Operation Chastise (Dambusters) 80th anniversary tour

Day 2

Wednesday 10 May. From the hotel we continue to the centre of Woodhall Spa to the 617 memorial to all who died in WW2, and then on to the Battle of Britain Memoral Flight hangers where, subject to flying and operational schedules, we will visit the Lancaster bomber 'City of Lincoln', one of only 2 flying examples worldwide. This will be an interesting visit and useful for the remainder of the tour when discussing this iconic bomber. After coffee and cake we enjoy a flat route to Ely for the night. Dinner at the hotel included.

Day 4

Friday 12 May. From the Hook our Rhine-side cycle path takes us to a small ferry to get onto the south bank of the river, and a few miles afterwards we are in open country with dykes and windmills. At Steenbergen we visit the grave of Guy Gibson VC, DSO and Bar, DFC and Bar, commander of 617 Squadron from its inception in March 1943 and leader of the raid. After pausing for lunch we visit the graves of the crew of S for Sugar who perished on the way to the dams and then on to lovely Breda for the night. Breakfast on ferry not included. Dinner not included.

Day 6

Sunday 14 May. From Arnhem there is a lovely route as we cross into Germany and visit the site of Henry Maudslay's crash (Z for Zebra), and then continue to the Reichswald Forest cemetery to pay our repects at several of the Dambusters' crews graves including Maudslay's. Turning south we next visit the Rheinberg cemetry before a short ride to our comfortable hotel. Dinner included.

Day 8

Tuesday 16 May. From Halterm we soon cross the Dortmund-Ems canal which was a target for 617 squadron in September 1943 and where a number of survivors of the dams raid perished in a disastrous attack. Follwoing, roughly speaking, the approach route of 80 years ao we visit Warner Ottley and John Hopgood's crash sites and then, finally, set eyes on the massive stone structure that is the Mohne Dam. There is plenty of time to examine and discuss events here before the very short ride to our hotel on the banks of the reservoir, with time to relax before dinner (included). We will then return to the dam at midnight to pay our respects exactly 80 years after the attacks were made and to remember  the brave young men who died, many of whom we have visited during the ride from RAF Scampton.