page_title: Dinghy Young
section_title: Operation Chastise
hierarchical_section_title: Dinghy Young / Operation Chastise
caption_attribution_description: English: Remembrance monument to the crew of ED887 AJ-1 617 Squadron. Castricum aan Zee, The Netherlands.
context_page_description: Squadron Leader Henry Melvin "Dinghy" Young, DFC & Bar was a bomber pilot in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War.
context_section_description: Soon after joining No. 57 Squadron, he was transferred to No. 617 Squadron, specially formed for the purpose of carrying out Operation Chastise, the raid to attack German dams in the Ruhr Valley. Young, together with Henry Maudslay, carried out much of the organising work needed to form a new squadron but remained popular with his fellow officers.
  On the night of the 16/17 May 1943, the raid took place. Young flew Avro Lancaster ED877/G AJ-A (code-named "A-Apple"). The other crew were Flight Sergeant Charles Walpole Roberts (Navigator), Flying Officer Vincent Sandford MacCausland (Bomb Aimer), Sergeant David Taylor Horsfall (Flight Engineer), Sergeant Lawrence William Nichols (Wireless Operator), Sergeant Gordon Arthur Yeo (Front Gunner) and Sergeant Wilfred Ibbotson (Rear Gunner). A-Apple flew as part of the first wave which attacked the Möhne Dam. Young was second in command of the raid, which was led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson flying G-George.
  The first three aircraft to attack, Gibson (G-George), Hopgood (M-Mother) and Martin (P-Popsie), all missed the target. A-Apple was fourth to attack and hit the dam, causing a small breach. As this breach was not apparent, a fifth aircraft of Maltby (J-Johnny) subsequently attacked the dam and achieved a hit, causing a larger breach.
  On the return journey, A-Apple was brought down by anti-aircraft fire, probably by gunners at Castricum-aan-Zee, who reported shooting down an aircraft at 2.58 am. The bodies of all seven crewmen washed up on the Dutch coast over the subsequent days and were buried in the Bergen General Cemetery, Bergen, North Holland.
caption: Memorial at Castricum aan Zee
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