Avro Lancaster ED921 Giclée Art Print

High quality art print of Avro Lancaster ED921, 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 ED921, designated as AJ-W by No. 617 Squadron, was crewed by:

• Flight Lieutenant Les Munro (pilot), who went on to be the last surviving Dambuster until his passing in 2015 at the age of 96.
• Sergeant Frank Appleby (flight engineer)
• Flight Officer Francis Grant Rumbles (navigator)
• Warrant Officer Percy Pigeon (wireless operator)
• Sergeant James Clay (bomb aimer)
• Sergeant William Howarth (front gunner)
• Flight Sergeant Harvey Weeks (rear gunner)

ED921 flew in the second wave of Lancaster bombers, and was targeted by anti-aircraft fire over the Dutch coast; Munro was forced to turn around and return home with the bouncing bomb intact. All seven members of the crew would survive the war.

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