Story highlights Les Munro was part of 617 Squadron, which attacked three dams in Nazi Germany

The famous 'Dambusters' used Barnes Wallis' experimental 'bouncing bomb'

(CNN) The last surviving pilot of the RAF's legendary "Dambusters" bomber squadron has died in his native New Zealand at the age of 96.

"Our New Zealand Bomber Command Association Patron, and well known Dambuster pilot, Les Munro passed away last night following a spell in hospital with heart problems. So, so sad. He was a mighty man," the association said on its Facebook page Tuesday.

Part of 617 Squadron, Munro was involved in Operation Chastise -- one of the most daring missions of World War II -- when the RAF attacked three vital power-generating dams -- Sorpe, Mohne and Edersee -- in Germany's industrial Ruhr region using Barnes Wallis' famous "bouncing bomb."

The Mohne Dam in northwestern Germany after being bombed by 617 Squadron.

During his flight to the Sorpe dam on May 16, 1943, Munro's Lancaster bomber was hit by flak over the Netherlands and forced to turn back. The difficult approach to Sorpe meant that it incurred only minor damage from the remaining bombers. But the Mohne and Edersee dams were hit and breached. The resulting floodwaters brought chaos to the region, with factories, power stations, road and rail bridges damaged or destroyed.

According to the RAF, the Germans were forced to draft in tens of thousands of workers to repair the damage, including at least 7,000 workers redeployed from construction work on the Atlantic Wall defenses with direct positive results the following year during the D-Day invasion.

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