Avro Lancaster ED825 Giclée Art Print

High quality art print of Avro Lancaster ED825, an Avro Lancaster B.III (Special) of No. 617 Squadron, specially refitted to take part in Operation Chastise, better known as the Dambusters Raid.

The Dambusters Raid saw nineteen Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron attack several dams in the Ruhr Valley in Germany: the Möhne, Eder, Sorpe, and Edersee dams. Flying on the night of 16/17 May 1943, each of the Lancasters carried an Vickers Type 464 'Upkeep' mine, better known as a bouncing bomb, which Barnes Wallis had designed specifically for the mission. The Lancasters flew in low to avoid detection, and bounced their Upkeep mines along the surface of the water and into the dam.

Lancaster ED825, designated AJ-T by No. 617 Squadron, was part of the first wave of Lancasters. The crew had intended to fly ED932, AJ-Q, but it developed engine trouble during take-off; hence the switch to AJ-T. Taking off 33 minutes late, AJ-T arrived at the Sorpe Dam alone and, after ten approach runs, finally lined up and struck it with their bouncing bomb. 

The crew were:

• Flight Lieutenant Joe McCarthy DFC
• Sergeant William Radcliffe
• Flight Sergeant Donald MacLean
• Flight Sergeant Leonard Eaton (who, at 37 years of age, was the oldest of the Dambusters)
• Sergeant George Leonard 'Johnny' Johnson
• Sergeant Robert Batson
• Flight Officer David Rodger

This illustration by Rob Wisdom is a high-quality Giclée art print on cotton-rich fine art paper.