The last of the famed British Dambusters, a daring World War II squadron that specialized in low-altitude attacks to knock out German power and water infrastructure has died December 7th in Bristol, the Washington Post reports.
George “Johnny” Johnson was a “bomb-aimer” or bombardier for 617 Squadron, a specialty attack squadron that participated in the May 17, 1943 attack on the Sorpe Dam, flying 60 feet above the water to release 8,500-pound cylindrical bombs that skimmed the surface of the water, hitting the dam and falling to the bottom before exploding. Of the 19 Lancaster bombers that took part in the raid, only eleven returned.
Although the Sorpe Dam survived the attack due to its earthen works design, two other dams attacked in the same operation were destroyed. Johnson’s bomb was credited as the only hit on the dam in that phase of the operation, and it caused enough damage that water punched a whole through the dam, flooding munitions factories downriver.