Guest post by Josh Rowles

Today is a very special day for my dear friend Johnny. He has turned 100 years old! He is living his best life and has insisted that for triple figures, he didn’t want a big gift. For his 98th birthday, I presented Johnny with a picture book full of events we had hosted together, which he treasures. For his 100th, I felt I couldn’t top that!

Whilst chatting to Johnny’s daughter Jenny, we established he had enough booze for another 100 years so an alternative idea would be to raise some money for the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund (RAFBF) through the production of some special badges, designed for his birthday.

I have personally designed and, with the approval of Jenny and the RAFBF, I have had 100 limited edition large patches made but also a batch of smaller badges. All of the profits will go to the RAFBF.

For the large badge, it will come boxed with a ‘certificate’ I designed, signed by the RAFBF and myself stating the patch number. This is priced at £25 minimum donation (+P&P). The smaller standalone unboxed badge is £10 minimum donation (+P&P). Donations beyond these prices are of course welcomed.

I will be looking to put these badges on eBay soon, but wanted to offer these out to friends and readers of the Dambusters Blog beforehand in case anyone would like some. If you would, please drop me an email on johnny100years@gmail.com with what you’d like and I will send you payment details. (First come first served! These are limited editions.)

Pictured below: Johnny Johnson and Josh Rowles.

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!