Torger Harlo Taerum

Torger Harlo “Terry” Taerum was born on 22 May 1920 in Milo, Alberta, the son of a Norwegian-born father, and grew up on a farm in southern Canada before joining the Royal Canadian Air Force. After training in Canada and Britain he qualified as a navigator and began operations with No. 50 Squadron in January 1942, flying Hampdens, Manchesters and Lancasters and completing a full tour before serving as an instructor. Recommended for the newly formed No. 617 Squadron, he became navigator to the squadron commander, Wing Commander Guy Gibson, flying in Lancaster ED932 (AJ-G) on Operation Chastise, the attack on the German dams on the night of 16/17 May 1943, in which Gibson’s aircraft led the assault on the Möhne; for his part he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He survived the Dams Raid and, like several of Gibson’s original crew, remained with the squadron under its new commanding officer, Wing Commander George Holden. On the night of 15/16 September 1943, Taerum was killed when the squadron attacked the Dortmund–Ems Canal at low level; five of the eight aircraft sent were lost, and Holden’s Lancaster, carrying four of the former Dams Raid crew, was shot down. Flight Lieutenant Taerum, aged 23, is buried in Reichswald Forest War Cemetery in Germany.