… but, this time, some one did ask me to play! Even better, it was at a Prom Concert.
It’s pick up a plectrum time at the Proms as the wonderful Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain invite you to join in their performance in the Royal Albert Hall on Tuesday 18 August. They will be performing loads of favourites including, of course, The Dam Busters theme, and you yourself can play along (if you have a ukulele) in an audience participation rendition of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. The whole thing will be live on Radio 3 if you aren’t able to get to the Albert Hall on the night.
You can see the Orchestra’s version of The Dam Busters here, in a Youtube video recorded at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival. (It’s about 06.55 minutes in after Pinball Wizard and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.)
Author: dambusters
Jackson still working on Dambusters script – official
At last, Peter Jackson has spoken publicly about the delay in starting work on the long awaited Dambusters remake, and revealed that he himself is the cause of the delay. In an interview he told journalists about his various on-going projects:
He said Dambusters, announced in 2006, would be made but was “waiting for me”.
“I need to polish a draft of the script, and I’ve been too busy. Fortunately, there’s no ticking clock, but that has meant that it’s been held up. I’ll get my draft done soon, and will get it, ahem, off the ground.”
He is a busy man – in the same interview he mentions that he’s still finishing The Lovely Bones, beefing up some chase sequences in Tintin no. 1, setting up Tintin no. 2 and co-writing The Hobbit. As a commenter on the NZ Dominion Post article says, he deserves to be knighted for his contribution to New Zealand film industry. Arise Sir Peter!
He said Dambusters, announced in 2006, would be made but was “waiting for me”.
“I need to polish a draft of the script, and I’ve been too busy. Fortunately, there’s no ticking clock, but that has meant that it’s been held up. I’ll get my draft done soon, and will get it, ahem, off the ground.”
‘Last of the Dambusters’ on Youtube
I posted about this interesting (although misleadingly titled) documentary last year, when it was shown on British terrestrial TV. It shows the journey made by Sqn Ldr George (Johnny) Johnson, bomb aimer in Joe McCarthy’s AJ-T, to visit the site in Germany at which his Dambuster Lancaster crashed six months after the Dams Raid. Here it is on Youtube, in five parts.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Enjoy!
It’s enormous!
Here’s your chance to put on your best Kenneth Williams/Hattie Jacques voice. Altogether now “Oooh, Matron! It’s …”
Other pictures on various broadcast media sites haven’t given us a true idea of the sheer size of the replica bombers which Weta Workshops have built for Peter Jackson’s Dambusters remake. Here is a cutting from an unnamed New Zealand newspaper. (Click on picture to see larger version.)
Hat tip The One Ring.
The youngest Dambuster
The youngest airman to take part in the Dams Raid was Sgt Jack Liddell, rear gunner in the crew of AJ-E, piloted by Flt Lt Norman Barlow. He was 18 when he took part in the raid, and lost his life along with the rest of the crew when their aircraft crashed on the outward flight near Haldern in Holland. His remains were reburied after the war in Reichswald War Cemetery.
Not a lot is known about Liddell other than the material on the Bombercrew.com website (from which I have taken this photo, credited to Eric Rundle). His parents lived in the well-known holiday resort of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset.
Jack Liddell is thought to have joined the RAF when he was only 16 (he must have lied about his age) and had undertaken a number of operations with Barlow in 61 Squadron.
BBC South West are now looking to put together a short film about Jack Liddell, and hoping to find some connections with his pre-war life in Somerset. If you can help, please contact the researcher, Charlotte Lewis.
Bill Kerr, back in the hot seat
Australian actor Bill Kerr, a sprightly 86 years old, recently recalled his part playing Flt Lt ‘Mick’ Martin in The Dam Busters. Sitting in the restored Lancaster in the Aviation Heritage Museum in Bull Creek, near Perth, WA, he told a reporter from the West Australian that it had been an honour to play the Australian Dambuster:
“But it took two hours of make up, a wig and a moustache before I really looked like Micky Martin,” he said.
A sprightly Kerr, who calls Perth home, took a trip down memory lane this week sitting in the pilot’s seat of the Avro Lancaster housed at the Aviation Heritage Museum in Bull Creek.
“You know the attention to detail in this Lancaster is incredible — they have done a marvellous job restoring her,” he said. “And the attention to detail in the original film was extraordinary. They even put chocks behind my ears so they stood out to look just like Micky Martin’s.”
Kerr also told the paper that he got the job straight off the boat from Australia when his agent drove him directly to Pinewood Studios for a casting session. However, this might be a slight exaggeration since by 1954 he had already been in a number of films, including the only film about Bomber Command to predate The Dam Busters, the under-rated Appointment in London. This was released in 1952 and starred a young Dirk Bogarde. It was written by John Woolridge, who had served as a flight commander in 106 Squadron when Guy Gibson was its commanding officer. Some commentators think that the Bogarde character is based on Gibson.
Bill Kerr’s role in Appointment in London, according to IMDB, was Flt Lt Bill Brown. The cast included other actors on the cusp of a successful career, including Bryan Forbes, Sam Kydd and Richard Wattis, with the female lead played by the well-established Dinah Sheridan.
John Woolridge not only wrote the script for this film but also, in an unusual combination, its musical score. He was to write more film music over the next few years, before his death in a car crash in 1958. His daughter is the actress Susan Woolridge, well known (in Britain at least) for many TV and film roles.
But it took two hours of make up, a wig and a moustache before I really looked like Micky Martin,” he said.
A sprightly Kerr, who calls Perth home, took a trip down memory lane this week sitting in the pilot’s seat of the Avro Lancaster housed at the Aviation Heritage Museum in Bull Creek.
“You know the attention to detail in this Lancaster is incredible — they have done a marvellous job restoring her,” he said. “And the attention to detail in the original film was extraordinary. They even put chocks behind my ears so they stood out to look just like Micky Martin’s.”
On this day…
On this day 66 years ago nineteen Lancasters of 617 Squadron took off from a grass aerodrome in Lincolnshire on an operation which would change the lives of everyone who took part. Fifty-three of the aircrew died that night, and the destruction of the Möhne and Eder Dams led to the loss of 1341 other lives, many of them civilians or forced labourers.
In contrast to last year, when various flypasts and other events marked the 65th anniversary, there will be no official ceremonies marking today’s date.
Let’s just remember all those who died that night, and the millions more who died during the Second World War, and hope that we never see destruction on this scale again.
In commemoration of those who died, here are some pictures of the plaques marking the crash site of the aircraft AJ-M, piloted by Flt Lt John Hopgood. His efforts to keep his plane aloft let three of his crew bale out. Two, John Fraser and Anthony Burcher survived. Those who died at the site were Charles Brennan, Kenneth Earnshaw, John Minchin, George Gregory and Hopgood himself. The site is about 6km from the Möhne Dam.
The pictures were taken last month by a reader of this blog, Steve Gough, who has kindly let me use them.
Steady, steady – bomb gone, skipper!
I’m told, because I’m not yet lucky or rich enough to have one, that one of the coolest things about the iPhone is the thousands of applications (apps) that you can download – often free and if not, costing just a few pence. If I had one, then what would be one of the first things I would download? Why, this game of course!
Afficianados amongst you will spot the game’s errors pretty quickly… A forward-spinning mine, a Lanc with a mid-upper turret. Tsk, tsk!
Clever Jackson stokes up anticipation
It would seem that the arrival of a replica Lancaster in New Zealand earlier this week is all part of Peter Jackson’s clever publicity strategy – keep everyone guessing, and then let information dribble out bit by bit. It seems that the superstar producer himself turned up at Hood aerodrome in Masterton, New Zealand, to test some of the technology that his company is going to use in the remake of the Dambusters. There have been two separate reports in Wellington’s Dominion Post newspaper, here and here.
The casting and actual production is still some way off Jackson’s spokesperson confirmed:
Matthew Dravitzki, a spokesman for Jackson, confirmed the movie was still in development stages, with work focusing on building the Lancasters and writing scripts.
Just when shooting will start is still under wraps and the movie is yet to be cast.
‘Right now we are having fun working on a number of different projects and have the luxury to make things at our own speed. We are yet to choose the location for the film’s shooting, and that is going to come down to wherever is most suitable for our needs.’
Yesterday’s mockup was also a chance to test new camera technology. ‘We are not shooting any scenes that are project-specific; this is about just keeping up with technology and trying new things.’
This relaxed atttitude would indicate that my prediction last year that the film won’t hit our screens till 2011 is almost certain to come true.
It would seem that the arrival of a replica Lancaster in New Zealand earlier this week is all part of Peter Jackson’s clever publicity strategy – keep everyone guessing, and then let information dribble out bit by bit. The superstar producer himself turned up at Hood aerodrome in Masterton, New Zealand, to see testing of some of the technology that his company is going to use in the remake of the Dambusters. There have been two separate reports in Wellington’s Dominion Post newspaper, here and here.
Jackson’s spokesperson confirmed that the casting and actual production is still some way off :
Matthew Dravitzki, a spokesman for Jackson, confirmed the movie was still in development stages, with work focusing on building the Lancasters and writing scripts.
Just when shooting will start is still under wraps and the movie is yet to be cast.
‘Right now we are having fun working on a number of different projects and have the luxury to make things at our own speed. We are yet to choose the location for the film’s shooting, and that is going to come down to wherever is most suitable for our needs.’
Yesterday’s mockup was also a chance to test new camera technology. ‘We are not shooting any scenes that are project-specific; this is about just keeping up with technology and trying new things.’
This relaxed atttitude would indicate that my prediction last year, that the film won’t hit our screens till 2011, is almost certain to come true.
Real enough?
Hard news from Down Under, with what looks like a pretty good replica Lancaster hidden away on a small airfield in New Zealand. Just in time for the 66th anniversary of the raid next week! (Thanks bro!)
Dambusters Blog 