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Breaching the Dams by Nicolas Trudgian.
The Mohne Dam gives way as David Maltbys Lancaster releases its bomb to deliver
the coup de grace on the night of 16th / 17th May 1943. Guy Gibsom, nearest, and
Mick Martin, having already dropped their bombs, make dummy runs with lights on
to draw enemy fire. |
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Breaching the Dams by Nicolas Trudgian.
The Mohne Dam gives way as David Maltbys Lancaster releases its bomb to deliver the coup de grace on the night of 16th / 17th May 1943. Guy Gibsom, nearest, and Mick Martin, having already dropped their bombs, make dummy runs with lights on to draw enemy fire.
Signed limited edition of 500 prints. Paper size 33 inches x 22 inches (84cm x 56cm). Price £ Signed by Flight Lieutenant George Chalmers DFC DFM, Sergeant Raymond E. Grayston (deceased), Flight Lieutenant Edward Johnson (deceased) and Sergeant Douglas E Webb.
Limited edition of 50 artist proofs. Paper size 33 inches x 22 inches (84cm x 56cm). Price £ Signed by Flight Lieutenant George Chalmers DFC DFM, Sergeant Raymond E. Grayston (deceased), Flight Lieutenant Edward Johnson (deceased) and Sergeant Douglas E Webb.
Limited edition of 75 publisher proofs. Paper size 33 inches x 22 inches (84cm x 56cm). Price £380.00 Signed by Flight Lieutenant George Chalmers DFC DFM, Sergeant Raymond E. Grayston (deceased), Flight Lieutenant Edward Johnson (deceased) and Sergeant Douglas E Webb.
Signed limited edition of 50 edition prints. Paper size 33 inches x 22 inches (84cm x 56cm). Price £ Signed by Squadron Leader Ken Brown CGM RCAF (deceased), Flight Lieutenant George Chalmers DFC DFM, Sergeant Raymond E. Grayston (deceased), Sergeant Dudley P Heal, Flight Lieutenant Edward Johnson (deceased), Flight Lieutenant Joe C McCarthy, Flight Sergeant Grant S McDonald RCAF, Flight Sergeant Grant S McDonald RCAF, Wing Commander Danny R Walker and Sergeant Douglas E Webb.
ITEM CODE DHM2693
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Breaching the Dams by Nicolas Trudgian
- The Signatures
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Flight Lieutenant George Chalmers DFC DFM
Joining the RAF in 1938, he served with 10 Squadron on Whitleys and also 35 and 7 Squadrons. When he joined 617 Squadron he was a Flight Sergeant and served as wireless operator on Lancaster AJ-O during the Dambusters raid which was piloted by Bill Townsend. Awarded the DFM for his part in the attack on the Ennepe Dam he was commissioned a few months later and awarded the DFC after 65 operations.
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 | Sergeant Raymond E. Grayston (deceased)
Ray Grayston had been serving in 50 Squadron when he was posted to 617 Squadron in March 1943. The flight engineer of Les Knight’s Lancaster AJ-N, they attacked and successfully breached the Eder Dam, Ray was shot down on 16th September 1943, and was taken to Stalag Luft III as a POW. Sadly, we have learned that Ray Grayston passed away on 15th April 2010.
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Flight Lieutenant Edward Johnson (deceased)
He joined the RAFVR early in the war, serving with 50 and 106 Squadrons. When he joined 617 Squadron in 1943 he was the bomb aimer on Lancaster AJ-N piloted by Les Knight on the Dambusters raid. During that raid they first attacked the Mohne Dam and then went on to attack and actually breach the Eder Dam, for which he was awarded the DFC. Later in 1943 he was shot down but evaded capture and during a two month journey returned to England via Holland, France, Spain and Gibraltar. Sadly, Edward Johnson died 1st October 2002.
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Squadron Leader Ken Brown CGM RCAF (deceased)
Born 20th August 1920. Joined the Canadian Air Force in 1941, and joined No.617 Sqn in 1943. Pilot and Captain of Lancaster AJ-F, he attacked the Sorpe Dam. Ken Brown died 23rd December 2002.
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Flight Lieutenant Joe C McCarthy
In March 1943, a special Royal Air Force (RAF) unit, 617 Squadron, was created to try a new tactic--low altitude bombing using deep penetration bombs that weighed from 9,500 to 22,000 pounds. Their first targets were three dams in the Ruhr industrial area of western Germany: the Mohne, the Eder, and the Sorpe. These dams supplied water for Ruhr steel mills and hydroelectric power. Twenty Avro Lancaster bombers were specially modified for this mission to carry a new, rotating skip bomb that would bounce across the lake, sink, and then explode at the base of the dam. So secret was the dambusting mission, that the pilots and navigators were briefed only the day before as to the actual targets. The three dams were struck, and two were breached, on the night of 16 May 1943. "Joe " McCarthy, from Long Island, New York, was an original member of 617 Squadron. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in 1941 and soon transferred with his crew to RAF Bomber Command. From 1941 until late 1944, he flew the Hampden, Manchester, Lancaster, and Mosquito bombers and compiled a total of 80 combat missions. As Officer Commanding, German Aircraft Flight, he tested and flew over 20 different German aircraft, which had been taken from captured German airfields back to Farnborough for extensive engineering evaluation. During this period, McCarthy flew the first British operational jet, the Meteor, and the experimental Windsor bomber. Upon returning to Edmonton, Canada, he continued flight testing a variety of aircraft for cold weather operations as well as the experimental Canadian flying wing. During 28 years in the RCAF, he flew 64 different British, American, German, and Canadian aircraft. Later assignments included base executive officer for an F-86 NATO installation in France; Commander, Flying Training School, RCAF Station Penhold, Canada; and Commanding Officer of the 407 Maritime Squadron, flying the P2V Neptune. From 1961 to 1962, he was Chief of Air Operations for the United Nations' forces in the Congo, and from 1963 to 1966, worked in plans and policy for CINCLANT/CINCLANTFLT. Wing Commander McCarthy's final assignment was as base operations officer for two maritime squadrons flying the Argus antisubmarine warfare aircraft in Nova Scotia. He retired from the RCAF in 1969 and, after a second career in real estate, fully retired in 1986.
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 | Flight Sergeant Grant S McDonald RCAF
Grant McDonald was the rear gunner on Lancaster AJ-F flown by Ken Brown. On the way to the Ruhr, the gunners shot up and damaged three trains in an eventful trip before reaching the Sorpe Dam.
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Wing Commander Danny R Walker
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