branch death_date death_place birth_place allegiance unit awards birth_date nickname rank image article_title name
20px royal canadian air force 06 september 1998 virginia beach st james , long island canada 1921 no. 617 squadron raf distinguished forces decoration service order distinguished flying cross and bar canadian 31 august 1919 `` big joe '' wing commander royal air force bomber command , 1942-1945 . ch9925.jpg joe mccarthy -lrb- rcaf officer -rrb-
 joseph charles mccarthy
joe mccarthy -lrb- rcaf officer -rrb-

joseph charles `` big joe '' mccarthy rcaf -lrb- 31 august 1919 -- 6 september 1998 -rrb- was an american-canadian royal canadian air force raf bomber command aviator in world war ii .
he was born on long island and grew up in brooklyn .
as a teenager , he worked as a lifeguard at coney island and learned to fly .
in may 1941 , months before the united states would enter the war , mccarthy joined the royal canadian air force .
mccarthy was most known for flying with no. 617 squadron raf , including operation chastise -lrb- the dams raid -rrb- of 1943 .
by the time of the raid he had already taken part in thirty bombing sorties over germany , including three over berlin .
mccarthy and his crew flew with the second wave of lancasters , but he had to take a spare aircraft after his failed .
t-tommy was the only aircraft from the 2nd wave to attack a target - the sorpe dam , which had to be attacked with an upkeep bomb directly without it bouncing .
despite hitting the target , the dam was not breached .
he was awarded a distinguished flying cross in 1943 for service with no. 97 squadron raf , a distinguished service order in the same year for the dams raid , and a bar to the dfc in 1944 .
he was mentioned but not portrayed in the 1955 film `` the dam busters '' , which focuses mostly on the 1st wave that breached the moehne and eder dams .
