No-one wants to say, "Wahey, Bomber Command. You did a great job". But, this is what we, as Brits, had to do! BC shortened the War! Where else....N. Africa. Yes! But, who else took the War to Germany? Some YT sites say that we were 'Murderers'!!! What did U expect, otherwise? We just sit back & take it? OK, I'll accept that Harris was not a 100% correct on his decisions. but, what other choices did we have? Especially, when Harris got it right!!!
my father was a rear gunner in a lanc, 622 squadron, mildenhall. Now 88 and not in great health but he was delighted when i showed him this. Very nostalgic for him. He was lucky, he came home, god bless the 51,000 who didnt.
@19desto I would just like to pass on my HUGE admiration & total respect to your father for his service in RAF Bomber Command in WW2. The Bomber Boys were our sole means of taking the fight to the enemy & hitting back for much of the duration of the war. These blokes were part of a very special generation, extremely brave, modest, unassuming, stoic, determined, their qualities shone through. They have never been granted the official recognition they merit. Show your dad this comment please!
@LIVERPOOLSCOTTISH Thankyou for your kind comments, I did show it to dad and he was very moved. His whole crew made it through the war but sadly only three are still with us. Was hoping to make it to the unvieling of the Bomber Command memorial next year but I fear both Dad and Mum (who was a waaf) are too frail. As long as people like yourself remember and are aware of the job these boys did they will never fade away. Thanks .
@19desto Pass on my regards to Tail End Charlie! I hope he can make it to the unveiling of the BC memorial, which is long overdue. Quite rightly, a great deal of fuss is made about the Battle Of Britain, which proved to be one of the most significant battles of WW2. 515 RAF pilots made the ultimate sacrifice, 55,000 BC airmen made a similar sacrifice during WW2-yet they received little recognition. It is right & fitting that at long last, a memorial is built in their memory.
@19desto We owe people like your father a debt of gratitude which can never be repaid. It sickens me that RAF BC were abandoned by politicians at the close of the war. They received no official recognition for the huge contribution they made both in terms of British war effort- our sole means of hitting back four more than four years, and in the ultimate defeat of Germany. The national memorial is long overdue, as is a medal. Show your father this comment please- RESPECT & GOOD WISHES.
Bomber Command was the Second Front - World War II resulted in a defeat for the Deutsch National Socialist Party because the Red Army overcame a country which had been wrecked from end to end by The RAF Bomber Command and The USAAF
@billyconnearly Correct. In addition to inhibiting German arms manufacturing, the strategic bomber offensive tied down at least 2 million German soldiers to man the Reich defences. It also forced the Luftwaffe to withdraw a significant portion of it's assets from the Eastern Front in order to expand their air defence system. An extra 2 millions Germans in the front line could well have stopped the Soviet advance, or at least bled them white. HUGE RESPECT TO BOMBER COMMAND!
To raise much needed funds for this memorial the RAF Bomber Command Time Capsule allows you to leave your personal tribute to those who gave everything for us at bommer command dot com/timecapsule
My uncle was the wireless operator of a Lancaster crew all killed on theit fifth operation, and buried in a small village in northern France. Regular ceremonies of remembrance are held at the grave - so thenks to the good people of Gannes for keeping alive the memory of those lost when HK559 crashed nearby.
Thanks for posting this superb clip. I hope those who are doing the Dam Busters remake watch stuff like this so they can see what the heroes really looked like. Just ordinary blokes with tremedous courage who never got the recognition they deserved.
i run a small museum at the waltham windmill, the exhibits are dedicated to the lads of 100sqn at raf grimsby 1941-1945. the videos are very usefull and help in understanding what the lads went through. excuse my typing please.
They were happy to send Bomber Command out to try and win the war...they should have backed them when it was all over.......not stood back and pushed them away.............Plenty of us will NEVER forget you Bomber Boys.
couldnt agree more mate, the sacrifice of the "bomber boys" will never be forgotton in our household, i already take my 3 and 6 year old kids to as many lancaster bbmf flyovers as i can each year and make sure they know the story behind it, brave mesters the lot of them
Good speech sir! Agree 100%. These men were extremely couragous without a shadow of a doubt. Running the gaunlet through the Kammhuber line night after night, dicing with radar controlled guns, search lights & radar equipped night fighters-the Bomber Boys had tremendous guts. It is a national DISGRACE that they were never honoured with a campaign medal. I was priviledged to meet an RAF Lanc Navigator at RAF Cosford museum in 2008. He was shot down & captured in Dec 45. What a marvellous man!
I met a wireless operator on Lancs in 1996 in the White Bull in coningsby.
He was there for a visit to the BBMF.
He got out a photo of his old crew mates
named them all and this one was a New Zealander that one was an Aussie he said 3 or 4 were killed.........wiped away tears.........I saw him later on in the Swan dancing away to a live group.
If you haven't done so already, read, "BOMBER," by Len Deighton. Absolutely AWESOME book. He brings home just how much luck influenced whether a crew made it back home or not. His accounts of night fighter interceptions against the Lancaster crews featured in fictional account of a raid on Altgarden will make your hair stand on end. Never have I wished I could go back in time and pilot a night fighter Mosquito over the Reich so much......The Bomber Boys deserve huge respect.
My great uncle, Flight sergeant, Flight Engineer, 576 Squadron. Shot down by a night fighter exactly two months before D-Day, Bayeaux Cemetery, France. There is a corner in a foreign land that is forever England. Carpe Diem and RIP.
Thank-you so much for this video - you make me so proud of my ancestry :)
@veritasreigns Well said! You are right to feel immensely proud. Men like your great uncle had tremendous courage & fortitude. These men were a special breed, phlegmatic, modest, resilient, determined. I have the utmost respect for the Bomber Boys of RAF Bomber Command. They carried the fight to the enemy night after night, they faced the most formidible night air defence system of the day, 55,000 failed to return. A memorial is LONG overdue as is a campaign medal. RESPECT to your great uncle!
yea without these brave young men were would we be today, having worked at iwm duxford cambridgeshire for 3 years and managed to get into the lanacaster that is there, oh what a boy hood dream, come true, sat in all positions, and i asked dennis who was the 81 year old radio man how did you conker the fear, how old was i he asked 41 i said as i was at the time, and he said thers your problem we were all 18-25 yrs olds we didnt apprechiate the fear aspect. heros who should get there medel now.
Well said Canada! I consider it outrageous that the men of Bomber Command have never received any formal recognition for their bravery & sacrifice. Whilst the establishment might have 'issues' with Bomber Command, the majority of the British public are extremely proud of the men of BC. A BIG thank you to Canada for her stalwart support of Britain in WW2, we would never have held the line without the mighty Canadians! RESPECT.
yaaa yes the old base in north yorkand downsview my aunt has pictures of her working on bomb bay doors and i have one of me 2008 touching a bomb bay door on the one in hamilton ..the kicker was i didn't know she worked on that plane till have she seen the picture of me
Excellent footage,agree with the respondents who want to see some recognition for Harris and his crews,the most despicable aspect of all was the way in which Churchill and the air staff distanced themselves from Bert Harris once the "job" had been succesfully accomplished.
Agree with you completely. Recognition is long long overdue. I can't watch the RAF Memorial Flight Lancaster without a sense of great pride and a heavy heart - and I'll admit a tear now and again.
@wozza59 Greetings Wozza, just to say I have immense respect & pride for the Bomber Boys. I was priviledged to speak to a Flight Engineer who served on Lancs a few weeks ago in a branch of WH Smiths. He was viewing the 'Aviation Classics,' magazine that covered the Lanc, I struck up a conversation with him & subsequently did something I have always wanted to do, shook hands with him & expressed my gratitude. They were a very special generation......RESPECT.
Brilliant. And it is a scandal that no recognition has been given to them. I admire Churchill in many ways but the way he distanced himself from Bomber Harris at and after the end of the war is not something anyone could be proud of.
My two great uncles flew Lancasters in Bomber Command - one died in July 1943, aged 26, with his crew over Hamburg, and one, my awesome Uncle Frank, came home with a DFC and two tours with the Pathfinder Force.
Bill was a Stirling pilot with 9 Sqdn - shot down late '41 - 4 yrs in a German POW camp
Peter was a Lancaster pilot with 166 Squadron - shot down and killed with all his crew in late 43 (I've his cap in my chest of drawers). He was 21.
And Richard - a Lancaster W/O with 166 Sqdn he finished his tour in late '44 - though one of his crew didn't make it and they crept back with a damaged aircraft more than one night.
Some People in UK and Germany Blame these Heroes as Baby Killers, But They dont know how much blood and tears they paid, If they did not act imagine the catastrophe Hitler will made in europe, Hitler's war industry undamaged, will result the invasion of UK, USSR and perhaps the US.
I think I recognise some of this footage. Did you get it from the film 'Night Bombers'? Some of it is definitely that footage (shot by F/L Harris, whose name appears on the ops board at one point).
I don't know which amazes me most about Bomber Command: the engineering of its machines, the courage of its crews, or the stolid work of the erks. All these things and more are an inspiration. They should have at least received that recognition; we owe it to them never to forget.
This is an incredible video. Loved the footage and the music. Truly a tribute to those good young men called upon to do a terrible task that helped win the war at an awful cost. To our shame, they never received the recognition that they were due.
No-one wants to say, "Wahey, Bomber Command. You did a great job". But, this is what we, as Brits, had to do! BC shortened the War! Where else....N. Africa. Yes! But, who else took the War to Germany? Some YT sites say that we were 'Murderers'!!! What did U expect, otherwise? We just sit back & take it? OK, I'll accept that Harris was not a 100% correct on his decisions. but, what other choices did we have? Especially, when Harris got it right!!!
martynpank 1 month ago
dangerous job in the RAF , but they go!!!!
respect !!
diadromiful 2 months ago
brilliant footage in memory of the men & women of bomber command who lets not forget took the war to germany every night.
avrovulcan617 3 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
A site I made for my Lancaster navigator uncle who didn't make it back wifred.paulweber.ca
weberpa 3 months ago
SAD , have we learnt , no not much but we will it may take more time yet,it will happen.
critchley3819 3 months ago
my father was a rear gunner in a lanc, 622 squadron, mildenhall. Now 88 and not in great health but he was delighted when i showed him this. Very nostalgic for him. He was lucky, he came home, god bless the 51,000 who didnt.
19desto 5 months ago 2
@19desto I would just like to pass on my HUGE admiration & total respect to your father for his service in RAF Bomber Command in WW2. The Bomber Boys were our sole means of taking the fight to the enemy & hitting back for much of the duration of the war. These blokes were part of a very special generation, extremely brave, modest, unassuming, stoic, determined, their qualities shone through. They have never been granted the official recognition they merit. Show your dad this comment please!
LIVERPOOLSCOTTISH 4 months ago
@LIVERPOOLSCOTTISH Thankyou for your kind comments, I did show it to dad and he was very moved. His whole crew made it through the war but sadly only three are still with us. Was hoping to make it to the unvieling of the Bomber Command memorial next year but I fear both Dad and Mum (who was a waaf) are too frail. As long as people like yourself remember and are aware of the job these boys did they will never fade away. Thanks .
19desto 4 months ago
@19desto Pass on my regards to Tail End Charlie! I hope he can make it to the unveiling of the BC memorial, which is long overdue. Quite rightly, a great deal of fuss is made about the Battle Of Britain, which proved to be one of the most significant battles of WW2. 515 RAF pilots made the ultimate sacrifice, 55,000 BC airmen made a similar sacrifice during WW2-yet they received little recognition. It is right & fitting that at long last, a memorial is built in their memory.
LIVERPOOLSCOTTISH 4 months ago
@19desto We owe people like your father a debt of gratitude which can never be repaid. It sickens me that RAF BC were abandoned by politicians at the close of the war. They received no official recognition for the huge contribution they made both in terms of British war effort- our sole means of hitting back four more than four years, and in the ultimate defeat of Germany. The national memorial is long overdue, as is a medal. Show your father this comment please- RESPECT & GOOD WISHES.
LIVERPOOLSCOTTISH 1 month ago
Bomber Command was the Second Front - World War II resulted in a defeat for the Deutsch National Socialist Party because the Red Army overcame a country which had been wrecked from end to end by The RAF Bomber Command and The USAAF
billyconnearly 6 months ago
@billyconnearly Correct. In addition to inhibiting German arms manufacturing, the strategic bomber offensive tied down at least 2 million German soldiers to man the Reich defences. It also forced the Luftwaffe to withdraw a significant portion of it's assets from the Eastern Front in order to expand their air defence system. An extra 2 millions Germans in the front line could well have stopped the Soviet advance, or at least bled them white. HUGE RESPECT TO BOMBER COMMAND!
LIVERPOOLSCOTTISH 2 months ago
i dont know how they did it..so brave.
smelinelly 8 months ago
After reading the book , No Moon Tonight, this clip is very thought provoking
shrivaldo 11 months ago
Sends a shiver down my spine, what you went through and the others at the 635 sq
mrcaspiansea 1 year ago
This is all because of Adolf and his dysfuntional parent syndrome you know.
What a jerk he was
TootsyJackson 1 year ago
fantastic video - from grandson of a F/E 44 (Rhodesia) Sqn, LM625 KM-H
"strike hard strike sure"
kromeboy1884 1 year ago
Comment removed
kromeboy1884 1 year ago
To raise much needed funds for this memorial the RAF Bomber Command Time Capsule allows you to leave your personal tribute to those who gave everything for us at bommer command dot com/timecapsule
BomberCommand100 1 year ago
The RAF Bomber Command Time Capsule - remembering forever those who gave everything for us at bomber command dot com/time capsule
BomberCommand100 1 year ago
Comment removed
BomberCommand100 1 year ago
My uncle was the wireless operator of a Lancaster crew all killed on theit fifth operation, and buried in a small village in northern France. Regular ceremonies of remembrance are held at the grave - so thenks to the good people of Gannes for keeping alive the memory of those lost when HK559 crashed nearby.
ianfduff 1 year ago 2
I wonder how many of those Lancs taxing out made it back? My great uncle was one of those who didn't return from a raid on Berlin. RIP Joseph Fowler.
ScreamingTc 1 year ago 3
Thanks for this. My Dad flew 23 Ops in the Lancaster. Sadly he died this year, but films like yours will keep his memory alive.
marseymour206 1 year ago 4
should they have waited for the a bomb,
could have save a lot of aircrew?
just a thought
hlimkb 1 year ago
@hlimkb The A bomb wasn't successfully exploded until July 1945. By which time the war in Eurpe was over. It was never an option klimkb
Caracalla23 1 year ago
@Caracalla23
indeed there was a deadline to end the war quickly,
and the british got a bone to pick with the german for bombing their cities in the battle of britain
hlimkb 1 year ago
Thanks for posting this superb clip. I hope those who are doing the Dam Busters remake watch stuff like this so they can see what the heroes really looked like. Just ordinary blokes with tremedous courage who never got the recognition they deserved.
panchopuskas1 1 year ago
i run a small museum at the waltham windmill, the exhibits are dedicated to the lads of 100sqn at raf grimsby 1941-1945. the videos are very usefull and help in understanding what the lads went through. excuse my typing please.
lancmews 1 year ago
Brave guys
capnfrankly 1 year ago
Please support the appeal for a memorial to Bomber Command. It is our duty to commemorate these brave people.
Lest We Forget.
cakeyspig 1 year ago
They were happy to send Bomber Command out to try and win the war...they should have backed them when it was all over.......not stood back and pushed them away.............Plenty of us will NEVER forget you Bomber Boys.
NAIAD49 1 year ago 2
couldnt agree more mate, the sacrifice of the "bomber boys" will never be forgotton in our household, i already take my 3 and 6 year old kids to as many lancaster bbmf flyovers as i can each year and make sure they know the story behind it, brave mesters the lot of them
LEST WE FORGET
TheSteelman79 1 year ago 4
Good speech sir! Agree 100%. These men were extremely couragous without a shadow of a doubt. Running the gaunlet through the Kammhuber line night after night, dicing with radar controlled guns, search lights & radar equipped night fighters-the Bomber Boys had tremendous guts. It is a national DISGRACE that they were never honoured with a campaign medal. I was priviledged to meet an RAF Lanc Navigator at RAF Cosford museum in 2008. He was shot down & captured in Dec 45. What a marvellous man!
LIVERPOOLSCOTTISH 1 year ago 2
I met a wireless operator on Lancs in 1996 in the White Bull in coningsby.
He was there for a visit to the BBMF.
He got out a photo of his old crew mates
named them all and this one was a New Zealander that one was an Aussie he said 3 or 4 were killed.........wiped away tears.........I saw him later on in the Swan dancing away to a live group.
I will never forget meeting a Bomber Boy.
NAIAD49 1 year ago
@NAIAD49 great story............its a disgrace that they were treated so,we owe them everything.
garymilli 1 year ago
If you haven't done so already, read, "BOMBER," by Len Deighton. Absolutely AWESOME book. He brings home just how much luck influenced whether a crew made it back home or not. His accounts of night fighter interceptions against the Lancaster crews featured in fictional account of a raid on Altgarden will make your hair stand on end. Never have I wished I could go back in time and pilot a night fighter Mosquito over the Reich so much......The Bomber Boys deserve huge respect.
LIVERPOOLSCOTTISH 1 year ago
My great uncle, Flight sergeant, Flight Engineer, 576 Squadron. Shot down by a night fighter exactly two months before D-Day, Bayeaux Cemetery, France. There is a corner in a foreign land that is forever England. Carpe Diem and RIP.
Thank-you so much for this video - you make me so proud of my ancestry :)
veritasreigns 2 years ago 9
@veritasreigns Well said! You are right to feel immensely proud. Men like your great uncle had tremendous courage & fortitude. These men were a special breed, phlegmatic, modest, resilient, determined. I have the utmost respect for the Bomber Boys of RAF Bomber Command. They carried the fight to the enemy night after night, they faced the most formidible night air defence system of the day, 55,000 failed to return. A memorial is LONG overdue as is a campaign medal. RESPECT to your great uncle!
LIVERPOOLSCOTTISH 1 year ago
yea without these brave young men were would we be today, having worked at iwm duxford cambridgeshire for 3 years and managed to get into the lanacaster that is there, oh what a boy hood dream, come true, sat in all positions, and i asked dennis who was the 81 year old radio man how did you conker the fear, how old was i he asked 41 i said as i was at the time, and he said thers your problem we were all 18-25 yrs olds we didnt apprechiate the fear aspect. heros who should get there medel now.
tc030564 2 years ago 4
you can forget the B17's and even the B29 the lancaster is the bomber for me
what brave young men!
Dwalters1988 2 years ago 2
Excellent video, thank you for posting.
The bomber crews deserve a great deal more recognition than they ever received.
I think we should also remember the wonderful people that built those beautiful machines.
I am in Canada, and we built many Lancasters that were used in the war, right here in Toronto.
This fact, very sadly, goes unnoticed even by our own schools.
At present we have a Lancaster which is flown regularily, here in Hamilton Warplane museum.
timeonfilm 2 years ago 8
Well said Canada! I consider it outrageous that the men of Bomber Command have never received any formal recognition for their bravery & sacrifice. Whilst the establishment might have 'issues' with Bomber Command, the majority of the British public are extremely proud of the men of BC. A BIG thank you to Canada for her stalwart support of Britain in WW2, we would never have held the line without the mighty Canadians! RESPECT.
LIVERPOOLSCOTTISH 2 years ago 8
yaaa yes the old base in north yorkand downsview my aunt has pictures of her working on bomb bay doors and i have one of me 2008 touching a bomb bay door on the one in hamilton ..the kicker was i didn't know she worked on that plane till have she seen the picture of me
freakyflow 2 years ago
Excellent footage,agree with the respondents who want to see some recognition for Harris and his crews,the most despicable aspect of all was the way in which Churchill and the air staff distanced themselves from Bert Harris once the "job" had been succesfully accomplished.
neilz1309 3 years ago 18
Agree with you completely. Recognition is long long overdue. I can't watch the RAF Memorial Flight Lancaster without a sense of great pride and a heavy heart - and I'll admit a tear now and again.
mig25pd 3 years ago 6
@neilz1309 hand shake on that
grunt182820 9 months ago
Wonderful tribute.
My late father flew Whitleys, Wellingtons and Lancaster in WW2. 2 tours and 52 operations.......11 times over Berlin.
wozza59 3 years ago 24
@wozza59 Greetings Wozza, just to say I have immense respect & pride for the Bomber Boys. I was priviledged to speak to a Flight Engineer who served on Lancs a few weeks ago in a branch of WH Smiths. He was viewing the 'Aviation Classics,' magazine that covered the Lanc, I struck up a conversation with him & subsequently did something I have always wanted to do, shook hands with him & expressed my gratitude. They were a very special generation......RESPECT.
LIVERPOOLSCOTTISH 1 year ago
@wozza59 Bloody good show i say mate!!
bobshwd65 7 months ago
@wozza59 A brave man - I hope he was decorated for it in some way!
dave41184 6 months ago
Biggest heroes ever.
Alexiomeister 3 years ago 7
Excellent...never forgotten
rugbyballbounce 3 years ago 6
Brilliant. And it is a scandal that no recognition has been given to them. I admire Churchill in many ways but the way he distanced himself from Bomber Harris at and after the end of the war is not something anyone could be proud of.
Seasideman1955 3 years ago 8
My two great uncles flew Lancasters in Bomber Command - one died in July 1943, aged 26, with his crew over Hamburg, and one, my awesome Uncle Frank, came home with a DFC and two tours with the Pathfinder Force.
lecou18 3 years ago 3
Three members of my family:
Bill was a Stirling pilot with 9 Sqdn - shot down late '41 - 4 yrs in a German POW camp
Peter was a Lancaster pilot with 166 Squadron - shot down and killed with all his crew in late 43 (I've his cap in my chest of drawers). He was 21.
And Richard - a Lancaster W/O with 166 Sqdn he finished his tour in late '44 - though one of his crew didn't make it and they crept back with a damaged aircraft more than one night.
Brave and true Englishmen all..
mig25pd 3 years ago 6
Brilliant. Thanks.
ConstanceMarkiewicz 3 years ago
Some People in UK and Germany Blame these Heroes as Baby Killers, But They dont know how much blood and tears they paid, If they did not act imagine the catastrophe Hitler will made in europe, Hitler's war industry undamaged, will result the invasion of UK, USSR and perhaps the US.
nghnino 3 years ago 2
I think I recognise some of this footage. Did you get it from the film 'Night Bombers'? Some of it is definitely that footage (shot by F/L Harris, whose name appears on the ops board at one point).
I don't know which amazes me most about Bomber Command: the engineering of its machines, the courage of its crews, or the stolid work of the erks. All these things and more are an inspiration. They should have at least received that recognition; we owe it to them never to forget.
AYchip 3 years ago
it probably was in that film but its not where i got the footage from. Normally i would say but theres always one who runs off to youtube!
funtimesteve4 3 years ago
This is an incredible video. Loved the footage and the music. Truly a tribute to those good young men called upon to do a terrible task that helped win the war at an awful cost. To our shame, they never received the recognition that they were due.
Wingdoss 3 years ago
Awesome Video , Thanks very much !
owenandcam 3 years ago