Anyone interested in the RAF and especially the work of Bomber Command will be fascinated to watch Tony Iveson speak from his own personal experiences, on the subject of the Bomber Offensive. Starting with how Bomber Command was, for so long, the only way Britain could hit back at the enemy, he goes on to discuss the crews themselves and the planes they flew in.
In the second of these talks Tony looks at the role the RAF took in sinking the German battleship Tirpitz – missions in which he took part.
The German pocket battleship Tirpitz had long eluded British attempts to sink her. Finally in 1944 the job was handed to 617 Squadron “The Dam Busters” and 9 Squadron. A number of attempts were made before she was finally sunk.
Iveson learnt to fly before the outbreak of the Second World War. Then, flying the famous Spitfire throughout the Battle of Britain he survived a ditching in the sea after he ran out of fuel chasing a Junkers JU88.
After a spell as an instructor at the training school in Rhodesia he converted to bombers, flying that other great plane of the war the Avro Lancaster.
Joining 617 Squadron “The Dam Busters” as a flight Lieutenant, he took part in some 27 missions including the sinking of the Tirpitz, and in the process won the Distinguished Flying Cross.
After the war Tony became the Chairman of the Bomber Command Association and at the age of 89, the oldest man to fly a Lancaster Bomber.
This was recorded at Northallerton Wartime Weekend.
Dur: 25min & 51min plus extra Question & Answers
PAL | Region 0 DVD
This is a short excerpt from the questions and answers session after the talks.
