To celebrate the forthcoming 100th birthday of the last Dambuster, Sqn Ldr George ‘Johnny’ Johnson MBE DFM on 25 November 2021, the RAF Benevolent Fund charity is holding a sponsored 56 or 100-mile cycle ride at various venues around the country. Most of these will be held on 15-16 May, the weekend nearest the 78th anniversary of the Dams Raid. The 100 miles celebrates Johnny’s impending centenary, while the 56 miles commemorates those aircrew who did not return (53 lost in action, 3 taken prisoner). The planned event at the Petwood Hotel in Woodhall Spa has been delayed until 3 July due to the pandemic, but you can still sign up to the virtual challenge and cycle your 56 or 100 miles anywhere else in the world on 15-16 May. Full details are here on the RAFBF website.
Several ex-RAF 617 Squadron members are planning rides, including some who are taking on a particularly arduous route around Lossiemouth in Scotland. These include Clive Mitchell, Colin McGregor, Nige Tiddy, and Ben Dempster (100 miles) and Pete Beckett and Ronnie Lawson on the more modest 56 miles distance.
Their route is shown above. If you live in the area, please consider turning out to support them. And if you don’t feel up to the cycling challenge yourself, and you don’t have anyone particular to sponsor, then the 617 Squadron Association is asking you to back Clive Mitchell, whose sponsorship page you can find on this link.
This is the link to the Lossiemouth route.
Good luck to everyone!
Dambusters Blog 
Is anything being done by the various organisations connected to The Dambusters to urge for Johnny Johnson to be awarded a knighthood in time for his Centenary. He certainly deserves one far ahead of many others who get awarded them. I’m not very good on the Internet but perhaps someone more savvy could start a campaign for it.
Thank you for the notification of the Dambuster Ride which my company memoryspot.com would like to support. We are a small family business specialising in mainly RAF signed memorabilia, especially related to 617 Squadron. We will be donating £100 to Clive Mitchell via his link, but would also like to donate a few extra ‘treats’ for some or all of the participants. Do you have any idea of how many people will be taking part in each group ? Happy to chat about our ideas if that is easier on 07880 558465 or 01279 814579. I am a member of the Dambuster Blog of course.
Regards
David Flett
David — probably best to go straight to the RAFBF team. Email them at challenge@rafbf.org.uk
Let me know if you get any pictures of the event. Best wishes — Charles