THE BREACH
- Limited Edition
- £95.00 (inc VAT)
THE BREACH – THE DAMBUSTERS 70th ANNIVERSARY PORTFOLIO
by Anthony Saunders
The M�hne Dam: 17 May 1943, 00.49 hrs – Guy Gibson engages enemy flak positions whilst Lancaster AJ-J, with pilot David Maltby at the controls, banks steeply away after delivering the coup-de-grace. A huge explosion and towering pillar of water marks the breach where a vast torrent begins to flood the valley below.
Overall Print Size: 26�
The journey had been eventful, flying low they had crossed the Dutch coast and headed inland, skimming along canals and the countryside at tree-top height and meeting heavy flak at various points along the route. Yet now the first two waves of Lancasters had reached the M�hne Dam and, as the enemy flak opened up, the six aircraft began to circle their target.
First Gibson in AJ-G attacked, his bomb exploding successfully, �Hoppy� Hopgood crashed after being hit by gunfire, and then �Mick� Martin in Lancaster AJ-P made his bomb run, yet despite being hit twice, the dam still held. Next Gibson called in �Dinghy� Young in AJ-A, he too scored a direct hit but it seemed the dam was still un-breached. Things were looking bad as David Maltby in AJ-J made his run into the target but the top of the wall was starting to crumble. Young�s bouncing bomb had in fact cracked the dense granite wall and Maltby finished the job with a direct hit � the M�hne Dam was doomed.
Along with the artist, each print has been signed by a veteran who flew on the Dambusters mission:
Squadron Leader GEORGE ‘JOHNNY’ JOHNSON DFM
He served as Bomb Aimer on American Joe McCarthy�s Lancaster AJ-T, but as they were using a reserve aircraft, George did not have the benefit of the twin Aldis spotlights for accurate height keeping. So on their tenth pass George released his bomb, scoring a direct hit � but the earth dam survived the blast.
