Les Munro, the last Dambuster

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A New Zealander who was the last surviving pilot from the specialized World War II "Dambuster" mission targeting German infrastructure died Tuesday. Les Munro was 96.

The team of top pilots secretly trained in 1943 to master flying at high speeds, low altitudes and in the dark. The British team was tasked with flying over Germany and dropping a specially designed bouncing bomb to destroy dams.

More than 50 of the 133 airmen died during the raid, but it was considered a success after two dams were destroyed. That flooded factories and killed more than 1,000 German citizens in the Ruhr valley, while also boosting morale back in Britain.

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