article_snippet: Les Munro medals tell the story of extra-ordinary acts of gallantry and a flying career so distinguished it helped to change the course of the Second World War.
article_snippet: Squadron Leader Munro said Squadron Leader Munro wanted to do so
article_snippet: Squadron Leader Munro is described as ‘one of the great heroes’ of 617 Squadron, the elite air crew responsible for some of the most strategically critical bombing successes of the war.
article_snippet: Service: Squadron Leader Munro leaning out of the cockpit of Squadron Leader Munro Lancaster Bomber , which Squadron Leader Munro flew on the Dambusters raid.
article_snippet: The plane was hit over Holland and Squadron Leader Munro managed to fly The plane home with a gaping hole in the body .
article_snippet: Hero: Les Munro (left) being introduced to George VI, centre, by Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC, right, who led 617 Squadron on the Dambusters raid .
article_snippet: Comrades: Les Munro (centre at front) with Squadron Leader Munro crew in front of the Lancaster Bomber Squadron Leader Munro flew on the raid that smashed two dams .
article_snippet: Built from Portlandstone, it is open to the sky with the entrance made from sections of a Halifax bomber shot down during the war.
article_snippet: Foremost among the plane's seven crew was the 1943 precision raid that destroyed dams in Germany’s industrial heartland, crippling armament factories along the Ruhr valley.
article_snippet: Munro, then a flight lieutenant, was piloting one of the Lancaster bombers to the dams when the aircraft was hit by flak, smashing a gaping hole into the rear fuselage, damaging equipment vital to sighting the target and wiping out all communications.
article_snippet: Against difficult odds, Munro saved the lives of Munro by flying the plane home safely, still carrying its specially designed mine.
article_snippet: Wing Commander Guy Gibson, who led the mission and received the Victoria Cross, said Wing Commander Guy Gibson, who led the mission and received the Victoria Cross was ‘a most charming fellow – one of those types who can always be relied upon to do the right thing at the right moment’.
article_snippet: Munro, promoted afterwards to squadron leader, went on to lead successful raids on German arms factories, rocket sites and U-boat pens all over Europe.
highlights_snippet: Les Munro, 95, flew Lancaster on raid on dams using bouncing bombs .
  
highlights_snippet: Sq Ldr Munro's Lancaster bomber was hit by Nazi fire over Holland on raid .
  
highlights_snippet: But Les Munro flew plane back to UK with a gaping hole, saving lives of Les Munro crew .