Peter Jackson is to tell the “true” story of the Dam Busters in a film remake, including details that were not included in the original because they were covered by the Official Secrets Act.

The 1955 version starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd told of the daring Second World War mission to destroy German dams with Barnes Wallis’s ‘bouncing’ bombs.

But in an interview with The Telegraph Jackson said it presented a “romanticised” view and was short on detail because so much of the planning was kept out of the public domain.

Fresh from the success of his First World War documentary, They Shall Not Grow Old, the Oscar-winning director reaffirmed his plans for a remake. He has been trying to get the project off the ground for a decade.