As Tony Burcher knew Hoppy Hopgood from 106 Squadron, he was placed in his crew. On the Dams Raid Burcher, in the rear turret, could only hear what was going on in the front of the aircraft via the intercom. It would seem that when AJ-M was hit by flak some twenty minutes before the dam was reached, Burcher received superficial wounds to the leg and stomach. When Hopgood gave the order to bale out after the aircraft was hit again on the final attack, the wounded John Minchin managed to drag himself towards the rear escape hatch, with one leg almost severed. Burcher pushed his colleague out of the hatch first, pulling his parachute ripcord as he did so, and then followed him. Sadly, Minchin did not survive the drop, but Burcher did and he and John Fraser, who had escaped from the front of the aircraft, were captured separately and taken prisoner.