Helpline: 0300 102 1919
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Hoppy Hopgood: "If I don't come back will you please destroy that letter"
Johnny Johnson, one of the last remaining servicemen who flew in the Dambusters raid of 16 and 17 May 1943, tells us the story of a man who never made it home, John 'Hoppy' Hopgood.
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Mary Stopes Roe's first knowledge of the raid
Mary Stopes Roe, the daughter of Barnes Wallis, the inventor of the bouncing bomb, spoke to the RAF Benevolent Fund in an exclusive interview about how she came to hear about the raid for the very first time.
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"The Germans had a perfect copy of the bomb"
Johnny Johnson, a bomb aimer on the Dambusters raid of 16 and 17 May 1943, tells us about the one complete bouncing bomb that got into the hands of the Germans.
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"Your parachute, Sir!"
In an exclusive interview with Dambusters veteran Johnny Johnson, he tells us the story of an accidentally deployed parachute and a misplaced compass card which caused Flight Commander Joe McCarthy to almost lose his nerve over.
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Bill Astell: Failed to Return
Flight Lieutenant William Astell was the pilot of Lancaster AJ-B for Baker that was heading for the Möhne Dam on the night of May 16, 1943, when the plane hit an electrical pylon and crashed, killing all on board.
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"He made it absolutely perfect in the end, that's the sort of man he was"
Johnny Johnson, the last remaining bomb aimer from the Dambuster raid gives his thoughts on the man behind the invention of the bouncing bomb, Barnes Wallis.
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Without the Lancaster there would have been no raid
Mary, daughter, Barnes Wallis, explains why she thinks Roy Chadwick is the unsung hero of the Dambusters operation.
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Heroes with hammers
There was a period of just two months between approval being given in March 1943 and the actual Dambusters raid on May 16/17, 1943.
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The bouncing bomb just looked like a big glorified dustbin
Dambusters veteran, Johnny Johnson, describes his first encounter with both the mission-modified aircraft and the bouncing bomb itself.
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When the two base pins were in line you dropped your bomb
Johnny Johnson, Dambusters veteran, explains what his bomb-drop training for the raid entailed.
