A Stone man is raising money for Help For Heroes by following the route of the Second World War Dambusters raid – by motorbike.
Keen motorcyclist and Help For Heroes supporter Simon Dufton has organised the Dambusters 2012 Motorcycle Ride, which will take place on the 16th and 17th May, the 69th anniversary of the infamous 1943 raid.
The ride will follow the route flown by 617 Sqdn Lancaster AJ – J on the raid itself. The team will drop a wreath on to the water of the Mohne Dam in Germany to remember all those who lost their life as a result of the raid and then return via the John Frost Bridge, so famously held by the Paras at Arnhem, the ‘Bridge too Far’. The event will finish, as did the original Dambusters raid, at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.
All of the riding will be done at night, just as the Lancaster Bombers had to carry out their raid under the cover of darkness
Simon said: “It’s myself and three of my work colleagues who’ll be doing the ride, which will be about 1,500 miles all in. The most challenging bit will be that the vast majority of riding will be at night. That will be the real effort.
“I’ve supported Help For Heroes for a while now and raised over £3,000 in 2010 by riding to all of the active RAF stations in the UK in a single day. I’m a passionate motorcyclist anyway, so I wanted to do another challenge and to raise more money for an extremely worthwhile cause.
“One of my colleague’s best friends, his best man at his wedding, is currently at Hedley Court (the military hospital in Surrey) after he lost both of his legs in Afghanistan. That kind of thing makes any difficulties in my life just fade into insignificance.”
You can donate online at www.bmycharity.com/Dambusters2012
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