Home of the Dambusters
There is an amazing display of Dambuster memorabilia there! Well worth a visit!
The large branch you see above the Squadron bar was extracted from a Lancaster after it had landed!
The hotel building served as a military hospital for injured soldiers during the Great War, but it is as the home of the legendary RAF 617 Dambusters Squadron in World War Two that Petwood is best known. Occupied from 1942, it was originally home to officers of the 97 and 619 squadrons, but with nearby Woodhall Airfield chosen as the operational base, 619 squadron moved away and the officers of 617 moved in.
Today, the Squadron Bar hosts a range of memorabilia and tributes to Guy Gibson VC, Leonard Cheshire VC and their Officers. Petwood was a scene of some jubilant celebrations with the breakthroughs made by Squadron 617, as well as tragic losses. We can only imagine the sheer bravery of the Squadron and the huge risks they took in enemy territory, facing death time and again. Guy Gibson alone, the Squadrons heroic young Wing Commander, carried out over 170 raids by the age of 24. Just two years later he was killed in action.
