Attacking the Sorpe by Anthony Saunders

Following the success of Guy Gibson and his men in breaching the Möhne and Eder Dams, Joe McCarthy and his crew in Lancaster AJ-T ‘Tommy’ arrived at the Sorpe Dam – the only crew of the Second Wave to make it.

Coming in over the village, banking sharply around the steeple and diving swiftly towards the dam, Joe McCarthy had precious little time to align T-Tommy before climbing away sharply to avoid crashing into the hills on the far side. It took nine aborted attempts before, on their tenth run, George Johnson was satisfied enough to release the mine. It was 00.46 hrs when his ‘Bomb Gone!’ was met with a “Thank Christ for that!” from the rear turret; Dave Rodger had just experienced the most uncomfortable roller-coaster ride of his life.

They had scored a direct hit but, once the tower of water had subsided, the dam was damaged along part of its crest but hadn’t been breached. Disappointed not to have caused more damage but proud to have scored a bull’s-eye, McCarthy and the crew of T-Tommy turned for home.

Signature: Reproduced as a Limited Edition print in 2019, this exclusive edition was personally signed at the time by the last surviving British Dambuster himself:

Squadron Leader GEORGE ‘JOHNNY’ JOHNSON MBE DFM - Bomb Aimer - Lancaster ED825 AJ-T ‘Tommy’