Dambusters - The True Story (1996)

On the Night of May 16-17 1943, Lancasters of 617 Squadron, using bouncing bombs devised by Barnes Wallis, destroyed the Mohne and Eder dams in the Ruhr valley.

It was one of the most brilliant feats of bombing ever achieved. The special bombs had to be dropped from an altitude of precisely sixty feet with no margin for error – all the while under fire.

The Dam Busters Raid, as it has since become known, was also one of the most dangerous missions of the war. Of the nineteen Lancasters which took part, eight were lost and a further two seriously damaged. Wing Commander Guy Gibson, who led the attack, was subsequently awarded the Victoria Cross.

Dambusters: The True Story offers a unique, behind-the-scenes look at the mission. It features exclusive interviews with surviving pilots from the raid, as well as a fascinating insight into the development of the bouncing bomb given by Wallis’s designer. This historic DVD includes previously unseen archive film of the Dambusters’ Lancasters testing the bouncing bomb just before the raids, as well as a visit to the Tornados of today’s 617 Squadron, inheritors of an heroic tradition.