The Dam Busters (film)

The Dam Busters 1955 is a British Second World War war film starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd. It was directed by Michael Anderson. The film recreates the true story of Operation Chastise when in 1943 the RAFs 617 Squadron attacked the Mhne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany with Barnes Walliss bouncing bomb.

In the early years of the Second World War, aeronautical engineer Barnes Wallis is struggling to develop a means of attacking Germanys dams in the hope of crippling German heavy industry. Working for the Ministry of Aircraft Production, as well as doing his own job at Vickers, he works feverishly to make practical his theory of a bouncing bomb which would skip over the water to avoid protective torpedo nets. When it came into contact with the dam, it would sink before exploding, making it much more destructive. Wallis calculates that the aircraft will have to fly extremely low 150 feet 46m to enable the bombs to skip over the water correctly, but when he takes his conclusions to the Ministry, he is told that lack of production capacity means they cannot go ahead with his proposals.Angry and frustrated, Wallis secures an interview with Sir Arthur Bomber Harris played by Basil Sydney, the head of RAF Bomber Command, who at first is reluctant to take the idea seriously. Eventually, however, he is convinced and takes the idea to the Prime Minister, who authorises the project. ........

Source: Wikipedia