News from Germany!! Confirmation of the Dambusters2013 Events at the Mohne Dam...

Dambusters2013 starts with an iconic event hosted by RAF Scampton's Heritage Centre on 14th May between 09.30am and midday including a flypast by two of 617 Sqdn's Tornado GR4 fast jets complete with commemorative tail art .....

Now we have the confirmation we needed to let everyone know that we have an equally 'iconic' event at the other end of our ride to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the dams raid. We are asking our riders to plan their route so that they can arrive at the car park next to the Mohne Dam by 3pm on 16th May 2013.

We will be met there by contacts and bikers from the local council who will lead us on a joint UK/German ride out around the Mohnesee!! This will finish around 4.15pm which will give all the Dambusters2013 riders time to check into their accommodation or grab a beer or two before we will all make our way back to the Mohne Dam for 11.30pm on the night of the 16th May. We will be joined there by the local mayor who will take part in our small commemoration of the raid and the lives lost on both sides of the conflict that raged in 1943. He will lay a wreath on the water of the Mohnesee, as will the 'Dambusters2013' team.

All in all it should be a moving gathering ...... lets hope for a dry evening!!!

Only two weeks to go now and the Dambusters2013 Rider Packs are starting to flow out to registered riders who have donated their £250 at the Dambusters2013 VirginMoneyGiving site ..... have we sent you yours yet??? It contains loads of useful information, details on how to get your ferry discounts, ideas of interesting Dambuster related places to visit en-route to the Mohne dam and also your personal invitation to the Start Event hosted at RAF Scampton!! Don't miss out ... get your donation in and get all the fun of the planning!!

A brilliant image taken by Liam McBride of a 617 Sqdn Tornado GR4 with 70th Anniversary 'Tail Art' lights up the burners!

What a simply cracking image!!!
www.dambusters2013.org.uk to register to ride with us, raise money for Help for Heroes and Motorcycle Outreach and commemorate the 70th anniversary of 617 Sqdn and the Dams Raid, Operation Chastise.

Dambusters 70th Anniversary Activities at the RAF Museum ....

Dambusters 70th Anniversary Activities at the RAF Museum Hendon.

With a month to go to the 70th anniversary of the Dambusters Raid, the Royal Air Force Museum London has today unveiled the various activities that it has organised to commemorate this historic campaign and the men of 617 Squadron.

Dambusters Display

From 13th to 17th of May the Museum will have on display a selection of artefacts from the Dambusters Raid not normally on view to the public. These include photo-reconnaissance of the Dams before and after the Raid, a facsimile of Guy Gibson’s logbook and the original draft of his book ‘Enemy Coast Ahead’, plus letters from various crewmembers to family members on the home-front and part of the Möhne Dam itself. These items will be located in display cases by the Museum’s Lancaster Bomber. 

Dambusters Night

On 17th of May, the Museum’s London site will be open late to the public for ‘Dambusters Night’ as part of this year’s international Museum’s at Night Festival. Members of the public, aged 18 and above, will be able to watch a short film on the preparations and testing of the bouncing bomb as well as seeing test footage (from our film archive) on the big screen. They’ll also be able to see the original testing equipment used in the film 'The Dam Busters' and attend a mini-lecture on the subject of the development of bombing from the First World War up to the Dams Raid before taking part in a debate about the effectiveness of the Raid, itself.

The Museum will also have on display, in a newly refurbished permanent exhibition, a replica of Sir Barnes Wallis’ Brooklands office which will feature his actual drawing board and the models, photos and books that inspired him to create the bouncing bomb; whilst members of the Museum’s curatorial team will be on hand to answer any questions that visitors might have about the artefacts on display.

There will be 1940s music and guests are encouraged to dress from the period to make the event a totally immersive experience. Those who are unable to come in 1940s dress will be able to try on an authentic 1940s RAF uniform from the Museum’s Handling Collection and have their photograph taken as a memento of the evening. Admission to this event is free of charge. 

The Hendon Model Show

Our London commemorations will finish on 19th of May with the fourth annual Hendon Model Show which is dedicated, this year, to the men of 617 Squadron. Over 50 clubs from across the UK will have on display the various models that they have created throughout the last 12 months. The show will also display a series of dioramas specially commissioned for the 70th anniversary of the Dambusters’ Raid, each of which will depict various aspects of this campaign. Admission to the Hendon Model Show is free of charge and doors open to the public at 10 am.

Online Exhibition and Podcasts

If you are unable to attend any of the above events, but would like to learn more about the Dambusters, the Museum currently has an online exhibition that reveals the hidden stories behind Upkeep, the development of the Bouncing Bomb, and Operation Chastise, the Dams Raid.
This online exhibition can be viewed by visiting www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions.aspx . Contained within it is government correspondence of the day, as well as original drawings and papers from Barnes Wallis’s Office. This exhibition will be further supported by 3 podcasts that talk about the Raid and the men of 617 Squadron.

The first was recorded in 2009 by the late Richard Todd, who played Guy Gibson in the film ‘The Dam Busters’, and who tells the story of the Dams Raid.

The second ‘Remembering Guy Gibson’ by renowned historian Richard Morris, examines the character of the Wing Commander who inspired his crews to succeed over insurmountable odds.

The third by Robert Owen, Official Historian of 617 Squadron Aircrew Association examines the history of the Squadron post the Dams Raid including the destruction of Hitler’s mountain redoubt at Berchtesgaden. These podcasts will be available to members of the public from 10th May.

The above is a copy of the entry at : http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london/whats-going-on/news/raf-museum-to-commemorate-dambusters-anniversary/

Paying a personal homage to 'Johnny'!

The main event at the Mohne Dam will take place just after midnight on the night of the 16th/17th May 2013, the exact 70th anniversary of the Dams Raid, Operation Chastise.

Whilst some riders will get out of bed on the morning of the 17th May and head for the south of France (lucky buggers!!) I will be making my way back towards the UK but making two important stops along the way.

One of these will be to pay a personal homage to the last surviving UK member of the Dambuster aircrew, Sqdn Ldr George 'Johnny' Johnson - a man I am now immensely proud to have as a friend.

 

 

On the night of 16th May 1943 Johnny was bomb aimer on Flt Lt Joe McCarthy's crew on Lancaster Q-Queenie and scheduled to attack the Sorpe Dam as part of the second wave of 617 Sqdn's attack. However, when they got out to their Lancaster it had a fault and in the end they took off in the spare aircraft, Lancaster AJ-T, ED825.

 



 

They then successfully flew across the Netherlands and Germany at low level all the way to the Sorpe Dam where they made no less than 9 unsuccessful runs along the Sorpe Dam before 'Johnny' was finally happy with their position and height to drop their 'Upkeep' weapon in exactly the right spot. This moment is wonderfully captured in Mark Postlethwaites painting 'The American Dambuster', a print of which hangs proudly in my hallway.

 



 

If you look behind Johnny's Lancaster in the painting you will see a church spire on the high ridge. Johnny and his pilot Joe McCarthy used this church spire as a reference point when starting each of their attacks. The first of my stops on the way home will be to visit the church and look down onto the Sorpe Dam as did Johnny 70 years before and try and get some sort of understanding of what it must have been like for the crew of AJ-T in the dark, far from home trying to get a heavy and manually handled Lancaster down into the valley on line and just 30ft above the water!

 

I am honoured to have Johnny as a friend and as a supporter of Dambusters2013.

 

 

Dambusters2013 on BBC Radio Lincolnshire....

Listen out on the 14th May 2013 at 07.50am - Dambusters2013 will be on BBC Radio Lincolnshire's Breakfast Show! Should be good fun and give the 'cause' a good boost!

 

Some great images from dambusters2013 rider Frank Speake and his trike!!

Frank took his brilliant looking trike our for a bit of a 'shake down' today and took in some great 'Dambusters' sights around Woodhall Spa including the Dambusters Memorial and the famous Petwood Hotel, wartime Officers Mess for 617 sqdn.

Enjoy his images .... and the shine on that trike!

Simon 
Dambusters2013

The Dambusters2013 Mohne Dam Commemoration Event begins to take shape.....

The Dambusters2013 70th Anniversary Charity Motorcycle Ride starts with an iconic event hosted by RAF Scampton on the 14th May 2013. The riders then make their own way to meet again at the Mohne Dam on the 16th May 2013 ....

Until now detail has been thin on the Dambusters2013 events at the Mohne Dam itself but I can now let people know what our plans are in more detail. Yes - we still await some final confirmations but at the same time we want to give our riders the time to plan their riding and route so that they can arrive at the Mohne Dam by 3pm on the 16th May 2013! Why 3pm???????

Simples! At 3pm we hope to be linking up with some bikers local to the Mohne Dam Main Car Park for a joint UK/German ride around the Mohnesee!! It is even possible that we may be allowed to ride across the Mohne Dam itself as part of the ride out - still to be confirmed!

After the ride - there will be plenty of time to find your accommodation and then be back at the Mohne Dam by about 11pm for the actual commemoration event itself when the Dambusters2013 Team and, hopefully but this is the plan, the Local Mohnesee mayor will lay wreaths onto the waters of the lake at shortly after midnight on the night of the 16th/17th May exactly 70 years to the day and time that the Lancasters of 617 Sqdn led by Wg Cdr Guy Gibson attacked the Dam in 1943.

So there we have it - a fantastic and iconic event to start the Dambusters2013 charity rode at RAF Scampton, wartime home of 617 Sqdn and now a joint ride out with local bikers and a commemoration event attended and supported by the Mayor of the Mohnesee locality.

There is no doubt that Dambusters2013 is one the more 'interesting' Ride Outs for 2013 ..... and we are raising cash for Help for Heroes and Motorcycle Outreach at the same time. If you are a biker and not already registered to ride with us ... well what are you waiting for??

How cool is that????

The sublime to the ridiculous!

The sublime ..... the grace and beauty of the Lancaster bomber in the hands of arguably her most famous pilot of all time, Wg Cdr Guy Penrose Gibson VC, DSO & bar, DFC & bar.

 

and then the the ridiculous .... today I found myself completing an MOD Form requesting that the RAF send two Tornado GR4 fast jet aircraft from their most famous bomber squadron to fly over a place of my choosing and at a time of my choosing ..... and they will actually do it for me! How bizarre a feeling that was when I hit 'Send' on the email back to the MOD! But there it is .... 617 Sqdn will indeed by flying two Tornado GR4 aircraft over RAF Scampton to coincide with the bikes and riders of Dambusters2013 lining up for the 'team photo' before we all set off for the Mohne Dam from RAF Scampton on 14th May 2013.

Why are we doing all this and why will the MOD being saying 'Yes' to my request? To raise money for two fabulous charities - simples!

80% of what Dambusters2013 raise will go to Help for Heroes (www.helpforheroes.org.uk) whilst 20% will go to Motorcycle Outreach (www.motorcycleoutreach.org) .

The motorcycling community riding for the good of others today and commemorating the lives lost on all sides as a result of the Dams Raid of May 1943.

If you are a biker and reading this - get involved - visit www.dambusters2013.org.uk - do it now!! All you have to do is look at the image below .... that is why we are doing it. 'Nuff said.

Avro Lancaster Bomber - WWII Colour Film of the Lancaster

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2SWXg9e_0s

Credit for this great piece of film goes to aviationvideosdvd who posted this onto youtube.

Enjoy ... it was new to me.

Box art from the latest Airfix Dambusters release...

Thought I would share this with you all. It is the image on the box of the latest release from Airfix, that well known british model brand. It is a cracking computer generated image of a 617 Sqdn Lancaster BIII Special pulling away from the Mohne Dam just after its Upkeep weapon has detonated! Quite an image ....

The image is stark reminder of the raid and the reality of what it did in breaching the Mohne & Eder dams on the night of 16th/17th May 1943.

Dambusters2013 is a charity motorcycle ride that is commemorating the loss of life on both sides of the conflict and in doing so seeking to raise cash for two wonderful charities, Help for Heroes and Motorcycle Outreach. You can find details of the ride at www.dambusters2013.org.uk , and if you are a biker a tab to register to take part and do your bit!

Thank you.

AJ-E crash site to be commemorated on anniversary

Source: Dambusters Weblog by Charles Foster
http://dambustersblog.com/2013/04/07/aj-e-crash-site-to-be-commemorated-on-anniversary/

One of the Dambusters Weblog's growing number of German readers, Volker Schürmann, has contacted us to say that he plans to commemorate the Dams Raid crash of AJ-E on 16 May. He is writing a report for a local history club in Haldern, where he lives.
AJ-E, piloted by Norman Barlow, was the first of the five aircraft tasked with attacking the Sorpe Dam to leave Scampton (after Joe McCarthy was delayed by a fault in his designated Lancaster) but came down shortly before midnight. It is not clear whether it was shot down or crashed after hitting high tension electric wires. In any case, the top secret mine did not explode, so within a few days of the Dams Raid, the Germans were able to find out exactly the full details of what had been used.
Volker has also unearthed this brief biography of AJ-E’s flight engineer Leslie Whillis, for whom the Dams Raid was his 23rd operation, in a report of an auction held in 2001.

Lancaster B1 Special ED825...

One of the privileges of doing first Dambusters2012 and the this year Dambusters2013 is that I now count Sqn Ldr George 'Johnny' Johnson as a friend.

Johnny was bomb aimer on Joe McCarthy's Lancaster in 617 Sqdn and attacked the Sorpe Dam on the night of the 16th/17th May 1943. Much has been written about that night but suffice to say that it was only on the 10th run across the Sorpe dam that Johnny was happy to drop his 'Upkeep' weapon .... right on target. A true hero.

What is less known is that Joe McCarthy and his crew took off in the 'spare aircraft' as their own went 'tech' on them. The spare aircraft they took off in was Lancaster ED825, AJ-T .... and here she is in this famous image of a Dambusters Lancaster. The actual Lancaster that Johnny and his crew flew to the Sorpe dam and back.

It is also with immense pride that we enjoy Johnny's support for Dambusters2013, our efforts to raise cash for Help for Heroes and Motorcycle Outreach, and also for the small part we will play in commemorating the lives lost on both sides due to the Dams Raid.

For more details go to www.dambusters2013.org.uk

A couple of 'Start Event' News Items ....

A couple of 'News Items' for Dambusters2013 riders with regard to the Start Event that is being hosted by RAF Scampton on 14th May 2013.

Firstly, final access for the event to take place at Hangar No.2, 1943 home of the Dambusters is confirmed. We will be hosted on the morning by the team of volunteers that run the RAF Scampton Heritage Centre which includes some fabulous displays linked to the history of 617 Sqdn and the other historic RAF squadrons who have been based at RAF Scampton over the years. Integral to the mornings plans will be a full line up of all the Dambusters2013 bikes and riders in front of Hangar No.2 facing the airfield for a 'must have' photo for all of us! 

Secondly, it has been confirmed to us today that today's Dambusters, 617 Sqdn, will be sending their two 'tail art' Tornado GR4 aircraft on a flypast over RAF Scampton on the morning of 14th May as their contribution to the Dambusters2013 Start Event! Current plan is that the Tornados will power across the RAF Scampton airfield at around 11am as we assemble our bikes for the 'team photo' mentioned above!

If you catch the Tornados with their Dambusters 70th Anniversary Tail Art in the same shot as the Dambusters2013 bikes and riders lined up in front of the wartime Dambusters .... wow, what an image that will be!

 

Dambusters 2013 is a charity motorcycle ride that is commemorating the 70th anniversary of the famous Dambusters raid of 1943 by riding from RAF scampton to the Mohne dam, Germany between 14th and 16th May 2013 to raise funds for Help for Heroes and Motorcycle Outreach. For full details on the ride, our charities and to register please visit www.dambusters2013.org.uk

 

Powerful support....

My good friend from 617 Sqdn, Flt Lt Stew' Campbell, modern day Dambuster pilot in front of his Tornado GR4 shortly before taking off on a practice mission showing his support for Dambusters2013.

This is the second year running that Stew' has helped me raise money for Help for Heroes. Last year Stew' flew one of our Help for Heroes teddies on an active service mission over Afghanistan during Operation Herrick 16 which we then auctioned at the Birmingham Help for Heroes Ball in November 2012.

 

For more information about the Dambusters2013 charity motorcycle ride in aid of Help for Heroes and Motorcycle Outreach please visit www.dambusters2013.org.uk . Thank you.

Good meeting today at RAF Scampton ...

Really successful meeting with RAF Scampton and the RAF Scampton Heritage Centre today talking about the Dambusters2013 Start event on the 14th May - more details to follow later on this blog but check out the modern day version of a very famous photo ...

May 1943 ... Wg Cdr Guy Gibson and Sqn Ldr David Maltby... both heroes of 617 Sqdn and the Dambusters Raid.

 April 2013 ... Maureen Hanson of the RAF Scampton Heritage Centre and Harry Dufton ...

Thanks for all your help Maureen - you're a wonder!

Dambusters2013 is a 'Featured Event' at the Help for Heroes Website!

Did you know that Dambusters2013 is a 'Featured Event' at the Help for Heroes website??

Visit http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/get-involved/events-and-fundraising/special-events/Dambusters and see for yourself!

There are now more than 70 riders ....

More than 70 riders have now signed up to ride on the Dambusters2013 70th Anniversary Charity Motorcycle Ride!! Should be a brilliant line up outside hangar No.2 at RAF Scampton for the 'Pre-Ride' group photo on the morning of 14th May 2013!

If you are a bikers and reading about Dambusters2103 for the first time then go to www.dambusters2013.org.uk for more information and to register to be part of what promises to be one of the iconic rides of the year! Don't miss out!!

If you have already signed up - thank you - it's going to be a great ride!

Simon
Dambusters2013