Dambusters footage

[rickshaw]

[zenrat]

Some of the colours are a bit odd and some of it looks suspiciously like it's been generated by AI from a photo, but it was worth watching (even though, as we all know, the world was black and white until 1960).
Thanks.
I watched it with the sound down so I have no comments on the soundtrack.

 

[PR19_Kit]

I watched it with the sound up, and it was a pretty good commentary, but many of the shots were taken from the 1955 movie, rather from real footage of the raid. I've seen the movie HUNDREDS of times and know it off by heart now!

Lots of the shots were of PA474, the BoB Memorial flight Lancaster, but there were some interesting shots of Wellingtons purporting to be Lancasters, and some even more interesting shots of Mosquitos dropping the smaller Highball bombs.

The shot of the dummy model damn being blown up early on was taken at the Building Research Centre at Watford and they were one of my customers in the 80s, and the damn model was STILL there then!

[rickshaw]

I noticed the odd shots of Wellingtons and Mosquitoes.  What always interested me about the Mosquitoes was that when the movie was made, Highball was still classified but in the movie they clearly showed it being tested!  Oops!  Someone gave the moviemakers the wrong can of film obviously.  I always thought the cameraman on the tests was a brave man 'cause one of the test bombs came damn close to him.  The Wellingtons were clearly a mistake.  The Lancasters were clearly all from the movie and a damn fine movie it always was.  I wonder how much formation though they did in the real raid?

[zenrat]

IIRC the first test drops were done with a Wellington piloted by Mutt Summers (as he was Vickers chief test pilot).
Brickhill includes details in his book.

<edit>  Just realised I have James Holland's book next to me.
December 4th 1942 Mutt Summers piloted a modified Wellington which dropped a test bomb at Chesil Beach.  Barnes Wallis was bomb aimer.

[jcf]

"Restored and Colourized"? No, they've run the footage through crap AI "enhancement"
and "colourizing" tools which is why the images are now horribly fuzzed out and without
the details you see in the original footage, official and the 1955 film. Horrendous garbage,
created by eejits for eejits.

[PR19_Kit]

Was there any 'original footage' of the raid itself? I can't say I've ever seen any.

[zenrat]

I can't see 617 wasting time filming or taking photos when they should be concentrating on watching out for bandits and flying at zero feet over occupied Europe so I doubt it.

[NARSES2]

I can't see 617 wasting time filming or taking photos when they should be concentrating on watching out for bandits and flying at zero feet over occupied Europe so I doubt it.

Was there some footage taken post the raid, enactment type stuff for propoganda purposes ?

[PR19_Kit]

The actual bomb itself was still on the Secret List when they made the film, that's why the 'Bombs' in the film are a) huge and b) the wrong shape. They couldn't have done any realistic filming post the raid just because of that.

As I said in my original post, all the colourised vids they show were pinched originally from the film footage, I know every moment of that film by heart!

[jcf]

I was referring to the original footage of the tests etc. that was used to create the
craptastic video. Frames of film that are now a blurry and muddy mess of blocks of
overlayed colour.

The films on the Imperial War Museum site from which the "restored" footage was clipped.

There is some repetition, but in many cases what appears the same as in a different
film isn't actually. Some of the sequences are murky, other ones very clear in the same
film. Ignore the museum assigned titles on some of the films.

First of three parts, each over 10 minutes long, links for second and third parts are to the left
under the video frame. Beginning at 6:38 minutes in Part One is a sequence of closeups of
bombs being dropped into a pit, you can see the rotation drives and if you watch carefully you
can see how they move outward to release the bomb. The erratic drop that heads at the
photographer starts at 07:34. Part Three shows tests against HMS Malaya, in one run the bomb
punches right through the 5/8" thick hull plating towards the bow and ends up inside the ship.

Highball - Summary of Developments  01/43 to 04/44

Land tests, on the second drop it rolls along the ground, bowling for bunkers.

Highball - Drops on Land

Upkeep and Highball Tests

Upkeep One

Upkeep Two