Hi Folks, A little late for me today, alas duty calls so a slightly rushed Spark!.
On This Day - 1943 - The Dams Raid
On this day in 1943, The Royal Air Force’s 617 Squadron, led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, carry out a raid on the Ruhr Dams in Germany using a new “Bouncing Bomb” created by aeronautical engineer Barnes Wallis.
The raid destroyed two of its three targets and unleashed flood waters over a large part of the Ruhr valley. The losses in terms of aircraft and crew were significant and although the initial effects were spectacular, Ruhr production was almost back to pre-raid levels in months. This was largely due to a failure to follow up the raid with attacks on the reconstruction work.
The casualty figures ran into thousands although the majority of these were Eastern European forced labourers and not German military or manufacturing personnel.
617 Squadron remained a “special duties” squadron for the rest of the war and undertook several more specialised and risky operations, including V weapon production sites and the battlecruiser Tirpitz. They later became a Tornado squadron fighting in both Gulf wars and are currently the first RAF squadron to fly the new F-35 jet.
Read more here: ( Operation Chastise - Wikipedia )
Also on this day:
1954 - US Supreme Court hands down a unanimous decision in the “Brown v. Board of Education” trial, outlawing segregation in public schools.
1973 - Televised hearings of the Senate investigaion into the Watergate Scandal begin.
1990 - The World Health Organisation removes homosexuality from its list of psychiatric diseases
Arrivals
1866 - Erik Satie, French composer
1935 - Dennis Potter, British writer, director and playwright
1955 - Bill Paxton, US actor and director
1973 - Josh Homme, US Singer
Departures
1886 - John Deere, American engineer and businessman, famous for his green tractors
2005 - Frank Gorshin, US actor (although his birth date is a riddle)
2012 - Donna Summer, US Singer
The Funnies
Recipe of the Day - No-bake Strawberry Cheesecake
The weather in the UK has been a little grim lately, so here is a little slice of summer to brighten things up courtesy of BBC Food.
Ingredients
2 tsp sunflower oil
200g/7oz digestive biscuits
100g/3½oz unsalted butter
½ tsp ground cinnamon
100g/3½oz white chocolate, roughly chopped
400g/14oz strawberries, trimmed, plus extra to decorate
300g/10½oz full-fat cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest only
1 tbsp runny honey or maple syrup
200ml/7fl oz double cream
Method
Brush the inside of a 20cm/8in springform tin with the sunflower oil, and line the base with a disc of baking parchment.
Put the digestive biscuits into a sealable freezer bag. Push all the air out and seal the bag. Crush the biscuits with a rolling pin, until they are reduced to sand-like crumbs.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Stir in the biscuit crumbs and cinnamon. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the tin. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Chop 150g/5oz of the strawberries in half from top to bottom and arrange around the edge of the prepared tin, cut side-up. Chop the remaining berries into small pieces.
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl, either over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water, or in a microwave.
Beat together the cream cheese, vanilla, lemon zest and honey in a mixing bowl. Stir in the chopped strawberries.
In another bowl, whisk the double cream until it holds a floppy peak.
Fold the melted chocolate into the cream cheese mixture, followed by the double cream. Add more honey if needed.
Spoon the filling into the tin, being careful not to move the strawberries on the edge. Spread level with a palette knife or the back of a spoon, cover with cling film and chill overnight, until firm.
Carefully remove the cheesecake from the tin and put on a serving plate. Slice or quarter extra strawberries to arrange on top
Comic of the Day
Credit: xkcd: Astrophotography
Mouseover Text: “One hill over, a competing astrophotographer does a backflip over a commercial airliner while throwing a tray of plastic space stations into the air, through which a falcon swoops to ‘grab’ the real one.”
Inspirobot:
Don’t forget to catch @repairatrooper ’ s finely balanced Spark! from Friday here: Spark! Pro Series - May 14th 2021
