Recognise our last surviving British Dambuster: Calls for hero to be knighted
THEIR against the odds heroics came to encapsulate the spirit of self sacrifice that saved the world from tyranny.
Carol Vorderman petitions to get last Dambuster knighted
But for decades the band of brothers who served in Bomber Command have been repeatedly snubbed by officialdom.
Now, more than 70 years after their finest hour, almost 250,000 people have demanded Britain’s last surviving Dambuster is given a knighthood.
A people’s petition has been delivered to Downing Street in protest at Second World War hero George “Johnny” Johnson, 95, being snubbed in the New Year’s Honours.
It was presented by RAF Air Cadets ambassador Carol Vorderman and former Tornado navigator and Iraq War veteran John Nichol.
They have urged Prime Minister Theresa May to personally intervene and correct an injustice that has seen the selfless service of the airmen of Bomber Command ignored by successive governments.
Mr Johnson, a member of the RAF’s legendary 617 Squadron which mounted the daring “bouncing bomb” raids on May 16, 1943, was not able to see the weighty petition handed over as he was travelling from his Bristol home to Yorkshire to deliver a speech for charity.
But he said he would reluctantly accept the honour, if it is finally bestowed, on one condition: that it is received on behalf of the brothers in arms who never returned home.
Johnny is worth many times more than anybody who has got an award
Carol, 59, said: “Johnny said that if he were offered a knighthood he would accept with due humility on behalf of the 55,573 men who died as part of Bomber Command.
"Those veterans and their families have felt snubbed politically ever since. This has touched a nerve.
“Everyone should read the story of what these men did: 133 air crew took off that night and it was outrageous what they were considering doing with this new bouncing bomb.
"Only 77 returned and of those 77 only 45 who stayed with Bomber Command survived the war.
"And still they are snubbed.
“My message to Theresa May would be: Prime Minister we know you understand and we are sure you will see the right in giving Johnny Johnson a knighthood.”
The public campaign to get the flying ace honoured comes after officials promised to give “serious consideration” to former squadron leader Mr Johnson’s earlier nomination, yet overlooked him in favour of civil servants like former Prime Minister David Cameron’s spin doctor Craig Oliver, who became a sir.
Mr Nichol, 54, said: “This is one of the great problems with the honours system.
"I would not decry any award of an honour to a celebrity, fashion designer or sports person but what you can’t say is that Johnny is worth any less.
"Johnny is worth many times more than anybody who has got an award and that’s why I think it’s so important.
"It’s a recognition of not just his personal courage and sacrifice it’s a recognition of the sacrifices of all those who served alongside him.
"He was willing to die during the Second World War to make people’s live better and he has continued right the way through and tonight he was giving a talk to raise money for charity at the age of 95, that’s the sort of person he is.
“A recognition for our last surviving British Dambuster would go a long way to recognise all of their efforts.”
The chances of seeing the war out was 500-1 against if you were part of Bomber Command.
Each man tried to make it to 30 operations but most didn’t.
Operation Chastise, the Dambuster raid, was a mission to hasten the end of the war.
Few thought it would succeed but Barnes Wallis’s revolutionary bouncing bombs, released from 60ft above ground, destroyed the Ruhr Valley dams, flooding Hitler’s industrial heartland.
In a symbolic gesture Carol and former prisoner of war Mr Nichol met at the Bomber Command memorial in London’s Green Park before marching to Whitehall.
The stunning £8million Portland stone edifice, opened by The Queen in 2012, now stands as a lasting tribute to the men who fell serving with the elite unit.
This newspaper’s army of loyal readers donated £1m towards the cost with Daily Express owner Richard Desmond donating a further £500,000.
Paul Walmsley, 69, from Reading, whose father Paul Silas Foster Walmsley flew 100 mission in Lancashire Bombers with 619 Squadron, first started the movement to get Mr Johnson honoured in 2015.
He said: “It’s a scandal, really. I have nothing against Andy Murray but he’s far too young to receive a knighthood.
"I told Johnny, ‘you should have ridden a bike or run round the track because you’d have more chance of picking up a medal that way’.
"When I heard he had not been recognised I honestly thought there had been some mistake.”
Displaying the kind of indomitable spirit that saw off Hitler Mr Johnson said: “I try to emphasise to people that I am the lucky one and I am still alive.
"It is the squadron that I served with, represented and still represent. Any honour that comes in my direction is an honour for the squadron.”
Mr Johnson is one of only two survivors to take part in the bombing raids on the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe dams.
The other is Canadian former front gunner Fred Sutherland.