633 squadron
rs712 was another 633 squadron flyer that still exists today. it was a flying star in both 633 squadron (as rf580 / ht - f) a
the war movie buff: dueling movies: “the dam busters” vs. “633 squadron”
feedback about 633 squadron, bbc one london, 19. 30, 17 november 1970
read the article on 633 squadron with great interest tinged with a bit of nostalgia .
633 squadron won wide acclaim for its drama and authentic flying sequences. these posters reflect its international appeal (clockwise from upper left): mission 633 (france), escuadron 633 (spain), squadriglia 633 (italy), zadatak eskadrile 633 (yugoslavia - croatia) and flyver - eskadrille 633 (denmark). various posters from the internet
judge how much george lucas
borrowed
from the movie 633 squadron for the death star attack .
remained the main attraction. 633 squadron appears on the list of
the 100 greatest war films
four of 633 squadron' s mossies return to base after a training mission. production still: united artists
looking for movie tickets? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing 633 squadron near you .
the original description of 633 squadron was automatically generated from urltoken licensed under the creative commons attribution - sharealike license .
633 squadron, frederick e. smith, signet books, first printing, 1964, u. s. a .
at this date, it would be difficult to sensationalize an aviation movie about world war ii. “633 squadron” tries .
633 squadron (had the best music of all of them) yes, there must be millions... .
cliff robertson, maria perschy and george chakiris in the film of 633 squadron. photograph: allstar / cinetext / united artists
a 633 squadron mosquito low over the sea. note the painted over perspex nose and false guns. screen capture from united artists
i saw 633 squadron, which was excellent. but the mossies handled so well that i wonder if some
enhanced
flying was involved ?
as of 19 november 2016, 633 squadron has been disbanded. this page will now be dedicated to 633 's memory and all the history of the squadrons 48 years of service to the airforce and combined cadet forces .
after all these years the secret is out. lucas didn' t get the idea of the dogfights from actual fighter footage. he ripped it off from 633 squadron
no. 1 (f) squadron is a squadron of the royal air force. the squadron motto, in omnibus princeps (' first in all things' reflects the squadron' s status as the raf' s oldest unit, having been involved in almost every major british military operation from wwi
633 squadron is a 1964 british film, which depicts the exploits of a fictional second world war british fighter - bomber squadron and stars cliff robertson, george chakiris and maria perschy. the plot w (...) read full article at wikipedia
we would welcome your comments / stories / photos to help keep the memory of 633 alive .
the film 633 squadron, directed by walter grauman in 1964, has become something of a cult, thanks to interminable repeats on television and the stirring theme music written by ron goodwin .
cowes royal yacht squadron yacht club based at cowes castle on the isle of wight .
when norwegian resistance leader lieutenant erik bergman reports the location of a german v - 2 rocket fuel plant, the royal air force' s 633 squadron is assigned the mission to destroy it .
one sheet posters for 633 squadron heighten the drama of the already dramatic plotline. five mosquitos in trail squeeze themselves into an impossible crevasse while pilots embrace blondes and deal with flaming events—so typically 1960s. the purple prose that accompanies the images is even more over the top —the greatest adventure since men fought on earth... or flew over it! ... a million legends have risen up about the lusty, daring breed of raiders known as 633 squadron... as the earth is engulfed in titanic battle... 633 squadron strikes! images from author’s collection
633 squadron is a 1964 wwii film based on a true story of a dehavilland mosquito fighter bomber squadron assigned to a
do or die
mission. when allied forces learn of a nazi plan to launch rockets at england prior to d - day, the 633 squadron is assigned to destroy the rocket fuel plant to eliminate the threat. cliff robertson stars as wing commander roy grant, the squadron leader as they fly into the norwegian fjord and into history. director walter grauman would later utilize footage from this film for his 1970 wwii thriller the last escape .
at the time, the squadron was testing a new bomb sight, to improve their results. leonard cheshire joined the squadron in september 1943, four months after the dams raid .
a british bombing squadron drawn up at st. omer, france during world war i .
avro lancasters bomber from 35 squadron in flight over the english countryside. 29th may 1946 .
633 vgs, raf cosford, wolverhampton, west midlands (5, 251. 16 mi) wolverhampton wv7 3
a black and white production still from 633 squadron shows painted on bullet holes stitched across the engine nacelle and the tail of a de havilland mosquito (raf serial no. rs709) playing the part of 633 squadron ’s ht - d (fake raf serial no. hr113). though these holes look faked in this shot, during the film, they were glimpsed very briefly and looked authentic. production still from united artists
in a scene inspired by 633 squadron, producer george lucas has luke skywalker piloting an x - wing starfighter through the massive canyons of the death star in the closing scenes of star wars. image via the author
viewing the dvd of 633 squadron, i noticed how similar the attack on the norwegian fjord is to the attack on the death star from star wars. it' s obvious that lucas ripped it off from this
despite the wild and furious nazi - busting action promised by the poster and the huge popularity of the brooding david mccallum (illya kuryakin of the man from uncle fame), mosquito squadron was nothing more than a late cash in on the success of 633 squadron and mccallum’s recent career. images: united artists
an avro lancaster bomber from 35 squadron in flight over the english countryside. 29th may 1946 .
men of the 314th squadron telling events from a recent world war ii air battle, 1943 .
[ last lines ] squadron leader adams: well, at least the rockets won' t happen. air vice marshal davis: of course they' ll happen. but they won' t start tomorrow, or this month or on d - day, and that' s important. squadron leader adams: then what' s it all add up to? all their sacrifice? air vice marshal davis: a successful operation. squadron leader adams: but they' re probably all dead. all 633 squadron. air vice marshal davis: you can' t kill a squadron. see more »
good film with lots of action, drama and colourful characters all wrapped in a superb musical score! who doesn' t know the theme music from 633 squadron? it really complements the flying scenes. pure entertainment !
mosquito ta719 also starred in 633 squadron, playing the part of hj898 / ht - g. it also played a bit part in mosquito squadron, used for ground and crash scenes. it is now on display in its target tug markings and hanging from the ceiling of the imperial war museum’s airspace hangar at duxford .
633 squadron, frederick e. smith, a corgi book, transworld publishers, ltd. , park royal road, london, n. w. 10, richard clay & co. , ltd. , bungay, suffolk
he was much loved by the whole squadron and often accompanied his master guy gibson on training flights .
russo - japanese war 1904 - 1905. japanese squadron bombarding port arthur. from a japanese lithograph .
i have a vague (79 year old) memory of ron goodwin explainig that the rythm for the theme was based on the squadron number 633. di di di di di di da da da da da da 6 3 3
if you find an issue this item appears in that is not shown here, and the item is integral to the plot of of the story, please edit that issue adding
micro - 633 squadron
as an appearing item .
anything to do with the pacific war and they always splice in that hellcat hitting the island regardless of what the hero was just flying or show corsairs lining up for a trap in 1942 at midway. one film maker in england actually had extra mosquitoes built for his movie. i cannot recall if it was for 633 squadron or mosquito squadron .
these movies have a lot of similarities. they both are british and deal with special missions that will “hasten the end of the war” and are suicidal. tdm deals with a bombing raid on some german dams to flood the ruhr valley and 633 deals with an attack on a german rocket fuel factory in norway. both cover the training for the mission and end with a very suspenseful attack. tdm is about an actual historical event whereas 633 is loosely based on the exploits of mosquito squadrons (there was no 633 squadron or raid on a rocket fuel plant). both open with iconic theme music. (i prefer 633 on this) .
633 squadron is loosely based on a true story which makes it interesting to watch, still i would say if you want to see two really great british wwii air combat movies, go for the battle of britain or the aforementioned the dam busters .
title 633 squadron year 1964 formats dvd, cinema distributor (s) warner home video ltd, united artists corp. ltd, mgm home entertainment (europe) ltd classified date (s) 04 / 03 / 2003 main language english bbfc reference azf040004
“i served for six years in the r. a. f. , from 1940 to 1946, and the book [ 633 squadron ] was intended to be my tribute to the service and my friends, a number of whom, unhappily, were killed .
one of the aircraft destroyed in 633 squadron crash scenes was ta724, a former target tug mosquito tt mk35 from no. 3 caacu. here we see it in better days at an air show at raf biggin hill in 1957. photo by a young peter arnold
hi steve, the oshkosh museum mosquito is rs 712. this is a mosquito b. 35. this mosquito flew in both 633 squadron & mosquito squadron. her uk civil reg. was g - askb. it was bought from the strathallan collection. it' s american reg is n35mk. tw 117 is a t. iii which is in the bodo museum. cheers, neilly
the film' s climax shows the squadron flying through a deep fjord while being fired on by anti - aircraft guns .
aerial scene of the pbj planes in flight on mission over rabaul. marine bombing squadron 443. guadalcanal. pacific campaign wwii
line engraving of the repulse of a french squadron off cape francois. engraved by p. c. canot. dated 1759
633 squadron is one of ron goodwin' s finest war scores, with a magnificent
chattering brass
theme that captures the exultation of flight. (goodwin ingeniously composed the theme to reflect the
633
of the title, with alternating bars of six and three beats .) the film stars cliff robertson as the leader of a squadron of mosquito bombers, with george chakiris his comrade operating behind enemy lines. goodwin' s score is full of action and triumph, as well as a love theme for the film' s romantic subplot .
it will come as no surprise that in both films success comes down to the last bombers. both end with a requiem for the fallen. question: was it worth it? answer: tdm – they knew what they were risking. 633 – you can’t kill a squadron .
the attack sequence in 633 squadron (1964) is pretty much a rough copy of the attack from the dam busters (1955). george lucas was very clear that he was influenced by the dam busters and i believe that he used parts of it in his rough cut .
the squadron’s mascot, also featured in the original movie, was gibson’s black labrador retriever named (brace yourself) “nigger. ”
german re - armament and militarisation: a squadron of fighter planes over the rhine. from series of 270 cigarette cards' die
a 633 squadron mosquito crew inspects the damage to their aircraft after landing. this aircraft was the real - life mosquito (raf serial no. rs718) which played the part of two aircraft in the filming—hj898 and hj662 (ht - c) and was scrapped in a crash scene .
like many successful blockbuster films of the day, 633 squadron inspired some spin - off merchandise like these collector bubble gum cards depicting the heroes and villains of the film. if the film was made today, there would be action figures, mcdonald’s giveaways and video games. images via the author
633 squadron has enjoyed an unqualified string of successes. their luck changes when they are assigned to bomb a german rocket fuel plant, in norway which is guarded by heavy anti - aircraft defences, and the plant is considered bomb - proof. their nearly impossible mission is further complicated by a german air raid, the difficult approach to the target and the capture and torture of the underground leader who is assisting the squadron .
the 3rd air rescue squadron crew that flew delegates to panmunjon, korea for prisoner exchange talks are a / 2c roger l. gustafson
photograph of the hurricane squadron. equipped with the rolls - royce merlin engine the top speed was 1, 000 mph. dated 1939
scenes and poster from another mosquito feature film the purple plain, starring gregory peck. it seems the wooden airframe of the mossie was just too much for producers to resist, for in this film, as they did in 633 squadron, one was set on fire. images collected on the web
the story of 633 squadron resembles the story of the much better movie the dam busters. a group of pilots has to go on a secret mission and drop bombs on a german rocket fuel factory that is based in norway. the norwegian resistance does also play a part in it and the squadron leader falls in love with the sister of one of their members. the squadron is a typical war movie squadron that pushes diversity to the limits. we see british, irish, scottish, australian and indian members. the accents are quite enjoyable if you go for that kind of detail. the mission itself is quite gripping and suspenseful. the losses were, as could be expected, extremely high .
black and white images of four of the key “driver - looker” (pilot / navigator) crews featured in 633 squadron. these are different than the pairings as written in the novel (many names and nationalities are different). clockwise from top left: flying officer hoppy hopkinson, navigator (angus lennie) and
633 squadron has enjoyed an unqualified string of successes. their luck changes when they are assigned to bomb a german rocket fuel plant, in norway which is guarded by heavy anti - aircraft defences, and the plant is considered bomb - proof. their nearly impossible mission is further complicated by a german air raid, the difficult approach to the target and the capture and torture of the underground leader who is assisting the squadron. written by derek r. watts
i was fortunate enough years ago to hear a french military band perform 633 as part of a ceremony on the tarmac at rhein - main air base in germany. thrilling .
the plant is in a seemingly - impregnable location beneath an overhanging cliff at the end of a long, narrow fjord lined with anti - aircraft guns. the only way to destroy the plant is by collapsing the cliff on top of it, a job for 633 squadron' s fast and manoeuvrable de havilland mosquitos .
this ham - handed wwii picture about an international squadron of allied pilots is hardly the best way to remember the late, great cliff robertson .
most of the correspondence between wallis and cheshire, though, relates to discussions of how the bombs should be dropped and the performance of the squadron .
cinematically, 633 squadron is a spectacular achievement, a technically explosive depiction of an raf unit’s successful but costly mission to demolish an almost impregnable nazi rocket fuel installation in norway. the production, filmed in its entirety in england, contains some rip - roaring aerial action. unfortunately, this technical prowess is not matched by the drama it adorns .
ajaxnetphoto - cowes, isle of wight, england. - yachting mecca - the royal yacht squadron. photo: jonathan eastland / ajax ref: 553602 _ 8
tuskegee, alabama: 99th pursuit squadron, tuskegee airmen in training. from left: james b. knighten, lee rayford, c. h. flowers ,
cinematically, 633 squadron is a spectacular achievement, a technically explosive depiction of an raf unit' s successful but costly mission to demolish an almost impregnable nazi rocket fuel installation in norway. the production, filmed in its entirety in england, contains some rip - roaring aerial action. unfortunately, this technical prowess is not matched by the drama it adorns .
in fact, the similarities are so noteworthy that some youtubers have amusingly combined star wars with some of the films that inspired it. here' s 633 squadron with the soundtrack of star wars: here' s the dam busters with the soundtrack of star wars: and here' s my favourite, star wars with the soundtrack of the dam busters :
cinematically, 633 squadron is a spectacular achievement, a technically explosive depiction of an raf unit’s successful but costly mission to demolish an almost impregnable nazi rocket fuel installation in norway. the production, filmed in its entirety in england, contains some rip - roaring aerial action. unfortunately, this technical prowess is not matched by the drama it adorns. [ … ]
has ron goodwin' s classic had an influence on the john williams classic? not quite sure about this. however, it seems to me the two cantina band pieces are striking similar to public house jazz and the music for the tie fighter attack is strikingly similar feel to the main theme of 633 squadron. just my opinion. anyone have any ideas ?
in ww2, a raf squadron leader mourns the death of a comrade and receives a bombing mission against a secret nazi v - 2 rocket testing facility in france .
tuskeegee, alabama: the u. s. army' s first all - black air unit, the 99th pursuit squadron, instructed be lt. donald b .
tuskegee, alabama: the 99th pursuit squadron. major james a. ellison returns the laute of mac ross, 1 / 23 / 42. . courtesy: csu
during world war ii, norwegian underground leader erik bergman informs the british of the location of a german v2 fuel manufacturing plant. situated beneath an overhanging cliff at the end of an easily defended fjord, the factory can be destroyed only by collapsing the cliff on top of it, using light mosquito aircraft. wing comdr. roy grant' s 633 squadron is assigned the task, and bergman plans a ground attack to coincide with the air strike, but he is captured and tortured by the gestapo. gestapo headquarters is destroyed by the 633 squadron, and bergman is killed, but not before he reveals the plans for the attack. underground resistance is destroyed, and mosquito pilots, unaware that the ground attack will not take place, fly to the factory, and the entire squadron is wiped out. however, the last bomb dropped makes the mission a success. only grant and his navigator survive .
wwii was an enormous influence on all kids of the 50s and 60s, and lucas was no exception. from the general good vs evil nature of the conflict to the specifics of war epics like the guns of navarone and air - heroics of the dam busters and 633 squadron, it seems entirely possible that star wars would never have existed if not for the war .
wwii was an enormous influence on all kids of the 50s and 60s, and lucas was no exception. from the good vs. evil nature of the conflict to the specifics of war epics like the guns of navarone and air - heroics of the dam busters and 633 squadron, it seems entirely possible that star wars would never have existed if not for the war .
after many repeated pan and scan tv showings a few days ago i managed to see the original panavision version of the classic british war movie 633 squadron. the thing that immediately struck me was the similarity between the attack on the norwegian fjord and the attack on the death star in star wars. many others apparently have the same opinion. but what about the scores ?
one of the raf aircraft that took part in the filming of 633 squadron was ta639, which was taken on strength at no. 3 caacu in september 1959. it flew there irregularly until it was flown to the central flying school at raf little rissington with its target towing equipment removed. it was then loaned to mirisch films for flying in 633 squadron. when filming moved to the scottish lochs, based at inverness, the raf would not allow ta639 to be used since the flying there was considered too dangerous. ta639 was used extensively for filming up to mid september, being at tern hill as late as 14 september 1963. after filming was complete, ta639 returned to little rissington for personal and display use by the base commandant, a air commodore bird - wilson (who incidentally did the flying in it for 633 squadron), and made one display flight over the mosquito museum at salisbury hall. after a period of storage, it was given to the raf museum. at one time in 1968, it was on static display at the horseguards parade near the mall in london. it is now displayed at cosford aerospace museum as the 627 squadron mosquito mk xx in which group captain guy gibson, vc was killed in september of 1944. photo: wikipedia / ozz13x
i think goodwin' s music was the only thing about 633 worth saving. george chakiris as a norwegian freedom fighter? puh - leeze. next you will want me to believe johnny depp as tonto .
english composer ron goodwin (1925 - 2003) was most active in the 1960s and' 70s and beloved for his tuneful war scores for
boys own
adventures—see 633 squadron, where eagles dare and force 10 from navarone. he also wrote charming scores for the miss marple mysteries and was successful as a conductor (performing many film music concerts) and recording artist. imdb
this was terribly demoralizing for the squadron. superstition was rife amongst the airmen, and their beloved mascot’s death seemed a bad omen. there were even mutterings of sabotage .
633 squadron, scrcenplay by james clavell and howard koch, from a novel by frederick e. smith; directed by waller e. grauman; produced by cecil f. ford; released by united artists. at the victoria, broadway and 46th street; the trans‐lux 52d street theater, at lexington avenue, and other houses. running time: 94 minutes. wing commander roy grant
since almost everyone now has internet access, one can now simply go to youtube and find a myriad of film clips of not only 633 squadron, but other films and live action mosquito clips as well. it is even possible to download the entire movie should you so desire, depending on your locale and the regulatory issues involved. the dvd is also available through a number of venues .
an raf squadron is assigned to knock out a german rocket fuel factory in norway. the factory supplies fuel for the nazi effort to launch rockets on england during d - day .
although it was made 9 years later and had access (you would assume) to better movie technology, 633 looks more fake than tdb. 633 had authentic misquitoes available and used them, but the attack scene is obviously models. 633 also revs up the melodrama, but not to good effect. the whole subplot with the resistance hero erik bergman (a miscast george chakaris – chosen for his appeal to teenage girls, apparently) is ridiculous. the raid to kill him in gestapo headquarters before he can talk is just an excuse for some more aerial action. 633 also ups the suicide quotient to top tdb. of course, since it’s not based on an actual raid, they can kill anyone they please. they can also throw every obstacle to success you can think of. for example, bergman gets captured. another example, the resistance is not able to take out the defenses .
as part of a technical briefing to the squadron’s leader, wallis said the results they had achieved on recent practice bombing runs had been “substantially better than would be given by theoretical standards” .
the old movie dramatized the true story of a daring bomber raid on three german dams by royal air force squadron 617, led by twenty - four - year - old guy gibson .
the aircraft were ordered by the norwegian naval aviation forces, but norway fell to the germans before any of the aircraft could be delivered. production went ahead anyway at the request of the uk, as escaping norwegian military forces formed the no 330 squadron of the raf coastal command in iceland during april 1941. no 330 squadron received the first 18 n - 3pb' s a month later and the 24 n - 3pb' s remained in service with no 330 squadron until early 1943. the aircraft provided escort to convoys in the north atlantic while in service
, the other is an raf squadron leader. the door they come out of has a modern electric bell push - a post 1965 version, white rectangular box with a round button .
some 45 years later, by way of a copy of his original letter of response, i rekindled a friendship with frederick. until his death at the age of 93 in 2012, we corresponded a number of times, and were working together in order to finalize the rights to a film sequel of 633 squadron. we had hoped to get a screenplay into the hands of an agent in the united states, and also, his remaining novels, all the later exploits of 633 squadron, finally printed in this hemisphere. sadly, with his passing, there was no one to continue those efforts for him, and the project is on indefinite hold, and will probably be shelved. if i could find any family contacts in the uk to continue, i would be thrilled to make those things happen for his legacy .
* anachronisms: at the beginning, as the squadron returns from a mission, a blue land rover can be seen in front of an airport building. land rover began production in 1947 .
633 squadron [ dvd ] [ 1964 ]: urltoken cliff robertson, george chakiris, maria perschy, harry andrews, donald houston, michael goodliffe, john meillon, john bonney, angus lennie, scot finch, john church, barbara archer, edward scaife, walter grauman, cecil f. ford, lewis j. rachmil, walter mirisch, frederick e. smith, howard koch, james clavell: dvd & blu - ray
tdm spends more time on the scientific development of the special bombs to be skipped into the dam faces. a main character is the scientist in charge of the project. it intersperses training scenes with scientific experiments. 633 includes the obligatory training sequences, but throws in a romance between the squadron commander grant (cliff robertson) and a resistance leader’s sister. it also ramps up the action by adding scenes involving the norwegian resistance .
la raf a utilisé 3 lettres pour identifier ses avions deux lettres avant le sigle pour indiquer l' appartenance à un groupe et une lettre après le sigle pour indiquer l' avion dans le groupe. ces codes furent aussi utilisés par certaines autres unités (ex. usaaf) e. g. = h7 for squadron 346 and l for the halifax of capitaine veauvy l8 for squadron 347 .
ajaxnetphoto. 1995. cowes, england. - admiral' s cup - kenwood trophy race - start in the solent off the royal yacht squadron. photo: jonathan eastland / ajax ref: 950192
633 squadron is a classic british war film possibly remembered more for it' s theme tune than the story of the mission to destroy a german rocket fuel factory in norway. director: walter grauman starring: cliff robertson, george chakiris, harry andrews, angus lennie, donald houston, maria perschy, michael goodliffe, john meillon, john bonney, scott finch, john church, barbara archer, julian sherrier, geoffrey frederick, sean kelly
the film 633 squadron (1964) is a classic among second world war movies, despite what many see as wooden acting from its leads, cliff robertson, george chakiris and maria perschy. frederick e smith, who has died aged 93, wrote the book upon which it was based. he did not consider it to be among his best novels, but acknowledged that it was the one with which his name would always be associated .
i haven' t seen 633 squadron but heard it wasn' t near as good as dam busters. as you know, i saw the dam busters and it is a favourite. i really liked it. i am glad it
won
. i think it was done with great care, down to the dog with his politically non - correct name. his grave can still be visited today (as i have been told) .
disc one of this release features 633 squadron: first the album program (as previously released on lp and cd, remastered for the best - possible stereo sound), followed by a suite of additional cues from a 1 / 4
monaural tape in goodwin' s possession. disc two features the complete score of submarine x - 1 (minus one brief cue), mastered from goodwin' s personal 1 / 4
stereo tapes .
no, i can’t say i ever served in norway. deciding that i could best bring out the character of these men i had known in a fictional work, i obtained permission from the british air ministry to use the squadron number 633 (one of the few below 700 that had not been used during the war) and then, using a target in norway as my goal, i set about reconstructing the story as realistically as possible. i feel i can vouch for the authenticity of the squadron atmosphere, for the technical details and also for the air actions, for some of these were actual fights simply transferred to the norwegian locale .
also included is a poignant letter sent from guy gibson, who had been squadron leader at the time of the dams raid, to his successor, cheshire, congratulating the latter on his victoria cross .
on the heels of fsm' s release of where eagles dare / operation crossbow (fsmcd vol. 6, no. 21) comes another 2cd set of classic ron goodwin war soundtracks: 633 squadron (1964) and submarine x - 1 (1969). both of these films are united artists releases of allied missions (led by north american commanders) during world war ii to attack axis positions in norweigian fjords—one by air, the other by sea .
just watching 633 squadron this afternoon, a thought occurred. the mosquitoes used in the mission in the film have solid machine - gun noses, but wouldn' t a precision bombing raid of this type be better with a glazed - nose version? was it a case of the film - makers wanting to give the characters the ability to shoot back, or using the only mosquitoes available to them, or is it more historically accurate than i' m assuming ?
while critics derided the wooden acting and hackneyed plot, especially the miscast mirisch pictures contract star george chakiris, the aerial scenes were considered spectacular and with ron goodwin' s music remained the main attraction. the extensive footage of the mosquito was also of considerable interest to aviation enthusiasts. 633 squadron appears on the list of
the 100 greatest war films
voted by the public of the uk and is featured in the 2005 documentary of the same name. (wikipedia )
they are already remembered as among the raf’s most revered airmen of the second world war. now, newly released wartime documents have revealed just how skilled the aircrew of 617 squadron, the dambusters, actually were .
* anachronisms: right at end of film, after the' you cannot kill a squadron' speech, as the car drives away, there are 1960' s fire tenders parked to the left of the shot .
the archives also contains a message of congratulations to cheshire from roy dobson, managing director at avro, who made the lancaster bombers the squadron flew – and who sends him a silver model of a lancaster – and from wallis .
the 633 squadron are assigned to destroy a german factory making the weapons for destruction. they are the one best assigned to do the work. cliff robertson in charge of the operation; harry andrews the head commander. clff falls in love with one of navy officers sister serving under him. he is then captured by the germans. being a matter of life and death. later on the they attack over the coast of norway at a deadly cost operation. lots of losses. war as tragic it can be .
before the storyboards were done, we recorded on videotape any war movie including aircraft that came up on television, so we had this massive library of parts of old war movies – the dam busters, tora! tora! tora! , the battle of britain, jet pilot, the bridges of toko - ri, 633 squadron and about forty - five other movies. we went through them all and picked out scenes to transfer to film to use as guidelines in the battle. [ kurtz, p52, 2 ]
now thoroughly intrigued, i persevered through that boring movie two more times just to see that exciting trailer, again and again. oh i was hooked; by the story, by all the aircraft, and as a musician, by the machine gun staccato film score. as i left the theatre, my thoughts went to these marvelous heretofore unknown (to me) airplanes and the story behind them. and was there a real 633 squadron? where did they come up with these aircraft? i had to know more, which then required a walk to the other end of town to visit the best bookstore i could find. there on the top magazine rack, was a brand new publication, air classics issue # 2. across the top, as if by my wishful thinking, was printed, “ exclusive new movie review – 633 squadron”. i was off to the races. this magazine article fuelled a new passion for said mosquito, and i had to know anything and everything about the story, the aircraft and the movie .
to jazz up a plot reminiscent of the “guns of navarone, ” about a british squadron' s mission to bomb a norwegian, rocket factory, the inventive director drags in a pilot who jokes about his artificial hand, a bridegroom whose face is singed on screen and a formidably tailored female gestapo officer whose specialty is nailpulling. for a final fillip, he destroys the whole squadron in the climactic raid, strewing the wide, wide screen with more corpses than “hamlet. ”
a detail from the film shows the altered nose of one of the mosquitos flown in the film. the angled perspex nose window of the mosquito tt mk35 (target tug) was painted over to make the ship appear to be a different type. the tt mk35 mosquitos were raf target tugs and were the last operational mosquitos in service with the royal air force, flying with no. 3 civilian anti - aircraft co - operation unit (caacu) at raf exeter. after retirement, they starred in 633 squadron. s creen capture from united artists
the book 633 squadron was not immediately a success and smith continued to experiment with his fiction, which ranged from the romantic lydia trendennis (1957) to the thriller the devil behind me (1962), inspired by a trip to the lapland wilderness where he found himself caught up in a murder hunt. he continued in this vein, with the storm knight (1966), a thriller set in norway, and a killing for the hawks (1966), about a unit of the royal flying corps before and during the battle of ypres .
we managed to follow someone back to where we are billetted for the next few days, through the swirling mist and temperatures hovering just around freezing. i say billetted as a reference to the dam buster 633 squadron which was based at nearby woodhall spa in the 2nd world war. i guess the only reason they didn’t bomb this are is that they would have had nowhere to land! also, i guess they would have become really bored, imagine the maximum size of dam needed to dam the fens? a cricket ball dropped from a hundred feet would probably do it .
gwangseong garrison, a korean citadel with several dead korean soldiers, after us punitive attack. june 11, 1871. a force of 546 sailors and 105 marines from the us squadron overwhelmed koreans and their antiquated weapons (bsloc _ 2017 _ 18 _ 67 )
to create the mesmerizing battles between the x - wings and tie fighters, lucas looked to the dogfights of classic war films like hell' s angels. though it aired around the time of star wars, and cannot be considered an influence per se, black sheep squadron (then called baa baa black sheep) features a similar spirit and style. pappy and his black sheep are a real life version of wedge antilles and his red squadron .
the fastest gun
comes packed with some gripping aerial shoot - outs .
wow there are thousands where do i start... brigde over the river kwai where eagles dare guns of naverone from here to eternity * gone with the wind * dirty dozen * the great escape escape from colditz escape to victory the dam busters 633 squadron a bridge to far the cruel sea das boot battle of the bulge dunkirk sink the bismark the hill * battle of the river plate the longest day hell in the pacific battle of midway the eagle has landed empire of the sun kelly' s hero' s * * = not factual cant think of any ww1 films for the moment
later however, in 1969, oakmont productions returned to bovingdon with a very bland offering entitled mosquito squadron. the oakmont “action formula” production style was simply an attempt to make a series of 90 minute action films; with this one using stock footage and unused footage from 633 (on the cheap) in an effort to ride on the “empennage” of a far superior film. sadly, a number of film clips were obviously lifted directly from 633, inviting drastic comparisons between the two films. the production values of this make it one of the more “forgettable” films, as the plot (in my opinion, as a screenwriter) was flawed. even the presence of real mosquitos was diminished as several fake models were used, trailing obvious wires behind as they hurtled toward their demise. four mosquitos were used in the filming of this vehicle for david mccallum. one positive note—thankfully, none of the aircraft were harmed or destroyed .
633 has more female appeal. not just because chakaris was so dreamy. you have several female characters and some romance, albeit schmaltzy. there is even a female gestapo agent and rosie the barmaid (hey, teenage boys need someone to watch, too). tdb is more of a “just the facts, maam” movie .
may 05, 1957 - british squadron to visit american waters. the british squadron at the international naval review in hampton roads, virginia, a june 8 - 17 feature of the jamestown festival, will consist of the aircraft carrier h. m. s. ark royal. and the two daring class ships h. m. s diamond and duchess. all three ships are among the newer vessels of the royal navy. ops: h. m. s duchess (top) and h. m. s diamond both completed in 1952
the plot line of 633 squadron had the crews attempting a very dangerous attack on v - 2 rocket fuel plant hidden deep in a norwegian fjord and protected by a massive overhanging cliff that precluded high altitude bombing. the inbound flight path took them past heavy anti - aircraft defences similar to these luftwaffe gunners in the film manning a quad 20 mm flakvierling cannon. this scene however is from another attack in the film where cliff robertson and angus lennie’s characters take out a gestapo hq where the norwegian erik bergman is being tortured by an “ilsa - esque” female gestapo interrogator. screen capture from film, united artists
whether the trench - run idea was brought over from thx 1138 ’s tunnel chase, or directly inspired by the dam busters or 633 squadron is impossible to say. in fact it' s possible that the close - up cockpit shots in thx were inspired by self - same. regardlessly they were certainly brought over into star wars, as was the detached, determined way in which the motorcycles were portrayed, used for the menacing tie fighters. similarly, the pov shots of the road as the car barrels down the tunnel clearly inspired similar pov shots of the x - wings zooming down the deathstar trench .
hi moggy, i' m afraid to say that two or three real mossies were destroyed during filming. the one that crashed into the bowser was a real one, as was the example that belly landed in the middle of the film (not sure if this scene was shot from a different angle and re used in the end sequence). the only models involved were the ones that were shot down, crashed into cliffs etc. as for mosquito squadron being a poor film, that' s quite an understatement! i think it' s probably the worst british war film that' s ever been done. the storyline was pants and the dialogue and special effects were tacky. i could only stand about 10 minutes of it! it' s a shame they made such a flop considering they had three airworthy mossies at thier disposal and a whole load of unused footage from 633 squadron .
raf used three - letter codes to identify aircraft from a distance. two letters before the roundel, for the squadron to which the aircraft belonged, and another letter after the roundel for the individual aircraft. these codes were also used by other units (e. g usaaf )
in the 1956 novel, the (fictional) air squadron is sent to aid the efforts of the norwegian resistance, originally flying douglas boston bombers before they are re - equipped with the mosquitos that were to become a striking aspect of the film. the squadron undertakes a doomed mission to bomb a well - protected german hydro - electric plant at the head of a norwegian fjord, the novel ending bleakly with the loss of all lives. the movie pulled that final punch, allowing robertson' s wing commander roy grant (grenville in the novel) to survive .
to make the film, which is based on a true story, a squadron of legendary mosquito fighter bombers was resurrected from near extinction. dazzling flying sequences, bone - shaking sound and superb special effects help make this one of the most realistic combat films ever to reach the screen .
a wwii royal air force squadron prepare for an important and dangerous mission... to demolish a nazi - run munitions factory deep in the fjords of norway - - an installation which is a source of fuel for german rocket - launching. based on the novel by frederick e. smith .
nd the later (and much lesser) imitator— mosquito squadron. it was acquired by kermit weeks in 1981, and registered n35mk, and obvious nod to its designation as a mk 35 mosquito. it is now on static display at the eaa museum at oshkosh, wisconsin. photo via brendan deere
mar. 03, 1956 - britain' s first'' atom bomber'' squadron in training. . about to take - off. britain' s first' v' squadron - vickers valiant 4 - jet bomber - aircraft - specially designed to carry nuclear weapons has been formed - operating from no. 232 operational conversation unit, r. a. f. gaydon, warwickshire. . one valiant can possess hitting power greater than the whole of bomber command at its peak strength during the war. . the gaydon airfield has been completely rebuilt - with new buildings for specialised training equipment .
true bruce... .. these threads show the gone but not forgotten. good chaps... . the lot of them. we need more forum get - togethers. tj118 was drilled for bullet holes for a starring role in 633 - oxac had the tail, rear fuse and collected a load of stuff in the 80s, now reunited with the cockpit at salisbury hall
[ updated: last edited on 27 - 09 - 02 at 09: 17 am (gmt) ] rr 299 wasn' t in 633 squadron, she was in the sequel 'mosquito squadron' (another poor film! ! !). the mosquitoes that were film stars were: tw 117; hr 155; rs 712; ta 634. i think also rs 709 might have been there, but i' m not sure. these are the ones i can remember, of the top of my head, so if i' m wrong, apologies. if you want a more definitive answer i' ll do some checking up, but because i don' t have much time it won' t be till at least sunday. the fuselage that' s been completed, in new zealand by glyn powell, is going to canada. it' s going to be used by the windsor bomber group to rebuild their mosquito to static display (more info on the mosquito page urltoken) cheers, neilly
near the beginning, after the initial return of the squadron, when wing cmdr. roy grant is taken to his superior, as the jeep drives away, between the two hangars in the background can be seen a light blue / grey series 2 long wheelbase land rover, from the late 50s, early 60s.
633 squadron is a 1964 british film , which depicts the exploits of a fictional world war ii british fighter-bomber squadron and stars cliff robertson , george chakiris and maria perschy . the plot was based on a novel of the same name by frederick e. smith , published in 1956 , which itself drew on several real royal air force operations . the film was directed by walter grauman and produced by cecil f. ford for the second film of mirisch productions uk subsidiary mirisch films for united artists . 633 squadron was the first aviation film to be shot in colour and panavision widescreen . 
633 squadron is a 1964 british film, which depicts the exploits of a fictional world war ii british fighter-bomber squadron and stars cliff robertson, george chakiris and maria perschy. the plot was based on a novel of the same name by frederick e. smith, published in 1956, which itself drew on several real royal air force operations. the film was directed by walter grauman and produced by cecil f. ford for the second film of mirisch productions uk subsidiary mirisch films for united artists. 633 squadron was the first aviation film to be shot in colour and panavision widescreen.
633 squadron is a 1964 british film, which depicts the exploits of a fictional world war ii british fighter-bomber squadron and stars cliff robertson, george chakiris and maria perschy. the plot was based on a novel of the same name by frederick e. smith, published in 1956, which itself drew on several real royal air force operations. the film was directed by walter grauman and produced by cecil f. ford for the second film of mirisch productions uk subsidiary mirisch films for united artists. 633 squadron was the first aviation film to be shot in colour and panavision widescreen.