'Aces High' aviation art gallery at Wendover are well-known for arranging excellent 'signing sessions' but they recently announced a very special one - a chance to meet some of the very few survivors of the Dam Busters Raid.

This was one I just couldn't miss ! I booked one of the first tickets and was at the front of the queue last Saturday morning. After long deliberation, I'd taken along a Corgi 1/72 diecast model of Gibson's Lancaster.

It was worth the effort.

First to sign was Sgt Fred Sutherland, front gunner of Les Knight's AJ-N on the Raid....




Followed by Squadron Leader George 'Johnny' Johnson, bomb aimer in Joe McCarthy's AJ-T...




...and Flight Sergeant Grant McDonald, Canadian rear gunner in Ken Brown's AJ-F...




...and finally, Sergeant Ray Grayston, flight engineer of les Knight's AJ-N...




It was a real privilege to be able to shake hands and exchange just a few words with each of these men who, despite advancing years, were obviously very pleased and proud at the interest and enthusiasm being shown by the large number of enthusiasts present.

Sadly, there will be few such opportunities to do this again. And I'm afraid you won't be seeing the final result on e-bay......

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Thanks for the pics, Martin. Superb bit of history there.

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Regards,
Gordon
Scotland's Prisoners
www.spanglefish.com/scotlandsprisoners
FortressScotland-http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y20/Historian/

That is fantastic Martin!, im sure you really enjoyed yourself and many thanks for showing the pictures, did the men have anything to say or was it too busy to have a proper chat?

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All the Best,

Andy

Great job, Martin! Thanks for sharing! Any group pictures? You and them perhaps?

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“The first lesson is that you can't lose a war if you have command of the air, and you can't win a war if you haven't.” - General Jimmy Doolittle

Now that is a valuable Lancaster!! Great photos too!! Thanks for sharing that.

Excellent work,Martin! And thanx for sharing it with us!

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Far too busy and crowded to get any group photos, I'm afraid. And what do you ask such veterans when you're in a signing line ? They've said it all before a thousand times....

But it was nice to exchange a smile, a couple of words and a firm hanshake with each of them.....

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Nice one Martin, especially in creating such a delightful icon.

What were your original deliberations?

I imagine they've faded just slightly now you own a signed model of a Lanc eh?

I'm a simpering idiot with vets nowadays, always express my genuine and heartfelt gratitude, and get the boy slug to shake their hand too, he's in awe as well, but not only at them but at how it turns his pompous loud dad into an unusually small groveling lump.

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I've wanted to have that model signed for a long, long time and it's now a highly-prized 'trophy'.

In a way it was an odd sensation to briefly meet these men - it'd be rather like meeting a survivor of the Titanic. Like it or not, argue it any way you like, but the Dams Raid is one of the great military 'feats of arms' of all time. You can't go and meet someone who was at the Charge of the Light Brigade or Rorke's Drift or Waterloo or Gettysburg. But you can - only just - meet some 'Dambusters' and the thought that they were actually there....well, you just can't think what to say.

They are very old men now, and getting rather frail - such is life. But all of them had that 'glint in the eye'. Pride. They DID IT. It sets them apart from us - and they know it. The word 'respect' is debased and over-used today ; but these elderly men richly deserve it.

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

That is very true. Reading from a book even how good you can get only a fraction of the feeling of the real action. But they were there!

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Great Photos! I wish I had opportunities to attend these sort of events.

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