The Dambusters - Conclusion

[malcs0]

In continuation from my previous posting: Barnes Wallace resigned from his job with Vickers because the original idea of the raid was almost vetoed by senior RAF figures, yet he still designed and got the bouncing bomb ready for the raid. The RAF crews found themselves flying at 60 feet during some parts of the mission. Apologies to the BBC for disclosing the content of their programme, but I would urge anyone with an interest in this raid to try and see it whatever way possible.

[malcs0]

I just saw a programme on BBC2 in the UK yesterday (part of the Remembrance Season here in UK) which revealed a few more facts. The raid itself was extraordinary because they actually took more runs over each dam than shown in the film. The squadron was formed from nothing and completed the raid inside 3 months! Adverse weather conditions actually forced a second wave of bombers right over a heavily defended Dutch island in the North Sea and they got blasted by anti-aircraft batteries.

[thewiseone63]

My father's cousin, Vincent MacCausland, was a bomber aimer on Youngs crew. he didn't make it back.

[parrotbasher]

8 of the Lancasters are missing. Cheers lads.

[Anders2185]

That's not just acting, Richard Todd knew all to well what it was like to have to write letters home to family's.

[doctornoooo]

to his eternal shame Roosevelt was much too little and very nearly almost too late with his help to England: had we thrown in much earlier, we could have helped much more and given England a real boost in the end very lucky that England lucked out by Goerings bungling otherwise where in hell would we have had a foothold except up through the boot of Italy

[bobkats]

8 lancs, thats 80 men dead, what part in history would they have played if they were alive.

[dave41184]

@bobkats 80? Need to do your sums chum. 7 Man crew , 8 planes down - thats 56 (3 of which survived as POWs)

[bobkats]

@dave41184 10 man crew,,,,,,,,,

[bobkats]

Respond to this video...  anyway my question was how could history of been changed if they survived. No greater love does a man have than to lay down his life for another.......

[AtomicFFProductions]

I have every hope for the remake knowing that Stephen Fry is writing the screenplay. I hope Jackson doesn't hollywood it up to much effects wise as this is more about the story of those involved with the operation than the operation itself.

[robynduckworth]

The ending of this film is superb and very patriotic. I can't see why it needs to be remade.

[randall2020]

The military is a strange institution. In Britain, the man largely responsible for breaking the Engima code and originator of the modern computer, Alan Turning, was persecuted after the war for being a homosexual. You can find much on him on youtube.

In the U.S., the leader of the atomic bomb problem, Robert Oppenheimer had his security clearance withdrawn because he was consider too left.

[hipcat13]

@randall2020 Nope, it was the Poles who were largely responsible for breaking the Enigma code. I beleive they even captured a machine.

[JollyRodders]

Lets hope th remake lives up to the original.

[hiramhackenbacker]

Nobody knows whose the black dog in the last scene was. It just ran out there and played, like Nigger used to do. Nigger has been captured on film before, he has appeared in photos of school kids touring the base. My black lab is Called Biggles as I can yell that on the beach without getting my teeth pushed gently down my throat!

[tinnsell]

Yes, Mr Les Munro is still very much with us and may he be with us for many more years to come. He was on the TV news here in NZ just last week (July 22nd) when he was given the chance to pilot a DC3 from WW2 in the skies above Christchurch with a number of WW2 veterans as his passengers. Made me proud to be a Kiwi. Those brave young men who flew that mission may be gone but their memories will live forever in the hearts of those of us who cherish the honour of just knowing their names.

[blobby1972]

T he best line of the film for me is ."THIS IS BLOODY DANGEROUS"as they clip a tree top during training.

[essexlph]

Without sounding disrepectful I wonder if that conversation between Gibson and Wallace did take place or was it theatrical license? Three things we can be certain of: 1. Both Gibson and Wallace had a mutual respect for each other (sort of father/son), 2. Wallace was extremely pained over the loss of the men, he was in tears feeling totally responsible for their deaths and 3. Gibson was the sort of man who would have tried to give Wallace some relief. Personally, I'd like to think it did happen.

[EyeHawk777]

i think it would be very insulting to Guy Gibson (VC DSO DFC) if the film producers did not honour his legend by naming his dog Nigger in the new film.

[flounderal]

@EyeHawk777 Totally agree. Nice to see the 1:1 model lancs have been built

[MegaWill1981]

blooby1972. Ur right there he was in a film related to pegasus bridge in normandy. In the film he actually spoke to the person who was him in real life...he portrayed someone higher. Confusing i know

[blobby1972]

i think it was called the longest day.

[frantic1971]

One would think that this was fictional yet it really happened. You Brits got something to be really proud about with this story.

[Beertr1x]

So sad to hear that actor Richard Todd who played Guy Gibson in this film has died aged 90. He was a real-life war hero too who parachuted into Normandy. Been reading his tribute page at Lasting Tribute. I think I might add a link back to this clip because it's so poignant. Thanks for posting it.

[APRIL141958model]

Well said that man. A hero indeed. R.I.P. Richard Todd.

[Glenn1967ful]

Maximum respect for Richard Todd

[TK42138]

The empty chairs in the canteen at 3:22 very poignant.

[APRIL141958model]

Very poignant. Heroes all. We will remember them.

[animatetime]

@TK42138

...as are the empty shared rooms and the fellow serviceman perhaps wondering when they should put all the possessions in boxes ready to send them to the families. The silence.

Someone would have to write one of those letters about Guy Gibson the following year.

[bmgm3]

Best war film ever. Why ? Because it's a totally true story and almost documentary like, rather than the total fiction that was most war films. It also didn't shy away from reflecting the true cost of war, as this clip shows - a mosy fitting way to end a war film.

[4thstooge]

As an American of British decent I know the British sacrficed everything to stop the Nazi attempt to take over the world. We stood tall next to them & the Brits will stand tall for US!

[farmerne]

This is not merely a "war movie" but a tribute to the British who truly "stood alone" against the Third Reich for an entire year, against all odds. When Stalin thought the British were finished. When FDR's own military advisers were telling him that it was militarily impossible for England to continue the war . When the King of Sweden and the Pope were urging Churchill to make peace with Hitler. Just some thoughts from an American who has studied alot of history.

[HenryvKeiper]

It is indeed a tribute to brave British airmen...but you do know that this operation took place in 1943, after America had entered the war and Britain was not alone, right? :)

[farmerne]

Yes..I do know that. And allthough the events in this movie take place after the critical year of 1940, I still think it represents the determination of the British in truly a very dark hour not only for them but for the world.

Most Americans think WWII started with Pearl Harbor. But it was the Brits stand after Dunkirk that really saved the world. Pearl Harbor mostly guaranteed the defeat of the Axis by ensuring America's unambiguous commitment to the war.

[hendrixwhitestrat]

Yep..better late than never eh....again :-)

[mig25pd]

@HenryvKeiper - of the pilots of the 19 Lancasters on the dams raid (Including Anderson - who did not attack but returned with his bomb on board), 10 were British, 4 were Australian, 1 was a New Zealander and there were 4 Canadians - but one of the Canadians was Joe McCarthy of Brooklyn, New York. Joe joined the RCAF before the US entered the war. He survived the war but died in 1998 - Les Munro, the New Zealander is the last pilot of the dams raid still alive (I believe).

[nostromoau]

@farmerne I believe you mean two years. Sept 39 - Dec. 41...isn't that right?

[TLSUk]

@farmerne Stalin didn't think Britain was finished so much as he was actively siding with the Nazi's so they could carve up Poland

[Schwarznasen]

This was when the English still had balls. The England of today is a pathetic shadow of its former self. Sad.

[berlinmitte10117]

Try telling that to our boys (and girls) fighting in Afghanistan and having been praised for the success they made of their efforts in Southern Iraq. We may be knee deep in political correctness and chavs, thieving MP's, overpaid useless sports stars and terrible reality TV shows, but when it counts our spirit also still shines through.

[Schwarznasen]

That's good to hear. That is certainly NOT the image of modern day England we see here in the US. Thank you!

[highrisetim]

Makes you so proud to be British, I'm a Scot and a proud Brit, today thanks to the pc mob on one hand and the BNP on the other it can be difficult, but I raise my glass to the RAF and the men of 617 squadron

[tjamassey]

God that makes you proud to be Blittish Mem Saab..

[mig25pd]

Whatever 'they' say....black labradors and Lancasters. There is something about that combination that will always very British.

[buncolby]

Thank you for putting this on here. it is a fabulous tribute to some extraordinary men.

[oxonboy]

I'll second that.

[The505Guys]

5:56 his dog is in the background (field) - I thought it died :S

[HenryvKeiper]

You mean Ni...I mean, Trigger?

[The505Guys]

Yeah Trigger

[musicbruv]

No, its name was nigger.. ;) the pc police will not change history if I can help it.

[matrox]

The dog was nigger, he was a black lab so they felt it appropiate to call him nigger. The dog was much loved by the owner and the crew but the dog was killed when hit by a car.

[zuss10r]

Maybe they could get Tarantino to do the remake? He'd call the dog 'motherfuckin nigger' ,and get away with it;)

[Krzyszczynski]

"Got to write some letters ... " 56 of 'em to be exact, to the next-of-kin of the lost men. Gibson wrote every one of them in his own hand.

[gruad999]

Brilliant cinema I remember the shot of the alarm clock from when I watched this as a kid, so much more effective than any kind of speech.

[jimlagos]

Firstly we shouldn't forget that most of these airmen were kids just out of school. If ever on mainlahd Europe,everyone should go to one of the countless war graves sites. Walk along the miles of tombstones, read the inscriptions, 18 years old 19years old and similar ages. Very humbling

[harrier21]

quite.if only todays teenagers had a clue as to what duty & courage mean..

[psi81]

The families of some of the teenagers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan might disagree with you there. Their sons knew only too well.

[harrier21]

ok,point taken; but my only experience of todays youth is being sworn at,glared at and generally abused whilst going about my daily business.just yesterday i was called an `old c**t` by a teenager ,upset that he was unable to pass me on the pavemant while riding his bike, can you imagine a teenager from the forties ,bomber command or not,doing that??? & before you start moaning about `cantancerous old gits` please be aware that i am only 39...

[psi81]

I'm thankful things aren't like that in Australia - yet. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that heroes like these seem to become fewer with each passing generation.

[ellandrd1306]

you have hit the nail on the head most 19yr olds today would have bottled it back in 1943 and run away to hide behind there baseball caps

[anthonythirteen]

No. Some old guy has always said the same thing about the next generation: the old timers would say the same in 1939 and 1914. Sadly, the youngsters have always proved him wrong through their blood...

[ellandrd1306]

what you say is partially right a nineteen year old in 1943 was probably on a bombing mission over germany dug a in trench somewere or at sea on a battleship a nineteen year old these day's has no bottle mug's old folk and wears track suit bottom's boy the nineteen year olds of 1943 would be proud of that!!

[anthonythirteen]

But the point is that we look at these previous generations from our 21st century perspective. If you don't agree, watch "The Life & Death of Col Blimp" - when the eponymous hero shown as both the young tyro dismissed by aging superiors, as well as the old duffer lamenting that how "youngsters these days" (i.e. 1943) have no respect for their elders...

[anthonythirteen]

At least we agree that it is the sacrifice of so many young men that proves they did have the 'bottle'.

[ellandrd1306]

what you say is correct but would you back the nineteen year olds of today in a situation that exsisted in 1943? i think if this was the case we would now be speaking a foreign language(german)

[anthonythirteen]

Why do you say this? Wellington referred to his men as "the scum of the earth" and the UK, like any country, had a tradition of dragging through jails, bars etc. in order to fill the ranks! So, at worst the current generation of 19 y.o. is no worse (even if no better!)

[OrodesIII]

well done !

[JP35BLUE]

We must not ever forget the thousands of Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and other commonwealth airmen who also died to defend freedom many miles from home. RIP with our eternal thanks

[stewarthird]

These men made us GREAT britan

Our servicemen are still showing the world that we are still ready and capable . So why can`t we call it GREAT BRITAIN anymore ?

[animatetime]

"Great" is, and always was, a geographical term to distinguish it from Brittany.

[snoobybun]

...quiet British dignity.

[digglyda]

Barnes Wallis was offered money after the war by the MoD as payment for all the work he did. He turned it down, quoting a Biblical story saying that 'That money was the Blood of the Men who had gone in jeopardy of their lives'...

[xzoeandmerlinx]

Actually he did take the money - I think it was around £10,000 - a lot of money in those days, and he used it to set up a Trust to help the children of those airmen killed while flying with Bomber Command. My dad flew with Bomber Command and he shared a POW hut with Sgt F Tees one of the 3 survivors of the 59 men lost on the dams raid. When Sgt Tees himself died in 1982 his ashes were taken back to Germany and laid alongside those of his crew, such was the unique bond these men enjoyed.

[ellandrd1306]

fabulous footnote.I just wish that the younger generation understand what your'e father risked his life for.i have met some ex lancaster pilots at the waddingham air show i owe them my freedom.

[backnumber1662]

and yes he did quote the biblical story 2 Samuel XXIII 16 and following, in which David asks for water from a pool at the gate of Bethleham, when his soldiers bring it to him he pours it out as an offering to the Lord. Wallis felt the same. His offering was to give a chance to the aimmen's children

[musicbruv]

Just read your post re sgt Tees, it brought an instant tear to my eyes, says alot about the bond between those men that he wanted to be laid to rest next to his friends in the country of his former enemys. Very moving.

[musicbruv]

I have heard a very worring rumour that Hollywood it making a film about the dams raid, if its any thing like previous American war films Guy Gibson will be portrayed as an American

[The505Guys]

Yeah they are re-making the movie :(

I say leave well enough alone.

[StarTux]

Peter Jackson in charge of the New Zealand firm Weta who did the Lord of the Rings trilogy is the one supposedly involved, so I doubt we'll see some horrific movie involving Guy Gibson as an American or B-17's delivering the ordinance. I think I just gave myself nightmares...

[oxonboy]

I do hope you are right Star Tux....

US "movie" makers have spat on the memory of the British war dead enough already.

[gab21113]

No, our Army Air Force has its own stories of incredible heroism in the face of fierce resistance: Ploesti, Schweinfurt, Regensburg, Big Week, Blitz Week... Men like my uncle Bob flew mission after mission without fighter support in broad daylight.

Our own great World War II Air movies is "Twelve O'Clock High."

[StarTux]

Twelve O'Clock High is a classic :). But, Oxonboy was merely stating how in general US "movie" makers have spat on anything which was British, the worse being U-571 which was deplorable, however I did read the director was apologetic in the end...By injecting 'No' as the beginning statement you've got off on argumentative footing where one wasn't necessary in the context of your message.

[gab21113]

Perhaps I shouldn't have started with "no." Britain and the U.S., despite our alliances, have had differences in the past over policies - if you think they're bad now, you should have seen them in 1917 when Pershing told Haig "no!" a few times.

I do enjoy this film. It is a personal favorite of mine.

[mig25pd]

The ending always leaves me a little upset - the silent empty rooms and that clock ticking on the chest of drawers.

[ephabouyed]

True but war is an upsetting experience, sometimes a great victory can seem like a hollow one. Still very sad though.

[Krzyszczynski]

Earlier in the film you see the owner winding it up - easy to miss or forget on a first viewing. Certainly not a second.

BTW, the rowing trophy over the doorway was the real thing - lent for the movie by S/Ldr Young's family.

[prontford]

And also that we once had a film industry that wasn't entirely given over to producing an annual Hugh Grant vehicle for sale to the US.

[mgsucks]

...Lets all take a step back and look at what this country is turning into, and take a leaf out of a generation of heroes, from over 60 years ago

[fodsaks]

I couldn't agree more.

Discipline and self-pride should not be things to be ridiculed and ashamed of, like they are today.

[mgsucks]

i agree, we live in a country where we take everything for granted - freedom. We complain about everything and constantly want more more more, the latest car, a new ipod etc. We have muslims screaming hatred in the streets of London and skin head thugs drinking and fighting in the streets. There is no more discipline in schools from teachers, everyday life with the police and even in jail..

[digglyda]

Is that Charles Hawtrey serving tea at 01.42?!

[GWR1940]

Great film,my Hero is SQ LDR G.P Gibson,

They don't make them like this anymore

[bobtonja]

Superb. The least we can do for that generation is do our best to pass on and preserve their heritage so that hopefully some in future generations will know the truth and be thankful as well. I for one am a greatful young " Yank" .

[JP35BLUE]

Fantastic, If you ever see an old soldier, sailor or airmen, shake his hand, you owe him and the others who didnt survive the war

[ConstanceMarkiewicz]

And the millions more who went out every night in Wellingtons, Halifaxes and Lancs. All heroes to me.

[davinata]

You see that airman salute at the end? eh? Fucking fantastic. Guy Gibson was a TRUE British hero. Make no mistake.

[HenryvKeiper]

Ha ha, yeah I love that guy. That's the way to salute right there.

[davinata]

I've said this before but I'll say it again. To all you watching this video. Do you realise Guy Gibson was 24 years old when he was Wing Commander on this mission? Makes you feel kinda fucking worthless huh?

[HenryvKeiper]

I actually thought about that during college, when I was 19-21. I thought about how at my age, during World War II, guys were fighting the Battle of Britain and storming Omaha Beach. It's an astounding thing to ponder.

[psi81]

Even worse - Guy Gibson was old. He was practically an old man by Bomber Command's standards. Most of them were 18-19, and most of them didn't live to see 20.

[robinbanks999]

I'm 24 now. Way to make a bad day worse.

[spitfire690]

eh? im not sure i understand?

[robinbanks999]

What Davinata said about feeling kinda fucking worthless compared to these men.

[spitfire690]

oh yeah now i get it, not having done what they men have done for us

[StarTux]

Just remember them and give them remembrance and gratitude. And be ready to stand for freedom, to do what is right at the polls or in your daily life.

[steveteb]

If the men who made that sacrifice then, could come back and see their country as it is now, they'd think 'why the f--k did we bother.'

[hognoxious]

They don't make 'em like that anymore.

[em23]

when men wore ties to battle...

[ATCROB]

Makes me proud to be British.

[TroyaE117]

The empty rooms are the worst, and the rowing memorabilia.

[TroyaE117]

I'd agree with you there Fodsaks.

[fodsaks]

Truly magnificent!

When I look around at Britain today though, I wonder if we are worthy of such sacrifice.