Big Joe McCarthy: The RCAF's American Dambuster (2012) By Dave Birrell

Joseph Charles "Big Joe" McCarthy DSO DFC RCAF (31 August 1919 - 6 September 1998) was an American-Canadian Royal Canadian Air Force RAF Bomber Command aviator in World War II.[1][2][3] He was born on Long Island and grew up in Brooklyn. As a teenager, he worked as a lifeguard at Coney Island and learned to fly. In May 1941, months before the United States would enter the war, McCarthy joined the Royal Canadian Air Force.

McCarthy was most known for flying with No. 617 Squadron RAF, including Operation Chastise (the Dams Raid) of 1943. By the time of the raid he had already taken part in thirty bombing sorties over Germany, including three over Berlin. McCarthy and his crew flew with the second wave of Lancasters, but he had to take a spare aircraft after his failed. T-Tommy was the only aircraft from the 2nd wave to attack a target - the Sorpe Dam, which had to be attacked with an Upkeep bomb directly without it bouncing. Despite hitting the target, the dam was not breached.

He was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross in 1943 for service with No. 97 Squadron RAF, a Distinguished Service Order in the same year for the dams raid, and a bar to the DFC in 1944.

The crew of Lancaster ED285/`AJ-T' sitting on the grass, posed under stormy clouds. Left to right: Sergeant G Johnson; Pilot Officer D A MacLean, navigator; Flight Lieutenant J C McCarthy, pilot; Sergeant L Eaton, gunner. In the rear are Sergeant R Batson, gunner; and Sergeant W G Ratcliffe, engineer.

He was mentioned but not portrayed in the 1955 film The Dam Busters, which focuses mostly on the 1st wave that breached the Moehne and Eder dams.

Inscribed by Johnny Johnson and Dave Birrell