Dam Busters star Richard Todd dies aged 90 (BBC) {WWII veteran}

[eppur_se_muova]

Richard Todd, best known for his role in classic war film The Dam Busters, has died at the age of 90, after a battle with cancer.

Todd, a war hero in his own right, was also known for playing dashing heroes like Robin Hood and Rob Roy.

Born in Dublin in 1919, Todd was one of the first British soldiers to parachute into France on D-Day.
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Made in 1955, The Dam Busters told of the development of the bouncing bomb used during World War II to destroy the Ruhr dams in Germany.

Todd played Wing Commander Guy Gibson, leader of the 1943 mission codenamed Operation Chastise.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8394812.stm

ETA to move up one war

[truebrit71]

1. WW TWO veteran...

;-)

[atreides1]

2. You're one World War off.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. Got it. nt

[tabatha]

5. No, it was WWII.

During the Second World War, Todd joined the British Army, receiving a commission in 1941. Initially, he served in the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry before joining the Parachute Regiment and being assigned to the 7th (Light Infantry) Battalion as part of the British 6th Airborne Division.

On 6 June 1944, as a captain, he participated in the British Airborne Operation Tonga during the D-Day landings.<2> Todd was among the first British officers to land in Normandy as part of Operation Overlord. His battalion were reinforcements that parachuted in after glider forces had landed and completed the main assault against Pegasus Bridge near Caen.<2> He later met up with Major John Howard on Pegasus Bridge and helped repel several German counter attacks.<3>

[librechik]

4. ah--what a crush i had on him as a ten year old...

great actor too--he played a psychopathic murderers once or twice, as well as the TV Robin Hood in the fifties, that's where I encountered him.

A more characteristic pose below:

[Strelnikov_]

6. "Hold until relieved"

On 6 June 1944, as a captain, he participated in the British Airborne Operation Tonga during the D-Day landings.<2> Todd was among the first British officers to land in Normandy as part of Operation Overlord. His battalion were reinforcements that parachuted in after glider forces had landed and completed the main assault against Pegasus Bridge near Caen.<2> He later met up with Major John Howard on Pegasus Bridge and helped repel several German counter attacks.<3>

As an actor, Todd would later play Howard in the 1962 film The Longest Day.

[slampoet]

7. STAR WARS a New Hope, the ending battle was based on the Dam Busters.

All the parts where they destroy the Death Star are nearly very similar to the scenes in the Dam Busters.