Duty bound

16 May 1943: As night begins to fall, RAF Lancasters from 617 Squadron leave England at low level heading for Germany's Ruhr dams on Operation Chastise - the Dambusters raid. The specially modified bombers are carrying the Barnes Wallis-designed "bouncing bomb" code-named Upkeep. This photographic reconstruction is part of a series.

Picture includes my extensive modifications to a standard Lanc that was originally photographed by Ronnie Macdonald (used with permission).

A version of this image was published in a Dambusters special magazine by Morton Media Group, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the operation against the Ruhr dams in May 2013.