The daring raid on the great dams of western Germany by Lancaster bombers of 617 Squadron in May 1943 is probably one of the best known and most widely told stories of the Second World War. In 1955 the raid was immortalized on film by director Michael Anderson in The Dam Busters, starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd. It became Britain's top grossing film of 1955 and in the half-century that has followed, thanks to its almost annual airing on the small screen, it has become a film classic. It is also a firm favorite with aviation enthusiasts due in no small measure to the breathtaking flying sequences featuring the Avro Lancaster. Tucked away in the Pinewood Studios archives are hundreds of rarely seen 'still' photographs from the making of the film. Including everything from storyboarding to location shots, and from the stars and personalities to the aircraft themselves, it is estimated that only about 10 per cent of these high quality pictures have ever been published before. In this book they are supplemented by stunning and previously unpublished air-to-air photographs, taken by the aircrews who flew the Lancasters on camera. Drawing on eyewitness accounts and interviews with film unit and flying personnel, Filming the Dam Busters evokes the optimistic outlook of the new postwar Elizabethan Age, when British cinema had a force and reach not equalled before or since.
This lavishly illustrated account tells the full story, including a chapter on the epic 1954 film The Dam Busters, and fully detailed appendices.
This is the first book to present their individual stories and celebrate their skill, heroism and, for many, sacrifice.
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A masterly history of the Dambusters raid from bestselling and critically acclaimed Max Hastings.
There would be reading, too – he enjoyed detective novels, Agatha Christie in particular, and The Times; he would often read even at mealtimes. In the afternoon, there would be a shared bottle of beer with their gardener – although only ...
The RAF’s dam buster raid of May 16th and 17th, 1943 is one of the most famous stories of the Second World War.
Wing Commander Guy Gibson writes affectionately about his beloved aircrews.
Based on interviews, personal accounts, flight logs, maps, and photographs of the Canadians involved, Dam Busters recounts the dramatic story of these young Commonwealth bomber crews tasked with a high-risk mission against an enemy prepared ...
Born in 1903, David Lewis was an associate producer at MGM, and James Whale's lover. Lewis may just have been keeping Hilton happy. James Curtis reports that Whale and Lewis were very unhappy with the 'lack of feeling' in the first ...
An original mix of film analysis and political history, this book examines the political and cinematic significance of The Dam Busters, as both a British institution and a fine war film.
The Dam Busters