ED932 AJ-G

Avro Lancaster B.III (Type 464 Provisioning)

Code lettersAJ-G
SquadronNo. 617 Squadron (Dambusters)
MarkB.III (Type 464 Provisioning)
FateSurvived the war

Notes

Lancaster ED932, coded AJ-G, was the aircraft in which Wing Commander Guy Gibson led No. 617 Squadron’s attack on the Ruhr dams — Operation Chastise — on the night of 16/17 May 1943. A B.III (Special) modified to carry and spin Barnes Wallis’s cylindrical ‘bouncing bomb’, it led the first wave against the Möhne dam; Gibson made the opening run and then flew his aircraft alongside those that followed, drawing the dam’s anti-aircraft fire onto himself to protect them, an action for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. ED932 returned safely and survived the war before being scrapped in 1947.

Photographs

Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Operation CHASTISE: the attack on the Moehne, Eder and Sorpe Dams by No. 617 Squadron RAF on the night of 16/17 May 1943. No. 617 Squadron practice dropping the 'Upkeep' weapon at Reculver bombing range, Kent. Close up of Avro Lancaster, ED932/G 'AJ-G', being flown by Wing Commander Guy Gibson at low level over the camera crew, after the practice.
ⓘ licence & creditIWM staff photographers / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._IWMFLM2354.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Operation CHASTISE: the attack on the Moehne, Eder and Sorpe Dams by No. 617 Squadron RAF on the night of 16/17 May 1943. No. 617 Squadron practice dropping the 'Upkeep' weapon at Reculver bombing range, Kent. Wing Commander Guy Gibson flies at low level along the shore in Avro Lancaster, ED932/G 'AJ-G', at the end of the practice.
ⓘ licence & creditIWM staff photographers / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._IWMFLM2352.jpgView source & full licence →

Operations flown

Operation Chastise (16 May 1943) — Returned

Crew: Frederick Michael Spafford (Bomb aimer) · J Pulford (Flight engineer) · George Andrew Deering (Front gunner) · Torger Harlo Taerum (Navigator) · Guy Penrose Gibson (Pilot) · R D Trevor-roper (Rear gunner) · Robert Edward George Hutchison (Wireless operator)

Source: Dambusters Blog — Operation Chastise complete crew list →