Henry Melvin Young

Squadron Leader Henry Melvin Young, DFC & Bar — universally known as “Dinghy” after twice ditching in the sea and surviving both times in his aircraft’s rubber dinghy — was a flight commander on No. 617 Squadron and deputy leader of the Dams Raid. He was born in Belgravia, London, on 20 May 1915, and educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Oxford, where he rowed in the winning Oxford crew in the 1938 Boat Race; he had also spent time in the United States, at school in Connecticut and in California.

Having flown bomber tours with Nos. 102, 104 and 57 Squadrons, Young was appointed to command ‘A’ Flight of the newly formed [[No. 617 Squadron]] and acted as Gibson’s senior deputy. On the night of 16/17 May 1943, during [[Operation Chastise]], he flew Lancaster AJ-A in the first wave against the Möhne dam; it was his accurately delivered mine that helped complete the breach in the dam wall. On the return flight, however, his aircraft was caught by flak as it recrossed the Dutch coast and crashed into the sea with the loss of the whole crew. Young was 27. He is buried in Bergen General Cemetery in the Netherlands.