My brother took this marvellous picture of the RAF 'Battle of Britain' group Lancaster passing over the house not long a go. The Lanc, alongside a Spitfire and Hurricane, can often be seen at displays and remembrance day ceremonies. As far as I can make out there are only two now in flying condition, this one and one in Canada, where hundreds were made during the war.
The Lancaster Bomber sums up the war period for many people. Possibly because from 1939 until 1944 this was the only way possible for Britain to hit back at Nazi Germany. There was no way, in spite of US pressure, to place troops onto mainland Europe until 1944. That was the time General Marshall. a great man in many ways, and his generals realised the benefit of Allanbrookes strategy. One reason that invasion was a success was the work of both the RAF, usually during the night, and the US air forces during the day, hammering the enemy defences. By wars end both air forces had lost 50,000 killed! This was the most hazardous operation, over several years, of the war!
The Lancaster was the brainchild of Roy Chadwick, the AVRO Chief designer. AVRO, named after the early aviator A.V.Roe, built many aircraft for the allies and the Lancaster was probably their most renowned. Originally Chadwick built a bomber called the 'Manchester.' This was not a great success as the 'Vulcan' engines were poor. However some 'Merlin' engines were 'acquired,' and as one man working on the project at the time stated, "During wartime one doesn't ask where did that come from?" and four of these reliable engines, on an enlarged wing, more or less created the 'Lancaster' Bomber! The majority were then built at AVRO's works near Oldham.
The large bomb bay enabled the aircraft to carry an 8,000 pound load, and later the 'Tallboy' bomb that eventually destroyed the 'Tirpitz' in her sheltered base. Armed with 8x 30 calibre machine guns and carrying a crew of seven, pilot, flight engineer, navigator, bombaimer, wireless operator, mid-upper and rear gunners, nearly all of them in their late teens and early twenties, the Lancaster made a total of 156,000 sorties dropping 608,612 tons of bombs. The damage was huge but the planes losses were horrendous. Between 1942 and 1945, a mere thirty five Lancaster's completed more than 100 successful operations, and three thousand two hundred and forty nine were lost in action. That's 3249 times seven crew members, many of whom were seriously wounded or dead. A mere ten Victoria Crosses were awarded to these men. This does not appear to be enough.
The most famous raid involving the aircraft is of course the "Dam Buster" raid of 1943. This raid killed more Russian slave workers, mostly female, than Germans, and hindered war production only for a few days, however the morale effect in Britain was tremendous! This was a massive propaganda spin, showing that we could hit back hard where it mattered. Of course the truth was different, and indeed 'pathetic' in the real meaning of the word, but that was not known at the time. I wonder if the 1955 film of the same name is the reason for the public's support of the Lancaster aircraft? While toned down it did reflect the danger and the effect to the audience who could remember the events of twelve years before. Wing Commander Guy Gibson, VC, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar was the twenty three year old commander of the operation. He received his VC after this operation, however in 1944 he insisted on returning to operational duties and was killed when his Mosquito aircraft crashed in Holland after being shot down. He was 26 at the time!
Later, while the Dutch population were starving, an operation to feed them was launched. The Germans stood back while 145 Mosquitoes and 3,156 Lancasters, flying between them a total of 3,298 dropped food stocks, in what became known as 'manna' after the story in Exodus!
Production of Lancasters ceased in 1946 when 7,366 had been completed. There were several derivations later, probably the 'Shackleton,' also known as 'A Million rivets flying in formation,' being the best known. Ex bomber pilots who entered the Shackleton were immediately taken back to their flying days by the smell above all other things!
While bombing is not the most popular activity, in war it is sometimes necessary, during WW2 the Lancaster did more than many to win that war. In spite of the losses and the suffering Bomber Command has yet to be awarded a medal for their actions in defeating the Nazi regime. This one fact remains a UK disgrace!











