles Avey died in July this year, as I reported at the time. I was unable to source a wartime picture of him, but am happy to say that I can now...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Snow drops a clanger in hangar
Dan Snow, on the wrong spot. Last week’s three-part documentary series, broadcast on Channel 5, had a number of errors. A major one is discussed here. This concerns the near catastrophe caused when...
View ArticleClik here to view.
New picture of Canadian pilot Gordon Price and crew
Canadian pilot Gordon Price and five of his crew, photographed in 617 Squadron sometime in early 1945. Left to right: Flg Off Joseph Merchant (bomb aimer), Wrt Off G E Hartley (flight engineer), Sgt D...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Christmas during a crisis
Christmas 1942: A group of young children at Fen Ditton Junior School in Cambridgeshire design and make their own seasonal decorations. [Pic: IWM 23619] Safe to say, this has been a year like no other...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Your Christmas film: The Dam Busters on Channel 4 today
Michael Anderson’s 1955 film The Dam Busters is being shown again on Channel 4 today at 1.35pm UK time. It now seems to be a regular feature on both the main channel and Film Four. Experience shows...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mick Martin speaking at RI 1981 Christmas Lecture
Mick Martin speaking about the Dams Raid at the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures in 1981. The Christmas Lectures at London’s Royal Institution have been a seasonal staple in the BBC TV schedule...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Allsebrook 1943 bomb crater near Dortmund Ems canal revealed
The Am Flueddert housing estate and a local map, with the site of the bomb crater highlighted. Pics: Chris Ward When Flt Lt Ralph Allsebrook DSO DFC and his crew were posted to 617 Squadron...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Genuine wartime bomber picture accused on Facebook of being fake
Pic: IWM CH10593 [Note: There’s nothing in this post about the Dams Raid or 617 Squadron.] This picture has long been in the Imperial War Museum’s collection. It shows, according to its official...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Top of the class: Barnes Wallis’s schooldays
Barnes Wallis was educated at Christ’s Hospital school between 1900 and 1904, and maintained a long association with the school thereafter. He excelled in maths, English and the sciences, and was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wartime Bomber Command charts: free download
This post has nothing to do with the Dams Raid or 617 Squadron. However, it shows a valuable resource which might be useful to anyone doing research into any Second World War air campaign. McMaster...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Garshowitz and Garbas parents meet at Dam Busters screening
Pics: Garshowitz family I’ve written before about the pre-war friendship of two young men from Hamilton, Ontario, Albert Garshowitz and Frank Garbas, who died together on the Dams Raid. They joined...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A cruel twist of fate
Lisa Harding, with her parents Fred and Sandy Harding. [Pic: Lisa Harding] I’ve met the photographer and illustrator Lisa Harding on a few occasions at events in Lincolnshire. Although originally from...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Double blooper for Wallis street sign
Pic: Aidy Riggott/BBC Reader John Smith has kindly sent me the link to a story about a street sign in Lancashire which is on the site in Euxton where the “bouncing bomb” was filled with explosive...
View ArticleClik here to view.
RAFBF to hold Dambusters charity cycle challenge
To celebrate the forthcoming 100th birthday of the last Dambuster, Sqn Ldr George ‘Johnny’ Johnson MBE DFM on 25 November 2021, the RAF Benevolent Fund charity is holding a sponsored 56 or 100-mile...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sidney Knott DFC turns 100: veteran who turned down Dams Raid chance
Positioned in the centre of the middle row, Sidney Knott, photographed in summer 1942. Taken at 42 Air Gunners Course, No. 1 Air Armaments School, RAF Manby. Guest post by Susan Paxton On a mid-March...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bernard “Bunny” Clayton: 617 Squadron pilot with 82 operations from three tours
Left to right: Plt Off Bernard “Bunny” Clayton, Sqn Ldr David Maltby, Flt Lt Harold “Mick” Martin. Photographed at RAF Scampton, July 1943. [Pic: IWM Collections, CH11048] The loss of eight crews on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Len Eaton and Charlie Williams photographed together in training
44 Course Air Gunnery training at No 14 OTU, 10 April 1942. [Pic: Susan Paxton] On this day 78 years ago nineteen Lancaster aircraft took off from RAF Scampton on what would become known as the Dams...
View Article