617 sqdn, the Dambusters, are still in Afghanistan!

A quick note to remind blog readers of the reality behind what Dambusters2012 is here to do. We are here to raise money for Help for Heroes, who support the men and women risking their lives day after day on our behalf in Afghanistan when the worst happens.

Our partners in this effort, 617 Sqdn and their Tornado GR4s, are in theatre to provide the men and women on the ground with fast jet air support and recce capabilities which will often be enough on its own to deter the Taliban insurgents from their activity. In the photo below a 617 Sqdn Tornado GR4 takes off in support of coalition ground forces last week.

Please show your continued support for our troops in Afghanistan by visiting www.bmycharity.com/dambusters2012 and donating something, whatever amount you feel appropriate, to Help for Heroes. You can see exactly what help for Heroes do and how they do it at www.helpforheroes.org.uk

Lunch with the last UK Dambuster, Sqn Ldr George 'Johnny' Johnson DFM!

I had the honour of taking Sqn Ldr George 'Johnny' Johnson DFM, the last UK surviving Dambuster from the Dams Raid of May 1943 to lunch today. It was a date fixed when Johnny very kindly supported Dambusters2012 and our efforts to raise cash for Help for Heroes by taking part in a photo with current 617 Sqdn pilot, Sqn Ldr Tom Hill. www.bmycharity.com/dambusters2012

Lunch was with Johnny and my better half Jo and was an absolute pleasure and privilege for us both. Johnny is a lovely man. Unassuming, modest and great company still despite his 92 years!

A brave man, a hero of the RAF and a terrific man to have lunch with. Looking forward to the next time already!

A reminder - not long now till our teddies go for auction!!!

Remember these guys - the only teddies that have been on active operations in a Tornado GR4 over Afghanistan??

How cool are they??

Both come with a Certificate of Authenticity and a CD of photos from their time with 617 sqdn in Afghanistan.

Keep saving - we need to raise shedloads of cash for Help for Heroes!!

 www.bmycharity.com/dambusters2012 to donate on-line to Help for Heroes. Thank you.

More amazing photo's from 617 Sqdn in Afghanistan!

These photo's were taken last night at Kandahar Airbase, Afghanistan. The storm was so intense that "We had to bring the guys in from their work at 3am this morning as we were under attack from the elements as you can see. Not ideal conditions when you are surrounded by fuel and explosives!"

Amazing photo's taken by amazing people doing their duty on our behalf, day and night! Please show your support for their work at www.bmycharity.com/dambusters2012 . Thank you!

617 Sqdn commemorating the 1943 Dams Raid

Whilst Dambusters2012 were riding to and from the Mohne Dam in Germany along the route of Lancaster AJ-J flown by Sqdn Ldr David Maltby, members of 617 Sqdn at Kandahar Airbase, Afghanistan commemorated the Raid by doing a 24hr 'Tab/Run/Walk' in full combat gear and rifle around the aircraft flight line hoping to achieve 617 circuits. The distance around the flight line is 870m, body armour 20KGs and rifle 6.5 Kgs. In my contacts words: "Some nutters ran and some like me plodded at an elderly pace. All this as well as supporting a rather full operational flying program".

They actually exceeded their target and achieved 657 circuits of the flightline in the end and as you can see from the pictures below they were doing it in 36 degrees in the daylight and about 27 in the evening. Talk about showing some endurance! What an fantastic effort.

Why are we doing all this and writing this blog?
Dambusters2012, supported by 617 Sqdn, are raising money to back the fantastic work of Help for Heroes who provide direct, practical support to those wounded, sick or injured in the line of duty since 9/11. All the funds raised to date are either allocated or spent on the direct, practical support of those wounded in the current conflicts. To date, H4H has funded a variety of projects including the £8m Rehabilitation Complex at Headley Court, a new £3.5m treatment centre for Combat Stress, adaptive adventure training through the Battle Back programme and the creation of a £6m Quick Reaction Fund to support individuals in need.

Please join us and the team at 617 Sqdn and visit www.bmycharity.com/dambusters2012 and make a donation on-line today. Not tomorrow - do it today. Thank you.

What Dambusters2012 is all about!

Donate today to support our servicemen and women

injured doing their duty on our behalf.

Visit www.bmycharity.com/dambusters2012 . Thank you.

The journey home ....

As we were doing the drive bys to let Laura of BFBS TV take some film of us on the bikes disaster struck Dambusters2012 again! This time it was Victor's engine management warning light that came on. It had done so once on the way to the dam but had then gone out again, and after a call to Triumph at Shipley Victor had felt comfortable to carry on. This time his bike was running rough and was clearly very sick! We took the decision to try and get his bike back to the UK and so, after taking the time to properly remember and commemorate the Dambusters Raid, the aircrew and the German loss of life too we started out for the Hoek van Holland! However, we only made it about 20 minutes down the roda when it became clear his problem was terminal and we pulled into some services to wait for the recovery truck! Dambusters was down to just one bike out of the original four!

The rest of the journey home was made two up on my Suzuki GSX650F - what a trooper of a bike! Mind you, as the temperature dropped to just around freezing the ride was very uncomfortable indeed. Around 4am we gave up and took shelter in a petrol station literally half a mile across the German/Netherlands border and waited for sunrise before completing the final leg of the journey to the ferry home.

Victor left the ferry at Harwich as a foot passenger, to find his hire car and make his way home to Leeds. I crunched on on my bike, solo again, to complete the Dambusters 2012 Charity Motorcycle Ride in support of HELP FOR HEROES.

The picture below was one promised to our biggest single donation so far, made by Thwaites Brewery. It shows me, on our drive at home celebrating the completion of the ride with a beer. What better choice for the riders of Dambusters2012 could there be than a beer called 'Lancaster Bomber'!! Perfect.

The Dambusters 2012 Charity Motorcycle Ride is raising awareness and funds for Help For Heroes (www.helpforheroes.org.uk ). Help for Heroes supports members of the Armed Forces who have been wounded in the service of their country. The following sums it up and is taken from a speech made by Help for Heroes Chairperson back in 2009 ....

Help for Heroes was set up October 2007 out of a desire to provide support to those members of the armed forces that are injured in current conflicts. It was born out of an immense respect for those men and women who put their lives in danger on a regular basis on our behalf. There was a basic belief, as there is now, that those who put themselves in that danger, and are unfortunate enough to be injured, deserve the very best level of support . . .

Please demonstrate your support for our troops by visiting www.bmycharity.com/dambusters2012 and donating on-line today! Thank you.

617 Sqdn in Afghanistan!

This week the Tornados of 617 ‘Dambusters’ Squadron operating from Kandahar Airfield have provided airborne overwatch for ground forces operating in Regional Command (South) and Regional Command (SouthWest); providing low level high speed Shows of Force designed to persuade insurgents not to attack our patrolling ground forces. In each case, the Show of Force was a total success allowing the ground patrol to continue unmolested.

Dambusters2012 is very proud to have the support of 617 sqdn for our efforts to raise money for Help for Heroes. You can join them and show your support for the amazing work done by Help for Heroes at www.bmycharity.com/dambusters2012 . Thank you.

The Mohne Dam; then and now.....

In 2012 the Mohne Dam is a tranquil, beautiful location. On the evening when Dambusters 2012 was at the dam the evening light bathed the open side of the dam creating a spectacular view.

It is very difficult to then imagine the same scene on the night of 16th/17th May 1943 with flak guns firing from both towers and from sites on the banks of the lake too, Lancasters flying low over the water, bombs bouncing across the lake's surface and huge explosions lifting water hundreds of feet into the air. Yet that is what happened and is why we came to be standing there looking out over the sun drenched scene 69 years later.

It was extremely moving to be there and to consider the bravery of the aircrew, the loss of life on both sides and the destruction caused to the dam and by the wall of water that flowed down the valley in the aftermath.

In 2012, 617 Sqdn is still one of the premier flying units of the Royal Air Force. Today the squadron fly the Tornado GR4 over Afghanistan to provide fast air support to coalition troops on the ground. Brave men and women who continue to do a fabulous job on behalf of the nation.

Dambusters2012 is a charity ride that is about raising awareness of and cash for the work carried out by Help for Heroes (www.helpforheroes.org.uk) . We are delighted to enjoy the support of the current 617 Sqdn team and wish them all a safe and speedy return to their loved ones in the UK.

Donations to Help for Heroes can be made on-line at www.bmycharity.com/dambusters2012 



Dambusters2012 on BFBS TV ...

We were delighted to have the support of BFBS Radio and also BFBS TV on our charity ride for Dambusters2012. BFBS TV reporter Laura Hawkins met us at the Mohne Dam and spent some time with us taking photos, film and doing her 'pieces to camera'.  Thanks very much to Laura - she was very patient with us and the report she put out was also very kind!

Laura's report can be watched on the BFBS TV website at : http://www.bfbs.com/news/germany/dambusters-trail-two-wheels-57415.html

You will find a link to our charity site at www.bmycharity.com just under the video. Please use it to make your donation to Help for Heroes!! Thank you.

At the Mohne Dam...

Just a few photo's of the Mohne Dam - today it is a tranquil and beautiful spot. It was somewhat sureal to stand there and think about why we were there and what the location must have been like at about 00:19hrs on 17th May 1943 when Lancaster AJ-J arrived on the scene carrying their bouncing bomb!

.... and a poignant one.  AJ-J returns to the Mohne Dam 69 years on in tribute to the brave men who flew in 617 Sqdn's Lancaster on that famous raid in 1943!



More later including Dambusters2012 on BFBS TV!!
In meantime - donate on-line to Help for Heroes at www.bmycharity.com/dambusters2012 and show your support for the servicemen and women on active service today in Afghanistan. People like these from the current 617 sqdn:

Thank you!



Hoek van Holland to the Mohnesee ....

Victor and I landed at the Hoek van Holland at about 8am on Wednesday 16th May, the 69th anniversary of the date that 617 Sqdn, the Dambusters, took off to deliver the bouncing bomb to its target at the Mohnesee, Germany. Our route took us south to Roosendaal to pick up the navigation track of Sqn Ldr David Maltby's Lancaster AJ-J which was recorded so perfectly by his navigator, Sgt V. Nicholson. From there we travelled east through places like Beek en Donk in the Netherlands before crossing the border into Germany as we headed into Rees and the onto Goch.

The weather was poor, rain and showers for most of the journey, with the very occasional glimpse of sunshine. Hey ho ....

Here we have Victor and the bikes at one of several fuel stops just after yet another heavy shower!:

We stopped for something to eat in Goch at a cafe in the town square.

The people in the cafe were lovely. Very friendly and happy for us to put the TomTom satNav on charge whilst we sat and ate. Slightly strange interpretation of a Club sanwich though .... this one had Tuna in it along with a fried egg! Oh well, tasted good though!

Then it was back onto the bikes and push on through the miles along the route of Lancaster AJ-J through Dulmen and then to Ahlen. Ahlen was the point at which the Lancasters of 617 Sqdn turned south on the final leg of their route to the Mohnesee. For Dambusters2012 it was our second stop on the route timed to let us take part in an interview for BFBS Radio with Charlene Guy. We found a nice coffee and cake shop and had some of both! Picture shows Victor checking in with his better half from the Ahlen cake shop!:



Then it was back to the bikes ...:

... following in the footsteps of the real Dambusters we turned south towards Soest and then onto Delecke on the coast of the Mohnesee. By now the weather had improved and we rode around the edge of the water in sunshine until we found the Mohne Dam itself and turned into the car park of the Cafe Solo which is set right next to the Dam with the most stunning view across the lake.

We were there! First part of the Dambusters2012 journey was accomplished.

Dambusters2012 is a charity motorcycle ride which is dedicated to raising cash and awareness of the charity Help for Heroes (www.helpforheroes.org.uk) . Please show your support for this wonderful charity by visiting www.bmycharity.com/dambusters2012 and donating on line. Thank you.





Setting off for the Mohne ....

Tuesday afternoon - heading off to catch the 23:15pm Stena sailing from Harwich to the Hook of Holland at the start of the Dambusters 2012 Charity Motorcycle Ride following in the footsteps of Dambuster Sqn Ldr David Maltby and the crew of Lancaster AJ-J. Plan was to meet with fellow rider Victor Chevens at the Hilton Hotel at the A50/M1 junction around 4pm. First picture is of Simon just before setting off with his bike lettered up as AJ-J in commemoration of the Lancaster flown by Sqdn Ldr Maltby in 1943. Thanks to the team at 617 Sqdn who supplied the letters and badges to do this:

From there Victor and I travelled down to Harwich in the unseasonally cold may evening and arrived around 8pm and then holed up in a pub just outside the port to wait for the southern contingent of dambusters2012, Gary Dougan and Mark Ryan. However, a phone call from Gary at around 8.30pm brought the sad news that his bike had died with an electrical problem on the M25! Rightly, given it was dark Mark had decided to stay with Gary to make sure he was OK and the recovery truck was on the way. Dambusters2012 was down to 2 bikes and we hadn't even caught the ferry!!
10.30pm, and we rolled onto the ferry and helped the crew tie our bikes down. Plan was to get up to the cabin and get some sleep as we did not expect to be sleeping again until the return ferry jouney a day and half away!
Here we have Victor with the bikes safely tied down on the ferry (excuse the poor quality photo!):

More posts to follow later about the Dambusters2012 journey and time at the Mohne Dam.
In the meantime, please do visit www.bmycharity.com/dambusters2012 and make a donation for Help for Heroes. If you watched the Diamond Jubilee event this morning - those men and women are what dambusters2012 and Help for Heroes are dedicated to support. Show your support too!

So tired ...

Sorry - had not realised how tired I was after the trip back from the Mohne Dam yesterday. Had planned a big blog post ... but will do that tomorrow. In the meantime here are a couple of new pictures!

First, the Mohne Dam in the fading evening light. Beauty and tranquility in 2012 - hard to imagine the scene in 1943!

 Second is a picture of Victor doing his piece to camera with Laura Hawkins of BFBS TV who was there to cover Dambusters2012 Charity Motorcycle Ride and support our efforts to raise cash for Help for Heroes. www.bmycharity.com/dambusters2012

We did it .....

Longer blog entry to follow later today after what was an incident packed couple of days on the bike on the Dambusters2012 Motorcycle Charity Ride for Help for Heroes. However, we got there and back!

In the meantime here is a picture of myself and fellow Dambusters 2012 rider Victor Chevens at the Mohne Dam just before sunset on May 16th 2012!!

Remember - this is all about raising money for Help for Heroes!! You need to visit www.bmycharity.com/dambusters2012 and make a donation today if you haven't do it already!! Thank you.

on the Ferry!

quick blog update! I aon the Stenaline Ferry with fellow rider Victor Chevens after the ride down from Staffordshire! how can it have been that cold in May??? right - more info' and stuff tomorrow! maybe even the odd picture too if I can work the blackberry! simon

Poem for the Dambusters.

Received from Dianne McLeish, Help for Heroes County co-ordinator for Moray.

Good Luck from a true WW2 hero!!

Second very humbling phone call to wish Dambusters 2012 team 'Good Luck' on our charity ride which starts at 23:15pm at Harwich tomorrow, 15th May 2012. Yesterday it was a call from Kandahar Airbase in Afghanistan. Tonight it was a call from Sqn Ldr George 'Johnny' Johnson DFM, the last surviving member of the original dams raid aircrew from 1943. What a complete honour to receive these calls of good luck and support!

Johnny was bomb aimer on Joe McCarthy's Lancaster which attacked the Sorpe Dam. We had the privilege of meeting and spending some time with Johnny a couple of weeks back when he was photographed with us and current 617 sqdn pilot Sqn Ldr Tom Hill.  

The pictures shown below were taken by Ken Lennox (www.kenlennox.com) - so thank you to Ken.

The first is a tribute to ken's artistry and shows Johnny and Tom in front of a Lancaster that wasn't there. Stunning photo all the same!

The second is a photo of Johnny, Tom and myself all holding a diecast Corgi Lancaster!

It is truly something when a decorated real life hero who took part in what is arguably the most famous RAF Bomber raid of the second world war backs your efforts to raise money in support of the wounded and traumatised from a current conflict!!

Please join Sqn Ldr Johnson DFM in supporting Help for Heroes by going to www.bmycharity.com/dambusters2012 and donating on line today .. now!! Thank you.