Montagu Dawson

Group Captain Montagu Ellis Hawkins Dawson DFC & Bar, DFM (9 September 1919 – 7 January 2003) was a British bombardier and navigator in the Royal Air Force.

On 24 July 1941 Dawson was the bomb-aimer and navigator in a Halifax aircraft taking part in an attack against the Scharnhorst, a German battleship that had been harassing North Atlantic convoys.

Despite heavy fire from the Scharnhorst and circling Me109s, Dawson, who was by then positioned in the exposed aircraft fore-belly, achieved a perfect bomb release and five direct hits.

In 1950, he married (Grace) Cherry Birchwood who he had met when she was a Sister with Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service.

Here he played a key role in implementing Project Al-Yamamah, a huge military training and support contract with the Saudi government.