Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

Henry Melvin "Dinghy" Young, (20 May 1915 – 17 May 1943) was a bomber pilot in the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Early life

Young was born in

Belgravia Belgravia () is a Districts of London, district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' Tudor Period, during the ...

, London, to Henry George Melvin Young, a British solicitor, and Fannie Rowan Young. He was educated at

Amesbury School Amesbury School is a co-educational independent prep school in the Hindhead/ Haslemere area of Surrey, England, educating pupils between the ages of 2 and 13. It was founded in 1870. The Grade II*-listed main building was designed by Sir Edw ...

in Hindhead, Westminster School class of 1933,

Kent School Kent School is a private, co-educational, college preparatory boarding school in Kent, Connecticut, United States. Frederick Herbert Sill established the school in 1906. It is affiliated with the Episcopal Church of the United States. Acade ...

Kent, Connecticut Kent is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. Located alongside the border with New York, the town's population was 3,019 according to the 2020 census. Kent is home to three boarding schools: Kent School, the Marvelwood School ...

class of 1932, and

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

, where he was part of the winning crew of the 1938

Boat Race Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

. Though going normally by the name Melvin, he acquired the nickname "Dinghy" after coming down in the sea twice and surviving in inflatable dinghies.

Royal Air Force service

Young qualified as a pilot as a member of the

Oxford University Air Squadron The Oxford University Air Squadron, abbreviated Oxford UAS, or OUAS, formed in 1925, is the training unit of the Royal Air Force at the University of Oxford and forms part of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. OUAS is one of fifteen Univers ...

, although the officer who trained him described him as "not a natural pilot". He joined the

in 1938. After the outbreak of war in 1939, he began operational training. In June 1940, he joined

No. 102 Squadron RAF No. 102 Squadron was a Royal Air Force night bomber squadron in the First World War and a heavy bomber squadron in the Second World War. After the war it flew briefly as a transport squadron before being reformed a light bomber unit with the Secon ...

, flying

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley was a British medium bomber aircraft of the 1930s. It was one of three twin-engined, front line medium bomber types that were in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) at the outbreak of the Second World ...

bombers. It was during this tour that he twice had to ditch his aircraft and take to a dinghy. The first occasion was on 7 October, when he was flying on a convoy escort mission over the Atlantic from a base in Northern Ireland. Young was forced to ditch his aircraft because of engine failure and the crew spent 22 hours in an inflatable dinghy before being rescued. The second occasion was in the English Channel, south of Plymouth. Young completed his tour in February 1941 and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). After serving in a training unit, Young was promoted to squadron leader and, in September 1941, began a tour with 104 Squadron, flying

Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its g ...

s. He served in Egypt and Malta and, on completing his tour of duty, received a

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

to his DFC. In July 1942, he was sent to Washington, D.C. to serve as part of the RAF Delegation. Upon his return to the United Kingdom, he began training to fly the

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

with a new crew. They all joined 57 Squadron in March 1943, where Young became a flight commander.

Operation ''Chastise''

Soon after joining No. 57 Squadron, he was transferred to No. 617 Squadron, specially formed for the purpose of carrying out

Operation Chastise Operation Chastise or commonly known as the Dambusters Raid was an attack on German dams carried out on the night of 16/17 May 1943 by 617 Squadron RAF Bomber Command, later called the Dam Busters, using special "bouncing bombs" developed by ...

, the raid to attack German dams in the

Ruhr Valley The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...

. Young, together with Henry Maudslay, carried out much of the organising work needed to form a new squadron but remained popular with his fellow officers. On the night of the 16/17 May 1943, the raid took place. Young flew Avro Lancaster ''ED877''/''G AJ-A'' (code-named ''"A-Apple"''). The other crew were Flight Sergeant Charles Walpole Roberts (Navigator), Flying Officer Vincent Sandford MacCausland (Bomb Aimer),

Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

David Taylor Horsfall (Flight Engineer), Sergeant Lawrence William Nichols (Wireless Operator), Sergeant Gordon Arthur Yeo ( Front Gunner) and Sergeant Wilfred Ibbotson (Rear Gunner). ''A-Apple'' flew as part of the first wave which attacked the

Möhne Dam The Möhne () is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Ruhr. The Möhne passes the towns of Brilon, Rüthen and Warstein. There is a large artificial lake near the mouth of the river, the Möhne Reservoir, us ...

. Young was

second in command ''Second in Command'' is a 2006 American action film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and directed by Simon Fellows. The film was released direct-to-DVD in the United States on May 2, 2006. Plot Commander Sam Keenan (Jean-Claude Van Damme), a decor ...

of the raid, which was led by Wing Commander

Guy Gibson Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson, (12 August 1918 – 19 September 1944) was a distinguished bomber pilot in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He was the first Commanding Officer of No. 617 Squadron, which he led in the "Dam B ...

flying ''G-George''. The first three aircraft to attack, Gibson (''G-George''), Hopgood (''M-Mother'') and

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

(''P-Popsie''), all missed the target. ''A-Apple'' was fourth to attack and hit the dam, causing a small breach. As this breach was not apparent, a fifth aircraft of Maltby (''J-Johnny'') subsequently attacked the dam and achieved a hit, causing a larger breach. On the return journey, ''A-Apple'' was brought down by anti-aircraft fire, probably by gunners at Castricum-aan-Zee, who reported shooting down an aircraft at 2.58 am. The bodies of all seven crewmen washed up on the Dutch coast over the subsequent days and were buried in the Bergen General Cemetery,

Bergen, North Holland Bergen () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Its North Sea beaches and forests make it a popular destination for tourists. In 2001, the municipality was formed from a merger of the former municipaliti ...

Personal life

Young married an old family friend, Priscilla Rawson, in 1942 while he was in Washington. He had previously met Priscilla during his time at Kent College. She remained in the United States when he returned to the United Kingdom.

Honours and awards

* 9 May 1941 – Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) – Acting Flight Lieutenant Henry Melvin Young (72478), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, No. 102 Squadron. * 18 September 1942 – Bar to the Distinguished Flying Cross – Squadron Leader Henry Melvin Young, DFC (72478), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, No. 104 Squadron.

Film portrayal

In the 1955 film '' The Dam Busters'', Young was portrayed by

Richard Leech Richard Leeper McClelland (24 November 1922 – 24 March 2004), known professionally as Richard Leech, was an Irish actor. Richard Leeper McClelland was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Isabella Frances (Leeper) and Herbert Saunderson McCl ...

Citations

General references

* *

External links

CWGC :: Casualty Details
at www.cwgc.org

at www.unithistories.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Henry Melvin Dinghy 1915 births 1943 deaths Aviators killed by being shot down Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II Royal Air Force pilots of World War II British World War II bomber pilots Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Air Force squadron leaders Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II People from Belgravia People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Kent School alumni Oxford University Boat Club rowers Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the Netherlands Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1943 Military personnel from London