65 Years
Happy anniversary Dambusters, 65 years today.
Lest we forget.
I wish I'd been at Derwent last week. I've seen City of Lincoln flying several times before and it never failed to bring a lump to my throat. The Dambusters Raid was an extraordinary mixture of technical ingenuity, astonishing flying skills and sheer chutzpah. It is interesting to note that during the 1st Gulf war, Tornados of 617 Sqn were tasked with the job of low-flying over Iraqi airfields to deliver runway cratering bombs as they were, in the words of one of the pilots, "...the only silly buggers with the ability to carry out bombing runs at zero feet - and the only ones crazy enough to pull it off".
The 56 men who died on the Raid will not be forgotten.
=:~)
So do I, unfortunately I had to work and could not get the time off to go up there. The Dambusters is what inspired me to become a pilot and it was only when I started flying myself I realised what flying at 60 feet within a valley at night actually meant, add being shot at into the mix and it is truly a fantastic achievement of airmanship.
I would have gone if I'd have known it was on! I didn't see any advance publicity. As Sod's Law goes I even had that day off work, but I was having new windows fitted.
Regards,
James