Thanks for the info captainslow. I ordered myself a copy of John Sweetman’s book yesterday but it won’t arrive for a few days. Good to know it covers details like that.

I looked again at Jonathan Falconer’s book last night and could only find 2 pictures that showed the rear of a dams Lancaster clearly enough to make out if the aerial was there or not. The two aircraft were ED817, which we already knew about, and McCarthy’s aircraft, ED825, which as captainslow said, doesn’t have it.

The McCarthy crew must have had nerves of steel to even attempt a bombing run without the spotlights.