A letter from the Dambuster who personally dropped the bomb that destroyed the Eder dam in Germany during the famous Second World War mission comes to auction at Ewbank’s after decades tucked behind an art print on a living room wall.
It will be offered at the Entertainment and Memorabilia Premier Live Auction on 30 May.
From Edward Cuthbert Johnson (1912-2002) and dated 20, Sept. 1989, the letter was written in response to a request for a photocopy of a menu from the celebration dinner following the raid and was written on the back of the original letter.
It reads: “I am an original 617 Squadron member and in fact dropped the Barnes Wallis bomb which breached the ‘Eder’ dam – so you have a useful signature – if nothing else. I am not able to supply you with a photo-copy of the ‘HUNGARIA’ menu [a menu from the celebratory dinner hosted by A.V. Roe & Co. Ltd. at the Hungaria Restaurant, Regent Street, London on 22 June 1943].
“It is a unique item – in a collection of Dam Buster’ mementoes, Sorry about this! – If you have anything else you wanted signing – send it and I will sign and return. Sincerely JC Johnson DFC Ex F/Lt 617 Squadron RAF’.
The letter came to light after Ewbank’s specialist Denise Kelly visited a client to value his autograph collection.
“Just as I was leaving, I glanced up at a Dambuster-related signed print on his wall. When he took it down to show me, I turned it over there were several plastic wallets of newspaper clippings etc. pinned to the back. Then I just saw the corner of this letter peeping out, so thought, ‘mmm, let’s check this out’.”
Flying Officer Edward Johnson deservedly merited the DFC after the success of his role as bomb-aimer with Guy Gibson’s 617 Squadron during an audacious bombing raid to destroy three dams in the Ruhr valley, the industrial heartland of Germany.
The mission, codenamed Operation Chastise, took place on the night of 16-17 May 1943, and when, at the third attempt, JC Johnson released one of Barnes Wallis’s bouncing bombs, the devastating breach of the Eder dam unleashed more than 300 million tonnes of water into the valley below.
Aged 31 at the time, Johnson was the “old man of the raid” and claimed that his own “Johnson sight”, a drawing of the Moehne dam’s twin towers on the large circular window of his aircraft compartment, greatly assisted him in choosing the right split-second for his aim at the Eder dam.
He was part of the crew led by Pilot Officer Les Knight, who was killed exactly four months later, on September 16, 1943, during a raid on the Dortmund Ems canal, when he stayed at the controls of his severely damaged plane to allow his crew to bail out before it crashed with him still aboard.
There were two bomb aimers called Johnson on the dams raid, which occasionally causes confusion. A third bomb aimer was called Johnston.
In the inevitable way of the wartime RAF, both Johnsons were also known as Johnnie (EC Johnson’s preferred spelling). The elder of the two was the writer of this letter, Edward Cuthbert Johnson.
Eight of the 19 Lancasters which left RAF Scampton that night failed to return.
After the war, Johnson rejoined his wife May (née Beckwith), who had moved from Leeds to Blackpool, where he became sales manager, and later director, of Sellers Fireplaces.
The letter has an estimate of £300-500.
Live online biding is available via www.ewbankauctions.co.uk.