GUY Gibson was a public schoolboy who displayed unfailing courage. He was born to lead and possessed all the qualities of a British hero.

Commanding the Lancasters of 617 squadron, Gibson led from the front, taking his planes down to 60 feet in order to destroy the Mohne and Eder dams of the Ruhr valley in May, 1943.

The story is well known enough.

The Lancasters were delivering the legendary ‘bouncing bomb’, the brainchild of Barnes Wallis, who wanted to achieve what he called an engineer’s method of winning the war. He was also the product of a ‘posh’ education.

Today, such men would be sneered at by the class warriors and the politically envious. But such individuals undoubtedly helped to shorten the Second World War. We should bear this in mind the next time a political wannabe chunters about ‘toffs’ and ‘privilege’.

* John Phillpott travelled to Germany with the War Reseach Society. Call 0121 4599008 for details.