Wednesday marked the 70th anniversary of the raids on dams in Germany's Ruhr Valley by the RAF's famous "Dambusters" of 617 Squadron using their ingenious bouncing bombs.
To mark the occasion, Britain's last Lancaster bomber flew over Derbyshire's Derwent reservoir and its dam, where Guy Gibson's Dambusters practiced dropping prototype bouncing bams before doing it for real in Germany. Here's how the Daily Mail reported the flypast on Thursday:
Their audacity and skill have become the stuff of legend, though nearly half of them never made it back.
Yesterday, on the 70th anniversary of the most famous raid in RAF history, the Dambusters of 617 Squadron were honoured with the simplest but most poignant tribute: a lone Lancaster bomber taking a bow over the very spot where it all began.
What a sight: The Lancaster bomber during the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight performs the flypast over Derbyshire's Derwent reservoir where the Dambusters trained in 1943. Veterans and invited guests gathered for the event.
Thousands of people, some of whom had trekked for miles over Peak District moorland, gathered on the shores of Derbyshire’s Derwent Reservoir to watch Britain’s last Lancaster, from the RAF’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, make three runs over the Derwent Dam.
It was here in 1943 that Wing Commander Guy Gibson trained his squadron for their historic nocturnal assaults on the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe dams, all crucial to Hitler’s industrial heartland in the Ruhr Valley.
Beautiful: The only remaining operational Lancaster in Europe flew over the Derwent Reservoir to mark the 70th anniversary of the Dambusters raid.
The RAF's Dambusters destroyed dams in Germany's Ruhr Valley in 1943 using their ingenious bombs which bounced along the water until they hit their targets.
To stand on the Derwent parapet yesterday lunchtime was to glean but the tiniest sensation of what happened that night.
Gibson’s force had to fly across occupied Europe at night, so low that some were killed by power lines, and drop untried bouncing bombs – with unprecedented accuracy – in full view of the enemy’s guns.
The Mohne and Eder dams collapsed, German industry was thrown into chaos and the Allies enjoyed a huge boost to morale. But it was at great cost: eight of Gibson’s 19 planes and 53 of his 133 men were lost.
Yesterday’s Lancaster was flying in broad daylight, of course, and the only barrage was a chorus of applause and cheers – with plenty of tears, too.
The sound of that grand old quartet – four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, all singing in perfect harmony – had lost none of its power to make hairs stand on the back of necks and reduce grown men to sniffles.
Preceded by a Spitfire and followed by a pair of Tornados from today’s 617 Squadron, the old warhorse had to weave a careful path along the meandering contours of the valley.
hecks: An RAF pilot makes final preparations before take off in a Second World War RAF Lancaster bomber at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire
From a distance, it was a bird of prey with its mighty wingspan, disproportionately slender frame and spectacularly graceful banking round the corners. As it first growled towards us and then thundered overhead, it looked in superb condition, as shiny as a museum piece, its Perspex turrets glinting in the sun.
The RAF's Dambusters destroyed dams in Germany's Ruhr Valley in 1943 using their ingenious bombs which bounced along the water until they hit their targets.
Back at the Memorial Flight’s home, RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, Corporal Carl Broomhead and his team must have been up half the night with the tin of polish.
‘I can’t explain how that felt,’ said former Leading Aircraftsman Cyril Gosling, 90, from Oldham, blinking at the sky after the flypast. ‘I do feel so proud, though I shouldn’t of course,’ Mr Gosling added modestly, insisting that he had ‘only’ been part of 617’s ground crew.
His duties had also extended to taking Guy Gibson’s dog, Nig*er, for the occasional walk and joining the aircrew for low-flying practice all over England.
There were not enough of them to perform the Dambusters March, though. ‘Too many notes – you need the full band for that,’ explained Susan Hoggarth.
His duties had also extended to taking Guy Gibson’s dog, Nig*er, for the occasional walk and joining the aircrew for low-flying practice all over England.
Yet he was unofficial guest of honour at the dam yesterday, invited to lay a wreath at the parapet memorial by the local volunteers who run the little museum there.
Due to the scaled-down nature of this event (unlike previous anniversaries), there was no official presence and no provision for veterans or their families.
They had been invited to last night’s official sunset service at Gibson’s old Lincolnshire HQ, RAF Scampton, instead. But Mr Gosling’s son, Geoff, 65, had brought him to the dam.
In the absence of an official band, four members of the local Castleton Silver Band – all from the Hoggarth family – had turned up to play some hymns.
There were not enough of them to perform the Dambusters March, though. ‘Too many notes – you need the full band for that,’ explained Susan Hoggarth.