Editing The Dam Busters (film) (section)

==Release==
Around twenty survivors of the raid, attended a dinner on Saturday 14 May at the [[Criterion Restaurant]].<ref>''Nottingham Guardian'' Monday 16 May 1955, page 3</ref> Five Canadian survivors, had flown into [[RAF Langar]], in [[Nottinghamshire]], on the morning of Friday 13 May.<ref>''Nottingham Guardian'' Thursday 12 May 1955, page 4</ref>

''The Dambusters'' received a Royal world premiere at the [[Empire, Leicester Square]] on 16 May 1955, the twelfth anniversary of the raid.<ref>S. P. MacKenzie, ''Bomber Boys on Screen: RAF Bomber Command in Film and Television Drama'', London: Bloomsbury Academic (2019), p. 56.</ref> [[Princess Margaret]] attended along with Eve Gibson, Guy Gibson's widow and his father. Richard Todd, Barnes Wallis and his wife and the surviving members of 617 Squadron who had taken part in the mission were all guests of honour. Fifteen survivors attended the premiere, and eleven next of kin, of those who did not return. Of the survivors attending, the only prisoner of war of the raid, 33 year old Australian Flt Lt Tony Burcher, rear gunner of ''AJ-M'', the second to attack, could re-witness his aircraft being hit by a Bofors gun between the two towers; he broke his back, when it caught the aircraft tailplane, on exit. He lay in a culvert for five days, and was caught when crawling across a road. He said 'we dropped our mine, and suddenly we were on fire'.<ref>''Nottingham Guardian'' Tuesday 17 May 1955, page 1</ref>

The premiere helped to raise money and awareness for various RAF charities.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Pathé|first=British|title=Dam Busters Royal Premiere|url=https://www.britishpathe.com/video/dam-busters-royal-premiere|access-date=2021-05-16|website=britishpathe.com}}</ref>

The film was first shown on British television on 30 May 1971.<ref>{{Cite web|title=We delve into The Dam Busters|url=https://www.dca.org.uk/stories/article/we-delve-into-the-dam-busters|access-date=2021-05-16|website=Dundee Contemporary Arts}}</ref>