VETERANS packed the house at an anniversary screening of The Dam Busters.

The film was preceded by a special celebration of the famous bombing crew, marking the 75th anniversary of the raid on Möhne and Edersee Dams.

The Royal Albert Hall spectacular, beamed to a sold out Empire Greenbridge cinema showing, featured music from the Glenn Miller Orchestra and talks compered by TV historian Dan Snow.

Jim Leonard, 75, who spent 25 years as an RAF engineer, labelled the screening absolutely marvellous: "The first hour was incredible. The director of the original Dam Busters film wasn't there. Sadly, he died in America three weeks ago."

The 1955 cinema classic proved powerful, "even though I'd seen it a hundred times", said Oxford Road resident Jim. "I've always loved the film. It was terrific. We had a good sense of being proud of it all."

RAF veteran Jim has a very personal connection to the dam busters story.

When he was posted in Germany he flew over the Möhne dam in a Hawker Hunter jet that later crashed at the 2015 Shoreham air show.

Jim said of the dam flight: "It was unbelievable."