Dambuster team airman, 82, dies

Tribute has been paid to a Shropshire member of the Dambusters RAF squadron who has died at the age of 82.

Bernard Rushbrooke was invited to join 617 Squadron to help replace the men who were killed in the first dams raid - made famous in the film The Dambusters - during World War Two.

His widow Betty Rushbrooke said that he flew 67 operations over Germany and was credited with making a direct hit on the German battleship Tirpitz, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Mr Rushbrooke passed away on July 28. He was born in Suffolk and had lived in Wem for the past 20 years.

Mrs Rushbrooke said her husband had gone against his father's wishes to join the RAF. He had been in the Army and was transferred to the RAF because of his aptitude for flying.

She said: "He served in the RAF during World War Two.

"He was in 617 Squadron - famous for the dams raids.

"Bernard was invited to join them to help replace the 56 men who were killed in the first dams raid, which used Barnes Wallis's famous bouncing bomb.

"In a way he was very young. He was 19 when he was flying Lancasters.

"He loved flying and for a boy growing into a man who loved flying, being in the squadron was like a dream really. He was treated with respect, he loved it, absolutely loved it."

Mrs Rushbrooke said after the war finished her husband and a small group of his friends pooled their resources to buy two Dakota aircraft.

"They were allowed to transport light goods including flowers from the Scilly Isles - quite a contrast to bombing Germany," she said.

"They kept the airline for about two years and then sold out without making a loss - for young servicemen that was something to be proud of."

Mr Rushbrooke later joined Standard Chartered Bank and subsequently was a foreign director for Guinness Mahon merchant bankers in London.

Mrs Rushbrooke said her husband often said he did not regret anything he had done in his life.