Lancaster from Battle of Britain Memorial Flight to fly over tonight to commemorate 80th anniversary of Dambusters raid

A Lancaster will fly over villages that had second world war bomber bases tonight to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the daring Dambusters raid.

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) will mark Operation Chastise, an attack on German dams which took place on the night of May 16 and 17, 1943.

The raid was made by 617 Squadron with 133 aircrew and 19 Lancaster bombers.

On the evening of May 16, 2023, the BBMF Lancaster will be flying a special route over all Bomber Command bases in Lincolnshire starting over Grantham where St Vincent's House was used as the command centre.

It will fly over Fulbeck at 7.02pm, followed by Swinderby at 7.04pm, RAF Waddingon at 7.07pm and the International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC), Lincoln, one minute later as part of its Lincolnshire run.

Flight Lieutenant Giles Croft, BBMF Operations Officer said: "We are working hard to produce an achievable plan that allows us to showcase the Lancaster, commemorate the unsung heroes of Bomber Command and also incorporate the tasking we already had for the evening of 16 May.

"At this stage, the Lancaster sortie for that evening includes 34 flypast locations which is far more than we would normally plan in a single sortie. We will try to “make up the time” by reducing most events to a single overflight so that we can meet our fixed time over the RAF Museum in Hendon but still manage a tour of the Lincolnshire Bomber Command Airfields prior to landing before sunset.

"I personally can’t wait to see our Lancaster over her home turf, against the same backdrop she would have had in the 1940s; I just hope that backdrop is clear evening skies with less than 15kts crosswind!"

The flypasts will be subject to weather conditions and the timings could be changed.

Squadron Leader Mark Sugden, Officer Commanding the BBMF said: “The Dambusters raid was one of the most audacious raids in the history of the Royal Air Force, and we at the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight are proud to commemorate the bravery, dedication and sacrifice of all those involved.”

Bingham artist Tim O’Brien, who specialises in military works, has done an oil painting of a Lancaster Dambuster flying