RECOGNISED FOR HIS
A T the age of just 20 Gordon Yeo was a typical boy from Barry.
After leaving school he became a draper’s apprentice – and then, as a fresh-faced young man, he gave his life for his country in the most famous air raid of World War II.
He was the only Welshman to take part in the daring mission codenamed Operation Chastise – better known as the Dambusters raid.
It was an audacious mission which, despite its terrible human cost, provided a major morale boost to the British population, as the RAF’s 617 Squadron targeted three dams in Germany’s industrial heartland.
Now, 75 years on, the Welsh hero who took part in a mission so secret that those involved did not even know the details of the operation until shortly before, has been commemorated in a portrait to “reunite” the courageous airmen who fought the Nazis.
Born in September 1922, Gordon lived in Castleland Street in Barry with his parents Arthur and Ada, sister Mary, and grandmother Lou.
After attending Holton Road School for Boys, Gordon worked as a draper’s apprentice in John Jones’ in Holton Road.
He volunteered with the RAF in 1941 to become a pilot and was initially posted to Elementary Flying School in Canada, eventually qualifying as a gunner.
After crewing up with David Horsfall, Lawrence Nichols and Wilfred Ibbotson at 1660 Conversion Unit at RAF Swinderby in Lincoln, he flew with them on an operation to Berlin on January 16, 1943, with Plt Off V Duxbury as their pilot.
By the time the crew moved to 57 Squadron at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire in mid March, Melvin Young had become their pilot and Charles Roberts their navigator.
On March 25 Gordon was posted to the newly-formed 617 squadron, led by 24-year-old Wing Commander Guy Gibson.
Gordon joined the crew of Avro Lancaster AJ-A “Apple”, piloted by Melvyn “Dinghy” Young. Gordon was the youngest member of the crew on board.
He used to enjoy writing home to his parents during his stint in the armed forces.
In one letter home he wrote that while training they flew close to Barry, then down the Bristol Channel to Land’s End, then up the English Channel.
He wrote that he was so hot that day the crew wore short-sleeve shirts as they flew over Britain.
In his last letter home, Gordon mentioned the fact his razor had broken and asked his father if he had enough coupons to get another one.
That razor would return home unopened – along with all his other personal belongings.
At 9.47am on May 16, 1943, the Lancaster III ED887 took off from RAF Scampton with Gordon – Ser- geant Yeo – on board as part of the first wave of bombers to attack the Mohne Dam near Dortmund in Germany.
The Ruhr Dams were an important source of power and destroying them would cause massive damage to the Nazi war effort.
Gordon’s role was to sit in the front of the plane and defend against enemy aircraft and suppress antiaircraft fire at the target.
Their plane was seen to make an accurate attack on the dam with the infamous “bouncing bomb” – a bomb designed to bounce across water to avoid obstacles such as torpedo nets – making a direct hit and causing a small breach.
AJ-Apple than accompanied Wing Commander Gibson to the River Eder and back to the Mohne Dam when the attack was finished.
They then made their way back to England, through the designated corridor mentioned in the pre-raid meeting.
But the plane was shot down over the Dutch coast and crashed just off Castricum ann Zee at 2.58am on May 17. Gordon was just 20 years old. His body, along with those of most of his crew, was washed up several days later and buried by the German forces in Bergen General Cemetery in the Netherlands.
Days after the raid Gordon’s par- ents received a telegram.
It read: “Missing as a result of air operations on the night of 16/17th May 1943. The Air Council expresses their profound sympathy. Letter confirming this follows telegram. Under Secretary of State”.
But it was not until May 1945 that the family heard that he had been killed in the Dambusters Raid.
Wing Commander Gibson was awarded the Victoria Cross and 34 men received other decorations.
The breaching of the Mohne Dam was a major achievement. It contained 140 million tonnes of water and was a major source for the industrial Ruhr Valley 20 miles away.
The water that was released caused widespread flooding, as well as disrupting road, rail and canal networks and the supply of electricity and water.
The flooding claimed almost 1,300 lives on the ground while of the 133 aircrew who took part, 53 were killed and another three became prisoners of war. Now a portrait of Gordon will