Dambusters – Courage and Sacrifice by Mark Postlethwaite

Limited Edition of 200

Flt Lt John Hopgood DFC* hauls his crippled Lancaster over the

Mohne Dam after making the second bombing-run of Operation

Chastise, 17th May 1943. The Lancaster, ED925, M for Mother, had

been badly hit by flak on the way to the dam, but despite being

injured along with other members of his crew, Hopgood decided to

press on to the target. Unfortunately, having been alerted by Guy

Gibson’s first attack, the defences were ready and knew where the

second attack was coming from. M for Mother flew into a sustained

barrage of 20mm cannon shells and was repeatedly hit in the port

wing and fuselage, catching fire just as the Upkeep was dropped.

With the aircraft rapidly becoming uncontrollable, Hopgood

managed to gain enough height to allow three of his crew to bale out,

(two successfully), before the Lancaster exploded and crashed in

pieces, taking the remaining crew members to their deaths.

John Vere Hopgood was just 21 years old. 

This painting is one I had in my head for a while and is a

follow-up to our hugely successful ‘Dambusters – The Opening Shots’

print that sold out years ago.This is a return to the Mohne attack, this

time depicting John Hopgood’s valiant attempt where his Lancaster

was repeatedly hit on the run-in to the target. I wanted to try to visualize

how it must have been on the dam itself as this huge Lancaster

roared over the crest of the Dam with the long stream of flames

trailing from its port wing.In the cockpit you can see the crew members

now turning their attention to saving their aircraft and in the nose you

can see bomb-aimer John Fraser having just dropped the Upkeep

now looking through his side window at the blazing port-inner

engine. (Both Fraser and Tony Burcher in the rear turret managed to

bale out successfully minutes later). 

Overall Size 71cm x 43cm