About 45 minutes short but good, this film takes the viewer through the phases of a bombing mission, starting with the recon photos being dropped by a light bomber in the morning, retrieved by an officer at the base, developed and examined and then the mission being planned by the squadron operations officers.
From there the strategy is laid out: F for Freddy will go in first and hit the target (an oil refinery) with incendiary bombs, the others will follow in a stream about 15 minutes apart and target the fire at the refinery and hopefully destroy the surrounding structures.
The focus of the movie now turns to F for Freddy. The Wellington bomber launches, follows its designed path, hits the target and is itself hit by anti-aircraft fire. The other bombers encounter bad weather and have to turn back, while F for Freddy struggles to get home on a bad engine and with a wounded radio operator. Reaching the base, the crippled bomber finds the airstrip socked in with thick fog, so they land blind, with only oil-burning lamps to mark the runway.
The real heroes of the film are the RAF aircrew who do a pretty good job of acting (though you can tell the boys are real cut-ups and hamming it up a bit for the camera). Aviation enthusiasts and fans of WW2 will enjoy seeing the old Wellingtons flying around. Military historians will appreciate the details that go in to planning the bombing strike, right down to the fake attacks by aircraft over the Channel, designed to keep the Luftwaffe from intercepting the real strike over Germany.
Worth a look if you can find a copy of the film. I found mine in an Experimental Aircraft Association museum gift shop.
