On Wed. 08 Jul 1942 Wing Commander (Acting) Guy Gibson, at 23 the youn.....

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Date

1942-07-08

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Description

Wing Commander (Acting) Guy Gibson, at 23 the youngest Squadron commanding officer in RAF Bomber Command and a man already marked out for great things, flew the newly issued Lancaster bomber operationally for the first time during the raid on Wilhelmshaven, Germany. A young Australian pilot officer, Dave Shannon, went with him to gain experience. Shannon, like Gibson, was later to find fame in 617 Squadron. The aircraft they flew was lost a month later over Essen, Germany with a different crew.