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Text for the above items : |
Gibson by Robert Tomlin. Guy Gibson in his specially modified Avro Lancaster, makes his first run over the Mohne Dam to create a legend that will live forever. |
Pathway to the Ruhr by Anthony Saunders. The words from Air Vice-Marshal the Hon. Ralph Cochrane., newly appointed as AOC of No.5 Group, to the young Wing Commander were simple enough. I can't tell you the target he continued but you've got to fly low-level, on the deck, and at night. As far as aircrews are concerned, I want the best - you choose them. And by the way... I want to see your aircraft flying on four days. Guy Gibson, the highly decorated Wing Commander concerned, had 173 operations behind him and was due to be rested when the unexpected call to see Cochrane had come. Would you like to do one more trip? he'd been asked. What kind of trip? he replied. An important one was all Cochrane would say and now, two days later, he was being asked to form a squadron. What the special target might be Gibson could only speculate but, whatever it was, he realised it would be dangerous. Cochrane had given him four days. Within an hour he'd selected the aircrew; he knew most of them personally and had flown with several before. There was no doubt they were the very best in Bomber Command. Exactly four days later Squadron X - soon to become 617 Squadron - was ready at RAF Scampton. Many familiar faces were there to meet him : amongst the pilots he spotted Hoppy Hopgood, Dave Shannon from Australia, and Canadian Lewis Burpee from his own 106 Squadron. together with Dinghy Young whom he'd chosen as a flight commander. The tall, lugubrious figure of New Zealander Les Munro was there along with two other pilots from 97 Squadron, David Maltby and the big, beefy, American pilot Joe McCarthy with his Bomb-Aimer George Johnny Johnson. His B flight commander, Henry Maudsley was there, as was Australian Mick Martin, the expert in low-level flying. Every one of the nineteen crews who would fly the mission was there and seven weeks of intensive low-level flying lay ahead before, on the afternoon of 16th May 1943, Gibson finally revealed the target - that night they were to attack the mighty dams of the Ruhr valley. |
Attack on the Sorpe by Ivan Berryman. McCarthy's aircraft, ED825(G) AJ-T attacking the undefended Sorpe Dam with the village in the background and the church with the steeple that they had to avoid on the hilltop. Such was the difficulty of the approach to this dam - attacked along its length in contrast to the other dams which were attacked perpendicular to the dam - McCarthy needed to make a total of ten runs before the bomb was dropped accurately. Despite such determination, the bomb failed to cause any significant damage to the massive earth dam. |
The Dambusters by Gerald Coulson. Mick Martin's Lancaster pulls away from the Möhne Dam, his Upkeep bomb exploding behind him sending a huge plume of water into the air. Guy Gibson flies to his right drawing flak from the anti-aircraft guns on the towers. |
Tractor Girl by David Pentland. Lancaster AJ-T of No.617 Sqn being towed by tractor to its dispersal slot by a Women's Auxiliary Air Force driver at Scampton, May 1943, in preparation for Operation Chastise. |
The One That Broke The Dam by Ivan Berryman. Amid a hail of defensive fire, Flt Lt D J H Maltby holds Lancaster ED906/G AJ-J steady for his bomb aimer John Fort to perfectly choose his moment to release the Upkeep Bomb that would ultimately breach and destroy the Mohne Dam during the famous Dambuster raids on the Ruhr on the night of 16th / 17th May 1943. |
Dam Busters Setting Off by Simon Atack. No text for this item |
No Way Back by Ivan Berryman. Despite crippling damage to their Lancaster ED925 (G), the crew of AJ-M continued to press home their attack on the Mohne Dam on the night of 16th/17th May 1943. With both port engines ablaze, Flt Lt J V Hopgood forced his blazing aircraft on, releasing the Upkeep bomb just precious seconds too late to strike the dam, the mine instead bouncing over the wall and onto the power station below with devastating results. ED925 attempted to recover from the maelstrom, but the fuel fire was too intense and the aircraft was tragically lost, just two of her crew managing to escape the impact to spend the rest of the war as PoWs. |
Topping Up by David Pentland. Lancaster of 617 Sqn refueling at Scampton, May 1943, in preparation for Operation Chastise. |
Every Second Counts - The Dambusters by Philip West. Wing Commander Guy Gibson and crew have just released their Upkeep mine against their primary target The Mohne dam. Wg. Cdr. Gibson went on to receive the Victoria Cross after leading 19 Lancasters on this historic mission to the Ruhr dams. Operation Chastise gave the nation a great boost in confidence during 1943 and honoured the brave men of 617 Squadron who carried out this dangerous mission. |
Breaching the Eder by Simon Smith. On the night of 16th / 17th May 1943, Lancasters of 617 Squadron under the command of Wing Commander Guy Gibson attacked the hydroelectric dams of the Ruhr. Five of the aircraft that successfully attacked and breached the Mohne flew onto the Eder, only three with the Upkeep bombs still on board. Whilst there was no flak, the approach, over difficult terrain, was hazardous and a tremendous test of skills of the crews involved. Pilot Officer Les Knights aircraft, AFN, can be seen having just dropped the last of the groups bombs, which actually breached the dam, and is climbing steeply to avoid the hill behind the dam. |
En-Route by Anthony Saunders. Flying at altitudes as low as fifty feet, Lancasters of 617 Squadron follow the Dutch canals en-route to Germany - their target, the mighty Dams of the Ruhr - on the night of 16th / 17th May 1943. At such low level the pilots of many of the specially modified Lancasters found their flying skills tested to the extreme as they were forced to take violent evasive actions when they encountered flak, large electricity pylons and tall trees, but several of the gunners in the crews still managed to shoot up and damage a number of trains on the way. |
Operation Chastise - The Night They Broke the Dams by Ivan Berryman. Guy Gibsons Lancaster having unsuccessfully dropped its bomb, draws enemy fire from the aircraft of Sqn Ldr Young as his bomb explodes spectacularly on the Mohne Dam during the audacious Dams Raids of 16th/17th May 1943. |
First Strike by Ivan Berryman. The Avro Lancaster B MkIII ED932(G), AJ-G, of Wing Commander Guy Gibson was the first aircraft to make an attempt at breaching the Möhne Dam on the night of 16/17th of May 1943 as Operation Chastise got underway. Having already made one 'sighting' run over the target, Gibson turned and began his second run, the flak and 20mm fire from the shore and from the towers of the dam now throwing up a hail of fire. Undeterred, the Upkeep mine was released, skipping across the water as planned, but striking the dam wall off centre with no visible effect. Gibson made several passes over the Möhne, each time escorting the attacking aircraft in an attempt to draw the enemy fire. With the Möhne finally breached, he led the remaining aircraft on to the Eder dam with similar success before returning safely to Manston. |
Enemy Coast Ahead by Simon Atack. Lancaster of 617 Sqn carrying its cargo of the Barnes-Wallace bouncing bomb on its way to its target of Germanys western dams. The Dambusters raid was to become one of the most celebrated missions ever carried out. |
Primary Target by Philip West. In 1943, the RAF's 617 Squadron set out to destroy three dams in Germany's Ruhr valley. They managed to breach two, giving a boost to Britain's war effort. On 16th May 1943, 19 aircraft set out to destroy the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany's industrial heartland. They used specially-designed drum-shaped bouncing bombs which skimmed across the water, rolled down the dam wall and exploded at depth. Only 11 of the aircraft returned from the perilous low-level mission in which they flew at just 150ft all the way from England before descending for the bombing run to defeat the German radar. It resulted in the largest awarding of medals at any one time during the war. The bouncing bombs were the brainchild of legendary aviation engineer Sir Barnes Wallis, who was knighted in 1968. Primary Target depicts the final seconds on 17th May 1943 as the bouncing bomb of Flight Lt. Maltby's Lancaster Squadron breached the giant Mohne dam. |
Spirit of 617 Squadron by Michael Turner. A Tornado follows a Lancaster over the Derwentwater Dam. |
617 Squadron Outbound to the Ruhr by Ivan Berryman. Viewed from the cockpit, Lancasters of 617 Sqn Dambusters form up at the beginning of their perilous journey to the Ruhr Valley on the night of 16th May 1943 when the Möhne and Eder dams were breached under the codename Operation Chastise. |
Final Briefing by Anthony Saunders. RAF Scampton: 16 May 1943 20.55 hrs. Everyone at Scampton suspected that something big was about to happen. The crews of the recently formed 617 Squadron, hand-picked by their CO Wing Commander Guy Gibson, had been training hard for weeks and the rumour on the grapevine suggested it might be the Tirpitz they were after. But then, late in the afternoon of 16 May 1943 came the call over the station tannoy that they had all been waiting for: 'All crews of 617 Squadron to report to the briefing room - immediately.' The buzz of excited conversation dropped into silence as Gibson addressed them, and the secret was shared: their small force was about to attack the major dams of western Germany. It was what they had been waiting for and they would go that night. Final Briefing is the first in Anthony Saunders' pair of prints to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Dambuster Raid and depicts the moment at dispersal as Guy Gibson readies his crew to climb inside their waiting Lancaster - AJ-G 'George'. A red flare will soon curl skywards, burning brightly against the sun's fast-fading rays; it is the signal to start engines and at 21.39 G-George will get airborne, leading the first wave of three aircraft. For the crews of 617 Squadron the weeks of intensive training were now over - Operation Chastise was underway. |
Breaching the Dams by Nicolas Trudgian. The Mohne Dam gives way as David Maltbys Lancaster releases its bomb to deliver the coup de grace on the night of 16th / 17th May 1943. Guy Gibson, nearest, and Mick Martin, having already dropped their bombs, make dummy runs with lights on to draw enemy fire. |
The Dambusters by Ivan Berryman. Lancasters of 617 Sqn Dambusters get airborne from their Scampton base at the start of their journey to the Ruhr Valley on the night of 16th May 1943 under the codename Operation Chastise. These are aircraft of the First Wave, led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, the Second Wave having already departed some ten minutes earlier to negotiate a more northerly route to their targets. On this momentous night, both the Möhne and Eder dams were successfully breached, whilst the Sorpe was also hit, but without serious damage. Of the nineteen aircraft that took part in the mission, eleven returned safely. |
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