In 1943 a squadron of Lancaster bombers staged one of the most audacious raids in military history: destroying two gigantic dams in Germany's industrial heartland and cutting the water supply to arms factories. Their secret weapon? A revolutionary bouncing bomb invented by British engineer Barnes Wallis. Led by 24 year-old Wing Commander Guy Gibson, a veteran of over 170 bombing and night-fighter missions, 21 bomber crews were selected from existing squadrons in 5 Group. Operation Chastise was an attack on German dams carried out on 16-17 May 1943 by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, subsequently known as the "Dambusters", using a specially developed "bouncing bomb" invented and developed by Barnes Wallis. The Mohne and Edersee Dams were breached, causing catastrophic flooding of the Ruhr valley and of villages in the Eder valley, while the Sorpe dam sustained only minor damage. Prior to World War II, the British Air Ministry had identified Germany's heavily industrialised Ruhr Valley, and especially its dams, as important strategic targets: in addition to providing hydro-electric power and pure water for steel-making, they also supplied drinking water and water for the canal transport system. The methods used to attack the dams had been carefully worked out. Calculations indicated that repeated air strikes with large bombs could be effective, but required a degree of accuracy which Bomber Command had been unable to attain in the face of enemy defences. Two of the dams were destroyed, but quickly rebuilt by the Germans. In his book Inside the Third Reich, Albert Speer expressed puzzlement at the raids. While he considered the attempt as laudatory: "That night, employing just a few bombers, the British came close to a success which would have been greater than anything they had achieved hitherto with a commitment of thousands of bombers." But, on the other hand, the disruption of temporarily having to shift 7,000 construction workers to the Mohne and Eder repairs was offset by the failure of the Allies to follow up with additional (conventional) raids during the dams' reconstruction, and that represented a major lost opportunity. Ironically Barnes Wallis was also of this view, he revealed his deep frustration that Bomber Command never sent a high level bombing force to hit the Mohne dam whilst repairs were being carried out. Further, a convention was put in place after the war, calling the bombing of dams to be not 'cricket'. Nearly 1700 people were drown(sadly nearly half of them were Allied prisoners and forced-labourers), as well as innumerable farm animals. Road, bridges and railway tracks were flooded; mine shafts flooded. Many towns were identifiable only by their church spires. The attack on the Death Star in the climax of the film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope is heavily influenced by the climactic sequence of The Dam Busters. In the former film rebel pilots have to fly through a trench while evading enemy fire and fire a proton torpedo at a precise distance from the target in order to destroy the entire base with a single explosion; if one run fails another run must be made by a different pilot. In addition to the similarity of the scenes, some of the dialogue is nearly identical in the two films. Star Wars also ends with an Elgarian-style march, like The Dam Busters March. I am adding a link below, which someone put together, using the dialogue from Stars Wars and the film footage from The Dambusters. Eerily similar. On 16 May 2008, a commemoration of the 65th anniversary was held at Derwent Reservoir, including a flypast by a Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane. The event was attended by Richard Todd and Les Munro, the only pilot from the original raid still living, as well as Mary Stopes-Roe, the elder daughter of Sir Barnes Wallis. Sir Peter Jackson, he of the Tolkien movies is filming, or has filmed, a remake. Sir David Frost bought the rights, and Stephen Fry(not a Sir, yet) is writing, or has written the script. I couldn't find too much about this film, other than it suffers from a similar problem as Mark Twain has recently: Guy Gibson's black lab, mascot of the squadron, whose name was used as a code name in the operation, was named #igger. Gasp. The remake, and some over-dubbed pc versions of the film have alternately called him Trigger or Digger. And finally, the Ice Pilots, Season 3, Episode 2 used one of the their DC-4's to recreate the bombing run - I didn't see the episode, and can't find a link to see it online. So, to Annette: For Bobby - Good effort - I think that deserves More Canadian trivia: Lorne Green was a news reader on CBC Radio during the 2nd World War. With his deep, resonant voice, he became known as the voice of doom!! Thanks to all for playing. Shall we do music next week?? It might be a nice restful break - might.... Nancy. - and yes, the # is their cause the GW censor got me!! Here is a link that might be useful: Red Leader??

Lawrence Kasdan had planned to use The Big Chill to showcase his actor friend, Kevin Costner, but circumstances forced him to almost completely cut the actor from the release print. (He's seen only in the opening sequence, and only in the form of specific body parts - i.e. hair, his wrists - as they are being prepared for a funeral.) Kasdan made it up to Costner by casting him in a plum role in his next directorial effort, Silverado (1985), a rousing return to the Western genre which Kasdan and most others his age knew well. Fans have long clamored to see Costner's footage for several sequences showing Alex's life prior to his suicide, but in documentaries and interviews since, Kasden has never shown anything more than still photographs from the location shoot. He has also refused to do any sort of "director's cut," saying that the version of the film as it has stood since 1983 is his director's cut and will not be augmented. Kasdan has approved the release of additional footage, including elongated parts of other scenes that were cut for brevity or other reasons, as bonus material on DVD, but to date none of the Costner footage has ever been released or seen by those outside the production. So, - for everybody this weekend. There, that's more fun, but I'm not going easy on you next weekend!!! Thanks for playing, everybody. Nancy.

Kay - Colorado Moon Fire is a little workhorse. It always jkeeps putting up more scapes here too, usually blooming to the end of July or early August. Mantis - Lord of the Storm's real name is Lord of the Wind. I think I was out in sun for too many hours today. :) The windswept look is the reason I bought it. That cultivar always has a lot of movement.

Mantis, VICTORIAN GARDEN STAR BRIGHT has so far been splotch free. I traded for it last fall in the Trademart. I can't remember what plant I won from the Lily Auction but SAUCY VIXEN was a bonus plant thrown in by the hybridizer. I have had it for several years and makes it through the winters unscathed. I should see some seedlings from it next year. The seedling is 6 inches and 32 inches tall. I find that some daylilies in this color range can be splotchy, but this one has been consistent.