George Johnson, last veteran of Dambusters raid, dies at 101

LONDON (AP) — George “Johnny” Johnson, the last known survivor of Britain’s daring World War II “Dambusters” raid on German infrastructure, has died aged 101. Britain’s PA news agency said Johnson died peacefully at a care home in the Bristol area of southwest England on Wednesday. Johnson was a 21-year-old bomb aimer on the 1943 mission, codenamed Operation Chastise. The crews were tasked with flying over Germany and dropping experimental, specially designed “bouncing bombs” to destroy dams in the industrialized Ruhr valley. More than 50 of the 133 airmen were killed during the raid, but it was considered a success after two dams were destroyed. The mission inspired a 1955 movie, “The Dam Busters.”