Avro Lancaster ED886 Giclée Art Print

High quality art print of Avro Lancaster ED886, 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 ED886, known within No. 617 Squadron by the designation AJ-O, was piloted by Townsend, and crewed by Townsend, Powell, Howard, Chalmers, Frankin, Webb, and Wilkinson. Part of the third and final wave of Lancaster's, ED886 successfully deployed its bouncing bomb - possibly against its target, the Ennepe Dam, but more likely against nearby Bever Dam. This ambiguity led the RAF to record a hit against 'Schwelme Dam' - a fictional dam using the name of a town in-between the Ennepe and Bever Dams.

ED886 returned undamaged, despite being targeted by anti-aircraft flak guns, and six of the crew were decorated for their efforts - a CGM for pilot Townsend, a DFC for Howard, and DFMs for Chalmers, Franklin, Webb, and Wilkinson. Six of the crew would go on to survive the war. Powell, unfortunately, was killed in September 1943 when his aircraft was shot down near Nordhorn in Germany. He is buried at Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.

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