• Operation Chastise (Dambusters Raid)

Date of birth:

September 19th, 1920 (Royton/Lancashire, United Kingdom)

Date of death:

May 17th, 1943 (Borken, Germany)

Buried on:

Commonwealth War Cemetery Reichswald Forest
Plot: 21. Row: D. Grave: 16-18.

Service number:

127817

Nationality:

British

Donald Hopkinson was born on 19 September 1920 in Royton, Lancashire, to Harold and Sarah Hopkinson. His mother passed away when he was an infant, and his father remarried. Educated at Chadderton Grammar School, he excelled in cricket and worked as a clerk before joining the RAF in 1941. After initial training, he became a bomb aimer in May 1942 and received his commission following training in Canada.

During the summer of 1942, Hopkinson crewed with Floyd Wile, Albert Garshowitz, Richard Bolitho, Max Stephenson, Frank Garbas, and John Kinnear. Originally posted to 9 Squadron, they were reassigned to 57 Squadron after Stephenson was killed during an operation. Hopkinson’s crew flew eight missions under pilot Bill Astell before transferring to 617 Squadron in March 1943.

On his final leave, Hopkinson shared a foreboding about the upcoming operation. Tragically, on the mission, their Lancaster collided with high-tension cables near Marbeck. Hopkinson and his crew were initially buried in Borken but reinterred together post-war in the Reichswald Forest Military Cemetery.

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• Photo 1: Findagrave
• - CWGC
  - Dambusters

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