WW2 Dambuster Les Munro signed 7 x 3 inch full length photo (modern copy) of Munro in full RAF flight gear. Very ...

WW2 Dambuster Les Munro signed 7 x 3 inch full length photo (modern copy) of Munro in full RAF flight gear. Very unusual and collectable. Squadron Leader John Leslie Munro, CNZM, DSO, QSO, DFC. He moved to England in October 1941 for further training and joined 97 Squadron at Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire. There, he flew Avro Manchesters and then Avro Lancasters in 1942/43 and while there his Distinguished Flying Cross was gazetted, on 11 June 1943. On 25 March 1943, Munro, along with Flight Lieutenant Joe McCarthy and Squadron Leader David Maltby, were transferred to 617 Squadron to be part of the secretive Dambusters raid forming at RAF Scampton. The squadron was created to attack the dams of the Ruhr in an effort to wreck the industrial capacity of Germany. It was initially called Squadron X, as the speed of its formation outstripped the RAF process for naming squadrons. Twenty-one bomber crews were selected from existing squadrons in 5 Group. These crews included RAF personnel of several different nationalities, as well as members of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF), who were frequently attached to RAF squadrons under the Empire Air Training Scheme. Munro (the only RNZAF pilot in the squadron) took part in the Upkeep trials on 12 May: flying ED921. In Operation Chastise Munro was in Wave 2 in ED921 W. Of the 19 Lancasters that flew on that full-moon night, only 11 returned. Munro, as pilot of W-Willie, was scheduled to bomb the Sorpe dam. Over the Netherlands, his aircraft was damaged by flak which knocked out all communications, so it turned back to land in Lincolnshire, still carrying its mine. His Distinguished Service Order was awarded while he was with 617, on 28 March 1943. Munro was promoted to squadron leader[8] on 14 February 1944 and was posted to command 1690 BDTF Squadron (Bomber Defence Training Flight) on 13 July 1944. His logbook shows that when departing Scampton to bomb Bremen with four 500 lb general-purpose bombs, his aircraft crashed and burned shortly after take-off, but the crew escaped. Munro took part in Operation Taxable in conjunction with the D Day landings in Normandy in which the Lancasters flew precise, elongated circuits dropping Window (aluminium strips),[10] to convince German radar installations that a huge flotilla of ships was approaching Cap d'Antifer. The ruse was successful and the last of No. 617 Squadron Window droppers witnessed German shore batteries firing on the Ghost convoy. Good condition. All autographs come with a Certificate of Authenticity. We combine postage on multiple winning lots and can ship worldwide. UK postage from £5.99, EU from £7.99, Rest of World from £9.99