The Great British Summer Weather did everything possible to wreck yesterday's 'Dambuster Open Day' at Scampton... After touring the old ( and now virtually abandoned ) base, seeing Gibson's office, the dog's grave, the Officers Mess, the Briefing Room, there's my Dad and I sitting in the car at 4:30 waiting for the expected Lanc' flypast. Blustery wind, low cloudbase, and raining heavier by the minute. Water streaming down the windscreen. ' They'll never risk the Lancaster in this ' Only six other cars with huddled occupants, all hoping. 5 o'clock, and the rain eases, stops....5.10 and a sudden roar of Merlins as PA474 sweeps in over the trees, banking hard over, we can see the Flight Engineer waving.... Cars and trucks are suddenly stopping on the main road. Three low passes under the clouds, she straightens up and flies directly over and away from us, engines fading as she disappears to a dot in the distance....eyes are moist, people are suddenly smiling at each other... 'Wasn't that great ? '
I think for yesterday and the diminishing years Martin, it would have flown in a hurricane if possible..Not just the sight but the meaning of it yesterday, must have been emotional...my big failing in life...Always carry a tissue to get those summer flys out of your face...
Sorry, Ta - I don't possess such a thing ! Although the weather was so bad that it probably wouldn't have 'shown up' very well on a TV screen. No, it was one of those moments to treasure in the memory !
Martin, were you at the 60th anniversary Spitfire airshow at Duxford, I can still 'feel' the final flypast.
9, I plead ignorance but as always have a good story.... Where Did They Bury Nigger, Again? I have a relevant anecdote for you concerning RAF Scampton. If you've heard it before please forgive me for its repetition. In May 1968, on the anniversary of the famous Dams Raid by 617 Sqn, RAF, a press day was held at Scampton. The liaison officer was showing press and guests around the station, and stopped outside 617 Sqn's HQ. "And here," he said "is where Flight Sergeant Powell buried Nigger, Guy Gibson's faithful dog, at the very moment that Gibson was attacking the Mohne Dam", and he indicated a nice little grave in the garden. A voice from the back called out "No it bloody isn't, I buried him over there, where they've built the Operations Block." This was "Chiefy" Powell himself, and he should have known where he buried Nigger. It seems they hustled him off to the Mess and plied him with drink, so the press wouldn't destroy a perfectly good legend. Source unknown, but I swear it's true.
The 'grave' is indeed there, although whether there's anything underneath, I don't know ; - http://www.raf-waddington.com/specials/scampton/grave.jpg The burial story is not as 'neat' as in the film, either. Gibson apparently asked a carpenter to produce a coffin ; the carpenter bluntly refused and 'harsh words were exchanged'. So 'Chiefy' Powell buried the dog. Gibson's relations with groundcrew were never the best....
Sorry Martin, Im good at this not clarifying...the post from me is not written by me just a qoute from a web site, so could be the old web stuff as usual..But thought it a good story anyway
Hang on to your hats and click on : - http://www.f4aviation.co.uk/Hangar/2003/dambusters/pa474.htm Droool !!
How could Gibson ask a carpenter to box Nigger if he was on an op at the time? Wouldn't there have been radio silence? If not, would they really have wanted to upset Gibson en route by telling him Nigger got topped? No.9
Dont know, only know from the movie....nigger got hit when the crews were in briefing before the mission....? Martin, Mr. Dams, one for you...
I also have to pass urqh and wait for enlightenment from Martin. If Nigger got killed during the briefing, it would make Martin's statement fit. Soon as he's finished with that picture of a Lanc, and his joystick, we'll probably get an answer? No.9
The story of 'Nigger' has become such an integral part of the 'Dambusters' legend that it's very hard to unravel truth from myth, and even the most authoritative writers ( Morris, Sweetman ) skirt around the subject. It is now known that at 18:00 hours on Saturday, 15th May Gibson had a private meeting in Grp Captain Whitworth's house at Scampton with Barnes Wallis, 'Dinghy' Young, Henry Maudslay, 'Hoppy' Hopgood and Bob Hay. This conference , to discuss the final and intricate details of the Raid, lasted four hours. As the men rose to leave Whitworth ( Station Commander of Scampton ) appeared and told Gibson that Nigger had been killed by a car. The dog, known for boisterous behaviour, had run straight out of the main gate onto the main A15 road where it had been hit. Far from 'hit and run' the two occupants of the car were slightly injured in trying to avoid the dog, stopped, and carried the body to the Guardroom. Barnes Wallis wrote in his diary that evening 'Nigger Killed' - the only reference to any animal in his personal writings for forty years. Gibson, whose personal human relationships were troubled and difficult, was deeply attached to the dog and this must have been an enormous psychological blow at such a time. So, in fact, there was the whole of the following day ( Sunday 16th ) to make arrangements for the dog's burial at Midnight on that day. The above is very different to the events shown in the film in which, although close to the truth, timeframe and details have been altered to make a 'neater story' and that's where fiction seems to become fact in the public consciousness..... One last bit of trivia. Richard Todd's autobiography ' In Camera ' contains a very interesting chapter about the making of 'The Dam Busters ' film. A highly-trained RAF dog was provided to act as 'Nigger' and Todd actually became quite attached to this very obedient animal which performed its' part perfectly except for one scene. This is where Todd as Gibson walks among his men on the grass in front of 617's hangar before takeoff, finally uttering the ' Well chaps, my watch says.... ' line. In the script, Nigger accompanies him but the RAF labrador just would not do the scene, despite all efforts of Todd and the dogs' RAF trainer. Eventually, the dog was left out of the scene altogether. Later, Todd descovered that the scene was being shot on the area of grass where the real 'Nigger' was buried ; the gravestone having been temporarily removed and turfed over for the film shoot...... [ 24. May 2003, 11:08 AM: Message edited by: Martin Bull ]
Thanks Martin, excellent comprehensive study. I’ve heard Todd (the first British paratrooper to jump on D-Day) speak about playing Gibson which he found a considerably moving experience. I think he also said he has never watched the finished film! Re the dog who played Nigger, my understanding is that dogs innately have senses and perceptions humans don’t. Quite a few recorded cases of a dog walking a clear area by itself, when it suddenly makes an apparent detour around something in its’ path! Did Gibson or the Squadron ever get another Nigger? No.9 [ 24. May 2003, 11:48 AM: Message edited by: No.9 ]
Gibson was inconsolable over the dog's death and I have never seen it recorded anywhere that he obtained a replacement ; I think anyway that his life was too 'rootless' between the Dams Raid and his death. Likewise, I don't think 617 had another mascot ; at least not in the war years. One other odd little 'Nigger' story. Historian Alan Cooper records in his book ' The Dambusters Squadron : 50 Years Of 617 ' how ; - 'In 1987, a memorial was unveiled in the Royal Square Gardens ( in Woodhall Spa ) to those men of 617 who died during the Second World War. A strange incident happened after the ceremony ; the choir was having a photograph taken when from nowhere a large black dog remarkably similar to Nigger appeared and sat down in the middle of the group. Afterwards it promptly disappeared; it had never been seen before nor has anyone ( in Woodhall Spa ) seen it since. ' You read this and think; 'Oh, sure ! ' but on the next page is the photo taken by a local photographer. It's a girls' choir and one or two of them are looking at the dog rather strangely - who knows ? [ 24. May 2003, 11:25 AM: Message edited by: Martin Bull ]
Thank you again Martin, it gets curiouser and curiouser? I’d never heard of the phantom Nigger but wouldn’t rule it out. I wonder if the local paper for Woodhall Spa has any history of these Nigger sightings? I suppose we could go there to see for ourselves, but how would we know if we’ve found the right Nigger? No.9
Dunno, No. 9 - there seems to be a bit of a 'cottage industry' up in Lincolnshire concerning Haunted Airfields - rather like the 'Loch Ness Monster Industry' in Scotland....
