Gunfight Over Rabaul by Nicolas Trudgian (AP) AIT346 Lancasters of 617 Sqn Dambusters

Lancasters of 617 Sqn Dambusters get airborne from their Scampton base at the start of their journey to the Ruhr Valley on the night of 16th May 1943 under the codename Operation Chastise

Always a front line squadron

23rd May 1940

Dawn Departure by Ivan Berryman

Gunfight Over Rabaul by Nicolas Trudgian (AP) AIT346 Lancasters of 617 Sqn DambustersDHM2116AP. Gunfight Over Rabaul by Nicolas Trudgian. Nicolas Trudgians action packed painting shows an attack on Rabaul during the fall of 1943. B 24 Liberators of the Army Air Force pound the harbor and docks below whilst the Marines Corps pilots of VMF 214 the famous Black Sheep Squadron provide top cover in their F4U Corsairs. A fierce dog fight has developed between the F4U pilots and Japanese Zeros. One Zero, already smoking, begins to roll out