For all Lancaster fans

Good point re the Rose Turret … “twin 50’s” as the narrator puts it. There’s a couple of segments from Night Bombers IMO, the mass of Lancs on the perimieter track, and a couple of takeoff segments (others being colourised B&W as you say).

I am familiar with Night Bombers and the footage I was referring to as possibly being colourised isn’t from that film (at least, not the version I have on VHS). It’s the very last scenes, and having watched it again, I’m pretty sure the original footage was in black and white.

I’m also pretty sure that Night Bombers was filmed in late 1944, or early 1945 as there is a scene of a Rose turret being installed in a Lancaster, and these weren’t introduced until then.

I believe there was to be an attempt to dub proper audio onto the film, the script being written by lip reading from the original footage. Has anyone seen such a version?

Night Bombers

The “Night Bombers” DVD is readliy available including on Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Night-Bombers-Brian-Johnson/dp/B0001GNJK6

I have a video copy, recorded on TV here in NZ one night. Fantastic viewing. It’s a “day in the life” type of production (actually features all sorts of bits and pieces) primarily about preparation for an operation at RAF Hemswell. All genuine wartime footage in colour. I don’t believe it is 1945, elsewhere on the ‘net it’s referenced as (winter) 1943, ie. 1943/44.

Seared in my memory is an amazing sequence of Lancs on the taxiways around Hemswell, at dusk, looking very menacing indeed. There are bits of that scene on the youtube clip. The narrator says something like … at night they can be truly seen as what they are: “nocturnal predators of 20th century mechanised war”. The whole thing is very powerful I assure you.

A truly great piece of history to view over and over. The youtube clip includes bits of it.

Ive seen clips of the wartime colour a number of times on TV in documentaries. I believe it was shot by Air Comodore Cozens of No.1 Group and IIRC from RAF Hemswell in early 1945 and is the only colour footage of an RAF Lancaster unit.

Martin

Copyright issues aside, I think he made a pretty good job of that video.

He seems to have found wartime footage that I haven’t seen before.

And I wonder if some of it has been colourised? Some of it looked familiar, but only in b+w.

It looks like most of that clip was from a wartime bomber mission video called “Night Bomber”.

Cracking video and all colour too.

Brian.

Has the copyright expired on the archive footage and BBC sourced footage ?

I was under the impression that U tube was for home made clips and copyright free material.

Nice one Topgun!

awesome video!