The Dam Busters Page #4

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to have your say.

Then I'll have mine.

But they know nothing

about it yet.

The news only came through

in the afternoon.

And actually I wanted you

to be the first to know.

- What did they told you?

- That the whole thing was off.

Done with, finished.

I don't know who said that,

it didn't come from us.

What I'm telling you now is official.

Orders have just come through from Downing

Street that it's to go ahead right away.

The Prime Minister is

enthusiastic about it.

The time is the vital element now.

The dams must be attacked early in May

when the water level is at its highest.

After that the level begins to drop.

Naturally, I know that.

I made it clear in my report.

It only leaves a bare two months

to train a squadron and prepare the bombs.

Can you do your part in that time?

Well... I'll do my best.

That's how it is. I expect you all

want to get back to your groups.

I want a maximum effort tonight.

See if we can get a real knock at Essen.

Right.

Cochrane, don't go for a minute.

What do you think of Wallis' idea

of bursting the Ruhr dams?

It sounds a bit far-fetched,

but personally I think it can be done.

I hope you're right.

Anyway, I've given it my support

and I've had orders to get ready.

- I want you to take it on.

- Right, sir, I'd like to.

It'll mean taking a squadron out

of the line for special training.

No, we must form

a special squadron for this

and man it with experienced crews who've

just finished their present 30 trips.

Some of those keen youngsters

won't mind doing an extra one.

Have you anyone in mind

to command the squadron?

Yes. Gibson.

Rad shutters auto.

Rad shutters auto.

- Brakes off.

- Brakes off.

N*gger, come on, boy!

Come on!

Come on, N*gger!

Come on, old fellow.

You won't have to wait

for me for a long time.

No, you won't!

Going on holiday, down to Cornwall.

Rabbits. Rabbits, boy!

Come on, Skipper,

you'll miss the bus.

OK! Come on, N*gger.

Come on, boy!

There's a show called "Let's Face it!"

at the Hippodrome.

- That's the Cole Porter musical.

- You've seen it?

Yeah, I saw it last fall.

But I'll see it again.

"Full Swing" at the Palace

with Jack Halbert.

Can you walk straight in on these shows

nowadays or do you have to book?

You can't get into the stalls

because of the Americans.

Most nights you can get in somewhere.

There's four of us for London,

Skipper.

We can get the 3:15 tomorrow

and see a show before we split up.

- All right, you

can count me in.

- We'll have a couple

of taxis here at 2:30.

Excuse me, sir. There's a message

for you from Group.

The A.O.C. would like to see

you at 11 o'clock tomorrow.

Oh... right.

You wait there, old boy.

Stay there.

Wing Commander Gibson, sir.

- Good morning, Gibson.

- Good morning, sir.

Congratulations on the bar

to your DSO.

Thank you, sir.

- You finished your third tour last night?

- Yes, sir.

Would you be prepared

to take on one more trip?

What kind of trip, sir?

I can't tell you much about it

for the present

But it'll be a special one

and you'll command the operation.

I'm afraid it would mean putting off

your leave.

How do you feel about it?

- All right, sir.

- Good.

It's going to need careful training

and the Commander-in-Chief

wants a special squadron formed.

It will be best if you form it yourself.

I'm telling all the squadrons they'll have

to give up their most experienced crews.

They're not going to like it.

- Is Group Captain Whitworth there?

- He's just arrived, sir.

- Ask him to come in.

- Very good, sir.

What kind of training is it to be, sir?

What sort of target?

I can't tell you the target yet.

But it will be low-flying.

You've got to be able to low-fly at night

until it's second nature.

- Hello, Whitworth.

- Good morning, sir.

- You know each other?

- Oh, yes. We're old friends.

- Hello, Gibson.

- Hello, sir.

You'll be forming this squadron

at Whitworth's main base at Scampton.

I'm sorry I can't tell you any more,

but the immediate job is to get

your crews and get them flying.

There's one other thing:

You'll have to watch security.

As far as others are concerned,

this is just an ordinary new squadron.

Very good, sir.

Now go off with Group Captain Whitworth

and he'll help you to get things going.

You'll find pretty well

everyone that matters in here, sir.

- On this board or here, in these albums.

- Right, thank you.

Now then... Oh, thanks.

I'd go for these Australians if I were you:

Les Knight and Mickey Martin.

Martin knows all there is to know

about low-flying.

Yes, I met him

when he was collecting a DFC.

I know this New Zealander, Les Munro,

I'd like to have him.

- And Joe McCarthy, he's great.

- Oh, the American. The Glorious Blonde.

He used to be

a Coney Island beach guard.

We mustn't forget the English.

Here is Bill Astell.

Oh yes, and David Maltby.

No, he's just started another tour.

And Hoppy Hopgood

from my old squadron.

I'd like to have Dave Shannon

and Burpee from there too.

We shan't be popular

with the other squadron commanders

if we start squeezing

chaps like these from them.

There are two I'd like

as flight commanders:

Henry Maudslay and Dinghy Young.

- Do you know them?

- I know Young well.

I told him to fly

in the Oxford University Air Squadron.

He was a rowing blue.

Henry Maudslay's a darn good athlete too.

He's a miler, I think.

You couldn't have picked two better chaps.

- What about your own crew?

- They're off on leave this afternoon.

They've had a hard tour and must be

sick of the sight of me by now.

I'll leave them alone.

Come on, N*gger.

Hurry up, Skipper,

you'll miss the train.

You fellows go ahead,

I shan't be coming.

- Why? What happened?

- Nothing much.

- They've given me another job.

- A staff job?

- No, forming a new squadron.

- What? Not before your leave?

Yeah...

You tell the boys, will you Trevor?

You chaps will have to hurry

if you're going to get the 3:15.

You needn't bother about that, Crosby.

- I'm not going.

- Not going, sir?

No, but you needn't unpack everything again

because we're moving to Scampton.

- You go and get your dinner.

- Very good, sir.

What are messing about for?

I told you, I'm not going.

Skipper, this new squadron...

Are you going to fly with it?

- Of course I'm going to fly with it.

- Well, you'll need a crew, won't you?

Of course, but I'll get one all right.

Ooh, you mean you've had enough of us.

You want to get rid of us.

I didn't say that.

Well, we've just had

a committee meeting.

There's a general opinion

that it's not going to be safe

to let you fly about with a lot of new

people who don't know how crazy you are.

It's the general opinion

that you'll need us to look after you.

Well... if that's what you want to do,

all right.

I think you're the crazy ones.

The whole bunch of you.

Two more beers, please.

There's eleven DFCs already

and three bars.

You can bet your boots

it's something big.

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