Avro Lancaster ED918 Giclée Art Print

High quality art print of Avro Lancaster ED918, 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 ED918, or AJ-F as it was known by No. 617 Squadron, was flown by Brown, with the crew being composed of Feneron, Heal, Hewstone, Oancia, Allatson, and McDonald. ED918 flew with the third wave of Lancaster bombers and attacked the Sorpe Dam, scoring a hit with its bouncing bomb, but not visibly breaching the structure of the dam. Completing a safe return, the crew were decorated with a CGM for Brown, and DFMs for Heal and Oancia.

Six of the crew would survive the war, while Daniel Allatson would sadly not. During an attack on the Dortmund Ems Canal in September 1943, Allatson's Lancaster was one of five to crash in No. 617 Squadron's worst night of the war. Allatson was buried in the village of Bramsche at the time, and was later moved to Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.

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