Today’s film is a war movie with a scene that happens on May 16. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
THE DAM BUSTERS
During World War II, Barnes Wallis comes up with an idea on how to destroy three dams in Germany that supply the water and power for the Ruhr, a major industrial area. His idea is to drop a spinning bomb so it will bounce over anti-torpedo netting and explode right next to the dam, causing a breach. Even though his prototype bomb works, he can’t get the project going until he gets the support of Arthur Harris, the head of bomber command. A special squadron is formed and they practice low level flying over water, as the bomb will have to be dropped from a very low altitude. The first full scale trial fails. Gibson gets an idea from the spotlights at a London show to use spotlights on the water to establish their altitude, as they are flying so low the normal altimeter won’t work. After the second trial also fails, Barnes realizes the bomb will have to be dropped from a mere 60 feet. The third trial works. A simple bombsight is developed and tested. The men of the squadron get into a fight with men from another squadron who had insulted them saying that all they do is train. On May 16, 1943 the planes take off for Germany. The regimental mascot is run over by a car. At least two bombers are shot down en route to the dams. [1:04:22 to 1:33:48]
After several bomb explosions which do no significant damage they successfully breach the first dam. With only three planes they also successfully breach the second dam. Almost 40% of the squadron doesn’t come back.
A very interesting film about a very unusual bombing mission. Fascinating in that it shows how the bomb was developed and tested. The sequences showing the raid are very suspenseful and influenced the destruction of the death star sequence in Star Wars.
The Strategic Bombing of Germany by Alan J. Levine (Praeger, London, 1992) at page 56 gives the date of the raid
Director - Michael Anderson
Screenplay - R. C. Sherriff
Awards – The film was nominated for the Best Special Effects Oscar at the 28th Academy Awards.
Released - May 24, 1955
Runtime – 2 hours 4 minutes
Starring –
Richard Todd as Wing Commander Guy Gibson
Michael Redgrave as Barnes Wallis
Ursula Jeans as Mrs Molly Wallis
Basil Sydney as Sir Arthur Harris
Patrick Barr as Captain Joseph "Mutt" Summers
Ernest Clark as Air Vice-Marshal The Honourable Ralph Cochrane
Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015
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