Had the pleasure of spending 10 minutes with Les Munro at an airshow in Tauranga NZ in 2012 - he received the DFC and remained with 617 as a Flight Commander till the end and returned to farm in the Bay of Plenty and served also as a Local District Councillor - eventually passing in 2018 as the last remaining Dambuster pilot - it is not often you get to meet and talk to real heroes. Lest We Forget! Excellent doc - well done!

@luca5221

3 ай бұрын

Was Johnny Johnson who passed last in 2022 but all incredible people

"Such a cruel war must not be repeated." Johannes Dörwald

My dad crossed the… Enemy Coast… 32 times as an m/u gunner in a 101 Sqn Lancaster Bomber between March - August 1944. I have his log book. On more than one occasion he mentions the intense flack.

@davesheppard8797

6 ай бұрын

My Dad joined up as a wireless operator/Air gunner but it turned out he was slightly colour blind on blues and greens. Instead he became an LAC class 1, instrument maker. Your Dad, like all those crew members, was a brave man!! People like him should never be forgotten. Dave.

@Free-Bodge79

4 ай бұрын

Legend ! 💛👊

@bhut1571

4 ай бұрын

He was lucky to survive. My Dad was a pilot and air mech well before the War. Fortunately he was held up on the Com Air Training Plan here in Canada so was late to join Bomber Command otherwise I'm sure there wouldn't be a me.

This has quickly become one of my favorite channels. Excellent work once again! We need videos like this so we don't forget and the next generation learn about the great sacrifices that were made. I have always loved the Dambusters story and how they basically skipped it to the dam like we did with stones when we were kids. I wonder if that was part of the inspiration.

Love this channel. It's one of the best, most thorough , and thought provoking you'll find dealing with these topics. ! Brilliant stuff. 👊💛👍

Comment for the algorithm excellent video

I visited the Eder Dam in December, 2019. There was hardly anyone there and the quietness added to mood, knowing what happened there in 1943. Seeing the approach route over the castle and the hard left turn afterwards, it’s a wonder they were able to hit the dam at all.

Another superb documentary! Thanks so much.

Well done, worth a second watch or even a third.

@BattleGuideVT

6 ай бұрын

Thanks John!

Great video. The narration, maps, images from today and the past, and voiceovers are all excellent. One of the things I appreciate most about your videos is how you discuss the human costs. My heart sank when I heard about how many civilians were killed and the stories of the airmen. Frederick Tees' story broke my heart. I can't imagine the pain he felt for decades. Great work again.

@BattleGuideVT

6 ай бұрын

Thanks very much for watching Alex, much appreciated.

@alex4833

6 ай бұрын

@@BattleGuideVT You're welcome! You do such a great job and I appreciate your videos :). Have a nice day.

Civilian casualties are a tragic inevitability of war. Thank you for making this documentary

Yet another superb video - Thanks

@BattleGuideVT

Ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

Ladybower reservoir in Derbyshire was used by the fight crews to practice the bombing approach, as the reservoir had a dam wall with tow towers, similar to the real target German dams.

The thing that gets me is that so many of these selfless brave young men never survived to realise their efforts were not in vain. Respect to them all and those who survived.

Amazing post, thank you.

Good video. Sorry to be a pedant but the plane 3 seconds in (and repeated later) is, I think, an Avro Manchester Mk1. The predecessor to the Lancaster.

Great video , mate.

I enjoyed the video. However, you may wish to check the casualty figures. My records show 53 KIA and 3 POW from the 8 aircraft (each having 7 crew members). To mark the 80th Anniversary of the raid this year, I fulfilled I promise I made to Johnny Johnson on the 78th Anniversary. Starting at Gibson’s grave, I cycled 700 miles to all 4 dams via all of the crash sites and the graves of those lost.

A good friend of my mothers was an RNZAF pilot Noel Toms, ( he flew Wellingtons in Egypt during the war) one of his mates was Les Monro.

Great video 👍

Superb description of the operation, now widely acknowledged to have been a great strategic success. Many thanks for this video. In many other accounts of Operation Chastise, the planned attack on the Ennepe dam is given little mention.

Wonderful recount of the events! I'll let you off on the clip of the Manchester at take-off.

Damn good video 👍

Nice documentary only one minor issue. Lancasters on this raid had a crew of 7 (the normal complement) so 56 men never returned from the raid although 3 of them survived as POW. Fraser and Burcher from Hopgood's aircraft and Tees from Ottley's, The 617 Squadron aircraft prefix code for the raid was AJ.

great piece.

Why didnt you use the codes used or is that due to pc

Joseph Charles "Big Joe" McCarthy, DSO, DFC*, CD (31 August 1919 - 6 September 1998) was an American aviator who served with the Royal Canadian Air Force in Bomber Command during World War II.[1][2][3] He is best known as the commander and pilot of Lancaster AJ-T ("T-Tommy") in Operation Chastise, the "Dambuster" raid of 1943.

@patrickmiano7901

29 күн бұрын

I recall reading he transferred to the USAAF but stayed attached to the British. They must have envied him. The Americans paid much better.

@nickdanger3802

29 күн бұрын

@@patrickmiano7901 BRITISH ARMY (PAY). HC Deb 10 February 1942 vol 377 cc1473-96 From the information I have been able to obtain it seems that the minimum rate of pay of a non-tradesman private in the United States Army who is now in the British Isles works out at about 5s. per day. The minimum rate for the similar kind of private in the Canadian Army is 5s. 2d., and in the Australian Army 6s. 9d. The British equivalent receives 2s. 6d. From then onwards the increases in each case are more or less proportionate.

Another banger

Hey Dan and the battle guide team great video I really thought the amount of smart designers of the upkeep bomb was fascinating as probably many more different types of bombs descended. I also felt in my opinion the attack was successful from a military perspective germany may had been able to turn tables again producing more aircraft if it wasn’t for attack. And i just think if this attack wasn’t conducted the Germans would had still had high morale. Anyway good vid and I think this attack had a positive impact both in military technology and in WW2

Why not just simple drop torpedos???

Was it worth the cost?

Re upload? It seems more refined and re done

@BattleGuideVT

6 ай бұрын

Hi Yes, a re-upload, though with some improvements - we put a post explaining about it in the community tab :(

another 1

One of the reasons that debriefing was so important , areas of concentrated Flak and Searchlights could be mapped , and avoided in future missions . The section tasked to attack the Sorpe Dam crossed the coast at the wrong place , due to navigation error . So were all shot down. As it happens it would have made no difference as the bouncing mines were ineffective against earthen dams. Nuremberg march 30th 1944 , the RAF planners ignored their own rules and decided to fly straight to the target without any feints or spooths . The result was a disaster with 106 bombers being shot down.

I know there was one American 🇺🇸 among the pilots. Did he survive the mission?

@nickdanger3802

26 күн бұрын

Joseph Charles "Big Joe" McCarthy, DSO, DFC*, CD (31 August 1919 - 6 September 1998) was an American aviator who served with the Royal Canadian Air Force in Bomber Command during World War II.[1][2][3] He is best known as the commander and pilot of Lancaster AJ-T ("T-Tommy") in Operation Chastise, the "Dambuster" raid of 1943.

Not too sorry for those on the ground.. they chose total war and paid the price.. there are no innocents when this type of war needs won .

^Gibson's ...mascot dog. his black Jabrador run down at the guard entrance of RAF Scampton on afternoon of 16 May 153, eve of the mission & was called, :NIGGER" a perfectly acceptable name in 1943, as well as the code-word on the R/T for the Mohne Dam breach is ,hated by our 2020 wokista's.R,I.P ALL.

God bless the British and one American flyers. They are the only people I commemorate.

@hardroaddavey5399

3 ай бұрын

617 Squadron RAF was made up of numerous aircrew nationalities. Royal Air Force (RAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) and one American.