Dambusters' Grantham command centre to be shown in TV documentary

A new documentary featuring St Vincent’s Hall, the Grantham command centre for the legendary Dambusters raid of World War Two, starts at 9pm on Channel 5 tonight Tuesday.

‘The Dambusters; A Daring Plan’ includes filming at St Vincent’s, which was Bomber Command 5 Group HQ in 1943 and is now a private home, with presenter and historian Dan Snow.

It illustrates how Wing Commander Guy Gibson, commanding officer of the iconic 617 ‘Dambuster’ Squadron, first found out about the top secret mission when he arrived at St Vincent’s, and the challenge he faced to prepare and train his Lancaster bomber crews.

The Channel 5 documentary examines Gibson’s approach to leading the top secret mission and his relationship with bouncing bomb inventor Barnes Wallis who was present at St Vincent’s on the night of the raids.

Dan Snow puts himself in Gibson’s boots from that very first briefing, nervous, and not sure what to expect.

The filming was co-ordinated by South Kesteven District Council, working with Aviation Heritage Lincolnshire.