‘The Dambusters’


The following is an extract from the book ‘The Air Combat Paintings of Robert Taylor’ by Robert Weston and Robert Taylor, in which Robert Taylor describes his own painting ‘The Dambusters’:


The RAF attack on the Ruhr dams on the night of 16-17 May in 1943 became one of the most famous raids of the war. Under the command of Guy Gibson, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his courage in leadership, nineteen Lancaster bombers of 617 Squadron attacked the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe dams. Using the ingenious ‘bouncing’ bomb, invented by the prolific and brilliant designer Barnes Wallis, the crews pressed home their attack against the heavily-defended dams with inordinate success. However, eight of the nineteen crews failed to return.


The Dams Raids have always caught the imagination of the public and the scene had been painted by several artists before I made my attempt. Most other paintings viewed the dams from the lower side, following the breach, with water cascading down. It seemed a good idea to try a different approach, but initially I was not sure how one might do this. Then I had the good fortune to be introduced to Air Marshal Sir Harold Martin.


‘Mick’ Martin, and Australian, had been Guy Gibson’s deputy leader on the Dams Raids, and was known to be one of the most fearless and skilled bomber pilots in the RAF. Of great importance to me was the fact that he was also interested to help me with the research for the painting and kindly invited me to his home for lunch.


We talked throughout an excellent meal, prepared by Lady Martin and, by the time we had finished eating, Sir Harold was in full flow: the dining room table became the Mohne Reservoir, a line of cutlery the dam, salt and pepper formed the twin turrets, a glass positioned the power station where the luckless Hopgood’s bomb had landed, and a mustard pot fixed the position of the moon. Plates were used to plot the position of his own Lancaster and that of Guy Gibson’s. During the following hours, the entire raid was played out before me, move by move, by the pilot of the aircraft I was to paint. By the end of this totally absorbing afternoon I knew exactly how I wanted to paint the picture.


What was absolutely unique about the dams raids was the bomb used and its method of delivery. Apart from the astonishing bravery of the crews, it was this factor that set these attacks apart from all others of the war. I felt it essential for me somehow to construct my painting so as to portray these unique features.


‘The Dambusters’ - 01

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…... Continued

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