Lancasters

http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/Nightbombers

A unique record of the nightly air raids made on Germany during World War II. There are no actors this is the real thing as it happened. Contains rare archive colour footage from No. 1 Group, Royal Air Force, in action, winter 1943. In the winter of 1943, RAF Bomber Command was sending massive raids almost every night into the heart of Germany. This is the story of one of them, an attack on Berlin, probably the most heavily defended target of them all and one which made terrible demands on the courage of the aircrew. On the long, cold and desperately dangerous missions over Northern Germany and back to a difficult landing in wintry England, thousands of men died or suffered ghastly injuries. One must imagine that they were terrified much of the time, but there is very little sign of doubt or anxiety on the brave faces in Iliffe Cozens� film. Although certain scenes had to be re-created for technical reasons, make no mistake, the raid is a real one and there are no actors.

Wow thanks Java, really amazing film. The shot of the aircrews in mission briefing made me wonder how many of those poor sods survived.

Thanks!

Comp

Thanks for the link, can't wait to watch it tonight.

Number 1 Group was formed on 1 April 1918 as part of the South Eastern Area and, 2 years later, transferred to Inland Area before being renamed Number 6 Group in May 1924. On 25 August 1927, the Group reconstituted as part of the Air Defence of Great Britain and with responsibility for the auxiliary squadrons flying Wapitis, Hawker Horsleys and the Handley Page Hyderabad. It maintained this role until 1 May 1936 when it became No 1 Bomber Group operating Hawker Hinds from Bircham Newton, Upper Heyford and Abingdon.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, 10 squadrons, along with the Group Headquarters moved to France to form the basis of the Advanced Air Striking Force codenamed ‘Panther’, with an aim to prevent the German’s westward course. In May 1940, 12 Squadron attacked bridges over the Albert Canal during which posthumous VCs were awarded to Flying Officer Garland and Sergeant Gray who did not return from the sortie. In June 1940, Group Headquarters reformed at Hucknall in Nottinghamshire with Fairy Battles then Vickers and Wellingtons in its arsenal. Polish squadrons came under 1 Group’s command between 1940 and 41 bringing much needed pilots to our force, hoping to ensure the War would be won. In 1942, No 1 Group re-equipped with Halifax’s and Lancaster’s and attacked the Ruhr Valley, Cologne, Berlin - over 1000 bomber attacks were flown. In 1943 the Group switched the battle to Hamburg, and targets in Genoe and Nuremberg. Over 5000 tonnes of bombs dropped in August including targets in Milan and Turin. During the last 3 months in 1944, personnel of 1 Group were awarded, for valour against the foe, 200 DFCs and 13 bars to DFCs, 62 DFMs, 1 CGM, and 5 DSOs. By the end of 1944 the Group had achieved its ultimate wartime battle order with 12 stations and 16 Lancaster squadrons under its control. No 1 Group flew nearly 60,000 sorties during the Second World War but at a cost: having dropped a quarter of a million tonnes of bombs, almost 9000 aircrew were lost.


http://www.raf.mod.uk/no1group/aboutgroup/1grouphistory.cfm

Great find. Gonna try and see if I can sit down for an hour and watch this, tonight. Thanks.

Here's a blurb from a book I read some years ago that details their state of mind:



From "The Dambusters" by Paul Brickhill.

That was very interesting Java, can you imagine! thank you.

Not seen that before Java, thankyou.

You can see Thunderbolt there too...

Loved it.
What an amazing documentary.
Thanks a lot for the posting.
A very interesting website.Looks like lots to explore.

Thanks for posting, very interesting documentary.

Thanx for the link, I like this even though the video quality isn't the best.

Thank you!!!!

Nice find, thanks!

Holy documentary nirvana!

In addition to the "Night Bomber" episode that started this, there are literally hundreds of hours of documentaries available for viewing. Here's a list of just those that I found through a quick search with a definite aviation theme ...

• 
  http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/American-War-Eagles-Boeing-B-29-Superfortress
  
  http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/American-War-Eagles-The-Chance-Vought-F4U-Corsair
  
  http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/American-War-Eagles-The-Republic-P-47-Thunderbolt
  
  http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/Thunderbolt (this is another one focused on the P-47; narrated by Jimmy Stewart)
  
  http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/Voices-of-War-Stories-from-the-Air
  
  http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/Crusade-in-Europe-The-Air-War
  
  http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/Crusade-in-the-Pacific-The-Air-War-on-Japan (there are many of these "Crusade" titles available, for all theaters of operation)
  
  http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/Jap-Zero (starring Ronald Reagan!)
  
  http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/The-Memphis-Belle
  
  http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/Why-We-Fight-The-Battle-of-Britain
  
  http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/Military-Aviation-Bombers-of-WWII
  
  http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/Military-Aviation-Fighters-of-WWII
  
  http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/Military-Aviation-Fockewulf190
  
  http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/Military-Aviation-Hawker-Hurricane
  
  http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/Scorched-Earth-The-Stuka
  
  http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/War-Files-The-RAF-Bomber-Command

... WOW!

Sandman, just go here for the list of all documentaries on aviation> http://www.factualtv.com/videos/aircraft/1 (there's a page 2 as well)

Fab site indeed!

Very cool guys, thanks for the links to these vids...

OOOOOO I want some of the Magners Pear Cider

You don't - it's muck!

And to quote wikipedia:

You can still get real perry down here in the west country if you know where to look; hell of a different drink to the fizzed-up muck that the big drinks companies foist on people. Have you ever tried Babycham? Yeurrrrgh!

hmmmmm, I'm disapointed to say the least, I kind of fond of pears. No I haven't mate, I actually only drink about 1-3 drinks a year any more, maybe 6 and I'm very selective when I do, it has to be beer