Clik here to view.
Dambuster of the Day No. 32: Antony Stone
[Pic: Alan Kinge] Sgt A J B Stone Wireless operator Lancaster serial number: ED906/G Call sign: AJ-J First wave. Fifth aircraft to attack Möhne Dam. Mine dropped accurately, causing large breach....
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Dams Raid in infographic form
There’s an interesting ‘infographic’ on the RAF’s series of pages about the Dams Raid (Operation Chastise). Very simple presentation, but that’s what good information design is about. I’ve reproduced...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dambuster of the Day No. 33: John Fort
In this picture taken on the morning after the raid, a group of tired looking officers gather outside their mess for an official photograph. Most had been drinking for a number of hours by this stage....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Let us not forget all those lost this day, 70 years ago
At a commemoration at the Eder Dam tomorrow morning, these words from the present Commanding Officer of 617 Squadron, Wg Cdr David Arthurton, will be read out: 70 years ago today, pilots from No. 617...
View ArticleClik here to view.
On the road to Scampton
If you are not, like me, lucky enough to have a ticket for the Dambusters 70th anniversary Sunset Ceremony taking place at RAF Scampton at 7pm tonight, then you can watch it live on BBC2 in a special...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Not a dry eye
The RAF did us proud last night. Many of you will have watched the sunset ceremony from RAF Scampton televised live on BBC2. As I was there and have been travelling since, I have yet to see the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Dam Busters: an almost complete picture
Greig Watson and his colleagues at BBC online have been slaving away for the last few weeks trying to get a complete pictureboard of all 133 aircrew who took part in the Dams Raid. Believe it or not,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
All the hits and more
Well, all I can say is Wow! I got 22,000 views on this blog yesterday, which is more in one day than I got in the first year of writing it, back in 2008. So if you are a new reader, welcome, and I will...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dambuster of the Day No. 34: Victor Hill
Sgt V Hill Front gunner Lancaster serial number: ED906/G Call sign: AJ-J First wave. Fifth aircraft to attack Möhne Dam. Mine dropped accurately, causing large breach. Aircraft returned safely. Early...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dambusters Blog at the Dams
Five years after starting this blog, and a lifetime after first hearing about the Dams Raid, I’m excited to report that I’m writing this tonight in a hotel overlooking the Mohnesee. It’s a quiet and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Barlow crash site
Today I was lucky enough to be shown the site where Norman Barlow’s AJ-E crashed on the Dams Raid, just outside Haldern in the Northern Rhineland area of Germany. My guide was Volker Schurmann, shown...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dambuster of the Day No. 35: Harold Simmonds
Harold Simmonds in a photograph taken in 1942, with his girlfriend, Phyllis. Nothing more is known about her, other than the fact that this picture was taken in Warrington, Cheshire. [Pic: Grace...
View ArticleClik here to view.
German reports from Edersee commemoration
The Eder Dam was the scene of one of the best attended German 70th anniversary commemorations of the Dams Raid, with guests including local civic dignitaries, survivors of the raid and RAF...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dambuster of the Day No. 36: David Shannon
David and Ann Shannon, outside Buckingham Palace, March 1945. [Pic: AWM UK2644] Flt Lt D J Shannon DFC Pilot Lancaster serial number: ED929/G Call sign: AJ-L First wave. First aircraft to attack Eder...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dambuster of the Day No. 37: Robert Henderson
Towering above the rest of their 617 Squadron aircrew colleagues, two stalwarts of the crew of AJ-L, Len Sumpter and Bob Henderson, in the centre of the back row. Taken in July 1943. [IWM MH99360] Sgt...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fry finishes Dambusters script
A ‘reliable source’ (as they are known in the trade) has told us that Stephen Fry has now finished the script for the remake of The Dambusters, and it is now in the hands of Peter Jackson’s Wingnut...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dambuster of the Day No. 38: Daniel Walker
The sixteen Canadians who returned from the Dams Raid photographed together. Danny Walker is in the middle of the front row, third from the left. [Pic: Bomber Command Museum of Canada] Flg Off D R...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How low can you go?
Flt Sgt Joe Kmiecik, a Second World war veteran, was a pilot in 83 Squadron in 1954, and flew one of the three RAF Lancasters used in the 1955 film The Dam Busters. His son Jan has kindly sent me...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dams Raid peaks interest
BBMF Lancaster over the Derwent Dam, 16 May 2013 [Pic: Andy Chubb] An interesting insight into why the recent Dambuster anniversary flyover at the Derwent Dam was a rather low key affair has appeared...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bolitho, three more Bs and an A
Lynne Wilde has kindly sent me three more photos of Richard Bolitho, rear gunner in Bill Astell’s AJ-B on the Dams Raid, and now buried alongside his comrades after their aircraft was shot down near...
View Article