Mick Essex

On the evening of the 16th/17th May 1943: The Dambusters Raid – Operation Chastise was successfully executed 🫡🛩️🇬🇧 Eighty-three years ago, Britain’s finest demonstrated the very best of our island spirit, courage and ingenuity. Wing Commander Guy Gibson led 617 Squadron RAF; just 19 specially modified Avro Lancaster bombers, on one of the most audacious and legendary raids of the Second World War. Armed with the revolutionary “bouncing bombs” invented by British engineer Dr Barnes Wallis, the crews flew at treetop height across occupied Europe to strike the great dams of the Ruhr, the industrial heart of Nazi Germany. After intense low-level training over the Derwent Dam in Derbyshire (where a proud memorial now stands in their honour) and Eyebrook Reservoir in Leicestershire, the squadron successfully breached the Möhne and Eder dams and damaged the Sorpe. The sight of those mighty walls collapsing sent a tidal wave through the valleys and, more importantly, a surge of hope through the British people. Of the 133 brave aircrew who took off from RAF Scampton, 53 men were killed and three became prisoners of war. On the ground in Germany the flooding claimed almost 1,300 lives. The direct damage to German industry was repaired relatively quickly, yet the raid’s true and lasting impact was immense: it delivered a massive morale boost to a war-weary Britain at a pivotal moment, proving that even in our darkest hour we could strike back with brilliance and bravery. This was British ingenuity at its finest; Wallis’s bouncing bomb, Gibson’s fearless leadership, and the unmatched skill and sacrifice of the aircrews of 617 Squadron. The Dambusters became instant national heroes and their story still stirs pride in every British heart today. We will remember them – always. Lest we forget. #DamBusters #WeWillRemember

Today we remember Captain Robert Laurence Nairac GC, murdered by the Provisional IRA on 15th May 1977. Captain Nairac was a British Army officer in the Grenadier Guards. On his fourth tour of duty in Northern Ireland, serving as a Military Intelligence Liaison Officer at Headquarters 3 Infantry Brigade, he was abducted while on an undercover operation from The Three Steps pub in Dromintee, South Armagh, on the night of 14th May 1977. On 13 February 1979, Nairac was posthumously awarded the George Cross. The citation, as reproduced in The London Gazette, read: "Captain Nairac served for four tours of duty in Northern Ireland totalling twenty-eight months. During the whole of this time he made an outstanding personal contribution: his quick analytical brain, resourcefulness, physical stamina and above all his courage and dedication inspired admiration in everyone who knew him. On his fourth tour Captain Nairac was a Liaison Officer at Headquarters 3 Infantry Brigade. His task was connected with surveillance operations. On the night of 14/15 May 1977 Captain Nairac was abducted from a village in South Armagh by at least seven men. Despite his fierce resistance he was overpowered and taken across the border into the nearby Republic of Ireland where he was subjected to a succession of exceptionally savage assaults in an attempt to extract information which would have put other lives and future operations at serious risk. These efforts to break Captain Nairac's will failed entirely. Weakened as he was in strength—though not in spirit—by the brutality, he yet made repeated and spirited attempts to escape, but on each occasion was eventually overpowered by the weight of numbers against him. After several hours in the hands of his captors, Captain Nairac was callously murdered by a gunman of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who had been summoned to the scene. His assassin subsequently said "He never told us anything". Captain Nairac's exceptional courage and acts of the greatest heroism in circumstances of extreme peril showed devotion to duty and personal courage second to none." Nearly five decades later, his remains have still never been recovered, denying his family the dignity of a proper burial. After 49 years, it is time to bring closure to Captain Nairac’s family and to honour his service with the dignity he deserves. We Will Remember Them “𝕲𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊 𝖍𝖆𝖙𝖍 𝖓𝖔 𝖒𝖆𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘, 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖆 𝖒𝖆𝖓 𝖑𝖆𝖞 𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖓 𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖑𝖎𝖋𝖊 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖋𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖘.” #WeWillRememberThem #LestWeForget