Flt Sgt C W Roberts
Navigator
Lancaster serial number: ED887/G
Call sign: AJ-A
First wave. Fourth aircraft to attack Möhne Dam. Mine dropped accurately, causing small breach. Aircraft shot down on return flight.
Charles Walpole Roberts was born on 19 January 1921 in Northrepps, a village near Cromer in Norfolk. He was the only son of Charles Augustus and Dorcas Roberts. Their marriage broke down when he was very young, and his father moved to Devon. Roberts was brought up by his mother and grandmother, educated at the village school before entering the nearby Paston School, famous as the alma mater of Lord Nelson.
Roberts enrolled in the RAF in 1940, and was selected for training as a pilot. He was sent out to Rhodesia for training at an Elementary Flying Training School. Like many would-be pilots, he ended up qualifying as a navigator.
He then crewed up with Lawrence Nichols and John Beesley in 10 Operational Training Unit at RAF Abingdon in July 1942. The crew was skippered by Graham Bower. On 10 and 13 September, Roberts flew on two operations with Bower, trips to Düsseldorf and Bremen. The crew moved on to 1660 Conversion Unit later that year. Although the crew took part in a raid on Berlin on 16 January 1943, after Bower’s departure, Roberts was replaced as navigator by an instructor, Flt Lt V. Blair. Melvin Young joined the Conversion Unit later, in early March, and took over the old Bower crew there.
The full crew were then transferred to 57 Squadron at Scampton on 13 March. On 25 March, they were all reposted to the new 617 Squadron.
Roberts was one of the most inexperienced navigators to fly on the Dams Raid, but he acquitted himself well on the flight to the Möhne Dam, as the trio of Young, Maltby and Shannon maintained formation throughout the trip. Roberts was engaged to Irene Mountney, a WAAF who worked at Scampton packing parachutes.
AJ-A was shot down at the last moment of danger shortly after they had passed over the Dutch coast. On 19 May, Charles Roberts’s body was the first of those of the crew of AJ-A to be washed ashore, and he was buried two days later in Bergen General Cemetery.
More about Roberts online:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
KIA 17 May 1943.
Rank and decorations as of 16 May 1943.
Sources: Arthur Thorning, The Dambuster who Cracked the Dam, Pen and Sword 2008
Richard Morris, Guy Gibson, Penguin 1995
John Sweetman, The Dambusters Raid, Cassel 2002
Further information about Charles Roberts and the other 132 men who flew on the Dams Raid can be found in my book The Complete Dambusters, published by History Press in 2018.
Dambusters Blog 
If anybody has any information about my great-uncle Charles Walpole Roberts, please contact me
Cromer Town Council to have his name on a new war memorial next year
Cromer Town Council will be flying the RAF ensign on 16 May and North Norfolk District Council on 17 May to Commemmorate and remember the 53 Aircrew who lost their lives on Operation Chastise. An event to rember them will take place at the Cliftonville Hotel Cromer 20 May 2023 between 10 am and 4pm with displays of 2 Dambuster Aircraft AJA lost on the raid and AJG with other WW 2 aircraft types. for further details contact David Russell 01263 761419 or Nigel Pearce 01263 510050, After me The Flood
Hi he is a distant relationship of mine too. My dads cousin. Please get in contact if you want to know more .
Cromer Town Council is to have his name inscribed on its new war memorial next year. Looking for more information about him
Have just seen your post from August 2017 re Charles walpole Robertsand you were wanting information about him He was my half brother ,born to my fathers first wife Dorcas.i have so much information on Charles which i did not discover till recent years my siblings and i were unaware of anything about him until another brother did our family tree on my fathers side and that is when a lot of secrets came out so if i can help you with anything feel free to e. mail me .
Have just seen your post saying Charles Roberts is a distant relative of yours it was 2 years since you posted that but here goes Charles was my brother he was born to my fathers first wife,Dorcas i never knew him was only 18 months when he lost his life in the raid my siblings and i knew nothing about him ,our knowledge of him came about through another brother searching our family tree and a lot of secrets came out then i have done a lot of research,visited his grave stood on the walls of the dam and also met the son of the lady Charles was engaged to.i have also visited the house where Charles lived at Northrepps any information you can give me about him or his family would be gratefully received .