Browse by Category
FIND YOUR PHOTO ONLINE
If you have had your photograph taken by one of our High Society Photographers simply click on 'Photos' below to find your event.
Celebrating Lincolnshire's Dambusters
Written by Rob Davis on 18th August 2010
This month the steely-face of Martin Shaw comes to Lincolnshire with the star of Judge John Deed and Inspector George Gently revealing his new documentary, Dambusters Declassified. As the mature heart-throb reveals to Lincolnshire Pride, the documentary — to be screened later this month — was a chance for the star to explore his love of vintage aircraft...
Dambusters: the name evokes stirring feelings of patriotism, heroism and technical achievement, and the squadron will be celebrated once again this year with the remake of the 1955 film celebrating the Woodhall Spa squadron.
In advance of this, though, a BBC documentary which this month has its exclusive preview at RAF Scampton — from which the squadron operated — will reveal brand new information about 617’s vital mission, and is presented by one of the squadron’s most passionate fans; star of The Professionals, Judge John Deed and Inspector George Gently actor Martin Shaw.
The documentary will see the 65 year old actor who is from Birmingham and is a trained pilot himself, depart from RAF Scampton in Lincoln with Dambusters expert Wing Commander Chris Norton.
Also a decorated war hero, the two pilots recreated the test flights in which the squadron refined its technique dropping Barnes Wallace’s bouncing bomb in an attempt to cripple the industrial centre of Germany’s Ruhr valley on May 16th 1943.
After recreating the practice flights, the pair then retraced the route the original squadron flew from RAF Scampton to the the Ruhr Valley’s Mohne Dam to meet a local survivior of the raid. The documentary promises to uncover new information about the squadron, and will also pre-empt the release of the remake of Dambusters, the 1955 film.
"The amazing story of the Dambusters has been told many times, especially in the famous Richard Todd movie – but in this documentary we think we have come up with some exciting new evidence that reveals secrets which have remained hidden for the last 67 years.” says Martin, who is delighted that much of the information revealed in the documentary will be news to even the most ardent enthusiast.
“Wartime censorship and a desire to protect what, at the time, was a wonder-weapon led to many aspects of the raid being hushed up. When modern viewers find out what really happened we believe the raid will be seen as even more extraordinary."
Special dispensation to recreate the ultra-low level flying utilised by the squadron has been granted by the Civil Aviation Authority — though the raid will be flown in a Piper Navajo rather than a Lancaster!
"Only by recreating this hugely important moment in wartime history can we fully understand the courage and skill of the airmen who carried it out.” says Martin.
Its VIP preview will take place at the Dambusters Museum at RAF Scampton, with Martin attending alongside Chris, who led the Harrier jump jets of the RAF's elite No1 Squadron against targets in Kosovo and the latest Gulf War.
Martin himself is best known for his role as Ray Doyle in The Professionals from 1977-1982 before he adopted another law enforcement role in ITV’s 1990 series The Chief.
The law-abiding theme of his career continued when he took the title role in Judge John Deed as the maverick QC whose ardent morality and refusal to slip into a politically compliant cliqué of judiciary typecast him further as a principled rebel with a long-standing love interest in colleague Jo Mills.
In a case of art echoing life, Martin himself is a strict vegan and avoids alcohol, meditating and regularly practising yoga. He is also a keen animal rights activist and supports Viva — Vegetarians’ International Voice for Animals — as well as the cancer charity Cancer Active.
More recently, the actor has appeared in Inspector George Gently, the crime drama about an old school detective trying to come to terms with life at a time when the lines between the police and criminals have become blurred.
Alongside his professional interest though, Martin’s personal interest has always been vintage aeroplanes, and the actor owns a 1943 Boeing Stearman and a 1940s Piper Cub.
The documentary is a follow-up to his 2006 Merlins over Malta DVD and a six-part documentary he produced the the Discovery channel Martin Shaw: Aviators. He also fulfilled what he says was a lifetime’s ambition to take the controls of an original Spitfire.
“For too long The Dambusters’ exploits have been lost in a fog of myth and half-truth.” says Martin, who hopes that the documentary will reveal startling new facts about the famous raids that helped to earn Lincolnshire’s reputation as Bomber County.
Dambusters Declassified screens on Wednesday 8th September at 6.30pm on BBC1 and will screen later in the year on BBC2.
DUE FOR release in Winter 2010, The Dambusters will be celebrated in a Hollywood remake of the 1955 film starring Richard Todd, which will be produced by Peter Jackson — whose previous work includes Lord of the Rings — and with a screenplay by Stephen Fry.
The squadron was, of course, based at the Petwood Hotel, but were based at RAF Scampton, from which the 617 Squadron (the group was initially known as the No 5 Group RAF but a new squadron was created specially) flew the top secret mission, which was codenamed Chastise.
Led by Guy Gibson, played by Richard Todd in the 1955 movie, with no 2010 star yet revealed — though Atonement star and Englishman James McAvoy has been tipped — the movie will focus on the creation of Barnes Wallace’s bouncing bomb, with the inventor rumoured to be played by Ian McKellen.
The bomb was designed to be dropped from just 18 metres, at 240mph, technically tricky due to the difficulty in measuring both the aircrafts’ exact altitude and its distance from the target.
The bombs were delivered to the squadron on 13th May, and the raids took place on 16th and 17th May with the crew taking off from Lincolnshire at 9.39pm.
The first formation breached the Möhne and Eder, the second wave missed the Sorpe and were subsequently shot down, whilst the third wave hit both the Sorpe and Ennepe with only minor damage.
Whilst the area was flooded, causing disruption to one of Germany’s key industrial regions, experts suggest that the overall effect on the war was neglible, but the raid served as a very real boost to wartime morale for the allied force and arguably persuaded Stalin that Britain was capable of being a credible ally.
On 16 May 2008, a Commemorative event to mark the 65th anniversary was held at Derwent Reservoir, including a flypast by a Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane.
The event was attended by Richard Todd and Les Munro, the only pilot from the original raid still living, as well as Mary Stopes-Roe, the elder daughter of Sir Barnes Wallis.
The 2010 film has a budget of $40,000,000, and necessitated the production of 10 full-sized Lancaster bombers. Controversy has surrounded the name of Guy Gibson’s dog which, insiders reveal, will be called Nigsy, a nickname that Gibson used to call the black labrador which, fatefully, was run over on the morning of the raids.
The film is still in production, and is still promised to be released in 2010, but some experts suggest delays will ensue to enable the film to be released in 3D format, making 2011 more likely... meaning enthusiasts will have to whet their appetite with this month’s BBC documentary, filmed at RAF Scampton and starring Martin Shaw.
