DAMBUSTERS FLEW INTO IMMORTALITY
Saturday, May 17, marks the 60th anniversary of the legendary heroics of The Dambusters, the Second World War's daring and most famous bombing raid on the giant Moehne and Eder dams which sent 350 million tons of water crashing into the valleys of the Ruhr.
Saturday, May 17, marks the 60th anniversary of the legendary heroics of The Dambusters, the Second World War's daring and most famous bombing raid on the giant Moehne and Eder dams which sent 350 million tons of water crashing into the valleys of the Ruhr.Coal mines and factories 50 miles from the dams collapsed in the floods and one of Germany's biggest military airfields was under water. Railways and roads disappeared, canal banks were torn up and power stations destroyed.
The hub of the operation to cripple industry in the Ruhr Valley was St Vincent's off Bridge End Road, Grantham, headquarters of 5 Group Bomber Command, of which the now famous 617 Squadron was a part.
Such eminent military men as Sir Arthur 'Bomber' Harris, Deputy Chief of Air Staff who directed Bomber Command, and Air Officer Commanding Sir Ralph Cochrane worked from St Vincent's.
Four officers who each commanded 617 Squadron in its early years – Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC, who led the historic air raid, Leonard Cheshire VC, Mick Martin and Willie Tait – operated from there. And Sir Barnes Wallis, inventor of the bouncing bomb, was there on the night of the raid.
In his book The Dam Busters, Paul Brickhill describes the tense scene at St Vincent's that night after the squadron's 19 Lancaster bombers took off from RAF Scampton.
Cochrane was walking the jittery Barnes Wallis up and down, trying to comfort him. He was talking of anything but the bomb, trying to take Wallis's mind off it. But Wallis could think of nothing else.
A long silence was followed by a Morse code message crackling in the receiver, read by Cochrane, bending near. "Goner," he said – the code word that meant Gibson had exploded his bomb in the right place, though the Moehne dam remained intact.
Wallis was gloomy. He had hoped one bomb might be enough but Cochrane said: "It's probably weakened it."
Another long silence and another "Goner" message. Then another and another.
The gloom over Wallis deepened. But a minute later the Morse crackled again. This time the code word was "Nigger" – the name of Gibson's dog that died the day before – which meant the dam had gone.
Wallis threw his arms over his head and danced around the room. Cochrane, his normally austere face cracking into a grin, grabbed one of Wallis's hands and congratulated him.
Harris, with the first grin on his face that Wallis had ever seen, grabbed the other hand and said: "Wallis, I didn't believe a word you said about this damn bomb but you could sell me a pink elephant now."
Then Harris said: "I must tell Portal immediately." Sir Charles Portal, chief of the RAF, was in Washington dining with President Roosevelt. Harris picked up a phone and asked the WAAF switchboard operator to get him the White House.
She knew nothing of the top secret raid and dialled the only White House she knew – a little roadhouse at nearby Stoke Rochford. The drowsy landlord was not best pleased about being dragged out of bed after midnight and gave the eminent caller a piece of his mind. He didn't have anyone called Portal staying, or anyone else for that matter because he didn't have room. And in any case he would not have had anyone staying who was likely to be phoned up at that time of night.
Who slammed the receiver down on whom is unclear.
At least two Grantham men, Tom Collin and Gordon Cawthorne, served with 617 Squadron during the war. Another, Spencer Smith, was duty signals officer on the night of the raid.
In the 1954 film epic The Dambusters, Guy Gibson was played by actor Richard Todd who himself had a distinguished war career. Mr Todd later came to the area to live. Now 83, he is in the process of selling his house in Little Ponton.
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Weather for Grantham
Saturday 13 March 2010
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 2 C - 8 C
Wind Speed: 14 Knots
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 2 C - 10 C
Wind Speed: 18 Knots
Wind direction: North west
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