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.