Dambusters: Crowds watch flypast to mark 80th anniversary of raids

Crowds have gathered for events across Lincolnshire to mark the 80th anniversary of the Dambusters raids.

Spectators watched a Lancaster bomber fly over 28 former RAF bases, while dignitaries laid wreathes at the International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) in Lincoln.

Fifty-three airmen were killed in the famous mission, which targeted three German dams on the 16 and 17 May 1943.

It is the first year events are taking place without any surviving crew.

Lancaster bomber PA474, from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF), took off from her home base of RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire and flew over the RAF Museum in Hendon, north-west London, just after 18:00 BST before returning north towards Lincolnshire.

It aimed to traverse Lincolnshire's 28 former Bomber Command airfields in 69 minutes in an ambitious sortie beginning at Spitalgate at 18:58 BST, and ending back at Coningsby at 20:07.

Spectators lined the streets to watch and photograph the aircraft, the UK's only airworthy Lancaster bomber, as it passed Lincoln.

Operation Chastise, as the mission was officially named, is perhaps the best-known Bomber Command operation, with the crews' bravery immortalised in the 1955 film The Dam Busters.

Equipped with bouncing bombs designed to skim along the surface of the water, their targets were three giant dams in the Ruhr region, where Germany's steel and armaments industries were based.

The Möhne and the Eder dams were both successfully breached. The Sorpe dam was damaged but not destroyed.

Eight of the 19 bombers involved in the missions launched from RAF Scampton were shot down.

The names of the men lost in the raids are recorded on memorial walls at IBCC, where guests gathered on Tuesday evening.

Gp Capt Neil Atkins, the last station commander of Scampton, which closed earlier this year, said the Dambusters anniversary was a "really poignant occasion".

Before laying a wreath at memorial event, he said: "To be here to reflect on the dedication, the sacrifice and just the utter sheer bravery of these bomber crews is fantastic."

Nicky Van Der Drift, chief executive of IBCC, said it was "essential the service and sacrifice of airmen was remembered."

She added: "The freedoms we enjoy today is all thanks to those who served in the Second World War."

Ms Van Der Drift said the anniversary provided a perfect opportunity to shine a light on "the wider story" of Bomber Command, which "took the offensive" to the enemy.

Waddington Military Wives Choir were due to perform, with readings from excerpts of interviews with George "Johnny" Johnson MBE DFM.

Mr Johnson, the last surviving member of the Dambusters, died in December aged 101.

There was also an exhibition of items from the centre's archives.

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