• Operation Chastise (Dambusters Raid)

Date of birth:

January 21st, 1922 (Birgmingham, United Kingdom)

Date of death:

September 16th, 1943

Buried on:

Commonwealth War Cemetery Reichswald Forest
Plot: 16. Row: B. Grave: 13-16.

Nationality:

British

Dennis John Dean Powell, born in Birmingham on January 21, 1922, later moved with his family to London. His father, Easton Powell, was Canadian, while his mother, Ada Dean, was from Birmingham.

Joining the RAF before the war as a boy entrant, Powell served as ground crew before training as a flight engineer in 1942. Posted to 49 Squadron in October, flying 15 operations before transferring to 617 Squadron in March 1943.

During Operation Chastise, Powell played a crucial role in navigating low-level flight, yet remained the only AJ-O crew member not decorated. He then participated in raids on Italy.

On September 16, 1943, during a low-level attack on the Dortmund Ems Canal, Holden’s Lancaster was shot down over Nordhorn while attempting to clear a church spire. The aircraft crashed in flames, and its bomb exploded moments later, killing a civilian. Powell and the entire crew perished. Initially buried in Lingen, they were later reinterred in Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.

Powell, alongside four other Dams Raid veterans lost in the mission, rests in Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, where fallen crews from the raid are also buried.

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• Photo 1: Findagrave
• - Dambusters
  - CWGC

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