The basis for Route Plan No.1 ...

On the evening of 16th May 1943 the Dambusters, 617 sqdn, took off from RAF Scampton in Three waves. One of the aircraft in wave 1 was that of Sqdn Ldr David Maltby and his crew in their Lancaster AJ-J. As can be seen at the bottom of this extract from the Operational Record Book for 617 Sqdn below, the navigator on AJ-J was Sgt V. Nicholson and his wonderfully detailed navigator's log (below again) forms the basis for 'Dambusters2013 Route Plan No.1'.

In broad terms the Lancasters came in over the Dutch coast line and then followed a route past Tholen and Roosendaal, then on to Beek en Donk, across the German border to Goch, Rees, Dulmen, Ahlen and then south to the Mohne Dam itself.

Our route plan No.2 will follow a more northerly route as taken by Wave 2 of the Dambusters in 1943 - watch this space for more details.

Want to know more about Dambusters2013 - visit www.dambusters2013.org.uk today and register to ride with us to commemorate the bravery of the Dambusters, the lives lost on both sides of the raid and to raise money for two brilliant charities!