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Lancaster ED921 - Aircraft Details - Aviation Directory

Lancaster ED921


Type : Lancaster
Last Flew : 26th September 1946
Known Codes :
AJ-W


Known information
30th April 1943Joined No.617 Sqn with code AJ-W.
16th May 1943Took part in the Dambusters raid as part of the second wave. The aircraft was damaged by flak after crossing the Dutch coast on the outward journey, suffered electrical failure and was forced to turn back, returning safely. Crew : Flight Lieutenant John Leslie Munro (Pilot), Sergeant Frank Ernest Appleby (Flight Engineer), Flying Officer Grant Rumbles (Navigator), Flying Officer Percy Edgar Pigeon (Wireless Operator), Sergeant James Henry Clay (Bomb Aimer), Sergeant William Howarth (Front Gunner), Flight Sergeant Harvey Alexander Weeks (Rear Gunner).
26th September 1946Scrapped.



Pilots and Aircrew who flew : Lancaster ED921
A list of all aircrew from our database who are associated with this aircraft. A profile page is available by clicking their name.
NameInfo
Appleby, Frank Ernest
Click the name above to see a profile of Appleby, Frank Ernest
Appleby, Frank Ernest

He was Flight Engineer on Lancaster ED921 AJ-W of No.617 Sqn for the Dambusters raid of 16th - 17th May 1943. The aircraft was heavily damaged by flak near the Dutch coast on the outward journey and was forced to abort the mission, but returned to base safely.
Clay, James Henry
Click the name above to see a profile of Clay, James Henry
Clay, James Henry

He was Bomb Aimer on Lancaster ED921 AJ-W of No.617 Sqn for the Dambusters raid of 16th - 17th May 1943. The aircraft was heavily damaged by flak near the Dutch coast on the outward journey and was forced to abort the mission, but returned to base safely.
Howarth, William
Click the name above to see a profile of Howarth, William
Howarth, William

He was Front Gunner on Lancaster ED921 AJ-W of No.617 Sqn for the Dambusters raid of 16th - 17th May 1943. The aircraft was heavily damaged by flak near the Dutch coast on the outward journey and was forced to abort the mission, but returned to base safely.
Munro, John Leslie
Click the name above to see a profile of Munro, John Leslie

   Died : 4 / 8 / 2015
Munro, John Leslie

New Zealander Les Munro was the Captain and pilot of Lancaster AJ-W assigned to attack the Sorpe Dam, but was forced to turn back en-route to the target after heavy flak damage over Holland had rendered his aircraft unable to carry on with the operation. Squadron Leader Les Munro, who has died aged 96, was the last surviving pilot to have taken part on the Dambusters raid, which attacked the Ruhr Dams in May 1943. His Lancaster was one of the first to take off on the night of May 16. Their target was the Sorpe Dam. Flying at very low level over the Dutch island of Vlieland, the bomber was badly damaged by anti-aircraft fire. The radios and electrical system were disabled but, crucially, so was the intercommunication system between members of the crew. Without this it was impossible to carry out the precise attack from a height of 60 feet, so with great reluctance, Munro turned for his home base at Scampton, near Lincoln, still with his bouncing bomb on board. John Leslie Munro was born on April 5 1919 at Gisborne, New Zealand, where his Scottish father had emigrated in 1903. He worked as a farmer before joining the Royal New Zealand Air Force in July 1941. He trained initially in New Zealand and then in Canada, where he completed his qualification as a pilot. On arrival in England he trained on bombers before joining No 97 Squadron, which had recently been re-equipped with the Lancaster. After an operation to drop mines in the sea-lanes to German occupied ports, Munro attacked industrial cities in Germany during the so-called Battle of the Ruhr when Essen, Dusseldorf and Cologne were among his targets. He also flew on two raids to Berlin and attacked targets in Italy. He and his crew were approaching the end of their tour of operations (30 sorties) when volunteers were called for to form a new squadron for a special operation. Munro discussed it with his crew and they agreed to apply. A few days later, on March 25, they arrived at Scampton to join X Squadron on its formation, later to become No 617. Soon after leaving No. 97 Squadron, Munro was awarded the DFC for pressing home his attacks with great courage and determination. Within days of arriving at Scampton, all the crews were practising intensive low-level flying including runs over lakes and reservoirs when high-tension cables, barrage balloons and birds were an ever-present hazard. During a trial flight with the Upkeep bouncing bomb designed by Barnes Wallis, Munro was flying below the prescribed height of 60 feet when a great plume of water made by the bomb as it made its first bounce damaged the tailplane of his Lancaster. After the Dams Raid, Munro remained on No 617. The squadron suffered further heavy losses and morale was badly affected. Under the leadership of its new commanding officer, Wing Commander Leonard Cheshire, Munro was made a flight commander. The other two flight commanders were Dave Shannon, an Australian, and the American Joe McCarthy and these three, under Cheshires inspiring leadership, created one of the most effective squadrons to serve in Bomber Command. Cheshire described his three flight commanders as the backbone of the squadron. Of the three, the slow speaking, taciturn New Zealander was the least flamboyant, but his rock steady dependability and utter reliability were an inspiration to his young crews. Cheshire was dissatisfied with the marking of targets by the Pathfinder Force and he developed his own low-level marking technique that proved highly successful. Munro dropped flares from high level and Cheshire dived beneath them to accurately mark the targets for the following bombers. On the eve of D-day on June 5 1944, No 617 flew Operation Taxable, a complex flight requiring extremely accurate flying, navigation and timing. Munro, with Cheshire as his co-pilot, was flying one of the lead aircraft, which flew a series of orbits as it advanced across the English Channel towards the Pas de Calais dropping window (reflective metal strips) to simulate an amphibious landing force approaching the area. This deception created doubt in the Germans minds as to where the Allied landing was taking place and delayed the despatch of reinforcements to Normandy. After the landings, the squadron flew in support of troops establishing the bridgehead. On the night of June 8 , it had a spectacular success when Munro dropped one of the new 12,000-lb Tallboy bombs, which completely destroyed the Saumur railway tunnel. On the following nights he dropped Tallboys on the E-boat pens at Le Havre and Boulogne before attacking the V-weapon sites at Wizernes and Mimoyecques. After this latter raid, his 55th, he and his fellow flight commanders were retired. He had recently been awarded the DSO, his citation concluding with the words, His achievements have been worthy of the greatest praise. Munro finished the war in command of a Bomber Defence Training Flight. He returned to New Zealand and left the RNZAF in February 1946 as a squadron leader. Munro made a major contribution to community life in New Zealand and was Mayor of Tekuiti from 1978 to 1995. He was awarded the Queens Service Order in 1981 and appointed Commander of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 1997 for services to local government and community. Munro retained strong links with his old squadron and made a number of trips to the United Kingdom on special anniversaries. He was present when the Queen dedicated the Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park in 2012. In 2015 he placed his medals with an auction house to raise money for the maintenance of the memorial. At the last minute, Lord Ashcroft stepped in to stop the sale, offering to donate £75,000 to the memorials upkeep if Munro gifted his medals to the Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland. Squadron Leader Les Munro, born April 5 1919, died August 4 2015.
Pigeon, Percy Edgar
Click the name above to see a profile of Pigeon, Percy Edgar
Pigeon, Percy Edgar

He was Wireless Operator on Lancaster ED921 AJ-W of No.617 Sqn for the Dambusters raid of 16th - 17th May 1943. The aircraft was heavily damaged by flak near the Dutch coast on the outward journey and was forced to abort the mission, but returned to base safely.
Rumbles, Grant
Click the name above to see a profile of Rumbles, Grant
Rumbles, Grant

He was Navigator on Lancaster ED921 AJ-W of No.617 Sqn for the Dambusters raid of 16th - 17th May 1943. The aircraft was heavily damaged by flak near the Dutch coast on the outward journey and was forced to abort the mission, but returned to base safely.
Weeks, Harvey Alexander
Click the name above to see a profile of Weeks, Harvey Alexander
Weeks, Harvey Alexander

He was Rear Gunner on Lancaster ED921 AJ-W of No.617 Sqn for the Dambusters raid of 16th - 17th May 1943. The aircraft was heavily damaged by flak near the Dutch coast on the outward journey and was forced to abort the mission, but returned to base safely.



Squadrons for : Lancaster ED921
A list of all squadrons known to have flown Lancaster ED921. A profile page is available by clicking the squadron name.
SquadronInfo

No.617 Sqn RAF

Country : UK
Founded : 23rd March 1943

Apres mois, le deluge - After me, the flood

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No.617 Sqn RAF

Full profile not yet available.



Aircraft type : Lancaster
A profile page including a list of all art prints for the Lancaster is available by clicking the aircraft name.
AircraftInfo

Lancaster



Click the name above to see prints featuring Lancaster aircraft.

Manufacturer : Avro
Production Began : 1942
Retired : 1963
Number Built : 7377

Lancaster

The Avro Lancaster arose from the avro Manchester and the first prototype Lancaster was a converted Manchester with four engines. The Lancaster was first flown in January 1941, and started operations in March 1942. By March 1945 The Royal Air Force had 56 squadrons of Lancasters with the first squadron equipped being No.44 Squadron. During World War Two the Avro Lancaster flew 156,000 sorties and dropped 618,378 tonnes of bombs between 1942 and 1945. Lancaster Bomberss took part in the devastating round-the-clock raids on Hamburg during Air Marshall Harris' Operation Gomorrah in July 1943. Just 35 Lancasters completed more than 100 successful operations each, and 3,249 were lost in action. The most successful survivor completed 139 operations, and the Lancaster was scrapped after the war in 1947. A few Lancasters were converted into tankers and the two tanker aircraft were joined by another converted Lancaster and were used in the Berlin Airlift, achieving 757 tanker sorties. A famous Lancaster bombing raid was the 1943 mission, codenamed Operation Chastise, to destroy the dams of the Ruhr Valley. The operation was carried out by 617 Squadron in modified Mk IIIs carrying special drum shaped bouncing bombs designed by Barnes Wallis. Also famous was a series of Lancaster attacks using Tallboy bombs against the German battleship Tirpitz, which first disabled and later sank the ship. The Lancaster bomber was the basis of the new Avro Lincoln bomber, initially known as the Lancaster IV and Lancaster V. (Becoming Lincoln B1 and B2 respectively.) Their Lancastrian airliner was also based on the Lancaster but was not very successful. Other developments were the Avro York and the successful Shackleton which continued in airborne early warning service up to 1992.



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