King pays tribute to RAF veterans at Dambusters eightieth anniversary occasion
The King has paid tribute to Second World War veterans as he commemorated the eightieth anniversary of the well-known Dambusters raid.
He visited the house of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) at RAF Coninsgby in Lincolnshire, the place plane together with six Spitfires, two Hurricanes and a Lancaster bomber are saved in an airworthy state.
The monarch, 74, had tea in a hangar with BBMF crew and struggle veterans, a few of them older than 100.
Sitting between two veterans, the King mentioned “thank God for all these men” and advised certainly one of them “people like you looked after us”.
Colin Bell, a former flight lieutenant who flew Mosquito bombers with the Pathfinder Group, made the King snicker when he advised him “I’m 102 and a half – don’t forget the half”.
The Dambusters raid concerned 19 Lancasters and 133 airmen from 617 Squadron concentrating on three German dams utilizing the ‘bouncing bomb’.
The King with veteran Burt Hammond
Operation Chastise, because it was formally identified, passed off on the night time of 16-17 May 1943 and has entered into legend, partly due to the well-known 1955 movie.
The final individual concerned within the daring raid, George “Johnny” Johnson, died last December aged 101.
Events to mark the eightieth anniversary have included the final airworthy Lancaster taking to the skies in May to mark the precise day of the mission.
A Lancaster over Lincoln Cathedral on 16 May
The King additionally posed for a bunch photograph with veterans and BBMF crew throughout his go to, in addition to assembly Typhoon pilots who flew over Buckingham Palace and spelled out his cypher CR throughout Trooping the Colour final month.