On the actual Dambusters mission he took off in the second wave of Lancaster’s from Scampton that had the Sorpe Dam as its target. On crossing the Dutch coast at 60 feet and skipping some sand dunes one of his wing tips hit the sea as he changed course.Even the dark shadow of his own Lancaster on the sea in the moonlight could have had a disorientating effect on events.Only his superb pilot skills managed to get the aircraft back up in the air to return home in the luckiest of escapes. They lost the bomb on impact with the waves,the tail wheel was pushed up through the fuselage which became entirely awash with sea water,oil and disinfectant from the chemical toilet at the rear. The tail gunner was nearly drowned by the escaping water,through the resulting hole near the damaged tail wheel, as Geoffrey managed to steady the aircraft and turn it for home. He had to circle Scampton while his crew had to lower the landing gear manually because the hydraulics were buggered. Even then there was another narrow escape as Les Munro’s returning Lancaster,with the radio not working, flew underneath Geoffrey as he was trying to land and they had to pull up and circle again before he finally landed safely.
He was quizzed by Guy Gibson as to why he had lost the bomb but was exonerated of any blame. It was inevitable that flying so low at night there would be some “mishaps”. The second wave of Lancaster’s to the Sorpe turned out to be the unluckiest with more than their fair share of shot down aircraft and fatalities!