One of Britain’s last flying Lancaster bombers took to the skies to mark the 80th anniversary of the Dambusters raid.
The plane – only two are still in operation – flew over Lincolnshire war time bases to make the daring raid on German dams in 1943.
Part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF), plane PA474 took off from its base at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire to head to the RAF Museum at Hendon in London.
Hundreds of people lined the perimeters of bases in Lincolnshire from where the Lancaster bomber was launched.
Squadron Leader Mark Sugden, Officer Commanding the BBMF, said:
“The Dambusters Raid was one of the most audacious raids in the history of the Royal Air Force, and we at the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight are proud to commemorate the bravery, dedication and sacrifice of all those involved.”
Nineteen Lancasters, crewed by 133 airmen, took part in Operation Chastise on the night of May 16-17, 1943.
Led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, the raid targeted three dams in the industrialised Ruhr region of Germany using the “bouncing bomb” invented by Barnes Wallis.
They successfully breached the Mohne and Eder dams while the Sorpe was damaged.
Eight Lancasters were shot down during the raid, which was immortalised in the 1955 film The Dam Busters, with 53 airmen killed.
The anniversary was marked with a tribute evening at the International Bomber Command Centre at Lincoln which included excerpts from interviews with George “Johnny” Johnson, the last surviving member of the Dambusters who died in December aged 101.
