Les Munro

April 5, 1919 — August 4, 2015 — Gisborne, New Zealand

Squadron Leader John Leslie Munro was a Royal New Zealand Air Force pilot who flew with the Royal Air Force's famed 617 Squadron during World War II. He is best remembered as one of the pilots who took part in the audacious Dambusters Raid of May 1943, and he lived to become the operation's last surviving pilot before his death in 2015.

Early Life in New Zealand

John Leslie Munro was born on April 5, 1919, near Gisborne on New Zealand's North Island, where he grew up in a rural farming family. Like many young men of his generation, Munro's early years were shaped by the hardships of the Great Depression, and he initially worked on farms before the outbreak of World War II changed the course of his life. When war broke out in Europe, he volunteered for the Royal New Zealand Air Force, drawn by the opportunity to serve and the growing demand for pilots in Britain's air campaign against Nazi Germany. After completing his flight training in New Zealand, Munro traveled to Britain, where he joined the Royal Air Force and trained further as a bomber pilot. He was assigned to fly the Avro Lancaster, a heavy bomber that would become central to Britain's strategic bombing efforts. His skill and reliability as a pilot eventually brought him to the attention of Wing Commander Guy Gibson, who was assembling an elite squadron for a highly secretive and dangerous mission that would soon make history.

The Dambusters Raid

In March 1943, Munro was selected to join the newly formed 617 Squadron, tasked with a top-secret mission to destroy dams in Germany's industrial Ruhr Valley using a specially designed "bouncing bomb" developed by engineer Barnes Wallis. On the night of May 16–17, 1943, Munro piloted Lancaster AJ-W as part of the raid's second wave, targeting the Sorpe Dam. However, his aircraft was struck by anti-aircraft fire over the Dutch coast, which knocked out his radio and damaged the plane, forcing him to abort the mission and return to base without dropping his bomb. Though disappointed not to reach the target, Munro's survival made him one of the fortunate crews that night; eight of the nineteen aircraft that took part were lost, with 53 airmen killed. The raid succeeded in breaching the Möhne and Eder dams, causing significant flooding and disruption to German industry, and it became one of the most celebrated operations of the war. Munro continued flying with 617 Squadron on further precision bombing missions, rising to the rank of Squadron Leader before the war's end, earning distinction as a skilled and courageous pilot.

Later Life and Legacy

After the war, Munro returned to New Zealand, where he resumed civilian life as a farmer and later became active in local politics, serving as a county councilor and eventually as mayor of the Waitomo District. He remained relatively private about his wartime service for many years, though he occasionally spoke about the raid at commemorative events. As the decades passed, Munro became increasingly recognized as one of the last living links to the Dambusters operation, and in his later years he was celebrated in Britain and New Zealand alike for his role in the historic mission. In 2013, he made headlines when he announced plans to auction his war medals to help fund the Bomber Command Memorial in London, a gesture that moved the public and prompted donors to raise the necessary funds so he could keep his medals instead. Munro died on August 4, 2015, at the age of 96, having outlived every other pilot who flew in the Dambusters Raid. His death marked the end of a direct human connection to one of World War II's most daring and mythologized operations, and he remains honored as a symbol of the courage shown by Bomber Command's aircrews.