David at the Cave of Adullam
The Cave of Adullam is about two-thirds of the way between the Gaza strip and the southern end of the Dead Sea. It was one of David's hiding places when he was fleeing from the Philistines:
And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the Cave of Adullam: and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim. And David was then in a hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David longed and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate! And the three mighty men broke through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord. And he said, Be it far from me, O lord, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? Therefore he would not drink it.
2 Samuel XXIII: 13-17.
This quotation is said to have been used by Dr. Barnes Wallis, the British aeronautical designer and engineer, who invented the famous "bouncing bomb" used to smash the Ruhr dams in 1943. After the war, he was awarded a prize of £10,000 for his contribution to the war effort and the award specifically mentioned the successful attack on the Möhne, Eider and Sorpe Dams. Fifty-six airmen failed to return from the raid, all their Lancasters having been shot down or otherwise lost through damage sustained in the low-level attack. Barnes Wallis declined to accept the award for himself, stating: "Is this not the blood of men who went in jeopardy of their lives?"
He used the money to set up a fund for the education and welfare of orphans of airmen.