Dambusters 80th Anniversary @RAF Coningsby.

On the 16th of May, 1943 Lancaster bombers of 617 squadron, equipped with Barnes Wallis’ bouncing bomb set off from RAF Scampton, in Lincolnshire to attack the Ruhr Valley dams - the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe. The code name for this attack was Operation Chastise.

They were led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, and the attack on the dams was considered a success, but many of the aircrew did not return home from this mission.

I was lucky enough to grow up in ‘Bomber County’, just down the road from RAF Scampton, and I was fortunate enough to see the Lancaster flying over Lincoln on many occasions.

Fast forward 80 years, and the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial flight marked the anniversary of this audacious raid, by flying the only airworthy Lancaster in the UK over every former RAF Bomber Command airfield in Lincolnshire.

Those of us fortunate to be at RAF Coningsby were treated to a display from ‘Anarchy 1’ - the Typhoon display pilot, and then topped off with a solo display from AB910 - Spitfire of the BBMF, whilst the Lancaster aircrew readied PA474 for the anniversary flight.

There’s a good 6 minutes of the Lancaster just sat with the engine running before moving off to take off and head towards Hendon, so please do feel free to skip forward that bit if you wish.

Please do enjoy the video and share!