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Cranston Fine Arts  Aviation Art World War Two Veteran Signatures UK and Commonwealth C  Chalmers, George |
Flight Lieutenant George Chalmers DFC DFM
George Alexander Chalmers was born on February 12 1921 at Peterhead in Scotland. He was educated at Aberdeen Academy before working briefly at a local Crosse & Blackwell factory and joining the RAF as a boy entrant. After boy's service and qualifying as a wireless operator and air-gunner, Chalmer joined the RAF in 1938. Geogre Chalmers was posted to No 10, a two-engine Whitley bomber squadron at Dishforth, Yorkshire, from where he took part in leaflet-dropping operations over Germany after the outbreak of war. In August 1940 Chalmers transferred to No 7, the RAF's first four-engine Stirling bomber squadron which was operating from Leeming. There followed a spell with No 35, a four-engine Halifax bomber squadron, with which Chalmers was fortunate to survive an attack on the battle cruiser Scharnhorst at La Rochelle - his captain managed to make base despite being severely wounded and piloting a badly-damaged aircraft. When he joined 617 Squadron he was a Flight Sergeant and served as wireless operator on Lancaster AJ-O during the Dambusters raid which was piloted by Bill Townsend. Awarded the DFM for his part in the attack on the Ennepe Dam he was commissioned a few months later and awarded the DFC after 65 operations. In 1946 Chalmers was granted an extended service commission, and served in No 617 and No 12 Squadrons until 1950, when he was posted to No 38, a Lancaster squadron in the Middle East. He was released as a flight lieutenant in 1954, and served in the Reserve until 1961. Meanwhile, he had joined the civil service at Harrogate, where he worked for the Ministry of Defence dealing with the RAF's technical requirements. In this period his advice was much valued in the sphere of flight refuelling. On his retirement from the MoD in 1984, the company Flight Refuelling hosted a farewell party for him at which he was hailed as an expert in specialised spares procurement, especially in relation to a refuelling system of outstanding value used by the RAF in the Falklands conflict. Sadly, George Chalmers passed away in August 2002 aged 81.
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| Distinguished Flying Cross | Distinguished Flying Medal |
| Flight Lieutenant George Chalmers DFC DFM - Signed Aviation Art |
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| Text for the above items : |
Breaching the Dams by Nicolas Trudgian. The Mohne Dam gives way as David Maltbys Lancaster releases its bomb to deliver the coup de grace on the night of 16th / 17th May 1943. Guy Gibson, nearest, and Mick Martin, having already dropped their bombs, make dummy runs with lights on to draw enemy fire. |
On Course for the Möhne Dam by Richard Taylor. Guy Gibson leads the first wave of 617 Squadron's Lancaster bombers towards the German border and on to the Mőhne dam. After crossing the coast a fraction off course, Gibson adjusts his compass heading slightly and, as the unmistakable thunder of 12 cylinder Merlin engines at full throttle shatters the night, follows the course of a large canal where the owner of an ancient windmill, hearing the noise, hurries outside to witness the event. Nobody expected it to be easy. Nothing that the men of the recently formed 617 Squadron had faced before had ever been easy but, as Wing Commander Guy Gibson stood in front of them on the afternoon of 16th May 1943, they soon realised that the mission facing them would be the hardest - and most dangerous - they had ever faced. Their task that night was to destroy the mighty dams of Germany. For weeks they had been honing their skills of low-level flying, but until that final briefing in the operations room, only Gibson and a few top brass knew the objective. Tonight all their training would be put to the test. To evade enemy radar they would have to fly all the way to the Ruhr at tree-top height, and they must do so in complete radio silence. Once at the target they must launch their radical bouncing bombs - designed by Barnes Wallis - from a height of 60ft at exactly 230 mph. But to get there would require exceptional navigational skills and courage of the highest order. The breathtaking skill and courage displayed by the crews of 617 Squadron on the moonlit night of 16th / 17th May 1943 created a legend that remains undiminished. |
The Dambusters by Gerald Coulson. Mick Martin's Lancaster pulls away from the Möhne Dam, his Upkeep bomb exploding behind him sending a huge plume of water into the air. Guy Gibson flies to his right drawing flak from the anti-aircraft guns on the towers. |
Dambusters Outward Bound by Simon Smith. Guy Gibson leads the first wave of Dambusters out over Norfolk on their way to attack the Mohne and Eder. |
The Dambusters by Simon Smith. On the night of 16/17th May 1943,under a full moon, 19 specially modified Lancaster bombers from 617 Squadron carried out one of the most daring and effective air raids of the Second World War. Led by wing commander Guy Gibson the 19 aircraft took off and headed for Germany at extreme low level.. Their mission, code named Operation Chastise, was to destroy the Ruhr dams which supplied water and electricity to the industrial heart of Reich. Each aircraft carried the ingenious Upkeep mine, developed by the engineer Barnes Wallis. Shaped like a large oil drum, the bomb was spun prior to release at exactly 60ft above the water and 150 yards from the dam wall. This caused the weapon to bounce across water and on impact would also make it stay close to the wall of the dam as it sank. The bomb, technically a mine, was fitted with a hydrostatic fuse similar to a depth charge causing detonation at the required depth.The correct height above the water was achieved by aligning the beams of two spotlights to meet on the surface of the water. Delivering such a weapon on target at night at such low altitude and under enemy fire was thought by many to be impossible. The nineteen pilots,some as young as eighteen had been hand picked by Gibson only two months before and formed into 617 squadron whose first mission was to remain top secret and unknown to them up until the last moment. The Mohne Dam was attacked first and several attempts were made under heavy fire with one lancaster being shot down as it flew over the target.Guy Gibson then attempted to draw fire away from the attacking aircraft by switching on his navigation lights and flying to one side of Mick Martins aircraft ,the scene depicted in Simon Smiths painting.Just as another aircraft was about to go in,excited shouts came over the intercom - its gone! The main target achieved, Gibson led the remaining aircraft on to the Eder Dam deep amongst the mountains of the Eder valley. Here, although no flak defenses, the terrain made the approach extremely hazardous. Two bombs were released yet still the target remained unbreached leaving only one last aircraft ,that of Les Knights to attack. A steep descent from a thousand feet then a dive over a spit of land left very little time to line up and release the bomb.Worse still there was a huge mountain on the far side of the dam! Added to this Edward Johnson the bomb aimer recalled that the spinning bomb had an alarming gyroscopic effect on the handling of the aircraft,so it was with superb flying and teamwork that their bomb struck and finally destroyed the massive stonework of the Eder Dam. Gibsons leadership and bravery led to the award of the VC and many other decorations were bestowed upon the other crews.The squadron however paid a heavy price with 8 lancasters being lost. |
Clipped Signature - George Chalmers. A wireless operator on Whitleys, Stirlings and Halifaxes before he joined the famous No.617 Sqn flying on Lancasters. Flying on AJ-O on the Dambusters raid, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal. Later awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for 65 operations, he stayed on with the RAF and then Ministry of Defence until 1984. He died in 2002. |
Dambusters - Breaching the Eder Dam by Robert Taylor. Mist and fog swirled eerily over the Eder Lake on the night of 16/17 May 1943 as four specially modified Lancasters of 617 Squadron, under the leadership of Wing Commander Guy Gibson, circled overhead. Their target, the mighty Eder Dam, was barely visible in the valley below. Immediately following the successful breach of the Mohne Dam, Gibson had led his remaining aircraft 50 miles to the south-east to hit their second target, the Eder Dam. Surrounded by high ground with thousand feet ridges, the Eder was altogether a more testing target. The Lancaster pilots would need to dive steeply into the gorge that formed the Eder lake before undertaking a steep turn towards the Dam itself. As if this were not demanding enough in the darkness of night, they then had to fly towards the target at precisely 60ft above the lake at the exact speed of 230mph, before releasing their Barnes Wallace designed hydrostatic bouncing bombs. Pilots Shannon and Maudsley tried time and again to position their laden bombers correctly before managing to release their weapons - but the dam still held. Now success depended solely on Knight carrying the last bomb! With time and fuel now a concern, Knights first effort to position, like Shannon and Maudsley before him, failed, but his second run favoured the brave. Knight released his bomb with absolute precision, striking the wall at precisely the crucial point. With a tremendous explosion the Eder Dam collapsed before their eyes. Robert Taylors sensational new painting vividly shows the dramatic moment of impact. In the cockpit Knight and flight engineer Ray Grayston fight the controls to clear the dam, combining their physical strength to haul the lumbering Lancaster up and over the dam and to clear the high ground that lies ahead. Below and behind them, the second of Germanys mighty western dams lies finally breached. |
Bomb Away! The Third Assault by Robert Taylor. On the night of 16th - 17th May 1943 nineteen specially modified Lancasters of No.617 Squadron departed from RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire on one of the most secret and daring bombing operations undertaken during World War Two. The ultra-secret operation to destroy the huge hydro-electric dams that powered a significant part of Germany's industrial war machine in the Ruhr valley, codenamed Operation Chastise, had been planned in stealth for months. Using a revolutionary 10-ton 'bouncing bomb' designed by the brilliant designer Barnes-Wallis, a special squadron comprised of the most talented crews that RAF Bomber Command could muster would be formed to attack primarily the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams. Using highly modified Lancaster bombers to carry the secret bomb, Operation Chastise.was to become one of the most dangerous precision bombing raids ever undertaken, and Robert Taylor astutely captures all the atmosphere in his drawing Bomb Away!. At 00.38 hrs the attack on the Möhne dam is already well underway. The Commander of No.617 Squadron and leader of the raid, Wing Commander Guy Gibson, had made the first successful attack, but the dam wall held firm. Tragedy then struck as Flight Lieutenant Hopgood's Lancaster, hit by flak during his attack, exploded in a ball of flame. Gibson called in Flick Lieutenant Mick Martin to make the third assault. As enemy flak and tracer illuminate the night sky, Guy Gibson boldly attempts to draw the enemy's fire as Martin holds Lancaster AJ-P steady at 60ft above the waters of the Möhne dam to release the cylindrical, bouncing bomb and send it spinning towards the dam wall. In a few moments a huge explosion will erupt up into the night sky as the hydrostatic bomb detonates against this might granite wall. Once again though, the öhne dam held, but not for long. Following Martin, Squadron Leader Dinghy Young would approach in Lancaster AJ-A, his bomb also successfully hitting the target but this time the dam, already weakened, will slowly crack. Water will start to seep through the granite wall as Squadron Leader David Maltby in Lancaster AJ-J finishes the job. With a thunderous roar the Möhne dam was breached, its waters unleashed like a giant tidal wave sweeping through the valley below. |
The Dambusters - Last Moments of the Möhne Dam by Robert Taylor. As they cleared the surrounding hills the valley unfolded to reveal the black waters of the lake glistening in the crystal clear moonlight. And then, away in the distance, they saw the target they had come to destroy - the Möhne Dam. The largest dam in Europe, the fortress-like walls of Möhne held back nearly 140 million cubic metres of water essential to the industry and factories of the Ruhr. The Air Ministry had long ago decided that if the Möhne dam, and the two other major Ruhr dams - the Eder and Sorpe - were destroyed, it could deliver a massive blow to the Nazi war machine. But cracking open the mighty dams would require exceptional flying skills; and so, on 21 March 1943, a new squadron was formed specifically for the task, the only time this ever happened in Bomber Command. Known as 617 Squadron and led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, it was not only the squadron that was unique, so was the weapon they would be using - Upkeep - a cylindrical, hydrostatic 'bouncing' bomb. The brainchild of Barnes Wallis, Upkeep was designed to skip across the surface of the water, sink against the dam's massive wall, and explode with enormous force at a precise depth. In Robert Taylor's sensational new painting Guy Gibson and Mick Martin draw the enemy's fire as 'Dinghy' Young clears the dam's parapet seconds after releasing his bomb. A few moments later Young's bomb will successfully detonate against the dam leaving it mortally wounded allowing David Maltby in AJ-J to finish the task. With the Möhne Dam breached Gibson, with the remaining crews, will turn south to repeat the operation at the Eder Dam. |
A Lincolnshire Sunset 1944 by Gerald Coulson. The Avro Lancaster was possibly the most versatile and successful bomber aircraft ever and certainly became the backbone of RAF Bomber Command during WWII. Being able to deliver a greater payload than any other aircraft of The War, the Lancaster was involved in nearly every night bombing raid on Europe and undertook some of the most famous bombing missions in History. Of all the crews of RAF Bomber Command 617 Squadron are perhaps the best known. Famed for their expertise in precision bombing they took part in some of the most daring raids of the War. Many of the crews such as Guy Gibson, Leonard Cheshire and Bill Reid became household names and their exploits are well documented. This superb painting by Gerald Coulson is a tribute to all those crews who flew with Bomber Command. Each print is personally signed by prominent crew who flew with 617 Squadron during WWII. Coulsons painting captures the moment perfectly. As the sun is setting in the early part of 1944 over their Lincolnshire airfield , groundcrews make final preparations to the Lancasters of 617 Squadron. Beneath the mighty aircraft crews ready themselves for a long , gruelling night operation over occupied Europe. |
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