June 25, 2022

This is quite an interesting documentary-drama based around plans being made and executed by the wartime RAF to bomb an enormous storage facility on the river Rhine. We see the complex jigsaw of intelligence, aerial photography, planning and fighting all put together by dedicated teams of people with varying degrees of experience and expertise before the pilots set off in their "Wellington" bombers for some very risky low flying. The dialogue is … read the rest.

This is quite an interesting documentary-drama based around plans being made and executed by the wartime RAF to bomb an enormous storage facility on the river Rhine. We see the complex jigsaw of intelligence, aerial photography, planning and fighting all put together by dedicated teams of people with varying degrees of experience and expertise before the pilots set off in their "Wellington" bombers for some very risky low flying. The dialogue is interesting from the perspective of just how polite everyone was to the other - they were all serving air officers, and it was produced under the supervision of the Crown Film Unit. That organisation was tasked with creating these public information films designed to educate the public - and to bolster morale - during this early phase of WWII when things were not exactly going Britain's way. Packs quite a lot into 50 minutes, and though it does take a while to get up to speed, is a good example of the team spirit that prevailed then.

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