Can I get a whop whop for the Merlin engine, one size DID fit all...and the later griffon version.
The Dambusters
- Thread starter Tubey
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I marvel at the ingenuity of people like James Buchanan Duke and Alfred Nobel. That their inventions ended up killing millions is besides the point, their ingenuity is great, and they've done nice things like the Nobel peace prize (the irony) and funding Duke University.
ToffeeMark
Player Valuation: £30m
War is hell, and credit the bravery of the RAF etc, but it is still hell and they are flying instruments of war designed to win a war by killing the enemy and destroying their capability and their will to wage war.
Bomber Commands strategy was to demoralise and kill the german industrial workforce. It is a hell of a thing, but there you go. Don't go to war unless you can deal with the consequenses and what you have to do to get the job done.
Sir Arthur bomber Harris:
The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw and half a hundred other places, they put their rather naive theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind.
the aim of the Combined Bomber Offensive...should be unambiguously stated [as] the destruction of German cities, the killing of German workers, and the disruption of civilised life throughout Germany.... the destruction of houses, public utilities, transport and lives, the creation of a refugee problem on an unprecedented scale, and the breakdown of morale both at home and at the battle fronts by fear of extended and intensified bombing, are accepted and intended aims of our bombing policy. They are not by-products of attempts to hit factories
Bomber Commands strategy was to demoralise and kill the german industrial workforce. It is a hell of a thing, but there you go. Don't go to war unless you can deal with the consequenses and what you have to do to get the job done.
Sir Arthur bomber Harris:
The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw and half a hundred other places, they put their rather naive theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind.
the aim of the Combined Bomber Offensive...should be unambiguously stated [as] the destruction of German cities, the killing of German workers, and the disruption of civilised life throughout Germany.... the destruction of houses, public utilities, transport and lives, the creation of a refugee problem on an unprecedented scale, and the breakdown of morale both at home and at the battle fronts by fear of extended and intensified bombing, are accepted and intended aims of our bombing policy. They are not by-products of attempts to hit factories
steken1
Player Valuation: £70m
I feel like nobody really want's to educate young kids today about this type of thing. And the millions of other things that made our country great.
Nobody seems to be able to put a finger on a national identity and teach them to take pride in themselves and the achievements of our country.
It's massively detrimental to society IMO.
Nobody seems to be able to put a finger on a national identity and teach them to take pride in themselves and the achievements of our country.
It's massively detrimental to society IMO.
roydo
in memoriam - 1965-2024
It was the sheer ingenuity of the idea, solving the problems it threw up, then executing the plan that is amazing to me. In the same way they built, from scratch, mega machines to decode German message at Bletchley Park, kept producing ammo, planes etc when half a factory was bombed. Incredible when you think about now.
roydo
in memoriam - 1965-2024
Too true mate. I was dismayed when I helped my eldest lad with some, *ahem* "history" revision a few years back. It was so limp, and covered stuff that happened when I was alive FFS!
Documentary on BBC2 right now.
ToffeeMark
Player Valuation: £30m
I got buzzed by the lancaster and escort in Leics today, (Melton). Impressive site.
tsubaki
Player Valuation: £90m
Is that the one that was on last year? If so there is a fantastic line in it -
Most astonishing RAF raid of the war - though the later 617 and 9 squadron Tallboy (a bomb also invented by Wallis) raids were much more effective, and safer.
Remembrance Sunday has come and gone for another year, and once again it has brought to mind an event that occurred a full 40+ years before I was born, yet was so influential that it basically shaped my educational motivation from the age of 11+, and is probably the sole reason as to why I have such a steadfast patriotism towards my country - regardless of my dislike of the prima donnas in the England football team!
The Dambuster mission wasn't the definitive mission of WW2 by any means, and by highlighting this mission I'm not disregarding the harrowing heroics on the beaches of Normandy.
But the thing that makes the Dambusters so special for me is how it is was a mix of mental ingenuity and physical skill. The ultimate combination of scientific and dextrous brilliance.
For those who don't know what the hell I'm referring to, the Dambusters is the popular term given to a successful bombing mission in WW2, targeting the Möhne, Sorpe and Eder Dams in Germany; central to the German manufacturing system.
The dams were an obvious target, but the current bombs of the day (1943) could not accurately damage them, and torpedoes could be stopped by nets in the lakes.
Enter Barnes Wallis! A British scientist, he invented a bomb that literally bounced along the surface of the water and to explode at the exact point of impact with the dam.
This ingenuity was combined with the skill of pilots to carry off the mission. The bombs had to be dropped at a certain height (exceptionally low to the ground) and a certain distance from the dam to be successful. To do this, the pilots used manual apparatus to measure distance from the dams, and a system of lights to determine height.
To highlight how f***ing insane that idea was, here's a GIF.
Yet amazingly, they pulled it off, destroying two of the three dams.
The impact on the war wasn't as sizeable as one would have hoped, but for me the sheer nerve of the entire thing just awes me. Flying at extremely low altitudes with the most basic of aerial technology, attempted new methods just on the off-chance it comes off... Bravery and brilliance.
Whenever I feel annoyed at Britain, or whenever I question why people who live here give a crap about our nationality as a whole, I remind myself of the Dambusters and the brave people who flew those Lancasters for the greater good.
I'm a proud Scouser for many reasons, but at least I'll always have a reason to be a proud Brit too.
RIP to the 53 pilots who lost their lives in that operation and, to be fair, the thousands of Germans who lost their lives too - but that's the horror of war, and shouldn't deflect from the overall brilliance of this mission.
And for anyone who hasn't watched the film The Dambusters, and/or haven't found out more about Operation Chastise, I urge you to do so! It'll restore your faith in the ability of man to overcome the most daunting obstacles.
yeah great film and heroes to a man
but don't mention the code word for a successful operation and how the faithful dog was killed in a road accident waiting for his master to return.
It was a new one, actually a live show in regards to the 70th anniversary.
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