THE last British survivor of the Dambusters raid shared his wisdom with north Hampshire pupils during a visit to his old school.

George “Johnny” Johnson, 94, was part of the Royal Air Force’s 617 Squadron that targeted dams in industrial Germany during World War Two.

He had the role of a bomb aimer in the raids in 1943, and his Lancaster crew bombed the Sorpe dam, using a conventional bomb, rather than the bouncing bomb popularised in The Dam Busters film of 1955.

Last Wednesday, the veteran met pupils at his old school, Lord Wandsworth College, near Odiham, and spoke to pupils in history classes about his experiences.

He took part in a question and answer session, met some of the school’s cadets and was taken around his old boarding house.

Johnny said: “Lord Wandsworth College provided me with the makings of my life and it was here that my life really began.

“I shall always be grateful for that initial grounding.”

Born in Lincolnshire in 1921, Johnny moved in 1993 to the north Hampshire school, which had been set up for the children of agricultural workers who had lost one or more parent.

After school, he joined the RAF in 1940, and after training in the USA and Canada, became a bomb aimer on Lancaster planes. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his part in Operation Chastise – the Dambusters raids.

Adam Williams, headteacher at Lord Wandsworth College, said: “Johnny’s visit was inspirational to all of us here at Lord Wandsworth.

“He describes himself as ‘not old, just older’ and is a bright-eyed man, sharp as a tack, with a genuine interest in teenagers fulfilling their potential.

“His stories of courage and perseverance had us all enthralled.

“He is a man for whom our foundation made a genuinely huge difference, as it continues to do for so many of our pupils.”