British Film Festival
Documentary – Narrated by Charles Dance
An outstanding documentary about the Lancaster bomber that essentially steered the British and Allied forces to victory over Nazi Germany. This is produced by the same directors who brought the documentary Spitfire 4 years ago. I was fortunate enough to have reviewed that movie as well, which was of particular interest to me as my father was a fighter pilot in WW2.
This documentary was equally as fascinating with some incredible actual footage from their many aerial conflicts and the recollections of surviving pilots, engineers, gunners and bombers – now all in their 90s – as well as some of the female “ground crew” and even a German lady who was on the receiving end when she was only 16.
The Lancaster had to be designed and built in a massive hurry due to the dominance of the German Luftwaffe and the destruction they were inflicting on Britain. We are taken through various missions and hear the impact it had on the crews involved, including the early demolition of Cologne, the famous Dam Busters, and the massive raid on the construction site for the V2 rockets – which had the potential to demolish Britain and give Germany their much-desired victory.
One of the raids that had the biggest impact on me was the order to bomb Nuremberg. The forecast was for heavy cloud cover all the way, but it would be clear over the city. However, winds changed and the reverse happened so they were sitting ducks for the German fighter planes and anti-aircraft guns on the ground and with Nuremberg being shrouded in heavy cloud, most of the bombs missed their targets. The emotional pilot being interviewed put the mission into perspective when he said “we lost 96 planes that night … that means there were 672 empty seats at breakfast in the morning” … and for what?
When they were ordered to bomb Dresden it also became a political issue. The Air Commander received the orders from higher authority and carried them out. The pilots said that after the raid they could see the red glow of fires a hundred miles away on their return journey. Churchill initially praised the mission then changed it to a political issue concerning the number of civilian lives lost and condemning the mission (which he ordered) so basically hanging the Air Commander out to dry.
The statistics are mind-numbing but they only talk about the loss of Air Force lives – over 55,500 of them – but don’t touch on the impact of post-traumatic stress disorder and injuries! I shudder to think what the real numbers are.
This is a fascinating documentary movie and if you have the slightest interest in the Second World War and planes, then please don’t miss it.
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