Dambusters2012's friend, Sqn Ldr George 'Johnny' Johnson DFM

One of the highlights for me over the last few months working on the Dambusters2012 'project' has been meeting and getting to know Sqn Ldr George 'Johnny' Johnson DFM. He was bomb aimer on Joe McCarthy's Lancaster attacking the Sorpe Dam only dropping his 'upkeep' on their 10th run across the Sorpe Dam as he was so determined to get it right. A true hero and a lovely old gentleman.

We were privileged to meet Johnny on two occasions. The first for a photoshoot with current 617 Sqdn pilot Tom Hill who was shortly to deploy to Afghanistan as part of Operation Herrick 16.

The second was a lovely social occasion when my wife Jo and I had the pleasure of taking Johnny out to lunch. It was a delightful meal and easy conversation.

What prompts this particular blog post? Well tonight I found a picture of the actual Avro Lancaster that this hero of a man flew in on the dams raid, 16th/17th May 1943.

Johnny was bomb aimer for Sqn Ldr Joe McCarthy. However, on the night of the raid their normal aircraft went u/s and so they had to switch to the spare aircraft, ED825, AJ-E. And here she is:

The actual aircraft in which Johnny made 10 attacks on the Sorpe Dam before he released his weapon as he was so determined to drop the bomb in the correct place!