The fifteen RCAF Aircrew who returned from the Dams Raid. Back Row: Oancia, Sutherland, O’Brien, Brown, Weeks, Thrasher, Deering, Radcliffe, MacLean, McCarthy, McDonald
Front Row: Pigeon, Taerum, Walker, Gowrie, Rodger. [Pic: Bomber Command Museum of Canada]
Plt Off G A Deering
Front gunner
Lancaster serial number: ED932/G
Call sign: AJ-G
First wave: First aircraft to attack Möhne Dam. Mine exploded short of the dam.
Of Irish descent, George Andrew Deering was born in Kirkintilloch, Scotland, on 23 July 1919. His family emigrated to Canada when he was a boy, and he went to school in Toronto. He joined the RCAF in July 1940 and after training in Canada arrived in England in April 1941 as a Wireless Operator/Gunner.
Deering spent about a year in 103 Squadron, at RAF Elsham Wolds, which at the time was flying Halifaxes, and completed a full tour of operations. He was then sent to an Operational Training Unit, and was commissioned in February 1943, although this information didn’t seem to reach 617 Squadron until after the Dams Raid.
How he was allocated to Gibson’s crew is a bit of a mystery. With some 35 operations, he was far from the novice described in Enemy Coast Ahead: ‘In the front turret was Jim [sic] Deering from Toronto, Canada, and he was on his first [sic] bombing raid. He was pretty green, but one of our crack gunners had suddenly gone ill and there was nobody else for me to take.’
Later in the book, Gibson calls him ‘Joe’ and in the dedication he is referred to as ‘Tony’. Giving a member of your own crew three different first names may well be a record, even for this book which is littered with editorial errors. Also, Deering was posted into 617 Squadron on 29 March, so was hardly a last minute replacement.
For his part in the raid, Deering was awarded a DFC, recognition at last that he was an officer by the time of the raid. Along with Taerum, Hutchison and Spafford he transferred to George Holden’s crew, and died with all of them when they were shot down on the Dortmund Ems Canal operation on 16 September 1943.
More about Deering online:
Air Force Association of Canada listing
Commonwealth War Graves Commission listing
Decoration awarded for Operation Chastise: DFC
KIA 16 September 1943
Rank and decorations as of 16 May 1943.
Sources:
Richard Morris, Guy Gibson, Penguin 1995
John Sweetman, The Dambusters Raid, Cassell 2002
The information above has been taken from the books and online sources listed and other online material. Apologies for any errors or omissions. Please add any corrections or links to further information in the comments section below.
