Meet the Dam Busters

Series

Series Name
British Movietone News

Issue

Issue No.
1759
Date Released
18 Feb 1963
Date Other
Feb 1963
Stories in this Issue:

Story

Story No. within this Issue
1 / 2
Summary
MOVIETONE CARD TITLE: Meet the Dam Busters. DESCRIPTION: Seen here, a Vulcan Bomber of 617 Squadron, the Dam Busters, the first squadron to be equipped with the Blue Steel stand-off bomb. Powered by its Bristol Siddeley rocket engine, the bomb can navigate its own way to a target at several times the speed of sound. This missile is as up-to-date in the sixties as the weapons carried by Dam Busting Lancasters in the 1940’s. Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC, was the leader of those missions in 1943, to destroy the dams and powerhouses which drove the Nazi war machine. Here is the Mohne Dam before the attack. A vital back-spin on the bomb, devised by Dr Barnes Wallis, increased the number of bounces so that it could penetrate the torpedo netting defence and travel accurately to the dam wall before sinking and exploding 30 feet below the surface. The ultimate extension of the Bouncing Bomb idea is Blue Steel, and the name which unites them, Dam Busters. SHOTLIST: Key scene. GV Vulcan of 617 Squadron fly past. MS mass of Blue Steel stand-off bombs. MS Blue Steel and engine of same (2 shots). MS fuelling (2 shots). GV Blue Steel being fuelled. MS man demonstrates combustibility of fuel. GV Blue Steel bombs in hangar. LS Lancaster bomber exterior. MS Lancaster bomber. CU bomb (not Blue Steel). CU slogan. MS Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC in 1942. GV same with fellow Dam Buster. GV Lancaster bomber takes off. MS same. Aerial shot Mohne Dam (West Germany). Lancaster bomber over site (2 shots) **Explosion and rushing water**. Bomb demonstration trials in English Channel (2 shots). CU bombs bouncing over waves, explosion. GV Vulcan bomber. MS Blue Steel underneath bomber. GV Vulcan takes off and flies past (2 shots). **THIS SHOT OF THE DAM BUSTING MUST NEVER BE OFFERED OR SOLD TO ANYONE ...FOX COPYRIGHT.
Keywords
Weapons; Aviation; War damage; Engineering; Military
Locations
Lincolnshire; West Germany; Scampton
Footage sources
Admiralty
Card file number
86057
Credits:
Commentator
Leslie Mitchell
Length of story (in feet)
221
Story extras:
Film clip

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AP Archive
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Web
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Phone
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How to cite this record

'Meet the Dam Busters', British Movietone News Issue No. 1759, 18 Feb 1963. https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/newsonscreen/search/index.php/story/24994 (Accessed 01 Feb 2025)