Well, haven't heard this, but one movie comes to mind, especially since it was in this Sunday's Magazine as an answer and it is one of those war movies we never tire of watching.

Thinking, Thinking, Thinking...just in case I am wrong.

Cynthia

Uh-oh. In which Sunday paper?? That would be like showing up at Ascot with the same hat as the Queen, n'est-pas!!

Nancy.

Trying to remember, I'm sure I knew this at one time. Thinking out loud here, does the title starts with an "A". I think there was some controversy about a TV series Lorne Green starred in also.

Annette

No 'A', except in Annette! lol. The Lorne Green series I can think of comes after Stars Wars. Sorry, I could have been clearer!! I am talking about a WW2 movie.

Nancy.

Washington Post Sunday magazine. I think it was this week, but maybe last. If I am right, they ask for one-third of a film ;)

If I am wrong, then I have no idea and need clues. All I can think of with Lorne Greene is Bonanza-oh and that he was Canadian, right? Loved Bonanza, but can't think of what came after that.

Cynthia

Ha, Star Wars was mention and I started off down the wrong road.

Cyn, Lorne Greene starred in the TV series 'Battle Star Galactica'.

Nancy you mentioned Ice Road Truckers that's where our DS2 is right now, 4 weeks in, 2 weeks out.

The Tuskegee Airmen, saw the movie starring Laurence Fishburne, boy did those guys earn respect. They did an amazing job.

Hmmmm, looks like I need to give this one more thought.

Annette

BTW Nancy, love the images I am getting of the kitten-a little bit of Tiger in her, huh

Of course, if I am wrong, just ignore me.
:)

Well, let's see: It's about the pilots of 617 Squadron-a lively mix of Britons, Australians, Americans, and Canadians - who were hailed as heroes. Any help? Maybe you need some early stars??

Nancy.

Wrong continent, Cyn, but that has also been cited as, ahem, 'inspiration'.

Nancy.

Hmmmmm, another old movie about bombing a certain target is coming to mind, I think Richard Todd was in it. Am I any closer?

Annette

You are very close, I think, if he was in it with Lynn and Vanessa's dad!

Nancy. - and hey, my cousins son does the ice road thing up there. It's why I watched in the 1st place!!

Yes, their dad was in it too.

Annette

Hmmm....no TM or mnwsgal. Annette, I think you are on your final approach. Cyn, are the clues helping you??

Nancy.

I need to ask Chuck. I don't know what the target would be. Love Michael Redgrave and know I have seen Richard Todd, but can't conjure his face.

Too bad it isn't Tora!Tora!Tora! I was sitting here thinking of all kinds of clues using Bora Bora and Tora Bora-teehee. Yes, I am an idiot, but so easily amused. :)

Bobbie was late yesterday, too. Hope that means she is having a fun, action-packed weekend.

TM should be here! I bet he would know the answer, too.

Anyway, Chuck just took the pups for a walk through the woods. It is yucky out-cold and damp with melting snow from a dusting yesterday, so I suspect they will be back pretty soon. I will be back with a guess or with a surrender.

Cynthia

lol. We shall never surrender!!!

Nancy.

Oh, I'm here, just with nothing enlightening to say. I've thought of a few WWII movies, but they don't seem to fit the clues. I can see now that it's about flying, but I don't think it's Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo or Flying Tigers.

TM

Operation Chastise is what it was called, executed in 1943. Wow, everywhere I go, the dates keep bouncing around. I guess is was conceived and planned in 1942.

Nancy.

Bouncing Bomb :).

Annette

AW, Chuck is so smart! He doesn't know the name of the movie, but when I said that I thought it was the bombing of a specific target, he said it is probably the bombing of the dams on the Rhine (Rhein). He said they came in and had to "skip" the bombs on the water. He knows the movie and said it was great the way they showed the planes coming in.

I get no stars. Now, just have to come up with a question about Tora!Tora!Tora! in a few months when you have all forgotten about this, so I can use all those clues I thought of...

Cynthia, who is still amusing herself with silly stuff :)

Oh, I've seen something about that mission, probably on the Military Channel. Pretty interesting, though I didn't know that there was a movie about it. I'm sure I won't be coming up with the name.

TM

I stayed up until almost nine a.m. and thought I might be the first one to reply if the question was up but finally
had to crash so I am late again.

I don't watch "reality TV" and have no idea what ice road racing is but I do know Adam Beach from SVU. Such a cutie!

Though I am a big science fiction fan I didn't get into the Star Wars movies. I am a Trekkie gal. My son was born after the first movie and too young for the others. Later I took him to the first two movies but I didn't care if we saw the others or not. As a teenager he became interested in SWars and Japanese anime and I think he told me SWars was based on a Japanese film.

I watched a lot of WWII movies on TV while growing up but not the one you are referring to. Is it an English film
about an English war action?

It was made in England, in 1954, or 1955, depending on the source you read. Again with the bouncing!! It was a 'joint' air operation early in the war. The 'best and brightest' were taken from the various air forces in Britain at the time. Variously, I have seen, as stated above, Britain, Canadian, Australian and America and sometimes New Zealand. It was a critical ploy to keep Stalin from capitulating at a time when the Allies were quite literally years from invasion. And tell Chuck it was the Ruhr Vally, not the Rhine!! lol.

Nancy.

Uhoh. He'll be glad to know, actually. When he told me, I couldn't recall dams or any place one would build one on our cruise down the Rhine, but what do I know---and of course, they'd been blown up, I thought... heheheh.

Cynthia

It was an Allied Operation, as they all were at this time. And Bobby - sorry, kitten was 'helping' me type. I meant to ask why you were up so late.....

Nancy.

Told Chuck it was the Ruhr and he said he actually thought of that after he said the other, once he got to thinking about it. I think it doesn't count! ;)

Cynthia

How about the Dam Bombers? Purely a guess.

Nancy, I am a night owl and generally go to bed late, after midnight, with occasional all nighters to finish reading a book (last night) or working on a project. With DH retired now we are more relaxed with our morning and night schedules. Lately I've gotten on a stay up even later and sleep late schedule.

{{gwi:595091}}

In 1943 a squadron of Lancaster bombers staged one of the most audacious raids in military history: destroying two gigantic dams in Germany's industrial heartland and cutting the water supply to arms factories. Their secret weapon? A revolutionary bouncing bomb invented by British engineer Barnes Wallis. Led by 24 year-old Wing Commander Guy Gibson, a veteran of over 170 bombing and night-fighter missions, 21 bomber crews were selected from existing squadrons in 5 Group. Operation Chastise was an attack on German dams carried out on 16-17 May 1943 by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, subsequently known as the "Dambusters", using a specially developed "bouncing bomb" invented and developed by Barnes Wallis. The Mohne and Edersee Dams were breached, causing catastrophic flooding of the Ruhr valley and of villages in the Eder valley, while the Sorpe dam sustained only minor damage.
Prior to World War II, the British Air Ministry had identified Germany's heavily industrialised Ruhr Valley, and especially its dams, as important strategic targets: in addition to providing hydro-electric power and pure water for steel-making, they also supplied drinking water and water for the canal transport system. The methods used to attack the dams had been carefully worked out. Calculations indicated that repeated air strikes with large bombs could be effective, but required a degree of accuracy which Bomber Command had been unable to attain in the face of enemy defences.
Two of the dams were destroyed, but quickly rebuilt by the Germans. In his book Inside the Third Reich, Albert Speer expressed puzzlement at the raids. While he considered the attempt as laudatory: "That night, employing just a few bombers, the British came close to a success which would have been greater than anything they had achieved hitherto with a commitment of thousands of bombers." But, on the other hand, the disruption of temporarily having to shift 7,000 construction workers to the Mohne and Eder repairs was offset by the failure of the Allies to follow up with additional (conventional) raids during the dams' reconstruction, and that represented a major lost opportunity. Ironically Barnes Wallis was also of this view, he revealed his deep frustration that Bomber Command never sent a high level bombing force to hit the Mohne dam whilst repairs were being carried out. Further, a convention was put in place after the war, calling the bombing of dams to be not 'cricket'. Nearly 1700 people were drown(sadly nearly half of them were Allied prisoners and forced-labourers), as well as innumerable farm animals. Road, bridges and railway tracks were flooded; mine shafts flooded. Many towns were identifiable only by their church spires.

The attack on the Death Star in the climax of the film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope is heavily influenced by the climactic sequence of The Dam Busters. In the former film rebel pilots have to fly through a trench while evading enemy fire and fire a proton torpedo at a precise distance from the target in order to destroy the entire base with a single explosion; if one run fails another run must be made by a different pilot. In addition to the similarity of the scenes, some of the dialogue is nearly identical in the two films. Star Wars also ends with an Elgarian-style march, like The Dam Busters March. I am adding a link below, which someone put together, using the dialogue from Stars Wars and the film footage from The Dambusters. Eerily similar.

On 16 May 2008, a commemoration of the 65th anniversary was held at Derwent Reservoir, including a flypast by a Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane. The event was attended by Richard Todd and Les Munro, the only pilot from the original raid still living, as well as Mary Stopes-Roe, the elder daughter of Sir Barnes Wallis. Sir Peter Jackson, he of the Tolkien movies is filming, or has filmed, a remake. Sir David Frost bought the rights, and Stephen Fry(not a Sir, yet) is writing, or has written the script. I couldn't find too much about this film, other than it suffers from a similar problem as Mark Twain has recently: Guy Gibson's black lab, mascot of the squadron, whose name was used as a code name in the operation, was named #igger. Gasp. The remake, and some over-dubbed pc versions of the film have alternately called him Trigger or Digger. And finally, the Ice Pilots, Season 3, Episode 2 used one of the their DC-4's to recreate the bombing run - I didn't see the episode, and can't find a link to see it online.

So, to Annette:

For Bobby - Good effort - I think that deserves

More Canadian trivia: Lorne Green was a news reader on CBC Radio during the 2nd World War. With his deep, resonant voice, he became known as the voice of doom!!

Thanks to all for playing. Shall we do music next week?? It might be a nice restful break - might....

Nancy. - and yes, the # is their cause the GW censor got me!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Red Leader??

Certainly interesting clip. Tension was right on.

Thanks for the stars, Nancy. You are being generous.

Glad Lorne Green went on to Bonanza and didn't end his career known as the voice of doom.