Lancaster AJ-T carrying Upkeep

A specially adapted Lancaster bomber - Type 464 (Provisioning), a special B III - carrying an Upkeep depth charge in May 1943. This was the Barnes Wallis-designed weapon that the RAF’s 617 "Dambusters" Squadron used against the Ruhr dams during World War II. This Flight Artworks image features Lancaster ED825/G, coded AJ-T, "T for Tommy".

This was a spare aircraft for Operation Chastise and was the aircraft that Joe McCarthy and his crew used to attack the Sorpe Dam. Their bomb aimer was George "Johnny" Johnson. They should have been in ED923, AJ-Q, but one of the starboard engines had a coolant leak so they shifted to the backup.