Those nice chaps at the BBC have made this TV doc for Sunday night
“Bomber Boys” Documentary Screens BBC1 Sunday.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01byv2gSunday, 9pm, 5th February sees the BBC1 screening of a feature length documentary on the exploits of the RAF’s Bomber Command during WWII. Presented by former RAF Tornado pilot Colin McGregor and his A-lister actor brother Ewan the programme is a follow up to the BBC1 “Battle of Britain” documentary aired in 2010 on the 70th anniversary of the RAF’s vital victory over Nazi Germany’s Luftwaffe.
This time Colin and Ewan explore the rarely told story of the men of RAF Bomber Command who fought in the skies above occupied Europe. The strategic bombing campaign was in the early years of the war the only means by which Great Britain could hit back at the Nazis. The film focuses on numerous examples of individual heroism and extraordinary collective spirit in a controversial campaign that saw more than 55,000 RAF airmen die, nearly 45% of the Bomber Command force.
The programme covers six years of wartime operations and traces the technical obstacles and operational challenges that were overcome as the RAF developed and deployed the fighting force that was Bomber Command. To better understand the challenges faced by the aircrews Colin & Ewan visit RAF Coningsby’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and fly in the Flight’s iconic Avro Lancaster bomber, one of only two airworthy Lancasters in the world.
The available technology, even by the end of the Second World War, meant that Bomber Command was a blunt instrument especially in comparison to today’s RAF. As if to illustrate this Colin visits Afghanistan and spends time with his former squadron, 617 “the Dambusters” on operations there.
Colin sees that the technology and weaponry available to the RAF today gives the 617 Squadron Tornado detachment in Kandahar far more precision, flexibility and options on operations, which his squadron forebears in the Second World War could only have dreamed of.
Editor: Mr Ed Marshall
Photography:
Colin & Ewan visit RAF Coningsby’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and fly in the Flight’s iconic Avro Lancaster bomber, one of only two airworthy Lancasters in the world.
