private mw Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 70 year anniversary today of the dambusters raid. watched the lancaster on the local news fly over the derwent dam ,sadly missed it flying over sheffield and derbyshire live though ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Hall Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 And where are 617 Sqn at the moment? Theres no body home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
private mw Posted May 16, 2013 Author Share Posted May 16, 2013 in our clubhouse bar they have landed the lanc on jacks new bowling green ! :shocked: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbo Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Stunning achievement still blows me away to think Gibson was 24 when he led this raid....i could barely get myself out of my pit at that age! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locolines Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 They will always be heros to me. I am in awe of them all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RattlesnakeBob Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 (edited) I shall remain no matter how long I may live...still completely and absolutely in awe of the 'boys' of Bomber Command and I do NOT use that word lightly....they were 'boys'....... ...they were generally between 18 and 25 years old....and roughly 55,000 of them died.........and I absolutely deplore and detest the 'revisionist' thinking of many people today, that judge their efforts from the effortless comfort of an arm chair to have been.... 'pointless' or even worse ... 'murderous'.. ... We were in a 'total' war and that means ...'win at all costs'..and we simply had to ...our world today would have been immeasurably different if all the young men and women of our Armed Services had NOT given everything they had.........to all those that say so effortlessly nowadays "oh the heavy bomber campaign achieved nothing ' ?....I say this........ How many hundreds of thousands of German troops and anti Aircraft Guns and Pilots and Aircraft , and how many millions of gallons of fuel and millions of rounds of ammunition and other resources were tied down in trying to defend the German cities and industrial zones?.....the answer is of course....uncountable....... ....and if instead...they had been available to the field commanders at the 'fronts' ?... .....what might the effect have been ???.......it is of course.. impossible to say or calculate.......... Edited May 16, 2013 by RattlesnakeBob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locolines Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 I shall remain no matter how long I may live...still completely and absolutely in awe of the 'boys' of Bomber Command and I do NOT use that word lightly....they were 'boys'....... ...they were generally between 18 and 25 years old....and roughly 55,000 of them died.........and I absolutely deplore and detest the 'revisionist' thinking of many people today, that judge their efforts from the effortless comfort of an arm chair to have been.... 'pointless' or even worse ... 'murderous'.. ... We were in a 'total' war and that means ...'win at all costs'..and we simply had to ...our world today would have been immeasurably different if all the young men and women of our Armed Services had NOT given everything they had.........to all those that say so effortlessly nowadays "oh the heavy bomber campaign achieved nothing ' ?....I say this........ How many hundreds of thousands of German troops and anti Aircraft Guns and Pilots and Aircraft , and how many millions of gallons of fuel and millions of rounds of ammunition and other resources were tied down in trying to defend the German cities and industrial zones?.....the answer is of course....uncountable....... ....and if instead...they had been available to the field commanders at the 'fronts' ?... .....what might the effect have been ???.......it is of course.. impossible to say or calculate.......... I fully agree with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbo Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Amen to that Bob! Thankfully there seems at last to be some recognition of their efforts..shame it is too late for a lot of them.. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RattlesnakeBob Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 ............. Thankfully there seems at last to be some recognition of their efforts..shame it is too late for a lot of them.. Tim and a big Amen to that too mate.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted May 17, 2013 Share Posted May 17, 2013 I agree with Bob. Its easy to Judge behind the computer, but their efforts did help win the war. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted May 17, 2013 Share Posted May 17, 2013 in our clubhouse bar they have landed the lanc on jacks new bowling green ! :shocked: Yeah have already had words with them about that. That's twice this year! But what a serious piece of flying. I know they say the best piece of flying was when Staff Sergeant Wallwork landed his glider at Pegasus but the Dam Busters must be close?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Signals Posted May 17, 2013 Share Posted May 17, 2013 Yeah have already had words with them about that. That's twice this year! But what a serious piece of flying. I know they say the best piece of flying was when Staff Sergeant Wallwork landed his glider at Pegasus but the Dam Busters must be close?! Undoubtably some fine flying of the first order. Skillfully echoed in the film - take a look at the film where a Lanc, in one of the practise sessions, comes up in front of the cameara from close to the lake. (It happens to be Windermere) If you have the dvd freeze frame it, you can see the reflection in the first shot, work it out for yourself from the wingspan just how close it is to the surface at the start of the sequence. Now that was confident flying. I reckon less than 20 feet and the props swing at 7.5! Ok not under fire etc, but !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zero-Five-Two Posted May 17, 2013 Share Posted May 17, 2013 Been listening to it all on the radio today. Ultimate respect to those guys. Much talk all day about the memorial flight lancaster being the only flying one. But there is that other "private" one that is nearly ready to go, anyone know how they are getting on, last I heard they had engine issues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
private mw Posted May 17, 2013 Author Share Posted May 17, 2013 yes was listening to the radio also very good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessie The Jeep Posted May 17, 2013 Share Posted May 17, 2013 ....Much talk all day about the memorial flight lancaster being the only flying one. But there is that other "private" one that is nearly ready to go,..... There are two Lancasters flying, the BBMF Lanc, and the Canadian Warplane Heritage Lanc. The third and potential airworthy Lancaster is "Just Jane" at East Kirkby. Maurice Hammond's company, Eyetech Engineering, has rebuilt four Merlins for "Just Jane". At present, I don't know of any timescale for putting "Just Jane" back in the air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted May 18, 2013 Share Posted May 18, 2013 There are two Lancasters flying, the BBMF Lanc, and the Canadian Warplane Heritage Lanc. The third and potential airworthy Lancaster is "Just Jane" at East Kirkby. Maurice Hammond's company, Eyetech Engineering, has rebuilt four Merlins for "Just Jane". At present, I don't know of any timescale for putting "Just Jane" back in the air. Apparently it is to be within the next two years (start of rebuild). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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