Les Munro - the last of the Dam Busters has passed away

Amen to that Phil ! He was a real Hero !   T.B.

Indeed he was a hero. Somebody risking his life to do things. But at the same time he was, "just doing his job". And now he is truly part of the history that he made. So few are left now of that group.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention Phil.  He did heroic things while doing his job; we owe all that we have today to him and his like.

Gary

These men were a breed all their own. They seemed to accomplish 1,000 times more with 1,000,000 times less. They earned the name of the "greatest generation". Somewhat unknown fact here in the states: The men of Bomber Command in Great Britain were treated as one better than a mass murderer for simply doing their jobs, in places like Dresden and Hamburg. Regardless of the propaganda that these places had "no military value", they surely did, with dozens of factories producing military goods. (But I'm not here to fight that fight) Whereas American Army Air Corps veterans were treated with ticker-tape parades, Churchill did not even MENTION bomber command and the part they played in the war, in his "victory" speech. I was unaware they were treated this way until I read the book "tail end charlies". The Dam Busters flew 60 Ft (!!!!!) off the water to drop their barrel-shaped bombs, "skipping" them over torpedo nets, into the Dams. That's just crazy when you think about it. It really bums me out to think ALL of the World War II vets will be gone in the next few years. Rudy

I found these beautiful color images of some of the "Dam Busters" on the IWM site yesterday evening...

Guy Gibson and crew

Crew of AJ/T Left to right: Sergeant G Johnson; Pilot Officer D A MacLean, navigator; Flight Lieutenant J C McCarthy, pilot; Sergeant L Eaton, gunner. In the rear are Sergeant R Batson, gunner; and Sergeant W G Ratcliffe, engineer.

Flight Lieutenant Dave Shannon, pilot of ED929/`AJ-L' on the dams raid, with Flight Lieutenant R D Trevor-Roper, who flew as Gibson's rear gunner on the dam's raid; and Squadron Leader G W Holden.

Wing Commander Guy Gibson, VC, DSO and bar, DFC and bar, with members of his Squadron. In the front row are Gibson's flight commanders, on his right Squadron Leader Dave Maltby, and on his left Squadron Leader Mick Martin.

The King has a word with Flight Lieutenant Les Munro from New Zealand. Wing Commander Guy Gibson is on the right and Air Vice Marshal Ralph Cochrane, Commander of No 5 Group is behind Flight Lieutenant Munro and to the right.

All of them are part of history now.

 

WOW. What great pictures. I worry that men like these are not being "created" or "raised" or whatever you want to call it these days. At least not in the quantities that served in WWII. They broke the mold on most of these men. Men like one of my heroes, SGTM. Basil L plumley, who served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. He participated in some of the bloodiest battles this nation has ever seen. It is as if they were not born of woman, but God issued these men to the Army!!!! Rudy

A good synopsis on Sergeant Major Plumley: http://www.badassoftheweek.com/plumley.html

Maybe it's an oversimplification on my part, but I have come to believe that tough circumstances make for tough people. The WWII generation endured the Great Depression in their formative years. While that alone does not prepare anyone for war, it did prepare them for privation and more hardship. Some broke, many died, but many more endured to survive.