London — The final surviving crew member of a British Royal Air Power squadron that focused Nazi Germany's industrial heartland in World Battle II has died aged 101, media stated Thursday.
George "Johnny" Johnson died peacefully at a care dwelling close to Bristol, western England, on Wednesday night, surrounded by his household.
Johnson was a bomb aimer with RAF 617 Squadron and took half within the "Dambusters" raid concentrating on closely fortified German dams with specifically developed "bouncing bombs".
Two of the three dams focused within the Might 16-17, 1943 raid had been destroyed, inflicting catastrophic flooding within the Ruhr valley and destroying energy stations and factories.
Johnson, who retired from the RAF as a squadron chief, collected an MBE from Queen Elizabeth II in 2017 after 235,000 folks signed a petition calling for his wartime service to be recognised.
The RAF stated it was "saddened" to listen to of his demise, signing off its tribute with its motto "Per Ardua Advert Astra" ("by means of adversity to the celebrities").
John Nicol, a former RAF navigator who was held hostage by Iraq through the 1991 Gulf Battle and was a part of the drive to have Johnson recognised, referred to as him "a real hero".
"Blue skies Sir," he added.
Johnson had been the final surviving member of 617 Squadron that took half in "Operation Chastise" because the demise of his colleague Fred Sutherland in January 2019.
Fifty-three of the 133 Allied air crew from Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand that left on the raid on board 19 Lancaster bombers had been killed and three had been captured.