Blackpool's own Dambusters hero remembered on 81st anniversary of raid

It’s 81 years tonight since Operation Chastise, commonly known as the Dambusters Raid, an attack on German dams carried out on the night of May 16/17, 1943 by 617 Squadron RAF Bomber Command, later called the Dambusters, using special "bouncing bombs" developed by Barnes Wallis.

It was a critical part of the war. No raid mounted by so few aircraft had ever caused such extensive material damage and a year later, allied troops would have faced far more significant defences had it not been for the Dambusters raid.

The RAF lost 56 aircrew, with 53 dead and three captured, amid losses of eight aircraft – and among the dead was former Blackpool Grammar School pupil Arthur Neville Whitaker, who attended the Grammar School between 1926 and 1931.

Glen Jackson, a pupil at the Grammar School from 1955 to 1960 who himself went on to serve in the RAF, became involved through the school’s Old Boys Association in finding out more about the name of the former lost in war.

He recalls that ‘The Memorial’, listing all the Old Boys of Blackpool Grammar School known to have died serving their country in the Second World War was in the Memorial Hall at the original Grammar School building in Raikes Parade. and later in the entrance hall of Blackpool Collegiate High School after that building was opened in May 1962.

It is now in storage, with Glen keen to see it back on display, but with the help of school records and the internet, Glen has gathered as much detail as he can on the servicemen listed, including finding that A N Whitaker was involved in the Dambusters raid – and probably among the first to die that night.

Glen said: “On The Memorial, he is listed as Arthur Neville Whittaker but in the Service Records, the surname is given as ‘Whitaker.

"He was the son of James Neville Whittaker of Hesketh Avenue, and came to the Grammar School from Palatine in 1926.

"After leaving, he was an accountant with Heyworths Musical Instrument Dealers and he joined the RAF (as No 144777) at the outbreak of war in 1939 and trained as a bomb aimer.

"He must have been very accomplished at his work, because he was posted to join the most famous Squadron of all – No 617, The Dambusters.

"After all the training and preparation, he lost his life in the raid on Sunday, May 16, 1943 when his aircraft (Lancaster AJ-K piloted by Pilot Officer Vernon Byers) was the first to be shot down on the raid – by a lucky flak shot over the island of Texel in Northern Holland.

"The aircraft instantly exploded, killing everyone on board, and only one body of the crew was ever found.

"He was a sergeant at the time of his death, but his commission and promotion to Pilot Officer arrived two days after he was killed. His name is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, and his name is also inscribed on a memorial stone in the wall of Bispham United Reform Church.”

Glen is proud of his time at Blackpool Grammar School and says he has always been fascinated by the Dambusters.

“They made the RAF,” he said. “The 617 Squadron really was the elite. It is important people such as him and their contribution to the war effort continue to be remembered.”

Who was Neville Whitaker

Arthur Neville Whitaker, was born in September 1909, the eldest of two brothers.

After attending Blackpool Grammar School he became an accountant with Heywards Musical Instrument Dealers.

Known to most as Neville, he also played football for Thornton Cleveleys FC and tennis at the Cleveleys Tennis Club.

In May 1941, Neville joined the RAF and trained as an Air Observer, serving briefly on an Australian Squadron before moving on to 617 Squadron in preparation for the famous Dambusters' raid.

At 21.30 on May 16, 1943, his Avro Lancaster AJ-K took off from RAF Scampton to join Operation Chastise with the Sorpe dam as the main target.

The aircraft was the third of the second wave and flew to Germany via the northern route.

At Texel, it was hit by German anti-aircraft fire and crashed into the Waddenzee, about 18 miles west of Harlingen.

All seven crew members lost their lives. Only the body of Ft Sgt James McDowell was recovered on June 22, 1943, south of Terschelling, and buried the next day in Harlingen General Cemetery.

The other six crew members are listed as missing and commemorated on the Runnymede Air Forces Memorial.

Neville was aged 33 at the time of his death and was about to become engaged.

He had a young brother, Geoff, who I am told joined a singing group after the war and possibly moved to Southport.

Before the war, both boys lived with their aunt in Hesketh Road, Bispham.

Dam Busters raid

The Dam Busters raid saw the Möhne and Edersee dams breached, causing catastrophic flooding of the Ruhr valley and of villages in the Eder valley, while the Sorpe Dam also sustained minor damage.

Two hydroelectric power stations were destroyed and several more damaged, with factories and mines also damaged and destroyed.

An estimated 1,600 civilians – about 600 Germans and 1,000 enslaved labourers, mainly Soviet – were killed by the flooding. Despite rapid repairs by the Germans, production did not return to normal until September.

The raid was memorably portrayed on film in the 1955 British epic The Dam Busters, starring Richard Todd and Michael Redgrave. It was directed by Michael Anderson and recreates the true story of Operation Chastise. The film was based on the books The Dam Busters (1951) by Paul Brickhill and Enemy Coast Ahead (1946) by mission leader Guy Gibson, played in the film by Todd.