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Signatures on this item | |
*The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare. | |
Name | Info |
Captain Richard Todd OBE (deceased) *Signature Value : £30 | Later a world famous actor - with a key role as Major John Howard in the D-Day film The Longest Day - Richard Todd jumped into Normandy with 7th Para at 0040 hours on June 6th 1944. Their immediate task was to support the holding of Pegasus Bridge against fierce German counterattacks. Originally commissioned into the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, he was seconded to The Parachute Regiment in 1943. In Normandy he transferred to 6th Airborne HO on D-Day +5 and stayed with them until September 1944 when they were withdrawn to England. He later took part in the Rhine crossing and subsequent fighting and the advance to meet the Russians at Wisman on the Baltic. His service with The Parachute Regiment ended in Palestine in 1946. He then returned to his career as an actor and producer, achieving fame for both film roles and stage performances, including the brilliant portrayal of Guy Gibson in the legendary Dam Busters film. Sadly, Richard Todd died on 4th December 2009 at the age of 90. |
Corporal Kenneth Lucas (deceased) *Signature Value : £30 | Ken Lucas joined the RAF in June 1940, and trained as ground crew for bomber Command. He was sent first to 49 Squadron at RAF Scampton, before transferring to 617 Squadron upon its formation, Involved in all the major servicing of the aircraft before the raid including fitting the motors that drove the belt that spun the bomb, and attaching the critical lamps to the underside of the aircraft. Sadly, Ken Lucas passed away in January 2011. |
Sergeant Raymond E. Grayston (deceased) *Signature Value : £65 | Ray Grayston had been serving in 50 Squadron when he was posted to 617 Squadron in March 1943. The flight engineer of Les Knights Lancaster AJ-N, they attacked and successfully breached the Eder Dam, Ray was shot down on 16th September 1943, and was taken to Stalag Luft III as a POW. Sadly, we have learned that Ray Grayston passed away on 15th April 2010. |
Squadron Leader George L. Johnson DFM (deceased) *Signature Value : £45 | Joining the RAF in 1940, George Johnson served with 97 Squadron before joining 617 Squadron. Bomb aimer on American Joe McCarthys Lancaster AJ-T, they attacked the Sorpe Dam, for which he was awarded the DFM. Commissioned a few months later, George retired from the RAF in 1962. The last surviving Dambuster, he died aged 101 on 7th December 2022. |
The Aircraft : | |
Name | Info |
Lancaster | The Avro Lancaster arose from the avro Manchester and the first prototype Lancaster was a converted Manchester with four engines. The Lancaster was first flown in January 1941, and started operations in March 1942. By March 1945 The Royal Air Force had 56 squadrons of Lancasters with the first squadron equipped being No.44 Squadron. During World War Two the Avro Lancaster flew 156,000 sorties and dropped 618,378 tonnes of bombs between 1942 and 1945. Lancaster Bomberss took part in the devastating round-the-clock raids on Hamburg during Air Marshall Harris' "Operation Gomorrah" in July 1943. Just 35 Lancasters completed more than 100 successful operations each, and 3,249 were lost in action. The most successful survivor completed 139 operations, and the Lancaster was scrapped after the war in 1947. A few Lancasters were converted into tankers and the two tanker aircraft were joined by another converted Lancaster and were used in the Berlin Airlift, achieving 757 tanker sorties. A famous Lancaster bombing raid was the 1943 mission, codenamed Operation Chastise, to destroy the dams of the Ruhr Valley. The operation was carried out by 617 Squadron in modified Mk IIIs carrying special drum shaped bouncing bombs designed by Barnes Wallis. Also famous was a series of Lancaster attacks using Tallboy bombs against the German battleship Tirpitz, which first disabled and later sank the ship. The Lancaster bomber was the basis of the new Avro Lincoln bomber, initially known as the Lancaster IV and Lancaster V. (Becoming Lincoln B1 and B2 respectively.) Their Lancastrian airliner was also based on the Lancaster but was not very successful. Other developments were the Avro York and the successful Shackleton which continued in airborne early warning service up to 1992. |
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