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I personally went to school in the town where the Raids were monitored from (Grantham) by Wallis and Harris. There is hardly any memorabilia recording this local fact, and no-one would ever know. I know of RAF Scampton too, which I believe has closed down some years ago. For Lincolnshire, the Dams Raid is remembered poignantly, as the 617 Squadron, who now fly Tornados in Scotland, was formed and trained there. They practised on the Derwent Reservoir near Sheffield, and the Eyebrook Reservoir in Leicestershire. Sir Barnes Wallis thought in innovative ways, and the fact that this 'far out' idea of bouncing bombs on a lake, actually breached two dams is an engineering marvel. To do so under heavy flak is beating the odds. Wallis and 617 Squadron collaborated again with the Tallboy and Grand Slam 'earthquake' bombs, which destroyed many important railway viaducts and tunnels, as well as sinking the Tirpitz. Richard Todd, after the film, moved 3 miles from Grantham. Maybe the film was the reason for this. The film is one of few about RAF Bomber Command, and is a good portrayal of the danger involved. 41% of crew were killed (55,000). After early 1944, the loss rate rapidly decreased, as the Luftwaffe had been destroyed, so from 1940-3 I would guess 60-70% of crew were killed, for the whole campaign. It may be higher. The RAF didn't even know the Germans had excellent radar until early 1942. The film is about team work and working under stress - your immediate future depended on 6 other people. Many things could go wrong along the way. It is also about strong resilience to new ideas. i.e. The RAF could have had jet planes before 1939 if they'd have developed Whittle's ideas in the 1930s, instead of foolishly waiting 10 whole years until 1941. Whittle was then humiliated after the war by forcing him to give all his designs to the Americans, who didn't waste any time in treating the idea as their own. When I first saw the film, I thought the special effects were weak and I was astonished a bomb bounced in the first place. When older and seeing it again, you can empathise more with the RAF crews and the skill and daring they would need. It focuses on one story line, and does not have American accents mysteriously appearing from nowhere. I think at the time Guy Gibson was about 25. Imagine yourself having that responsibility at 25. Many of the 'Upkeep' mines that were bounced, completely missed the targets. Certainly for the Eder dam, there was just one mine left, and was dropped in the right place and destroyed the dam in 'one go'. The film gives the impression many were exploded to breach the dam, but actually a single one did the 'job'. The Germans are never shown, and I would love to have known what they thought seeing this strange sight of bombs skimming the water's surface. I think Spielberg would have enjoyed making this film, but half of it would have been about the Germans. If the dams had been breached six months earlier, when a water pumping system had not been installed, the Germans would have been seriously up the creek with no paddles. The Ruhr Industry would have been unable to function at all. Do not underestimate what hypothetical difference the dams breach could have made to the Germans in their biggest industrial area. Do women enjoy the film too, or is all the technical wizardry just for the male audience? Why did Pink Floyd use it in their film 'The Wall'? Carling Black Label used the lake sceneRead full review
If you are expecting a film in the same mould as the 1950's classic with Richard Todd, then you would be disappointed. This is a 'World at War', documentary type record of an heroic action by many heroic men. The DVD contains some excellent black & white archive footage backed up by black & white photographs of the dams following the raid. The film follows events chronologically, from the first plans to bomb dams in the 1930's (surprisingly), through the development of the bomb by the genious of Barnes Wallis, to its conclusion in breaching the dams in 1943. The whole thing is supplimented with interviews with airmen who took part in the raid and by war historians, with their views of events. Questions are also raised on the value of the raids bearing in mind the number of airmen who lost their lives, there are some thought provoking points. In conclusion, I rate this DVD highly, although there was much more to this raid than shown in the film. To get the complete story, I would recommend a book by the same name by John Sweetman if you require more technical detail of the bouncing bomb and of the raid itself.Read full review
I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this documentary. It is a rare insight into the real failure and struggle to make the bomb, then success story of the raid. Archive footage like this has a real danger of being lost for all time. My heartfelt thanks to the producers and makers of this film. Yes you have to like this sort of thing to be interested in it. However it is factual and very well put together. A real Gem..
This factual account by some of the men who took part, is extremely interesting and enjoyable. A well made and very professional edition of the Dambusters story. First class.
have watched the film many times on telly wanted our own dvdsearched on ebay and foond it easily good qualitywe can sit back in leisure and rewind when required highly recommened
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