Bomb Voyage

[slowboy]

I'm booked in for a ride in "Just Jane" this July!

i have been dropping hints for ages, please post on here mark when you have been in her, i bet it brings a tear to your eye !

[Tim]

...he rarely talked about it and suffered from severe claustrophobia all his life...

I don't wonder. You wouldn't expect anyone live through something like that as a young man without being affected.

Awesome men.

Tim

[foxy52]

my father was a rear gunner in wellington bombers, he was 18 when he first flew. his crew were shot down twice into the north sea twice. he rarely talked about it and suffered from severe claustrophobia all his life.

..A really tough time for him then,.. my dad was luckier he was a flying officer in the RAF regiment O/C commanding no 1 flight 2843 squadron eventually based at Langenhagen a Focke Wulf research station until we flattened it !!!...I have a framed picture of him in his dress uniform and next to that is a letter signed by all the guys who served under him penned about the time of demob to the effect how they were going to miss him...I have given this already to my elder son who is so proud of his grand dad it hangs on his living room wall.. !!..so a career with Shell for 36 years either side of WW2 and a commission to boot of which I don't doubt helped him get promotion in civvy street when he came back in late 46.....he was desperate to join up but in 1940 he was looking after oil depots in the thames estuary vital to the war effort !! so it was late 41 before they let him join the RAF....A true brit !!!..and a fantastic dad to our family.. he loved seeing the Battle of Britain fly pasts in kent and Sussex...hopefully they will go on forever !!! ...I think guys of my age are immensely proud of what our fathers and mothers did in WW2.. A monumental effort and not a little help from the Americans who we all owe a huge debt of gratitude to also....if anyone has ever been to the various cemetaries in northern France you will know what I mean !!!... foxy52.

[Lord Croker]

Is there anywhere you can fly in one? I've always imagined what it would be like to be sitting in the tail turret with an enemy fighter coming up behind you.

Tim

I think the Canadian Lancaster, flying out of Hamilton, Ontario is allowed to take people on experience flights, unfortunately although the RAF can choose to fly anyone they want to, it has to be restricted to presenters of documentaries, former aircrew & some volunteers as a thank you for their efforts, you can imagine what would happen if they agreed to fly anyone who asked, the queues leading to RAF Coningsby would stretch the length of the country! Privately owned historic aircraft, in the UK are only allowed to carry essential crew, unless they have a full passenger carrying C of A. The last plane I flew in was B17 Flying Fortress, but the nanny state has stopped all that kind of thing.

I thought the 70th Anniversary of the Dambusters was incredibly well carried out, with a lot of superb flying action, blended with immense dignity at the sunset commemoration.

[66S]

I often wonder have how Germans must feel

I have deleted my post because I suspect there are some folk on here that found it offensive. Hopefully, they will still know how I feel.

You can't always say what you like but you can always think what you like !!

Al

[Pete]

I was really hoping this thread wouldn't descend to into such bollox, it'd be very helpful if we could all be respectful of others.

Thanks.

[Lord Croker]

Well said Pete, I totally agree.

[Gray]

Just got back from a 1400 mile road trip to the Dams, the atmosphere at midnight on the Mohne dam was electric, about 100 Brits there with an informal sevice at 19m past when the dam was breached, the clouds just parting for the moon to glimps through with a heavy mist rising off the mohnesee. Also took in the Sorpe and the Eder which is a heck of a drive to get to from the Mohne. Stops were also made at Hopgoods and Otleys crash sites, Ypres and Dunkirk a full 4 days for sure.

[mk1]

Just a quick note to our many non UK friends who post on here.

I fully appreciate that you must be thinking "What the hell is this doing on a Mini forum". I do sympathise to a great extent.

As a nation we, the English seem to harp on endlessly about events that happened a long time in the past. Maybe it's because it was the last useful thing we did in Europe, maybe it is because it was the end of the "Golden" Empire days of England, who knows.

What I would like to make very clear is that all people are welcome on the forum wherever they come from & in no way is this thread meant to offend anyone. I believe it is simply honouring an amazing technical achievement & a group of very young men who were given an almost impossible task, but were prepared to follow it through to the end regardless of the personal consequences. We must however remember that over 1,200 people died on the ground that night including many women & children.

It is very important that we can all learn the lessons from this period & move on in the name of friendship & solidarity.

I hope I don't have to lock or delete this thread & do not want to have to read any jingoistic nonsense please.

Thanks for your time,

Mark F

[minitravellerman]

Very interesting programme - I watched the Dan Snow programme on BBC2. Dambusters was always one of my all time favourite movies (would be awesome if they did a remake - with modern CGI it would be a fantastic movie).

I had the great privilege of securing tickets for the Dakota farewell tour from Belfast City Airport a few years ago. Was a 45 minute flight in an ex RAF DC3 that was being used by an air freight firm. Was repainted in RAF Transport Command colours just for the tour. Still had the jump lights and static line fitted.

Annoyingly I came second in a competition for airport staff for a flight in one of the 2 seater Spitfires when I worked at Belfast International Airport - once in a life time opportunity missed by a tiny margin

[almondgreen]

I have no problems with this theme.
I like the old airplanes.
But from the german sight there would have been no need for this, if they had not allowed the Nazis
to realize their ideas.

The good thing about this, is that we have peace for a so long time now and we do not have any fears
that german bombs will hit UK or the other way round...

[Pete]

Maybe it's because it was the last useful thing we did in Europe

Yup, even Bonnie Tyler sucked.

[36inter]

I could be very rude there.... but........ I won't.

Pete

[Gray]

We were a bit worried that our trip would be taken out of context (to pay our respect to the crews) and did not advertise why we were in the area but if asked we would always say so and we were always treated openly and warmly, so much so in one bar were were the centre of attention and left at 4am after dancing on the tables with the locals! The only hostility encountered was from an English author who was leading a trip from Lincolnshire towards a German pensioner filming! It was the one time I felt uncomfortable being British, this is one person I will never buy a copy of his work.
Mohne

Hoppy crash marker

Eder

Otley crash site

[mk1]

The good thing about this, is that we have peace for a so long time now and we do not have any fears
that german bombs will hit UK or the other way round...

Here Here!

[mister bridger]

My brother is in the RAF, was a Tornado pilot for years and ended up flying the Lanc as part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. The best I could blag was stepping on board the Lancaster, but not a chance of going up in it.

[dutchacme]

In the spring of 1968 my father, a pilot himself, took us for the spring break in Mai to the Mohne Dam. The lake behind the dam had been emptied and looking down from the dam one could clearly see the anti bomb nets at the bottom against the dam. After the visit to the dam he gave me his Guy Gibson book. Inspiring reading for a 14 year old dutch boy.

Wim

[guru_1071]

In the spring of 1968 my father, a pilot himself, took us for the spring break in Mai to the Mohne Dam. The lake behind the dam had been emptied and looking down from the dam one could clearly see the anti bomb nets at the bottom against the dam. After the visit to the dam he gave me his Guy Gibson book. Inspiring reading for a 14 year old dutch boy.

Wim

wim

practically when you consider that Guy Gibson was only 24 when he planned the dam busters raid in ten weeks.

I doubt many 24 year old boys would be able to carry out such a monumental feat in this day and age,

for a start, just think of all the meetings there would have to be!

an amazing feat of both men, machines and circumstances, which deserves to be remembered in history

[Lord Croker]

Guy Gibson was a formidable leader, even at the age of 24, but much maligned for being too strict with his crews, but there is always hype & sensationalism surrounding such people, but the achievement of the dams raid was an almost incredible feat of airmanship which even today looks like something from a science fiction film. As a former member of the RAFVR & a long standing member (25 years) of the association that supports the BBMF, I am so pleased to see that these achievements continue to be remembered in such a respectful way. This is for me a very interesting thread, my interest in historic aircraft has always run alongside my interest in Minis & other classic cars, the two subjects seem to run well together. Some may wonder why it appears on this forum, obvious! it is a Lancaster B 'Mk1' that was flying over the Derwent dam