The Dam Busters Page #8

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Here's the Mhne dam.

That's the Eder.

And there's the Sorpe.

All just east of the Ruhr.

Now, we shall attack in 3 formations.

The first will take the Mhne dam as its

first target, then carry on to the Eder.

That will be nine aircraft in three waves,

taking off ten minutes between each wave.

I'll lead the first with

Hopgood and Martin.

Young leads the second

with Maltby and Shannon.

And Maudslay the third,

with Knight ans Astell.

The second formation

will consist of five aircraft.

Joe McCarthy, Byers, Barlow,

Rice and Munro.

They'll go by this northern route

to attack the Sorpe,

and also act as a diversion

to split up enemy fighters.

The third formation will follow

as a mobile reserve to fill in gaps.

That will be five aircraft.

Townsend, Anderson, Brown,

Ottley and Burpee.

There's a full moon tonight,

so normal ops are out.

We'll be the only people flying.

And to avoid the fighters,

we'll have to keep

at zero feet all the

way there and back.

Any questions?

- Can I say something about the route, sir?

- Yes, go ahead.

I see you've taken it very near

a synthetic rubber factory at Hls.

There's a great deal of flak around there.

It's a hot spot. We nearly got the

chop there about three months ago.

Can I suggest we go a little further north?

Yes, we knew about that

when we planned the route.

The trouble is, if we

go much further north,

we run into another

hot spot round here.

Anyway, we can take it up a little.

Now, the gap isn't too wide,

so watch it, you navigators.

What about the defences on the dam, sir?

Reconnaissance show's them as being fairly

light, you'll see the photos in a minute.

Any balloons, sir?

Up till yesterday, the nearest ones were

around a small factory 1 2 miles away.

We don't expect any.

Sorry old boy.

It's secret, you can't go in.

Come on, hop it.

Hello, N*gger, old boy.

What are you doing?

Who are you looking for, eh?

He's not in his office.

You'd better try somewhere else.

Go on, away you go. Go on!

Hello, N*gger.

No, not in here, old boy. Go on.

Hello, N*gger, old boy.

What are you doing around here?

N*gger!

Well, there it is. That's what the

bomb does, the rest is for you.

And may I say...

good luck to you all.

The Mhne lake looks rather like

a big double tooth.

These strips of water are the roots

with the dam here in the crown.

Here's the Krbecke bridge

where we assemble.

And here's the spit of land which gives us

a head on approach for the attack.

Study these models.

Get every detail into your heads

until you know them with your eyes shut.

Get these code words off by heart.

"Goner" is the word for the explosion

of a bomb in the right place.

"N*gger" is the code word

for a breach in the Mhne dam

and "Dinghy" for a breach in the Eder.

Do you want me, Crosby?

Er, I'm sorry, sir, it's N*gger...

he's been run over. He's dead.

The car didn't even stop.

- Where did it happen?

- Outside the main gate.

He run across the road

and the car hit him.

- Where is he?

- Ln the guard room, sir.

I see.

- Bacon and eggs for me, please.

- Are you flying tonight, sir?

Am I flying?! You know perfectly well I'm

the person who pays you every fortnight.

Your bread and jam is on

the centre table, sir.

No harm in trying.

- We've got the wrong oil.

- It was checked this morning.

No, I don't mean that oil.

It's the bomb release gear.

Wallis is chasing around

for the right kind.

- Can he get it?

- I hope so.

- Are you flying tonight, sir?

- That's the general idea.

Can I have you next egg

if you don't come back?

OK, I'll have yours if you don't.

We've still got an hour.

Let's put our feet up for

a bit before we change.

Not a bad idea. Come on.

- Got anything for me?

- Just one, sir.

- It's only a missed bill!

- I think I'll pay that tomorrow.

Thank you.

It's all right,

they had some of the lighter oil in store.

- Oh, good.

- They're changing it now.

- Bit of luck you noticed it.

- It was my fault it wasn't made clear.

- What about some supper?

- Well... I think I'll have some later.

- Does it worry you, having me about?

- No, I'm jolly glad you came!

Was my talk at the briefing all right?

Oh, fine.

You sold them that bomb hands down.

Coffee, sir?

Er, no, thank you.

Go on, have some.

There's plenty of time.

Oh, thank you.

Evening, sir.

- Flight...

- Sir?

Just a minute.

You know that N*gger was killed

this afternoon?

Yes, sir. I'm very sorry.

Would you bury him at midnight

on the grass verge outside my office?

Very good, sir.

I'd like you to do it at about the time

we're going into the job over there.

I'll see it's done, sir.

Hello, Hoppy. Tonight's the night,

tomorrow we'll have a party.

Come in.

- Laundry just in, sir.

- Oh, great.

Well...

I think I'll have a clean shirt

and a nice clean shave.

What do you want to shave for now?

If we have to bail out,

you never know who we might meet.

There's no point in me bothering.

If we come down together and there happens

to be two about, I'll get the ugly one!

- All right, sir?

- Yes.

Well, chaps, my watch says time to go.

- How is she, Sergeant?

- Bang on, sir.

- All set?

- Yes, sir.

You've done a fine job with this team.

- I couldn't have asked for a better one.

- Good luck.

Thank you, sir.

Good luck.

Come on, then.

OK, Hutch.

Pitch fully fine.

- Pitch fully fine.

- Check fuel.

- Fuel OK.

- Lamps 25 degrees.

- Lamps 25 degrees.

- Radiator shutters automatic.

Radiator shutters automatic.

Well, I suppose

there's nothing much we can do.

Except wait.

The A.O.C. is waiting

to take us back to Grantham.

Send a message to Hopgood.

Heay, Sparks?

P-Popsy signalling.

Martin is having a chat with Hopgood.

What's he saying, Hutch?

He says we're going to get

speeches tomorrow night.

Sure we are!

Biggest binge of all time.

Carry on.

- Well, Coggie, how is it going?

- All right so far, sir.

The first wave is about 20 miles

from the Dutch coast.

Enemy radar has probably

picked them up by now.

Cheer up, Wallis. This is your night

as well as theirs.

Skipper, ground speed: 203.

We'll be there in one hour and ten minutes.

Will be over the Dutch coast

in two minutes.

There it is now.

Stand by, front gunner, we're going over.

The second wave should be coming up

to the Dutch coast now.

Enemy coast ahead.

Enemy coast ahead.

We should be on the line of the canal.

OK, I've got it.

Watch out for pylons.

- There they are.

- Pylons.

At the junction, we alter course.

The next thing we see in the Rhein.

This is new.

Hutch, warn the others.

New course, skipper:

165, magnetic.

The northern wave

have run into trouble on the coast.

McCarthy is going on the

Sorpe dam by himself.

Gibson's formation should be nearly

at the Mhne by now.

There's the lake now.

The main lake and the dam

are off to the right.

There it is, boys.

Pretty impressive, aren't they?

Someone's woken them up.

What do you think about it, Bob?

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