• Operation Chastise (Dambusters Raid)

Date of birth:

July 20th, 1921 (Grand Forks/British Columbia, Canada)

Date of death:

May 13th, 2012 (Vancouver/British Columbia, Canada)

Nationality:

Canadian

Grant Stuart Vincent McDonald was born in Grand Forks, British Columbia, on 20 July 1921, the second youngest of seven siblings. His father was a carpenter. After school, he joined the Canadian army when the Royal Canadian Air Force was not accepting recruits but soon transferred to the air force.

Trained in Canada as an air gunner, he crossed the Atlantic in May 1942. After further training, he joined No. 19 Operational Training Unit at Kinloss. His initial missions involved anti-submarine patrols in Cornwall before moving to Lancaster training. McDonald joined 44 Squadron in early 1943, later transferring to the newly formed 617 Squadron in March.

Assigned to attack the Sorpe Dam, McDonald’s crew dropped their mine successfully, though the dam remained intact. Detouring to the Möhne Dam, they observed the destruction caused by their comrades and engaged an anti-aircraft gun before returning safely to base. He continued operations with 617 Squadron until the crew disbanded in March 1944, then became an instructor.

After the war, McDonald joined the Canadian customs service in Vancouver, where his former crewmate Dudley Heal also worked. He married Margery Warrian in 1948, but they had no children.

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• Photo 1: Dambustersblog.com
• - Dambusters

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