Gravestone to Dambuster hero’s beloved black Labrador ‘N*****’ REPLACED by the RAF after review

A gravestone for Dambusters hero Guy Gibson’s pet dog ‘N****r’ has been removed and replaced with one without his name – sparking fury among veterans.

The stone tablet, which is based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, honoured Gibson’s black Labrador, which was run over by a car and killed on the day of the famous raid.

But RAF top brass have now paid for a new memorial, replacing where his name was with an outline of the famous canine and the words ‘The Dog’.

It came after the service carried out a ‘review of its historical assets’ and decided the term – which is an offensive slur against people of colour – had to go.

Until now it had remained untouched at RAF Scampton – the World War Two base of 617 ‘Dam Busters’ Squadron – for years in the dog’s honour.

The switch was only revealed when headstone firm Draper Memorials posted an image of the new tablet online.

Royal Air Force veteran Mark Dewberry told the company he was disgusted about the monument being changed.

He said: ‘You have questions to answer about replacing N****r’s memorial stone.

‘You have upset thousands of veterans, like myself.

‘Are you going to delete this post and start to disrespect your countries veterans. You all should be ashamed of yourselves.’

Despite having been paid for the work, Drapers’ originally comment next to their now-deleted post seemed to hint at their own disquiet over the change.

It said: ‘This morning we have been out to replace the plaque to Guy Gibson’s black Labrador at Raf Scampton. You can’t rewrite history’.

Owner Ian Credland refused to comment on the furore when he was contacted by the MailOnline this afternoon.

The dog, that served as the mascot of 617 Squadron, was run over by a car and killed on the day of the famous raid in May 1943.

He was buried at Scampton at midnight, the very moment his owner was leading the daring attack on a series of dams in Germany’s Ruhr Valley for which he won the Victoria Cross.

The gravestone was marked with his name at the top and the story of his demise beneath it.

But the RAF today confirmed the headstone has been removed and placed in storage as the name on it could cause offence to people.

It has instead been replaced with a brand new stone which bears the outline of a black Labrador dog at the top instead of its name, although the wording underneath remains the same.

An RAF Spokesperson said: ‘As part of an ongoing review of its historical assets, the RAF have replaced the gravestone of Guy Gibson’s dog at RAF Scampton.

‘The new gravestone tells the story of Guy Gibson’s dog, but the name has been removed.’

But not just veterans were offended by the change, with social media lighting up over the replacement.

Derek Murray said: ‘Guy Gibson’s dog, henceforth to be referred to as ‘the dog’ or, more formally, ‘the dog belonging to the pilot’.

Andy Porter said: ‘Those of you who know Scampton will be aware of the grave of Guy Gibson’s dog N****r outside Hangar 2.

‘The memorial stone has very recently been replaced. It seems history can be changed…’

Gus Turnbull posted on social media: ‘Now they’ve gone too far. It’s part of history and the dog belonged to a British hero recipient of our country’s highest award for valour. You cannot change history to appease militants.’

Scott Asby posted: ‘Absolutely disgusting, history is history, cannot & should’t be changed.’

There has been a lot of controversy over the use of the dog’s name over the years.

In the 1955 war film, The Dam Busters, in which Richard Todd played Guy Gibson, the pet was called by its original name.

In 1999 ITV removed any mention of the name in a re-run of the film while a US version of the movie changed the name to Trigger by dubbing over it.