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Squadron Leader George L. Johnson DFM
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.
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| Distinguished Flying Medal |
| Squadron Leader George L. Johnson DFM - Signed Aviation Art Prints, Paintings and Drawings |
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| Text for the above items : |
Low Pass Over the Möhne Dam by Anthony Saunders. Operation Chastise, the plan to destroy the mighty Ruhr dams, was bold, audacious and dangerous. It was also set to become one of the most legendary combat missions ever undertaken in the history of aviation warfare. In late February 1943 a unique decision was taken by the RAF to form the now legendary 617 Squadron, a highly specialised unit within Bomber Command. Its task was to be the destruction of the huge Möhne, Sorpe and Eder dams, which provided vital services to German industry. Tasked with providing the crews for this new squadron was the young, outstanding, bomber and night-fighter pilot Wing Commander Guy Gibson, already a veteran of 174 bomber operations. On 21st March 1943 the unit was formed at RAF Scampton under his command, and the chosen men had just eight weeks to prepare for the task in hand. |
En-Route by Anthony Saunders. Flying at altitudes as low as fifty feet, Lancasters of 617 Squadron follow the Dutch canals en-route to Germany - their target, the mighty Dams of the Ruhr - on the night of 16th / 17th May 1943. At such low level the pilots of many of the specially modified Lancasters found their flying skills tested to the extreme as they were forced to take violent evasive actions when they encountered flak, large electricity pylons and tall trees, but several of the gunners in the crews still managed to shoot up and damage a number of trains on the way. |
Pathway to the Ruhr by Anthony Saunders. The words from Air Vice-Marshal the Hon. Ralph Cochrane., newly appointed as AOC of No.5 Group, to the young Wing Commander were simple enough. I can't tell you the target he continued but you've got to fly low-level, on the deck, and at night. As far as aircrews are concerned, I want the best - you choose them. And by the way... I want to see your aircraft flying on four days. Guy Gibson, the highly decorated Wing Commander concerned, had 173 operations behind him and was due to be rested when the unexpected call to see Cochrane had come. Would you like to do one more trip? he'd been asked. What kind of trip? he replied. An important one was all Cochrane would say and now, two days later, he was being asked to form a squadron. What the special target might be Gibson could only speculate but, whatever it was, he realised it would be dangerous. Cochrane had given him four days. Within an hour he'd selected the aircrew; he knew most of them personally and had flown with several before. There was no doubt they were the very best in Bomber Command. Exactly four days later Squadron X - soon to become 617 Squadron - was ready at RAF Scampton. Many familiar faces were there to meet him : amongst the pilots he spotted Hoppy Hopgood, Dave Shannon from Australia, and Canadian Lewis Burpee from his own 106 Squadron. together with Dinghy Young whom he'd chosen as a flight commander. The tall, lugubrious figure of New Zealander Les Munro was there along with two other pilots from 97 Squadron, David Maltby and the big, beefy, American pilot Joe McCarthy with his Bomb-Aimer George Johnny Johnson. His B flight commander, Henry Maudsley was there, as was Australian Mick Martin, the expert in low-level flying. Every one of the nineteen crews who would fly the mission was there and seven weeks of intensive low-level flying lay ahead before, on the afternoon of 16th May 1943, Gibson finally revealed the target - that night they were to attack the mighty dams of the Ruhr valley. |
The Breach by Anthony Saunders. The Möhne Dam: 17 May 1943, 00.49 hrs. 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 Möhne 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 Möhne Dam was doomed. The second in Anthony Saunders' pair of Dambuster 70th Anniversary commemorative paintings, The Breach depicts the scene as 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. |
Breaching the Möhne by Anthony Saunders. The Dambusters - Target X. Twenty minutes had passed and three Lancasters had attacked but there was still no sign of a breach in the Möhne Dam, the first of three primary targets for the newly-formed elite 617 Squadron under the command of Wg Cdr Guy Gibson. Gibson and Flt Lt 'Mick' Martin had made successful attacks but Flt Lt 'Hoppy' Hopgood, whose bomb bounced over the dam wall and exploded on the power station below, had been shot down by deadly flak. Now it was the turn of Sqn Ldr 'Dinghy' Young in Lancaster AJ-A. With Gibson and Martin heroically drawing enemy fire, Young's Upkeep 'bouncing bomb' was spot on target with Gibson later noting it made 'three good bounces' before detonating against the dam wall. It held but Gibson was feeling upbeat, he was sure he'd seen movement in the wall after the explosion and called up David Maltby to begin his attack. He, too, was successful, and just as Flt Lt David Shannon was about to begin his attack the dam disintegrated - the Möhne had finally been breached. 'There was a great breach 100 yards across' Gibson wrote later, 'and the water, looking like stirred porridge in the moonlight, was gushing out and rolling into the Ruhr valley...'. An hour later the Eder dam was also breached, but the operation was a costly, if stirring, success; of the nineteen Lancasters sent out from RAF Scampton, eight would never return; of the 56 aircrew aboard only two survived. To perpetuate the legend of the Dambusters, artist Anthony Saunders has once again created a stunning work depicting the scene at 'Target X' - the codename originally given to the Möhne dam. Always a master of his craft, Anthony portrays 'Dinghy' Young's Lancaster AJ-A as he clears the dam wall moments after releasing his bomb. On his starboard side Guy Gibson, navigation lights ablaze, heroically draws enemy fire whilst below Young, the inferno created by Hopgood's bomb lights up the sky. Printed onto borders that were personally signed over many years, each copy carries the authentic autographs of six highly-regarded veterans who took part in Operation Chastise on the night of 16 / 17 May 1943. Since signing, most have sadly passed away giving even greater meaning to this print release which provides both aviation art and Dambuster enthusiasts a remarkable collector's piece to be cherished. |
Approach to the Möhne Dam by Anthony Saunders. With the threat from Hitler's increasingly belligerent regime growing, minds within Britain's Air Ministry had already identified potential targets should the unthinkable happen and war with Germany become a reality. The list included the great dams of western Germany, some of the largest in the world. On 9 September 1939 Hitler's armies invaded Poland and, as Britain once again found herself at war with Germany, plans to attack the dams became a reality. Three were chosen as primary targets; the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams which between them controlled the vast supplies of water to the factories and manufacturing industries of the Ruhr. If these dams could be destroyed, the beating heart of industrial Germany would be dealt a heavy blow. But there were problems; the range and dam defences were too great for a low-level attack by existing aircraft and commando raids were thought suicidal, with little chance of success. Barnes Wallis, however, had an idea - a cylindrical 'bouncing bomb' codenamed Upkeep - a mine designed to skip across the surface of the water clearing the torpedo nets, and explode against a dam wall at a depth that would cause maximum destruction. To deliver his weapon, however, would require men of extraordinary flying skills, and an aircraft big enough for the job. By March 1943 all the criteria had been met; Upkeep was ready and tested, a new special squadron numbered 617 had been formed under Wing Commander Guy Gibson, and Avro's mighty Lancaster bomber was up to the task. On the evening of 16 May 1943, after weeks of intensive training, Gibson led the first wave of bombers away from RAF Scampton and set course for the Möhne dam. The Dambuster raid had begun. Following three attempts and the tragic loss of one aircraft the dam still held; it is now the turn of Flight Lieutenant David Maltby at the controls of Lancaster AJ-J to press home his attack. With Mick Martin drawing the enemy's fire to port and Guy Gibson to starboard, Maltby holds his aircraft steady and true as bomb aimer John Fort releases their Upkeep mine. The time was 00.49hrs on the morning of 17 May 1943 and the mine bounced to perfection, hit the target, sank, and detonated against the already damaged stone wall. Immeasurable pressure forced water through the groaning, already cracking blocks of granite until the dam could stand no more. The wall shuddered and then surrendered. 'There was a breach 100yds across,' Gibson wrote later, 'and the water, looking like stirred porridge in the moonlight, was gushing out and rolling into the Ruhr valley....' |
| Squadron Leader George L. Johnson DFM Aircraft details |
 Lancaster Manufacturer : Avro Built : 7377 | 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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