"The Dam Busters" - Movie aircraft. Finished pics & back story (at last!) pg 18.

[zenrat]

Are the pictures here any use?

https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/raf-bouncing-bomb-upkeep-ww-2

Marvelous.  Thank you.
 

[zenrat]

Thank you for your patience.

B-17E - Operation Chastise.

B-17 Op Chastise. - 8 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

The Dambusters was John Sturges' follow up to The Great Escape.  Filmed in 1965 it shows the WW2 Operation Chastise Dam-Busters mission from a 1960's Hollywood point of view and starred Steve McQueen as USAAF pilot Joe McCarthy a brilliant but reckless pilot of the 8th Air Force's 617 Squadron, Robert Vaughn as Leonard Cheshire, British Commanding Officer of 617 Squadron, Jack Thompson as Mick Martin, McCarthy's Australian co-pilot; and Barbara Windsor as Elizabeth 'Bomber' Harris a Vaudeville Dancer and Barmaid involved in a love triangle with McCarthy and Martin.
The film opens with Jimmy Doolittle (Micky Rooney) betting Winston Churchill (Donald Pleasence) that his bombers could take out the "German Ruhr dam" and shorten the war.  Doolittle flies in Richard Buckminster Fuller (Harvey Keitel in his first movie role) from the US who invents the Upkeep bouncing bomb after watching 'Bomber' Harris' strip routine.

B-17 Op Chastise. - 16 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

The most memorable scene in the film is probably the sequence where, during its bombing run the bomb in McCarthy's aircraft (the last bomb remaining and so their last chance to blow the dam) refuses to spin up until Martin hangs from the walkway across the bomb-bay and runs on top of it to get it up to speed.  Once the bomb is spinning McCarthy makes nine bombing runs over the dam before his bomb aimer is satisfied, dropping on the tenth run.
Made by United Artists The Dam Busters was filmed on Location in California with the Napa Valley standing in for East Anglia and occupied Europe.  The Hoover Dam and the Salton Sea portrayed the "German Rhur Dam" and its lake .
For the flying scenes Sturges insisted on using real aircraft and not models.  Eleven B17s were recruited.  Two B17Es, one F, and eight Gs.  All eleven were fitted with Upkeeps of varying levels of operability.

B-17 Op Chastise. - 18 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

The Gs  had Upkeep size sheet metal drums attached to the bomb bay doors with no other mechanism.  They just had to look the part.
The F had a full replica of the actual bomb gear and a "bomb" which could be spun up with an electric motor but not dropped.  This "bomb" was securely mounted with a central axle and was made from heavier gauge steel than those on the Gs.  This aircraft was intended to be used for filming the "bomb runner" scene. 
The Es had fully operational bomb gear which could spin up and drop a "bomb" consisting of a hollow drum of welded sheet steel.
Sturges' storyboards for the filming of the movies centrepiece action sequence still exist and show he planned to film actual aircraft dropping actual "bombs" from the point of view of the defenders in the centre of the dam.  Sturges had planned to film at the Hoover Dam but, for obvious reasons both Arizona and Nevada state authorities were not keen on a bunch of moviemakers throwing stuff at their infrastructure and banned them from making drops anywhere on Lake Mead or along the Colorado River.  Zero feet overflights?  Fine.  But bombing runs with an actual drop?  No.
So while the aircraft could be filmed making runs over the dam which had been dressed up with swastikas and replica flak, while thousands of plastic xmas trees lined the lake shores, if they wanted to film actual aircraft dropping actual "bombs" then they would have to do it elsewhere.
California proved much more receptive to the needs of the film industry and issued permits that allowed them to bomb the Salton Sea to their hearts desire.
So a raft was constructed carrying a replica section of dam parapet and a camera, it was moored in the middle of the Salton Sea, and bombing operations commenced.

B-17 Op Chastise. - 9 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

After discussions and a little research (skim reading Paul Brickhill's book) the movie's flight coordinator decided to exactly replicate the real drops and for the first run had the pilot drop his "bomb" from an altitude of 60 feet, 1300 feet from the "dam" whilst flying at 250mph.
It was not a success.
The footage still exists and can be seen on You Tube.  It is particularly impressive viewed in slow motion.
As the spinning metal drum hits the water it rips open and becomes a spinning, twisting curlicue of steel flung back up at the plane.  Narrowly missing the fuselage adjacent to the ball turret (holding a camera - footage also on You Tube) it flies up and over in a parabolic arc plunging back down, missing the tail by inches before tearing open the surface of the Sea.
The camera operator in the ball turret (who had refused to operate the camera on the raft, arguing it was too dangerous) handed in his resignation immediately and went for a long lie down (about 3 weeks).
Following this debacle an ex-Air Force engineer was brought it who after reviewing the footage pointed out that they seemed to have forgotten a variable – the weight of the bomb – and that if it had held together it would certainly have bounced back up into the aircraft smashing into the fuselage in the vicinity of the trailing edge with dire results.

B-17 Op Chastise. - 2 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

Despite this near disaster Sturges was determined to get footage of "real" bomb drops.  Engineering drawings and specifications for Upkeeps were obtained from somewhere (not the RAF who had refused to have anything to do with the movie – possibly from Germany) and more accurate "bombs" were fabricated from steel of the correct thickness which were filled with ballasted concrete.  This time weight was correct to within a pound.  Six were built.
After negotiating with the plane crews who were demanding danger money, filming recommenced.  The first drop with the "new bomb" took place with Sturges himself filming from the ball turret.  This had been a condition of the plane crew who had said "if we're going down you're coming with us".
But the drop was uneventfull as were most of the rest.  Very few would have blown up a dam in real life as the aircraft had no means of accurately judging 60' above the sea's level and for obvious reasons were erring on the high side.  But they were all on target, passing between the towers built on the raft or sinking just short.  As the Salton was 10m deep at the point they were filming divers were required to recover the "bombs" for reuse. 
Most "bombs" managed three drops before they showed visible signs of damage and the plane crews refused to drop them again.  One managed five.  A total of nineteen drops were filmed.  One camera was destroyed when struck by a "bomb" bouncing over the dummy dam and the dive boat was swamped by a near miss.

B-17 Op Chastise. - 16 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

As those who have seen the movie will remember, while the footage made it into the final cut it was very tightly cropped to hide the fact that it had been shot at a different location to the footage filmed at the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead.
Apart from the "Bomb Runner" scene, which featured the B-17F, all other aerial footage was shot with the eight B-17Gs.  Bubble top P-51s were painted to represent 8th Air Force P-51B escort fighters while P-40s played Messerschmitt 109s.
The aircraft pictured is the B-17E which dropped the first, almost disastrous, hollow "bomb".  It is painted to represent Which Witch, the aircraft Joe McCarthy is shown piloting.

The Model

B-17 Op Chastise. - 26 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

Academy B-17E.
Upkeep and mountings from Airfix Lancaster B.III (special) - thanks H.

B-17 Op Chastise. - 22 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

[PR19_Kit]

The model is AMAZING, but the backstory is OUTSTANDING!     

Worth a whiffie nom. all on its own.

[zenrat]

Thanks mate.  Sorry it took so long to write but I ran out of mojo half way through, lost my way and  didn't know how to finish it.

[Old Wombat]

The model is AMAZING, but the backstory is OUTSTANDING!     

Worth a whiffie nom. all on its own.

I'm with Kit all the way on this!    

[Rheged]

The model is AMAZING, but the backstory is OUTSTANDING!     

Worth a whiffie nom. all on its own.

I'm with Kit all the way on this!    

As am I!!

[buzzbomb]

cannot add any more than what has been said   

[Charlie_c67]

Looks simply amazing Fred 

[comrade harps]

I dips me lid to you.

[Wardukw]

Brilliant.. simply brilliant Fred..loved the back story 👏   

[NARSES2]

Absolutely brilliant    The models fantastic, but the back story is something else and the thought of Barbara Windsor as Steve McQueen's love interest is almost sureal   

from the US who invents the Upkeep bouncing bomb after watching 'Bomber' Harris' strip routine.

      

[NARSES2]

For those of our Transatlantic cousins who may not be aware who "Babs" Windsor was, here's her Wiki biography.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Windsor

[kitbasher]

Excellent stuff, great back story   

When can we expect The Dam Busters: Maverick to come out?

[zenrat]

Thanks folks.

I was particularly pleased with the casting.   

I was listening to the "We have ways of making you talk" podcast today.  James Holland (or it might have been Al Murray) stated "the Lancaster was the only aircraft in WW2 which could carry an Upkeep".
If only he knew...

[Wardukw]

Thanks folks.

I was particularly pleased with the casting.   

I was listening to the "We have ways of making you talk" podcast today.  James Holland (or it might have been Al Murray) stated "the Lancaster was the only aircraft in WW2 which could carry an Upkeep".
If only he knew...

   
I do like Al Murray ...the Pub Land Lord is not only very entertaining but he's a walking encyclopedia on WW2 history 😀
I had quite a few TV shows he did on WW2 history which I lost when the bloody HD they were on died 😳