Johnny Johnson death: Last surviving Dambuster dies aged 101
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The last surviving Dambuster died at the age of 101.
George Leonard ‘Johnny’ Johnson played a key role in the historic 1943 attack.
He died peacefully at his nursing home in Westbury on Trym, Bristol, surrounded by his family.
The retired Royal Air Force officer was a bomb aimer during Operation Chastise, which was tasked with attacking German dams during World War II.
Johnson was just 22 years old when, as part of 617 Squadron RAF, he took part in the raid.
The last surviving Dambuster died at the age of 101. George Leonard ‘Johnny’ Johnson was the last surviving original member of the famous 1943 ‘Dambusters’ raid. Above: He was awarded an MBE by the Queen in 2017 after a long-running campaign backed by TV presenter Carol Vorderman
Johnson was just 23 years old when, as part of 617 Squadron RAF, he took part in the raid, which targeted dams in the Ruhr Valley in Germany’s industrial heartland with bouncing bombs. Above: Mr. Johnson (front left), with his Lancaster Bomber crew in 1943
Bouncing bomb attacks released thousands of tons of water into areas of the Ruhr Valley that were crucial to Germany’s war effort.
Mr. Johnson’s job was to target the Sorpe Dam, and he required nine dummy runs to ensure he hit the mark.
The operation has gone down in history as one of the most successful air raids of World War II.
Johnson joined the RAF in June 1940. Before the Dambusters raid, he met his wife, Gwynn, who died in 2005.
Mr. Johnson’s first mission was in August 1942, and in November of that year, he completed his bomb-aiming training.
He completed a tour with 97 Squadron and then transferred to 617 Squadron for the top secret operation Chastise, which took place on the night of 16/17 May 1943.
With handpicked crews from Britain, the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, the squadron’s mission was to damage several dams that provided a vital source of power for Germany’s industrial region.
The bouncing bombs themselves were developed by aeronautical engineer Barnes Wallis.
The attacks released thousands of tons of water in areas that were crucial to Germany’s war effort. Johnson’s job was to target the Sorpe Dam in the raid, and he required nine dummy runs to ensure he hit the mark. Above: Damage inflicted on Eder’s Dam
What made it so dangerous was that, to be successful, the Dambusters had to fly at a height of 60 feet, so the specially adapted mines they carried, codenamed Upkeep, would bounce off the water before hitting the rocks. dam walls and sink 30 feet. .
The mines would then explode, causing the dam walls to burst and releasing millions of tons of water into the valleys below.
The Dambusters trained by flying over the Derwent Reservoir and a dam in the Lake District.
On the night of May 16, 1943, 19 Lancaster bombers led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson set out for Germany with the goal of destroying the Mohne, Eder, and Sorpe dams.
The bombs they carried weighed four tons each.
Their mission was hailed a success after two of the dams, the Eder and Mohne, burst, releasing 300 million tons of water.
With the Sorpe dam, because of the way it had been built, it was decided that it should be attacked directly, rather than with bouncing bombs.
Mr Johnson, who was born in the village of Hameringham, near Horncastle, Lincolnshire, in 1921, now lives in a nursing home in Bristol.
Mr. Johnson’s team had no time to practice, but still had to hit the dam wall. To the chagrin of his crew, he insisted on flying over the dam nine times before dropping the bomb on the tenth turn.
The team hit the dam, but it did not break. However, the water released by the two broken dams damaged 92 Nazi factories and destroyed 12 others.
In total, 133 Allied aircrews participated: 90 from the RAF, 29 from the Royal Canadian Air Force, 12 from the Royal Australian Air Force and two from the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
A total of 53 soldiers lost their lives and another three were taken captive.
The squadron’s bravery earned it 33 decorations, including the Victoria Cross for Wing Commander Gibson.
It is also credited with providing a major morale boost for troops, and in 1955 led to the film The Dam Busters, starring Sir Michael Redgrave.
File photo of squad leader Johnny Johnson, the last of the Dambusters, holding a newspaper reporting on the dam raid.
Johnson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal at Buckingham Palace and served the remainder of the war in training posts.
After the mission, Johnson flew 18 more operations with 617 Squadron until April 1944, when his commanding officer, Flight Lieutenant Joe McCarthy, discovered that Johnson’s wife was pregnant and insisted that she stand down.
Johnson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal at Buckingham Palace and served the remainder of the war in training posts.
He then qualified as a navigator and remained in the RAF until 1962, when he retired as a squadron leader.
Mr. Johnson then retrained as a teacher and worked in primary schools and later in adult education.
He was awarded an MBE by the Queen in 2017 after a long campaign backed by TV presenter Carol Vorderman.
Mr. Johnson had three children: son Morgan and daughters Susan and Jenny.
His death comes after squadron leader Lawrence ‘Benny’ Goodman’, the last surviving pilot of the Dambusters squadron, died in July last year.
The Daily Mail report on the Dambusters raid told how “two mighty walls of water were… rolling irresistibly down the Ruhr and Eder valleys.”
THE DAMBUSTERS RAID OF 1943
Johnson, pictured near retirement in 1962, said his memories of the Dambuster bombings would “last forever”.
On May 16, 1943, 19 Lancaster bomber crews assembled at a remote RAF station in Lincolnshire for an extraordinarily daring mission: a nighttime raid on three heavily defended dams in the industrial heartland of Germany.
The dams were heavily fortified and necessitated the innovative ricochet bomb, which bounced off the water onto the torpedo nets and sank before detonating.
To succeed, the raiders would have to fly across occupied Europe under heavy fire, then drop their bombs with astonishing accuracy from just 60 feet above the water.
The Mohne and Eder dams in the industrial heartland of Germany were attacked and breached by mines dropped from specially modified Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron.
The Sorpe dam was also attacked by two aircraft and damaged.
A fourth dam, the Ennepe, was reported to have been attacked by a single aircraft (O-Orange), but without damage.
It was estimated that up to 1,600 people died from the flooding and eight of the 19 aircraft dispatched failed to return with the loss of 53 crew and 3 taken prisoner of war.
Wg Cdr Guy Gibson, No. 617 Squadron Commanding Officer, is awarded the VC for his part in directing the attack.
The raid, orchestrated by Guy Gibson and 617 ‘Dambuster’ Squadron RAF, was seen as a major victory for the British, and Wing Commander Gibson is recognized as one of the most revered heroes of the war.
Its success was immortalized in the classic 1954 film The Dambusters, its stirring theme and rousing script evoking the best of British exploits.
A German civil servant next to an unexploded British Upkeep bouncing bomb