Speaking of the real Dambusters, I came across some sad news on the passing of one of those pilots.
Quote:
FEARLESS AND VALIANT DAMBUSTER HERO DIES
A fearless and brave Dambuster
Friday August 17,2007
By Paul Jeeves
A PILOT who vanquished the pride of the mighty German war machine has died at 87.
Fearless Flight Lieutenant Freddie Watts won the personal praise of Sir Winston Churchill for one of the most heroic flying feats of the Second World War.
Living up to the highest standards of his legendary Dambusters Squadron, he scored a direct hit on the battleship Tirpitz as it tried to hide in a Norwegian fiord.
The valiant mission sent the warship bristling with armaments to the bottom of the sea and removed a potent threat to our forces.
Flt Lieut Watts was one of the last surviving members of the 617 Dambusters Squadron, which was immortalised after destroying two dams on Germany’s Ruhr with “bouncing bombs” in May 1943.
A year later, the RAF had made several unsuccessful attempts to sink the Tirpitz before 617 Squadron was called in and ordered to finish the job.
The squadron flew the outward leg of the mission at low level to avoid being picked up on radar.
The Lancaster bombers then approached the Norwegian fiord at Tromso from the east and, after climbing to 12,000ft, lined up for the target run.
Each plane was armed with a single 12,000lb “Tallboy” bomb, the most powerful armour-piercing ordnance deployed in World War Two.
Flying through a heavy barrage of anti-aircraft fire, each Lancaster released its deadly cargo, the bomber stream taking just three minutes to thunder through the target area.
A direct hit from the aircraft piloted by Flt Lieut Watts left Tirpitz a sinking wreck, her side ripped open by the devastating blast. Eleven minutes later she capsized and slid into the icy waters.
Flt Lieut Watts was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross as Sir Winston Churchill told the country: “The destruction of this ship is the greatest event at sea at the present time. No other target is comparable to it.”
He joined the squadron in 1944, a year after the Dambuster raids which were made into a 1954 film starring Richard Todd as Commander Guy Gibson.
The London-born pilot finally retired from the RAF in 1964 and settled at Tibshelf in Derbyshire, where he worked for Barclays bank.
His daughter Rosemary Smith, of Chesterfield, said: “He had what you would call a good war, he was a hero but he was very modest about his achievements.
“He had a wicked sense of humour and was a good teller of tales.
“Everybody that knew him would say that he was a lovely man. He had a very interesting, very varied life.”
Squadron Leader Ted Wass, 86, who flew with 617 Squadron and is a committee member of its air crew association, said: “This is very sad news. He joined the squadron about the same time as me and was a marvellous chap.
“We are getting fewer – but it is nice to know that because of what it achieved, the name of 617 Squadron will live on long after we have all gone.”
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