Grant McDonald

Record number of Canadian Dambuster families gathered in Alberta

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Dambuster families gather in Nanton, Alberta. Back row, left to right:  Larry Heather (Earnshaw family), Dianne Young (Fraser family), Peter Brosinsky (Earnshaw family),  Charlene Brosinsky (Earnshaw family), Shere Fraser (Fraser family), Kerry O’Brien-Larsen (O’Brien family), Jim Heather (Earnshaw family), Doris Fraser (Fraser family), Tamara Sutherland (Sutherland Family), Hartley Garshowitz (Garshowitz family), Joan Norris, Tom and Cathy Sutherland (Sutherland family), Marilyn McDowell (McDowell family), Bryce Ramlo, Erin Ramlo and Karen Ramlo (McDonald family)
Front row, left to right: crouching/sitting:  Joe McCarthy (McCarthy family), Emily, Kathy and Rob Taerum (Taerum family), Ted Barris, author. [Pic: Hartley Garshowitz]

A record number of Canadian Dambuster families gathered at the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton, Alberta last weekend. They came from all parts of Canada and Washington State, USA, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Dams Raid in which their relatives took part. Many of them died on the raid.

Most later gathered under the wing of the museum’s Lancaster aircraft, which has been specially reconfigured and painted in 617 Squadron’s colours as a further tribute. Not all the families are present in the photograph above, so for completeness they are listed below.

Charles Brennan, flight engineer in AJ-M. Granddaughter, Andrea Davids from Calgary, and her son Mark.

 

Harlo Taerum, navigator in AJ-G. Nephew, Rob Taerum, Rob’s wife Kathy, and their daughter Emily Taerum from Calgary.

 

Lewis Burpee, pilot of AJ-S. Son, Lewis Burpee from Ottawa.

 

 

Don MacLean, navigator in AJ-T. Son, Jim MacLean from Toronto.

 

 

Ken Earnshaw, navigator in AJ-M. Nephews and nieces, Jim Heather of Vulcan, Alberta; Margaret Danielson from Edmonton with her daughter Clarissa Danielson Hall and son-in-law Scott Hall; Larry Heather from Calgary; Charlene Brosinsky and Peter Brosinsky from Bashaw, Alberta.

Abram Garshowitz, wireless operator in AJ-B. Nephew, Hartley Garshowitz from Hamilton, Ontario.

 

Floyd Wile, navigator in AJ-B. Nephew, Don Lightbody and his wife Carolee Lightbody from Halifax, Nova Scotia.

 

Percy Pigeon, wireless operator in AJ-W. Son Greg and Greg’s wife Louise from Williams Lake, British Columbia.

 

Grant McDonald, rear gunner in AJ-F. Nephew, Bryce Ramlo, his wife Karen and their daughter Erin Ramlo from Mayne Island and Vancouver, British Columbia.

 

John Fraser, bomb aimer in AJ-M. Widow, Doris Fraser from Langley, BC, daughter Shere Fraser from Blaine, Washington, and niece Dianne Young from Calgary.

 

James McDowell, rear gunner in AJ-K. Daughter, Marilyn McDowell from Burlington, Ontario.

 

Revie Walker, navigator in AJ-L. Son, John Walker, John’s wife Amy and their daughter Kenzie from Calgary.

 

Gordon Brady, rear gunner in AJ-S. Niece, Sheila Robbins and her husband Graham from Beaumont, Alberta.

 

Joe McCarthy, pilot of AJ-T. Son, Joe McCarthy jr. from Blaine, Washington.

 

 

Harry O’Brien, rear-gunner in AJ-N. Daughter, Kerry O’Brien-Larsen from St. Albert, Alberta.

 

Fred Sutherland, front gunner in AJ-N. Son, Tom Sutherland, his wife Cathy, from Fort McMurray, Alberta, and their daughter Tamara Sutherland from Edmonton, Alberta; daughter, Joan Norris and her husband Hugh of Calgary. Fred Sutherland still lives in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, but chose not to attend this event himself.

Dambuster of the Day No. 119: Grant McDonald

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McDonald

Flt Sgt G S McDonald
Rear gunner

Lancaster serial number: ED918/G

Call sign: AJ-F

Third wave. Second aircraft to attack Sorpe Dam. Mine dropped successfully, but failed to breach dam.

Grant Stuart Vincent McDonald was born in Grand Forks, British Columbia on 20 July 1921, the second youngest of the seven children of William and Florence McDonald. His father worked as a carpenter. He went to school in Grand Forks. By the time he left, the war had already started and he applied to join the RCAF. At that stage it was not accepting new recruits, so he went first into the Canadian army, but was able to transfer to the air force a few months later.

After training in Canada as an air gunner, he crossed the Atlantic on a troopship in May 1942. After more training at a gunnery school near Stranraer, he was posted to No 19 Operational Training Unit at Kinloss, where he first crewed up with fellow Canadians, Ken Brown and Stefan Oancia, and then the Britons Dudley Heal and Harry Hewstone.

Their first operations were a number of anti-submarine patrols from St Eval in Cornwall, but they were then transferred to a Heavy Conversion Unit for Lancaster training. Here a full crew of seven was formed, with flight engineer Basil Feneron and gunner Don Buntaine joining them. They were posted to 44 Squadron in February 1943 and had only completed a handful of operations before being transferred to the newborn 617 Squadron at the end of March.

They were directed to the Sorpe Dam, and attacked it at 0323. After flying across the width of the dam, they dropped their mine in the middle and it exploded satisfactorily, sending a waterspout many hundreds of feet into the air. The dam, however, remained intact. Before leaving the area, AJ-F took a detour to the rapidly-emptying Möhne Dam and were impressed by the damage that their comrades had done a couple of hours earlier. One of the anti-aircraft guns was still operating, however, and McDonald opened fire on it, ‘really giving him hell’ as Brown later recalled. McDonald himself thought that his .303 guns might not have had enough firepower to cause permanent damage. Thanks to Brown’s skilful low flying they finally landed safely at Scampton at 0533.

McDonald flew with the Brown crew on all its subsequent operations in 617 Squadron, leaving when the crew was broken up in March 1944. He was then posted as an instructor to an OTU in the summer of 1944.

On being demobbed at the end of the war, he joined the Canadian customs service in Vancouver, the same occupation as his sometime crewmate, Dudley Heal. He married Margery Warrian on 30 July 1948. They had no children.

As one of the last surviving Dambusters, Grant McDonald participated with courtesy and dignity in a number of events in both Canada and Britain as the various anniversaries of the Dams Raid came about, but he died three days before its 69th anniversary, on 13 May 2012 in Vancouver.

Thanks to Karen and Bryce Ramlo for help with this article.

More about McDonald online:
Transcript of 2011 interview by James Holland

Survived war. Died 13 May 2012.

Rank and decorations as of 16 May 1943.
Sources:
Richard Morris, Guy Gibson, Penguin 1995
John Sweetman, The Dambusters Raid, Cassell 2002

The information above has been taken from the books and online sources listed above, and other online material. Apologies for any errors or omissions. Please add any corrections or links to further information in the comments section below.

Further information about Grant McDonald 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.

Flt Sgt Grant McDonald

charlesfoster6 Comments

The Canadian aircrew who survived from the Dams Raid. Grant McDonald is on the far right of the back row. Pic: Bomber Command Museum, Canada 

I am sorry to have to report the death on 13 May 2012 of one of the last surviving Dambusters, Flt Sgt Grant McDonald, rear gunner in Lancaster AJ-F, piloted by Ken Brown.

Grant McDonald was born in Grand Forks, British Columbia in 1921. By the time he left school, the war had already started and he applied to join the RCAF. At that stage it was not accepting new recruits, so he went first into the Canadian army, but was able to transfer to the air force a few months later. After training in Canada as an air gunner, he crossed the Atlantic on a troopship in May 1942. After some more training in Bournemouth and at a gunnery school near Stranraer, he was posted to an Operational Training Unit at Kinloss, where he crewed up with fellow Canadian, Ken Brown and navigator Dudley Heal. Their first operations were a number of anti-submarine patrols from St Eval in Cornwall, but they were then transferred to a Heavy Conversion Unit for Lancaster training. Here a full crew of seven was formed. It was made up of three Canadians, Brown, McDonald and bomb aimer Steve Oancia, and four Britons, Heal, flight engineer Basil Feneron, wireless operator Harry Hewstone and gunner Don Buntaine.
They were posted to 44 Squadron in February 1943 and had only completed a handful of operations before being transferred to the newborn 617 Squadron at the end of March. (One of the persistent myths about the Dams Raid was that the crews were all highly experienced and hand picked by Guy Gibson. In the case of the Brown crew, this is wrong on both counts.)
Brown had a number of run-ins with his pugnacious commanding officer during training for the Dams Raid, but the crew survived and were detailed to fly as one of the five mobile reserve aircraft. They were directed to the Sorpe Dam, and attacked it at 0323. After flying across the width of the dam, they dropped their mine in the middle and it exploded satisfactorily, sending a waterspout many hundreds of feet into the air. The dam, however, remained intact. Before leaving the area, AJ-F took a detour to the rapidly-emptying Möhne Dam and were impressed by the damage that their comrades had done a couple of hours earlier. One of the anti-aircraft guns was still operating, however, and McDonald opened fire on it, ‘really giving him hell’ as Brown later recalled. As dawn broke during the return flight it was very dangerous, particularly as they recrossed the Dutch coast, but thanks to Brown’s skilful low flying they landed safely at Scampton at 0533.
Grant McDonald did another 22 operations with 617 Squadron, before being posted as an instructor to an OTU in the summer of 1944. On being demobbed at the end of the war, he joined the Canadian customs service in Vancouver.

Grant McDonald, left, pictured in October 2010.
As one of the last surviving Dambusters, Grant McDonald participated in a number of events in both Canada and Britain as the various anniversaries fell. He was always courteous with enquirers, although he must have told the same stories dozens of times over the years. A kind and good man, may he rest in peace.

Sources: Interview of Grant McDonald by James Holland, March 2011
Speech by Ken Brown, 1993