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= Avro Lancaster =
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Introduction
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The Avro Lancaster, commonly known as the Lancaster Bomber, is a
British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and
manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax,
both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well
as the Short Stirling, all three aircraft being four-engined heavy
bombers adopted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the same era.
The Lancaster has its origins in the twin-engine Avro Manchester which
had been developed during the late 1930s in response to the Air
Ministry Specification P.13/36 for a medium bomber for "world-wide
use" which could carry a torpedo internally, and make shallow
dive-bombing attacks. Originally developed as an evolution of the
Manchester (which had proved troublesome in service and was retired in
1942), the Lancaster was designed by Roy Chadwick and powered by four
Rolls-Royce Merlins and in one of the versions, Bristol Hercules
engines. It first saw service with RAF Bomber Command in 1942 and as
the strategic bombing offensive over Europe gathered momentum, it was
the main aircraft for the night-time bombing campaigns that followed.
As increasing numbers of the type were produced, it became the
principal heavy bomber used by the RAF, the Royal Canadian Air Force
(RCAF) and squadrons from other Commonwealth and European countries
serving within the RAF, overshadowing the Halifax and Stirling, two
other commonly used bombers.
A long, unobstructed bomb bay meant that the Lancaster could take the
largest bombs used by the RAF, including the , and "blockbusters",
loads often supplemented with smaller bombs or incendiaries. The
"Lanc", as it was known colloquially, became one of the most heavily
used of the Second World War night bombers, delivering of bombs in
156,000 sorties. The versatility of the Lancaster was such that it was
chosen to equip 617 Squadron and was modified to carry the Upkeep
"bouncing bomb" designed by Barnes Wallis for Operation Chastise, the
attack on German Ruhr valley dams. Although the Lancaster was
primarily a night bomber, it excelled in many other roles, including
daylight precision bombing, for which some Lancasters were adapted to
carry the Tallboy and then the Grand Slam earthquake bombs (also
designed by Wallis). This was the largest payload of any bomber in the
war.
In 1943, a Lancaster was converted to become an engine test bed for
the Metropolitan-Vickers F.2 turbojet. Lancasters were later used to
test other engines, including the Armstrong Siddeley Mamba and
Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops and the Avro Canada Orenda and STAL Dovern
turbojets. Postwar, the Lancaster was supplanted as the main strategic
bomber of the RAF by the Avro Lincoln, a larger version of the
Lancaster. The Lancaster took on the role of long range anti-submarine
patrol aircraft (later supplanted by the Avro Shackleton) and air-sea
rescue. It was also used for photo-reconnaissance and aerial mapping,
as a flying tanker for aerial refuelling and as the Avro Lancastrian,
a long-range, high-speed, transatlantic passenger and postal delivery
airliner. In March 1946, a Lancastrian of BSAA flew the first
scheduled flight from the new London Heathrow Airport.
Origins
=========
In the 1930s, the Royal Air Force (RAF) was primarily interested in
twin-engine bombers. These designs put limited demands on engine
production and maintenance, both of which were already stretched with
the introduction of so many new types into service. Power limitations
were so serious that the British invested heavily in the development
of huge engines in the class in order to improve performance. During
the late 1930s, none of these were ready for production. Both the
United States and the Soviet Union were pursuing the development of
bombers powered by arrangements of four smaller engines; the results
of these projects proved to possess favourable characteristics such as
excellent range and fair lifting capacity. Accordingly, in 1936, the
RAF also decided to investigate the feasibility of the four-engined
bomber.
The origins of the Lancaster stem from a twin-engined bomber that had
been submitted to British Air Ministry Specification P.13/36 of 1936
for a twin-engined medium bomber for "worldwide use" which could carry
a torpedo internally, and make shallow dive-bombing attacks. Further
requirements of the specification included the use of a mid-mounted
cantilever monoplane wing, and all-metal construction while the use of
the Rolls-Royce Vulture, which was in development was encouraged.
Twin-engine designs were submitted by Fairey, Boulton Paul, Handley
Page and Shorts, using Rolls-Royce Vulture, Napier Sabre, Fairey P.24
or Bristol Hercules engines. Most of these engines were still under
development and while four-engined bomber designs were considered for
specification B.12/36 for a heavy bomber, the extra engines required
the wing and overall aircraft structure to be stronger, increasing the
structural weight.
Avro submitted the Avro 679 to fulfil Specification P.13/36 and, in
February 1937, Avro's submission was selected, along with Handley
Page's bid as a backup. In April 1937, a pair of prototypes for each
design was ordered. Avro's aircraft, named the Manchester, entered RAF
service in November 1940. Although a capable aircraft, the Manchester
was underpowered and its Vulture engines proved to be unreliable. As a
result, only 200 were constructed and the type was withdrawn from
service in 1942.
Flight testing
================
By mid-1940, Avro's chief design engineer, Roy Chadwick, was working
on an improved Manchester powered by four of the more reliable but
less powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, specifically adopting the
"Power-egg" installation developed for the Beaufighter II, and
installed on a wing of increased span. Initially, the improved
aircraft was designated as the 'Type 683 Manchester III' but was
subsequently renamed the Lancaster. The prototype, serial number
'BT308', was assembled by the Avro experimental flight department at
Ringway Airport, Manchester, being modified from a production
Manchester airframe, combined with the new wing to accommodate the
additional engines. The first flight was made by test pilot H. A.
"Sam" Brown on 9 January 1941 at RAF Ringway, Cheshire.
Flight testing of the new aircraft quickly proved it to be a
substantial improvement over its predecessor. The first prototype was
initially outfitted with the Manchester I's three-finned tail but this
was revised on the second prototype, 'DG595', and subsequent
production Lancasters used the larger elliptical twin-finned tail unit
that was also adopted for the last Manchesters built. This not only
increased stability but also improved the dorsal gun turret's field of
fire. The second prototype was also fitted with more powerful Merlin
XX engines.
Manchesters still on the production line were converted into Lancaster
B.Is. Based upon its performance, a decision was taken early on to
reequip twin-engine bomber squadrons with the Lancaster as quickly as
possible. 'L7527', The first production Lancaster made its first
flight in October 1941, powered by Merlin XX engines.
Production
============
Avro received an initial contract for 1,070 Lancasters. The majority
of Lancasters manufactured during the war years were constructed by
Avro at its factory at Chadderton near Oldham, Lancashire and were
test-flown from Woodford Aerodrome in Cheshire. As it was quickly
recognised that Avro's capacity was exceeded by the wartime demand for
the type, it was decided to form the 'Lancaster Aircraft Group', which
comprised a number of companies that undertook the type's manufacture,
either performing primary assembly themselves or producing various
subsections and components for the other participating manufacturers.
In addition to Avro, further Lancasters were constructed by
Metropolitan-Vickers (1,080, also tested at Woodford) and Armstrong
Whitworth. They were also produced at the Austin Motor Company works
in Longbridge, Birmingham, later in the Second World War and post-war
by Vickers-Armstrongs at Chester as well as at the Vickers Armstrong
factory, Castle Bromwich, Birmingham. Belfast-based aircraft firm
Short Brothers had also received an order for 200 Lancaster B.Is, but
this was cancelled before any aircraft had been completed.
The Lancaster was also produced overseas. During early 1942, it was
decided that the bomber should be produced in Canada, where it was
manufactured by Victory Aircraft in Malton, Ontario. Of later
variants, only the Canadian-built 'Lancaster B X' was produced in
significant numbers. A total of 430 of this type were built, earlier
examples differing little from their British-built predecessors,
except for using Packard-built Merlin engines and American-style
instruments and electrics. In August 1942, a British-built Lancaster
B.I was dispatched to Canada as a pattern aircraft, becoming the first
of the type to conduct a transatlantic crossing. The first Lancaster
produced in Canada was named the "Ruhr Express". The first batch of
Canadian Lancasters delivered to England suffered from faulty
ailerons; this error was subsequently traced to the use of unskilled
labour. By the end of the conflict, over 10,000 Canadians were
employed on the production line, which was producing one Lancaster
each day.
Production by factory
!Manufacturer !Location !Number produced
rowspan="3" |A. V. Roe |Woodford rowspan="2" |2,978
|Chadderton
|Yeadon |695
|Armstrong Whitworth |Whitley |1,329
rowspan="2" |Austin Motors |Longbridge rowspan="2" |330
|Marston Green
|Metropolitan-Vickers |Trafford Park |1,080
rowspan="2" |Vickers-Armstrongs |Castle Bromwich |300
|Chester |235
|Victory Aircraft |Malton (Canada) |430
Further development
=====================
The Lancaster B.I was never fully superseded in production by a
successor model, remaining in production until February 1946.
According to aviation authors Brian Goulding and M. Garbett, the
Lancaster B.I altered little during its production life, partially as
a result of the sound basic structure and design; of the visible
changes, the fuselage side windows were deleted, the Perspex chin of
the bomb-aimer was enlarged, and a larger astrodome was provided.
Various additional bumps and blisters were also added, which typically
housed radar equipment and radio navigational aids. Some Lancaster B.I
bombers were outfitted with bulged bomb bay doors in order to
accommodate increased armament payloads.
Early production Lancaster B.Is were outfitted with a ventral gun
turret position. In response to feedback on the lack of application
for the ventral turret, the ventral turret was often eliminated during
the course of each aircraft's career. While some groups chose to
discard the position entirely, various trials and experiments were
performed at RAF Duxford, Cambridgeshire and by individual squadrons.
A total of 50 Austin-built Lancaster B.Is was constructed to a
non-standard configuration, having a Frazer Nash turret installed
directly above the bomb bay; however, this modification was largely
unpopular due to its obstruction of the internal walkway, hindering
crew movements. Various other turret configurations were adopted by
individual squadrons, which included the removal of various
combinations of turrets.
The 'Lancaster B.III' was powered by Packard Merlin engines, which had
been built overseas in the United States, but was otherwise identical
to contemporary B.Is. In total, 3,030 B.IIIs were constructed, almost
all of them at Avro's Newton Heath factory. The Lancaster B.I and
B.III were manufactured concurrently and minor modifications were made
to both marks as further batches were ordered. The B.I and B.III
designations were effectively interchangeable simply by changing the
engines used, which was occasionally done in practice. Examples of
modifications made include the relocation of the pitot head from the
nose to the side of the cockpit and the change from de Havilland
"needle blade" propellers to Hamilton Standard or Nash Kelvinator made
"paddle blade" propellers.
Overview
==========
The Avro Lancaster was a British four-engined strategic bomber that
was used as the RAF's principal heavy bomber during the latter half of
the Second World War. The typical aircraft was powered by an
arrangement of four wing-mounted Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engines,
each of which drove a diameter de Havilland Hydromatic three-bladed
propeller. While not optimal, the Lancaster was capable of flying the
return journey home on only two operational engines, along with very
limited distances on a single running engine. Aviation authors Brian
Goulding and M. Garbett have claimed that experienced Lancaster pilots
were often able to out-manoeuver Luftwaffe fighters. It possessed
largely favourable flying characteristics, having been described by
Goulding and Garbett as being: "a near-perfect flying machine, fast
for its size and very smooth...such a delightfully easy aeroplane to
fly...there are instances of Lancasters having been looped and
barrel-rolled, both intentionally and otherwise".
The Lancaster benefited from a structure that possessed considerable
strength and durability, which had been intentionally designed to
maximise structural strength-per-weight; this resulted in the
Lancaster being capable of withstanding some levels of damage
resulting from attacks by hostile interceptor aircraft and
ground-based anti-aircraft batteries. However, during the first year
of the type's career, some instances of structural failures were
encountered on Lancaster B.Is and a number of aircraft were lost in
accidents as a result of the design limitations having been greatly
exceeded. Compared with other contemporary aircraft, the Lancaster was
not an easy aircraft to escape from as its escape hatch was only in
size; in a Halifax or Stirling (which both had an escape hatch
wider), 25 per cent of downed aircrew bailed out successfully, and in
American bombers (albeit in daylight raids) it was as high as a 50 per
cent success rate while only 15 per cent of the Lancaster crew were
able to bail out.
The Lancaster uses a mid-wing cantilever monoplane configuration. The
wing is constructed from five separate main sections while the
fuselage is likewise composed of five sections. Aside from a few
elements, such as the fabric-covered ailerons, the Lancaster's
oval-shaped fuselage had an all-metal covering. All of the wing and
fuselage sections were manufactured separately, during which they were
outfitted with all of the required equipment in advance of final
assembly being performed, as a measure intended to accelerate the rate
of production. The Lancaster was equipped with a retractable main
undercarriage and fixed tailwheel; the hydraulically-actuated main
landing gear raised rearwards into recesses within the inner engine
nacelles. The distinctive tail unit of the aircraft was outfitted with
a large twin elliptical fins and rudder arrangement.
Like any aeroplane, the Lancaster was not viceless in its handling. In
a dive, it had a tendency to go more deeply into the dive as speed
increased. Not all aeroplanes did this, for example, the Halifax
tended to get increasingly tail-heavy as speed increased, and thus fly
itself out of the dive. Furthermore, the Lancaster suffered
longitudinal instability at speeds above .
Crew accommodation
====================
The standard crew for a Lancaster consisted of seven men, stationed in
various positions in the fuselage. Starting at the nose, the bomb
aimer had two positions to man. His primary location was lying prone
on the floor of the nose of the aircraft, with access to the bombsight
controls facing forward, with the Mark XIV bomb sight on his left and
bomb release selectors on the right. He also used his view through the
large transparent perspex nose cupola to assist the navigator with map
reading. To man the Frazer Nash FN5 nose turret, he stood up placing
himself in position behind the triggers of the twin .303 in (7.7 mm)
guns. Ammunition for the turret was 1,000 rounds per gun (rpg). The
bomb aimer's position contained the nose emergency hatch in the floor;
at 22 by (two inches narrower than the Halifax escape hatch) it was
difficult to exit through while wearing a parachute. Operational
research experts, including British scientist Freeman Dyson, amongst
others, attempted unsuccessfully to have the escape hatch enlarged.
On the roof of the bomb bay the pilot and flight engineer sat side by
side under the expansive canopy, with the pilot sitting on the left on
a raised portion of the floor (almost all British bombers, and most
German bombers, had only a single pilot seat as opposed to the
American practice of carrying two pilots, or at least having controls
for two pilots installed). The flight engineer sat on a collapsible
seat (known as a "second dicky seat") to the pilot's right, with the
fuel selectors and gauges on a panel behind him and to his right. The
pilot and other crew members could use the panel above the cockpit as
an auxiliary emergency exit while the mid-upper gunner was expected to
use the rear entrance door to leave the aircraft. The tail gunner
escaped by rotating his turret to the rear, opening the door in the
back of the turret, passing into the fuselage, and clipping on a
parachute that was hung on the side wall. He could then exit through
the rear entrance door.
Behind the pilot and flight engineer, and behind a curtain fitted to
allow him to use light to work, sat the navigator. His position faced
to port with a chart table in front of him. An instrument panel
showing the airspeed, altitude, and other information required for
navigation was mounted on the side of the fuselage above the chart
table. The wireless operator's radios were mounted on the left-hand
end of the chart table, facing the rear of the aircraft. Behind these
and facing forwards the wireless operator sat on a seat at the front
of the main spar. On his left was a window, and above him was the
astrodome, used for visual signalling and by the navigator for
celestial navigation.
Behind the wireless operator were the two spars of the wing, which
created a major obstacle for crew members moving down the fuselage
even on the ground. At the end of the bomb bay was the mid-upper
gunner's turret, at which the floor dropped down to the fuselage's
bottom. His position allowed a 360° view over the top of the aircraft,
with two Browning .303 Mark IIs to protect the aircraft from above and
to the side. The mid-upper gunner sat on a rectangle of canvas that
was slung beneath the turret and would stay in position throughout the
flight. The turret had 1,000 rounds of ammunition per gun.
To the rear of the turret was the side crew door, on the starboard
side of the fuselage. This was the main entrance to the aircraft, and
also could be used as an emergency exit. The Elsan chemical toilet, a
type of aircraft lavatory, was located near the spars for the
tailplane. At the extreme tail-end of the fuselage, the rear gunner
sat in his exposed position in the tail turret, which was entered
through a small hatch in the rear of the fuselage. Depending on the
size of the rear gunner, the area was so cramped that the gunner would
often hang his parachute on a hook inside the fuselage, near the
turret doors. Neither the mid-upper nor the rear gunner's position was
heated, and the gunners had to wear electrically heated suits to
prevent hypothermia and frostbite.
Defensive armament
====================
The Avro Lancaster was initially equipped with four Nash &
Thompson Frazer Nash hydraulically operated turrets mounted in the
nose, tail, mid-upper and underside. The original tail turret was
equipped with four Browning .303 Mark II machine guns and all other
turrets with two such machine guns.
Late on in the war, Freeman Dyson (as a 19-year-old who had yet to win
a degree) put forward a case for the removal of the majority of the
Lancaster's defensive armament. He argued that this would reduce the
loss rate by increasing the Lancaster's cruising speed by up to
(assuming the bomb load was not increased), making the bomber harder
to intercept. He also claimed reducing defensive air gunners would
reduce human losses incurred with each aircraft lost. However this
neglects the fact that the two main Luftwaffe night fighters of the
time, the Messerschmitt Bf 110 and the Junkers Ju 88 night fighters
were capable of over , thus a increase over the Lancaster's normal
cruising speed of around , giving a speed of , still left the
Lancaster vulnerable to interception. The introduction of the Heinkel
He 219 and Messerschmitt Me 262 night fighters erased any speed
advantage and would have left the aircraft undefended. Consequently,
Dyson's proposal was not adopted.
Nose turret
=============
Only the FN-5A nose turret which was similar to the FN-5 used on the
preceding Avro Manchester, the Vickers Wellington and the Short
Stirling remained unchanged during the life of the design, except in
instances where it was removed entirely.
Ventral turret
================
The ventral (underside) FN-64 turret quickly proved to be dead weight,
being both difficult to sight because it relied on a periscope which
limited the gunner's view to a 20-degree arc, and too slow to keep a
target within its sights. Aside from early B.Is and the prototype
B.IIs, the FN-64 was almost never used. When the Luftwaffe began using
'Schräge Musik' to make attacks from below in the winter of 1943/1944,
modifications were made, including downward observation blisters
mounted behind the bomb aimer's blister and official and unofficial
mounts for machine guns or even cannon, firing through the ventral
holes of the removed FN-64. The fitting of these guns was hampered as
the same ventral position was used for mounting the H2S blister, which
limited installations to those aircraft fitted with bulged bomb bays
which interfered with the H2S.
Mid-upper turret
==================
The mid-upper (dorsal or top) turret was an FN-50 on early examples
and the very similar FN-150 with improved sights and controls on later
examples. On all but the earliest examples, this turret was surrounded
by a coaming which provided a track for a cam-operated interrupter
device which prevented the gunner from shooting the tail of his own
aircraft. The Mk.VII and late Mk.X Lancasters used the heavier,
electrically controlled Martin 250 CE 23A turret equipped with two
machine guns which was mounted further forward to preserve the
aircraft's longitudinal balance, and because it had an internal
mechanism to prevent firing on the aircraft itself, it did not require
a coaming. Other experimental turrets were tried out, including the
FN-79 and the Boulton-Paul Type H barbette system.
Tail turret
=============
The tail turret was the most important defensive position and carried
the heaviest armament. Despite this, the turrets used, starting with
the FN-20, were never entirely satisfactory and numerous designs were
tried. The FN-20 was replaced by the very similar FN-120 which used an
improved gyroscopic gun sight (GGS). Many rear gunners insisted on
having the centre section of perspex removed from the turret to
improve visibility. The transparencies were difficult to see through
at night, particularly when trying to keep watch for enemy night
fighters that appeared without notice astern and below the aircraft
when getting into position to open fire. This removal of perspex from
the turret was called the "Gransden Lodge" modification. Ammunition
for the tail turret was 2,500 rounds per gun. Due to the weight, the
ammunition was stored in tanks situated near the mid-upper turret's
position and fed rearward in runways down the back of the fuselage to
the turret.
Gunners using both the FN-20 and 120 removed perspex and armour from
the turret to improve visibility, but trials by the RAF showed that a
de Havilland Mosquito night fighter was still able to get within a
very short distance of the tail gunner without being spotted,
confirming what the Luftwaffe had already realised. The Rose turret
attempted to improve on the FN turrets by being completely open to the
rear (improving visibility and allowing easier emergency egress) and
by being fitted with two machine guns. It was installed in a small
number of Lancasters but never became common.
Ultimately radar, rather than improved visibility, made the turret
more effective. The FN-121 was the Automatic Gun Laying Turret (AGLT),
an FN-120 fitted with 'Village Inn' gun-laying radar. Aircraft fitted
with Village Inn were used as bait, flying behind the main formations
to confront the night fighters that followed the formations and shot
down stragglers. This significantly reduced operational losses; and
gun-laying radar was added to the last versions of the turret. Before
the end of the war Lancasters built in the UK standardised on the
FN-82 fitted with two machine guns and a gun-laying radar as
production allowed, which was also used on early models of the Avro
Lincoln. The disadvantage of all radar and radio transmitting systems
is that attacking forces can locate aircraft by picking up
transmissions.
Bombs
=======
An important feature of the Lancaster was its unobstructed long bomb
bay. At first, the heaviest bomb carried was the high capacity HC
"Cookie". Bulged doors were added to 30 per cent of B.Is to allow the
aircraft to carry and later "Cookies". The Lancaster also carried a
variety of smaller weapons, including the Small Bomb Container (SBC)
which held 236 or 24 incendiary and explosive incendiary bomblets;
and General Purpose High Explosive (GP/HE) bombs (these came in a
variety of designs); parachute deployed magnetic or acoustic mines,
or armour-piercing (AP) bombs; Semi-Armour-Piercing (SAP) bombs,
used up to 1942 against submarines; post-1942: or anti-submarine
depth charges.
In 1943, 617 Squadron was created to carry out Operation Chastise, the
raid against the Ruhr dams. This unit was equipped with B.III
(Specials), officially designated the "Type 464 (Provisioning)",
modified to carry the "Upkeep" bouncing bomb. The bomb bay doors were
removed and the ends of the bomb bay were covered with fairings.
"Upkeep" was suspended on laterally pivoted, vee-shaped struts which
sprang apart beamwise when the bomb-release button was pressed. A
drive belt and pulley to rotate the bomb at 500 rpm was mounted on the
starboard strut and driven by a hydraulic motor housed in the forward
fairing. The mid-upper turret was removed and a more bulbous bomb
aimer's blister was fitted; this, as "Mod. 780", later became standard
on all Lancasters, while the bombsight was replaced by a simple aiming
device that consisted of a simple triangle of wood with a peephole at
one corner and a nail in each of the other corners such that at the
correct distance the nails coincided with the towers on the dams.
Because each dam was a different width between the towers, each plane
carried two or three different sights. Two Aldis lights were fitted in
the rear bomb bay fairing, aimed forward so the bomb aimer could see
the converging lights below his blister in the nose; the optimum
height for dropping "Upkeep" was and, when shone on the relatively
smooth waters of the dam's reservoirs, the light beams converged into
a figure 8 when the Lancaster was flying at the correct height.
The Type 464 Lancaster was also fitted with VHF radios (normally
reserved for fighters) so that Gibson, the squadron leader, could
control the operation while over the target, an early example of what
became the master bomber role.
After the 'Dam Busters' raid 617 Squadron was converted to a
high-altitude precision bombing squadron in preparation for the
arrival of Barnes Wallis's forthcoming Earthquake bombs for attacking
special and hardened targets, and while they were training for this
the bouncing bomb variants of B.I Specials had the spars and equipment
removed and were then modified to carry the long "Tallboy" bomb, a
scaled-down version of the upcoming long "Grand Slam" "earthquake"
bombs which were still being built. Aircraft intended to carry the
"Grand Slam" required extensive modifications. These included the
removal of the dorsal turret and of two guns from the rear turret, the
removal of the cockpit armour plating (the pilot's seatback), and the
installation of Rolls-Royce Merlin Mk 24 engines for better take-off
performance. The bomb bay doors were removed and the rear end of the
bomb bay cut away to clear the tail of the bomb. Later the nose turret
was also removed to further improve performance. A strengthened
undercarriage and stronger mainwheels, later used by the Avro Lincoln,
were fitted.
Specific bomb loads were standardised and given code names by Bomber
Command:Mason, Francis K.
[http://www.lancaster-archive.com/lanc_bomb_loads.htm "Lancaster: Bomb
Loads."] 'The Avro Lancaster', 1990, February 2008. Retrieved December
2011.
!Codename!!Type of raid or target!!Bomb load
|"Arson" incendiary area bombing 14 SBC, each with 236 x Incendiary
and Explosive Incendiary bomblets, total 3,304.
|"Abnormal" factories, railway yards, dockyards 14 x GP/HE bombs
using both impact and long delay (up to 144 hours) fuses.
|"Cookie"—or—"Plumduff" Blast, demolition and fire 1 x impact-fused
HC bomb. 3 x GP/HE bombs, and up to 6 SBCs with 1,416 incendiary
bomblets.
|"Gardening" Mining of ports, canals, rivers and seaways 6 x
parachute mines.
|"No-Ball" V-1 flying bomb launch sites 1 x impact fused HC and up
to 18 x GP bombs, with both impact and delay fusing.
|"Piece" Docks, fortifications and ships 6 x short-delay fused AP
bombs, plus other GP/HE bombs based on local needs or availability.
|"Plumduff-Plus" Heavy industry 1 x impact or barometric fused HC
and up to 6 x impact or delay fused GP/HE bombs.
|"Usual" Blast and incendiary area bombing 1 x impact-fused HC bomb,
and 12 SBCs with a total of 2,832 incendiary bomblets.
|no code name given Medium-range low altitude tactical raids 6 x
short and long delay fused GP/HE bombs, additional GP/HE bombs
sometimes added.
|no code name given Submarines (up to 1942): 5 x short-delay fuse
SAP bombs for surfaced U-boats; (post-1942): 6 x and 3 x
anti-submarine depth charge bombs.
Special-purpose weapons and codenames!!Type of target!!Weapon
|"Upkeep" Dams 1 x , hydrostatic-fused "Upkeep" mine.
|"Tallboy" Very strong or durable structures (e.g.: submarine pens);
battleship Tirpitz 1 x short-delay fused "Tallboy" bomb.
|"Grand Slam" As well as direct hits on very strong or durable
targets (such as submarine pens) it could be used indirectly to create
a camouflet (cavern) that undermined structures such as bridges,
viaducts and bunkers causing them to collapse. 1 x short-delay fused
"Grand Slam" bomb.
Bombsights
============
Bombsights used on Lancasters included:
;Mark IX Course Setting Bomb Sight (CSBS).
:This was an early preset vector bombsight that involved squinting
through wires that had to be manually set based on aircraft speed,
altitude and bombload. This sight lacked tactical flexibility as it
had to be manually adjusted if any of the parameters changed and was
soon changed in favour of more advanced designs.
;Mark XIV bombsight
:A vector bombsight where the bomb aimer input details of the
bombload, target altitude and wind direction and the analogue computer
then continuously calculated the trajectory of the bombs and projected
an inverted sword shape onto a sighting glass on the sighting head.
Assuming the sight was set correctly when the target was in the
crosshairs of the sword shape, the bomb aimer would be able to
accurately release the bombs.
;T1 bombsight
:A Mark XIV bombsight modified for mass production and produced in the
USA. Some of the pneumatic gyro drives on the Mk XIV sight were
replaced with electronic gyros and other minor modifications were
made.
;Stabilizing Automatic Bomb Sight
:Also known as "SABS", this was an advanced bombsight mainly used by
617 Squadron for precision raids. Like the American Norden bombsight
it was a tachometric sight.
Radio, radar and countermeasures equipment
============================================
The Lancaster had a very advanced communications system for its time.
Most British-built Lancasters were fitted with the R1155 receiver and
T1154 transmitter, whereas the Canadian-built aircraft and those built
for service in the Far East had American radios. These provided radio
direction-finding, as well as voice and Morse capabilities.
; H2S
: 3 GHz frequency, ground-looking navigation radar system -
eventually, it could be homed in on by the German night fighters' FuG
350 'Naxos' receiver and had to be used with discretion - a problem
which the higher resolution, 10 GHz frequency American H2X radar never
had to deal with. This is the large blister under the rear fuselage on
later Lancasters.
; Fishpond
: An add-on to H2S that provided additional (aerial) coverage of the
underside of the aircraft to display attacking fighters on an
auxiliary screen in the radio operator's position.
; Monica
: A rearward-looking radar to warn of night fighter approaches.
However, it could not distinguish between attacking enemy fighters and
nearby friendly bombers and served as a homing beacon for suitably
equipped German night fighters. Once this was realised after mid-July
1944, it was removed altogether.
; GEE
: A receiver for a navigation system of synchronised pulses
transmitted from the UK - aircraft calculated their position from the
time delay between pulses. The range of GEE was . GEE used a whip
aerial mounted on the top of the fuselage ahead of the mid-upper
turret.
; Boozer (radar detector)
: A system of lights mounted on the aircraft's instrument panel that
lit up when the aircraft was being tracked by the low-UHF band
'Würzburg-Riese' ground radar and early model Lichtenstein B/C and C-1
airborne radar. In practice, it was found to be more disconcerting
than useful, as the lights were often triggered by false alerts in the
radar-signal-infested skies over Germany.
; Oboe
: A very accurate navigation system consisting of a
receiver/transponder for two radar stations transmitting from widely
separated locations in Southern England which, when used together,
determined the aircraft's position. The system could handle only one
aircraft at a time, and was fitted to a Pathfinder aircraft, usually a
fast and manoeuvrable Mosquito which marked the target for the main
force rather than a Lancaster.
; GEE-H
: Similar to Oboe but with the transponder on the ground allowing more
aircraft to use the system simultaneously. GEE-H aircraft were usually
marked with two horizontal yellow stripes on the fins.
; "Village Inn" Automatic Gun-Laying Turret
: A radar-aimed and ranged gun turret fitted to some Lancaster rear
turrets in 1944. Identifiable by a radome mounted below the turret.
; Airborne Cigar (ABC)
: This was fitted only to the Lancasters of 101 Squadron. It had three
7 ft aerials, two on the top of the fuselage and one under the bomb
aimer's position. These aircraft carried a German-speaking crew member
and were used to jam ground-to-air communications to German night
fighters. The extra equipment and extra crewman added around 600 lb to
the bomber's weight so the bomb load was reduced by 1000 lb. Due to
the nature of the equipment, the enemy was able to track the aircraft
and 101 Squadron suffered the highest casualty rate of any squadron.
Fitted from about mid-1943, they remained until the end of the war.
; Tinsel
: A microphone installed in the nacelle of one of the engines that
allowed the wireless operator to transmit engine noise on the German
night fighter control voice frequencies.
Second World War
==================
During early 1942, No. 44 Squadron, based at RAF Waddington,
Lincolnshire, became the first RAF squadron to convert to the
Lancaster; it was quickly followed by No. 97 Squadron, which was also
based at Waddington. On 2 March 1942, the first operational mission of
the Lancaster, deploying naval mines in the vicinity of Heligoland
Bight, was performed by aircraft of No. 44 Sqn; a planned mission
against the had been rescheduled due to poor weather conditions. On
10 March 1942, the type's first bombing mission was conducted over the
German city of Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia.
All Lancasters were temporarily grounded after a crash on 20 March in
Boston, Lincolnshire; this was lifted after each aircraft had been
inspected for signs of buckling on the upper wing surface. The first
recorded casualties amongst Lancaster crews were recorded on 24 March
1942 with the loss of 'R5493' to anti-aircraft fire over Lorient. Due
to the high loss rates typically involved in such operations, daytime
bombing missions were performed sparingly until the Allies had
achieved a level of aerial supremacy over the Axis powers.
On 17 April 1942, 12 Lancasters of No. 44 and No. 99 Squadrons
undertook a bombing raid on the Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg
A.G., Augsburg engine manufacturing plant in Southern Germany; despite
flying at low altitude, three bombers were shot down by Luftwaffe Bf
109s over France, and at least two more were lost to anti-aircraft
fire at the factory itself. Nonetheless, the factory was successfully
bombed, a feat that was personally hailed by Prime Minister Winston
Churchill in the aftermath. The attack revealed the existence of the
Lancaster to both Germany and the British public alike. On 27 April,
an unsuccessful small-scale attack on Tirpitz was performed by
Lancasters of both No. 44 and No. 99 Squadrons.
On the night of 30/31 May 1942, the Lancaster participated in
Operation Millenium, the first 1,000 bomber raid against the German
city of Cologne. By this point, the number of Lancasters in
operational service had surpassed those of the preceding Manchester.
On 12 June, the first use of the type by RAF Coastal Command, having
loaned aircraft from RAF Bomber Command, commenced; it was used to
conduct long range anti-U-boat operations, reportedly attacking two on
15 June.
Additional large-scale raids were performed against Emden between 19
and 23 June, and against Bremen between 25 and 29 June, the latter
reportedly dealing considerable damage to the Focke-Wulf aircraft
works. 40 Lancasters also flew an ineffective long-range raid upon
Danzig, arriving after dusk and thus unable to effectively bomb its
port to disrupt U-boat construction. On 31 July, 20% of Bomber
Command's strength was directed against Dusseldorf, focused on Schiess
A.G.'s machine tool manufacturing plant. The tempo of Lancaster
operations rose to a new height in August 1942, major raids were flown
against targets in the Ruhr, Duisburg, and in the Baltic Sea. An
emphasis was placed upon aiding the Battle of the Atlantic by
hindering the German Navy. Often, when the weather was deemed to be
unsuitable for bombing missions, night-time mine-laying operations
were flown instead.
A major improvement to night-time bombing came with the implementation
of the Pathfinder Force (PFF) in August 1942, multiple squadrons were
transferred from Bomber Command groups to constitute the new unit.
These pathfinders were tasked with flying ahead of bomber formations
to locate and mark targets using Target Indicator flares to improve
the accuracy of strikes by the following aircraft. Early PFF
operations produced mixed results, but did prove decisive on 27/28
August against Kassel and the three factories of the Henschel aircraft
company in the city. That same night, 12 Lancasters of No. 106
Squadron flew to Gdynia, armed with newly developed anti-capital ship
bombs, intending to hit the battleships 'Scharnhorst' and 'Gneisenau,'
as well as the aircraft carrier 'Graf Zeppelin', but did not manage to
hit any ships due to a persistent haze.
While the Lancaster had been designed to conduct night-time
operations, daylight raids were occasionally performed by the type as
well. Occasionally, lone Lancasters would be dispatched to perform
decoy raids on key manufacturing sites, such as munitions factories,
with the intention of being spotted to cause workers to go to air raid
shelters, thus disrupting production. On 17 October 1942, an audacious
daytime raid was performed by 90 Lancasters of No. 5 Group, the
bombing of the Schneider Works at Le Creusot, France; only a single
aircraft, 'W4774', was lost during the course of the mission. Losses
were avoided by measures such as flying beneath German radar cover,
aerial reconnaissance along the intended route, and the strict
observation of secrecy.
In late October 1942, the first Lancaster bombing missions over Italy
were performed; on 22 and 23, the cities of Genoa and Turin were
struck at night-time. On 24 October, the Italian city of Milan was
raided by roughly 60 Lancasters during the daytime; railway
infrastructure was a priority target for these attacks. These bombers
had been escorted across the Channel by Spitfires before breaking
formation to individually fly at low altitude to reach and fly over
the Alps; a total of three were reportedly shot down by enemy
fighters. During November, targets in Italy and Germany were
alternatively attacked by Lancasters, striking the city of Osnabrück
multiple times, conducting a heavy raid against Turin, and destroying
supplies for the Afrika Korps in Genoa. Only eight bombing missions
were conducted during all of December, the most prominent of which
being against Duisburg, due to poor prevailing weather conditions.
Throughout 1942, the Lancaster remained in relatively short supply;
consequently, both training and crew conversion courses typically had
to be performed by the squadrons themselves; there were no aircraft
furnished with dual controls at this time, and pilots would therefore
have to perform their first flight without their instructors being
capable of directly acting on the controls themselves. Furthermore,
each Lancaster had its own ground crew early on; centralised servicing
was introduced later. By the end of the year, a total of 16
operational squadrons had been stood up while around 200 Lancasters
were under Bomber Command.
On 16 January 1943, the German capital city of Berlin was raided for
the first time in over a year; conducted by an all-Lancaster force,
the Berlin raid was fairly inconsequential beyond its psychological
impact, not causing meaningful damage to either side. The first radial
engined Lancasters were also introduced to service during January,
alongside some new bombing aids. On 4 February, 198 Lancasters raided
the city of Turin; days later, 466 Lancasters attacked Lorient, and an
all-Lancaster force of 142 aircraft attacked Milan on 14 February. On
28 February, 86 Lancasters attacked the occupied French city of
Saint-Nazaire; the next day, 79 Lancasters bombed Berlin. On 5 March,
the Battle of the Ruhr strategic bombing campaign was launched by
Bomber Command. The initial attack on Essen comprised 412 bombers, 140
of which were Lancasters. In order to cope with the higher attrition
rate from these operations, a three-fold increase in production was
enacted.
On 15 April, Stuttgart was raided by a large force of Lancasters; on
the following day, Plzeň was similarly struck, although much of the
intended attack upon the Škoda Works was unintentionally directed
towards a large asylum instead; other targets that month included
Stettin, Duisburg, and the Ruhr. The majority of strategic bombing
missions flown during May were also directed towards the Ruhr region.
Perhaps the most famous single mission performed by the Lancaster was
flown on 16-17 May 1943, codenamed Operation Chastise, to destroy the
dams of the Ruhr Valley. The operation was carried out by No. 617
Squadron, which had been formed less than two months prior. They flew
modified Lancaster Mk IIIs that were armed with special drum-shaped
bouncing bombs; these had been specially designed by the British
engineer Barnes Wallis; the Lancaster was the only bomber at the time
capable of bearing the weapon. A total of 19 aircraft were dispatched
on the operation, setting off in the evening and flying at very low
altitudes most of the way to avoid detection. Initial attacks targeted
the Mohne Dam until it was breached, then moved on to the Eder Dam,
and then the Sorpe Dam and Ennepe Dam. The story of the operation was
later made into a book, and subsequently a film, 'The Dam Busters'.
The Ruhr continued to be intensely raided by Bomber Command for months
following Operation Chastise with the aim of suppressing the region's
industrial output. In June, Lancasters begun operating in North Africa
using the tactic of shuttle bombing from airfields in Blida and Maison
Blanche. This was a key element of Operation Bellicose, the bombing of
a German radar factory in the former Zeppelin Works at Friedrichshafen
and the Italian naval base at La Spezia. On 12 July, an all-Lancaster
force performed the biggest-yet bombing raid on Turin in support of
the recently launched Italian Campaign. Further missions across the
country were flown throughout this month, often focusing on electrical
and railway infrastructure.
During late July and early August 1943, large numbers of Lancasters
participated in the devastating round-the-clock raids on the city of
Hamburg during Air Chief Marshal Harris's Operation Gomorrah. On the
night of 27 July, 787 RAF aircraft, comprising 74 Vickers Wellingtons,
116 Short Stirlings, 244 Handley Page Halifaxes and 353 Avro
Lancasters, bombed the city. An estimated 18,474 people died on this
night alone, despite many of victims being within air raid shelters
and cellars, as the widespread fires across the city led to carbon
monoxide poisoning. Altogether, 8,621 tons of bombs were dropped on
Hamburg by the end of the operation.
On the night of 17/18 August, Operation Hydra was conducted against
the Peenemünde Army Research Center, the site of the V-2 rocket and
other German guided missiles and munitions; 17 Lancasters were lost in
the costly but successful attack, mainly to German night fighters.
Five days later, Lancasters struck numerous chemical works across
Germany, including those in Leverkusen and Düsseldorf. On 23 August, a
major raid on Berlin was conducted, dropping roughly 1,700 tons of
bombs on the city; German night fighters responded, causing a 5.4%
loss rate amongst Lancasters, while the Halifax and Stirling bombers
suffered 8.8% and 12.9% loss rates respectively. Numerous strikes on
the German capital occurred over the following weeks, sometimes by an
all-Lancaster force.
In September, Hanover was subjected to the most concentrated bombing
raid of the war so far. In October, the widespread bombing of numerous
German cities took place, targeting Munich, Kassel, Frankfurt,
Offenbach, Ludwigshafen, Stuttgart, Friedrichshafen, and Leipzig,
along with other targets. By this point, the Royal Canadian Air Force
had stood up its own operational squadrons equipped with Lancasters,
and proceeded with offensive action over Germany in this same month.
In late 1943, Air Chief Marshal Harris advocated to Churchill for the
persistent bombing of Berlin in preference to earlier targets such as
the Ruhr. Between 15 November 1943 and 24 November 1944, sixteen major
bombing operations were conducted against the German capital in the
Battle of Berlin; of the 9,111 sorties flown, 7,256 had been performed
by Lancasters. These raids, while often incurring in costly losses,
were typically deemed to have been 'most satisfactory' by senior
officials. In March 1944, the Berlin raids were somewhat lessened as a
compromise, Bomber Command having been directed to destroy enemy
communications and other targets around France and the Low Countries
ahead of the Normandy landings on D-Day.
During April 1944, key targets in France included railway hubs in
Villeneuve, Rouen, and Juvisy. Special operations were flown against
specific ammunition depots, munitions factories, and coastal batteries
in advance of the Allied invasion. Around this time, Lancasters would
also provide direct support to the local operations of field forces.
By May, Bomber Command had a daily average operating strength of
roughly 1,100 aircraft, 616 of which were Lancasters, 354 were
Halifaxes, 72 Mosquitos, and 58 Stirlings; between 300 and 400 bombers
were being deployed every night, dependent on weather conditions. In
May and June, extensive operations were flown against the
fortifications of the Atlantic Wall. The first combat use of Barnes
Wallis' 'Tallboy' bombs occurred around this time.
On 14 June, the first large-scale daylight bombing raid since 1942 was
conducted using Lancasters against enemy shipping at the harbours of
Le Harve and Boulogne. These daylight raids quickly became frequent
as, due to a shortage of oil, the Luftwaffe were increasingly
incapable of mounting opposition; to further this difficulty for their
opponent, Lancasters were directed against numerous oil installations.
In conjunction, low-level nighttime bombing raids continued, but the
emphasis shifted away from the strategic bombing of German industry in
favour of directly attacking military concentrations, such as U-boat
pens and V-1 flying bomb launch sites.
During July, in the days following the Normandy landings, Lancasters
heavily bombed the city of Caen repeatedly. On 24 August, eight
Tallboys were dropped in a daylight attack on the U-boat pens at
IJmuiden, two direct hits were recorded. Multiple raids on V-1 launch
sites and enemy shipping were also performed during August; the
partially constructed battleship 'Clemenceau' was one of the targets
that were struck around this time. September saw a heavy focus on
airfields in Holland, as well as repeated raids on German-held Le
Harve and oil targets in the Ruhr. On 17 September, precision strikes
were performed on Boulogne only 200 yards from the Allied lines.
In October, Lancasters repeatedly struck the sea wall at Westkapelle,
seeing to prevent the Germans from intentionally flooding neighbouring
lands to delay Allied ground forces. Extensive daylight raids were
performed during the month; cities such as Cologne, Walcheren, and
Bergen were targeted by hundreds of Lancasters. Bomber operations
proceeded in both day and nighttime against industrial towns,
airfields, communications, and troop concentrations into December; one
such operation was flown against the E-boat pens at Rotterdam on 29
December.
Throughout the latter half of 1944, a series of high-profile bombing
missions were performed by the Lancaster against the . Executed by
Nos. 617 and 9 Sqns, a combination of Lancaster B.I and B.III bombers
were armed with Tallboy bombs and were adapted with enlarged bomb bay
doors in order to accommodate their special payloads and additional
fuel tanks to provide the necessary endurance. A total of three
attacks, individually codenamed Operation Paravane, Operation Obviate
and Operation Catechism, were conducted against 'Tirpitz', which was
anchored in a fjord in Occupied Norway. The first of these attacks
disabled the vessel while the third mission was responsible for
sinking the ship. Due to actions such as Operation Chastise and the
sinking of 'Tirpitz', No. 617 Sqn was perhaps the most famous of all
Lancaster squadrons.
On 1 January 1945, the Dortmund-Ems Canal was attacked by Lancasters,
hitting it at a vulnerable section near Ladbergen. An attack on
Pforzheim on 23 February was described by aviation author Bruce
Robertson as amongst the most concentrated and successful flown in the
conflict. In the final months of the war, Lancasters were encountering
the newly developed Messerschmitt Me 262, the first German jet-powered
fighter aircraft, sometimes flying in formations of up to 40 aircraft.
On 4 November 1944, a Lancaster of 428 squadron was attacked by a Me
262, which was shot down by the rear gunner Ben Rakus. The pilot F.W.
Walker noted that this was the first instance of a heavy bomber
shooting down a jet.
During early 1945, a total of 33 Lancaster B.Is were modified so that
they could deploy the Grand Slam bomb, the heaviest conventional bomb
to be used during the conflict. On 13 March 1945, the first
operational use of the Grand Slam was performed by a Lancaster of No.
617 Sqn against the Bielefeld viaduct in North Rhine-Westphalia; this
target had not yet been rendered inoperable despite being damaged by
prior conventional bombing. The Tallboy strike successfully destroyed
roughly 100 yards of the viaduct's length; additional viaducts, such
as at Arnsberg, were promptly targeted by the squadron thereafter.
By April 1945, there were in excess of 1,000 Lancasters in frontline
service, dwarfing the numbers of Halifaxes and Mosquitos (a light
bomber) operated by Bomber Command at that time. Key industrial sites,
such as the Auguste Viktoria benzol factory, were struck, while oil
installations continued to be a prominent target of bombing raids in
the hope of exacerbating the German fuel shortage. Amongst the final
wartime operations performed by the Lancaster was the Bombing of
Obersalzberg, aimed at the destruction of 'Eagle's Nest', the
extensive holiday home complex used by German leader Adolf Hitler.
Unusually, the BBC were permitted to announce the raid before it was
completed.
RAF Lancasters dropped food into the Holland region of the occupied
Netherlands, with the acquiescence of the occupying German forces, to
feed people who were in danger of starvation. The mission was named
'Operation Manna' after the food manna which is said to have
miraculously appeared for the Israelites in the Book of Exodus. The
aircraft involved were from 1, 3, and 8 Groups, and consisted of 145
Mosquitos and 3,156 Lancasters, flying between them a total of 3,298
sorties. The first of the two RAF Lancasters chosen for the test
flight was nicknamed "Bad Penny" from the old expression: "a bad penny
always turns up." This bomber, with a crew of seven men (five
Canadians including pilot Robert Upcott of Windsor, Ontario), took off
in bad weather on the morning of 29 April 1945 without a ceasefire
agreement from the German forces, and successfully dropped its cargo.
Assessment
============
The Lancaster conducted a total of 156,000 sorties and dropped of
bombs between 1942 and 1945. Only 35 Lancasters completed more than
100 successful operations each, and 3,249 were lost in action. The
most successful survivor completed 139 operations and was ultimately
retired from service and scrapped in 1947. From 1942 onwards, the
Lancaster became the mainstay of the British heavy bomber fleet; by
the end of the war in Europe, there were roughly 50 squadrons equipped
with the Lancaster, the majority of these being the Lancaster B.I
model. From its entry into service, the original model of the
Lancaster was operated in almost every major bombing raid of the
European conflict.
Adolf Galland (commander of the Luftwaffe fighters) considered the
Lancaster to be "the best night bomber of the war", as did his
adversary, Arthur "Bomber" Harris, who referred to it as Bomber
Command's "shining sword". Goulding and Garbett wrote that: "The
achievements of the Lancaster and the men who flew it have been widely
acclaimed, and the aircraft has been described as the greatest single
factor in winning WWII, an exaggeration but a pardonable one".
Lancasters from Bomber Command were to have formed the main strength
of Tiger Force, the Commonwealth bomber contingent scheduled to take
part in Operation Downfall, the codename for the planned invasion of
Japan in late 1945. Aircraft allocated to the Tiger Force were painted
in white with black undersides and outfitted with additional radio
units and navigational aids to facilitate their use in the Pacific
theatre. The addition of large saddle-type external fuel tanks was
considered and trialled in Australia and India, but this was
discontinued due to their perceived vulnerability to attack. Together
with the new Avro Lincoln and Liberators, the bombers would have
operated from bases on Okinawa; the envisioned invasion did not happen
when such action was made unnecessary by the surrender of Japan.
While the Lancaster was briefly considered for carrying the atomic
bomb as being one of the 2 Allied bombers capable of carrying the
atomic bomb internally, after the Boeing B-29 Superfortress began to
be modified in November 1943 for carrying the new bombs, the
suggestion for using the Lancaster never came up again. Using the
Lancaster would have required less modification to the aircraft
itself, but would have necessitated additional crew training for the
USAAF crews. In addition, the Lancaster had a lower ceiling and flew
slower so was at risk of the bomb blast. It also had a shorter range.
"The B-29 was, therefore, deemed the better bet if it could be
modified in time.". Major General Leslie Groves, the director of the
Manhattan Project, and General Henry H. Arnold, the Chief of United
States Army Air Forces (USAAF), wished to use an American plane if
this was at all possible. "Because the use of a British plane would
have caused us many difficulties and delays"
As a byproduct of its sound design and operational success, various
developments and derivatives of the Lancaster were produced for both
military and civilian purposes. One of these was the Avro Lincoln
bomber, initially designated Lancaster IV and Lancaster V which became
the Lincoln B.1 and B.2 respectively. A civilian airliner was
converted from the Lancaster with the addition of nose and tail
fairings and seats, as the Lancastrian and a similar aircraft was
derived from the Lincoln as the Lincolnian. Other developments
included the York, a transport with a much larger square section
fuselage, and via the Lincoln, the Shackleton maritime patrol aircraft
which continued in RAF service in that role until replaced by the
Hawker Siddeley Nimrod in the early 1970s, but saw further service as
an airborne early warning (AEW) system until finally retired in 1991.
The Tudor airliner also used the Lincoln wings, but with a new tubular
fuselage.
Royal Air Force
=================
The Lancaster remained in use for several years after the end of the
war, during which a number of high-profile operations were conducted.
During the summer of 1946, No. 35 Squadron Lancasters toured the
United States and were autographed by various American movie stars,
and retained these until their retirements. A pair of Lancasters,
'PD328' and 'PB873', performed several long-distance flights,
including round-the-world and trans-polar trips.
The Lancaster remained at the forefront of RAF Bomber Command while
the Lancaster B.I was gradually replaced by the improved Lancaster B.I
(F/E) and B.VII (F/E) models. During 1947-1948, No. 82 Squadron
received new PR.1 dedicated photo-reconnaissance model derived from
the Lancaster B.1 which was painted silver and lacked defensive
turrets. These carried out aerial surveys of Central and East Africa
and at least one was operated by the Ministry of Aviation. RAF Coastal
Command received a small number of grey-painted Lancaster MR.1s, which
were normally based at RAF Kinloss, Moray Firth.
The Lancaster continued to be operated in significant numbers until
the introduction of the Avro Lincoln, a development of the Lancaster.
The Lincoln was not available in quantity for several years following
the end of the conflict, and it took until December 1953 for the final
Bomber Command Lancaster to be retired. The last Lancaster in active
service with the RAF, a reconnaissance aircraft, is believed to have
been retired in late 1954.
French Aéronavale
===================
Avro overhauled 59 Lancaster B.Is and B.VIIs at Woodford and Langar
which were delivered to the French 'Aéronavale' during 1952/53, which
were flown until the mid-1960s by four squadrons stationed in France
and New Caledonia in the maritime reconnaissance and search-and-rescue
roles.
Argentine Air Force
=====================
Between 1948 and 1949, 15 former RAF Lancasters were overhauled at
Langar for use by the Argentine Air Force. During its Argentine
service, Lancasters were used offensively in suppressing and
supporting military coups.
Royal Canadian Air Force
==========================
Beginning in 1946, Lancaster Mk Xs were modified for service with the
Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Fourteen were modified to perform
aerial and photo-reconnaissance missions; these would go on to perform
much of the mapping of northern Canada until as late as 1962.
Throughout the 1950s, the RCAF operated seventy modified Lancasters,
designated 'Lancaster 10MR/MPs', as Maritime Reconnaissance and Patrol
aircraft in an anti-submarine role. Modifications involved the
installation of radar and sonobuoy operators' positions, removal of
the rear and mid-upper gun turrets, installation of a 400-gallon fuel
tank in the bomb bay to increase the patrol range, upgraded
electronics, radar, and instrumentation, and a cooking stove in the
centre section. They served throughout the 1950s, when they were
supplemented by the Lockheed Neptune and finally replaced by the
Canadair Argus.
Transport
===========
Immediately following the end of hostilities, the Lancaster was used
without any major modifications as a transport aircraft, being used to
ferry thousands of prisoners of war (POWs) back to the British Isles
from across the continent. Repatriation flights returning POWs and
ordinary troops continued until November 1945.
Civil conversions of the type continued during the initial postwar
years. In 1946, four Lancasters were converted by Avro at Bracebridge
Heath, Lincolnshire as freighters for use by British South American
Airways, but proved to be uneconomical, and were withdrawn after a
year in service. In addition, four Lancaster IIIs were converted by
Flight Refuelling Limited as two pairs of tanker and receiver aircraft
for the development of in-flight refuelling. In 1947, one aircraft was
flown non-stop from London to Bermuda. Later on, these two tanker
aircraft were joined by another converted Lancaster; these saw use
during the Berlin Airlift, achieving 757 tanker sorties.
From 1943 to 1947, the Canadian Government Trans-Atlantic Air Service
(CGTAS) provided a trans-Atlantic military passenger and postal
delivery service using a modified long-distance transport version of
the Lancaster Mark X. Nine of these aircraft were produced, referred
to as Lancaster XPPs (for Lancaster Mk.X Passenger Planes), and each
was equipped with rudimentary passenger facilities. The inaugural
flight from Dorval (Montreal) to Prestwick, Scotland on 22 July 1943,
was completed non-stop in a record 12:26 hours; the average crossing
time was about 13:25 hours. By the end of the war, these aircraft had
completed hundreds of trips across the Atlantic. CGTAS ushered in the
era of commercial air travel across the North Atlantic, and in 1947
the service became part of Trans-Canada Air Lines, which carried
paying civilian passengers in the Lancaster XPPs until they were
replaced by Douglas DC-4s in 1947.
Variants
======================================================================
;
: The original Lancasters were produced with Rolls-Royce Merlin XX
engines and SU carburettors. Minor details were changed throughout the
production series - for example, the pitot head design was changed
from being on a long mast at the front of the nose to a short fairing
mounted on the side of the fuselage under the cockpit. Later
production Lancasters had Merlin 22 and 24 engines. No designation
change was made to denote these alterations.
; B.I Special
: 32 Aircraft were adapted to take first the super-heavy "Tallboy" and
then "Grand Slam" bombs. Up-rated engines with paddle-bladed
propellers gave more power, and the removal of gun turrets reduced
weight and gave smoother lines. For the Tallboy, the bomb bay doors
were bulged; for the Grand Slam, they were removed completely and the
area faired over. For some Tallboy raids, the mid-upper turret was
removed. This modification was retained for the Grand Slam aircraft,
and in addition, the nose turret was later removed. Two airframes
('HK541' and 'SW244') were modified to carry a dorsal "saddle tank"
with mounted aft of a modified canopy for increasing range. No. 1577
SD Flight tested the aircraft in India and Australia in 1945 for
possible use in the Pacific, but the tank adversely affected handling
characteristics when full and an early type of in-flight refuelling
designed in the late 1930s for commercial flying boats was later used
instead.
; PR.1
: B 1 modified for photographic reconnaissance, operated by RAF No. 82
and No. 541 Squadrons, wartime. All armament and turrets were removed
with a reconfigured nose and a camera carried in the bomb bay. The
type was also operated by 683(PR) Squadron when it was re-formed in
November 1950 to undertake photographic reconnaissance and mapping
activities, initially based at RAF Fayid, Egypt, before moving to RAF
Kabrit in February 1951, and subsequently Habbaniya in Iraq until the
squadron was disbanded on 30 November 1953.
;B.I (FE)
:In anticipation of the needs of the Tiger Force operations against
the Japanese in the Far East (FE), a tropicalised variant was based on
late production aircraft. The B.I (FE) had modified radio, radar,
nav-aids, and a tank installed in the bomb bay. Most were painted
with white upper surfaces to reduce internal temperatures in the
tropical sun, and black undersides with a low demarcation between the
colours, completely omitting any red colours on the national insignia
in all cases to avoid confusion with the 'hinomaru' insignia of the
Japanese.
; B.II
: Bristol Hercules (Hercules VI or XVI engines) powered variant, of
which 300 were produced by Armstrong Whitworth. One difference between
the two engine versions was that the VI had manual mixture control,
requiring an extra lever on the throttle pedestal. Very early examples
were fitted with an FN.64 ventral turret; however, these were quickly
removed due to problems with aiming the turret through its periscope
(which prevented the gunner from seeing a target he was not already
aiming at), and inadequate traverse speed.
:Due to the Luftwaffe 'Schräge Musik' attacks, a variety of unofficial
field modifications were made, including the fitting of cannon or a
machine gun in the open hole where the FN.64 had been installed,
before an official modification (Mod 925) fitted with a machine gun
was authorised for the same location, though not used in all aircraft.
These were rarely installed on other variants as the H2S radar was
usually installed, however the B.II's bulged bomb bay interfered with
its installation, leaving the opening free. Three types of bulged bomb
bay were used on the B.II, the prototype having a narrow bulge running
from just aft of the cockpit to the turret location, while early
production examples had a full-width bulge that ran the same length
and on late production examples, the bomb bay doors prominently bulged
throughout their length.
;
:This variant, which was built concurrently with the B.I and was
indistinguishable externally from that variant, was fitted with
Packard-built Merlin engines. The Packard Merlins used Bendix -
Stromberg pressure-injection carburettors, requiring the addition of
slow-running cut-off switches in the cockpit.
;B.III (Special)
:Known at the time of modification as the "Type 464 Provisioning"
Lancaster, 23 aircraft of this type were built to carry the "Upkeep"
bouncing bomb for the dam busting raids. The bomb bay doors were
removed and Vickers-built struts to carry the bomb were fitted in
their place at Woodford Aerodrome near Stockport where the workers
worked day and night. A hydraulic motor, driven by the pump previously
used for the mid-upper turret was fitted to spin the bomb. Lamps were
fitted in the bomb bay and nose for the simple height measurement
system which enabled the accurate control of low-flying altitude at
night. The mid-upper turret was removed to save weight and the gunner
moved to the front turret to relieve the bomb aimer from having to man
the front guns so that he could assist with map reading.
;ASR.III/ASR.3
:B.III modified for air-sea rescue, with three dipole ventral antennas
fitted aft of the radome and carrying an airborne lifeboat in an
adapted bomb bay. The armament was often removed and the mid-upper
turret faired-over, especially in postwar use. Observation windows
were added to both sides of the rear fuselage, a port window just
forward of the tailplane and a starboard window into the rear access
door. A number of ASR 3 conversions were fitted with Lincoln-style
rudders.
;GR.3/MR.3
:B.III modified for maritime reconnaissance.
;B.IV
:The B.IV featured an increased wingspan and lengthened fuselage and
new Boulton Paul F turret (two X 0.5in Browning machine guns) with
framed "bay window" nose glazing. The prototypes ('PW925', 'PW929' and
'PW932') were powered by two-stage Merlin 85s inboard and later,
Merlin 68s on the outboard mounts. Because of the major redesign, the
aircraft was quickly renamed Lincoln B 1.
;B.V
:Increased wingspan and lengthened fuselage, two-stage Merlin 85s.
Renamed Lincoln B 2.
;B.VI
:Nine aircraft converted from B.IIIs. Fitted with Merlin 85/87 which
had two-stage superchargers, giving much improved high-altitude
performance. The B VI could achieve a maximum speed of at at a
takeoff weight and a service ceiling of at the same weight. Climb to
at takeoff weight was accomplished in 44.8 minutes with a maximum
climb rate of 1,080 ft/min (5.5 m/s) at . A Lancaster B VI was dived
to a maximum indicated speed of , or Mach 0.72 at in June 1944. The
Merlin 85/87 series engines were fitted with annular cowlings similar
to the Avro Lincoln and three-bladed paddle-type propellers were
fitted. These aircraft were used by only Pathfinder units; by No. 7
Squadron RAF, No. 83 Squadron RAF, No. 405 Squadron RCAF and by No.
635 Squadron RAF. Often used as a "Master Bomber" the B VIs were
allocated to RAF Bomber Command apart from two that were retained by
Rolls-Royce for installation and flight testing. Their dorsal and nose
turrets were removed and faired over. The more powerful engines proved
troublesome in service and were disliked by ground maintenance staff
for their rough running and propensity to 'surge and hunt', making
synchronisation impossible. This was caused by variations in the
fuel/air mixture and over time would damage the engine. The B VI was
withdrawn from operational service in November 1944 and surviving
aircraft were used by Rolls-Royce, the Royal Aircraft Establishment
and the Bomb Ballistics Unit (BBU) for various testing and
experimental duties.
;B.VII
:The B.VII was the final production version of the Lancaster. The
Martin 250CE mid-upper turret was moved slightly further forward than
on previous Marks and the Nash & Thomson FN-82 tail turret with
twin Browning machine guns replaced the FN.20 turret with four
Browning .303 Mark IIs. The Martin turret carried two 0.5-inch
Browning Mark II machine guns which packed much more punch than the
..303s of the older turret. However, these Martin turrets arrived too
late for inclusion in the first 50 aircraft built by Austin and these
were therefore referred to as Mark VII (Interim). Another 180 true
Mark VIIs were built at Longbridge. Two sub-variants of the VII
existed, the "Far East" (B VII FE) for use in tropical climates and
the B VII "Western Union", which went to France.
;B.X
:The B.X was a Canadian-built B.III with Canadian- and US-made
instruments and electrics. In later batches, the heavier Martin 250CE
was substituted for the Nash & Thomson FN-50 mid-upper turret,
mounted further forward to maintain centre of gravity balance. Canada
was a long-term operator of the Lancaster, using modified aircraft
after the war for maritime patrol, search and rescue and
photo-reconnaissance until 1964. The last flight by the RCAF was by
F/L Lynn Garrison in KB-976, on 4 July 1964 at the Calgary
International Air Show.
:During the Second World War, Canada's Victory Aircraft (what later
became Avro Canada) was responsible for the development of the
Lancastrian, which was duly designated the XPP for 'Mark 10 Passenger
Plane'. Six were built for Trans Canada Airlines.
:Postwar the RCAF modified the B X (as the Lancaster Mk 10) to fill a
variety of roles, with specific designations for each role. These
included:
:* 10AR: 'Area Reconnaissance' - three aircraft modified for
surveillance operations over the Arctic. Fitted with the lengthened
nose (40 in longer) and carrying cameras and ELINT equipment. Remained
in service until 1964.
:* 10BR: 'Bomber Reconnaissance'. Minimally modified variant with
additional windows for observers in the rear fuselage. 13 converted.
:* 10DC: 'Drone controller' with Ryan Firebee drones - two modified in
1957 and operational until 1961.
:* 10MR (later 10MP): 'Maritime Reconnaissance' or 'Maritime Patrol'
anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft, based on BR with the mid-upper
turret removed. 70-75 converted. In service from 1950 to 1955.
:* 10N: 'Navigational trainer'. Five converted.
:* 10O: 'Orenda jet engine testbed' for the engine used in the Avro
CF-100.
:* 10P: 'Photo reconnaissance' mapping duties. 11 converted 1948-1950.
Retired 1964.
:* 10S&R: Interim search-and-rescue aircraft, minimally modified
10S. Replaced by disarmed 10BR and 10MRs.
:* 10S : 'Standard' - designation applied to baseline standard, with
Merlin 224 engines, Martin mid-upper turret and H2S radar, for
aircraft retained postwar for future use. Sometimes referred to by
unofficial designation 10U.
;B.XV
:As per Lancaster B.IV/Lincoln B.1 but built in Canada and renamed
Avro Lincoln XV. One example was built before the order was cancelled
when the war ended.
Surviving aircraft
======================================================================
Of the 17 surviving and largely intact Lancasters known to exist, two
are airworthy: PA474 is a Lancaster B.I operated by the Battle of
Britain Memorial Flight, based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, UK;
FM213, named the "Mynarski Memorial Lancaster" and painted with VR-A
(nicknamed VeRA) to honour Andrew Mynarski, is a Lancaster B.X
operated by the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton,
Ontario, Canada.
Two other Lancasters exist with working engines, though not airworthy;
like the airworthy pair, these are also found one each in Britain and
Canada. The B MkVII 'Just Jane', NX611, is based in the East Kirkby
Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, just 9 miles east-northeast of
PA474 at RAF Coningsby; it is able to taxi but is not airworthy,
though there have been plans to eventually return it to flight. The
Bomber Command Museum of Canada, in Nanton, Alberta, is home to FM159,
nicknamed Bazalgette, which has been restored from a vandalised state
and is able to taxi under its own power.
In 2014, the two airworthy Lancasters (Canadian FM213 and British
PA474) toured the UK in a series of joint aerial and ground displays.
In 2017, after more than 50 years on display in Edmundston, New
Brunswick, Lancaster KB 882 moved to the National Air Force Museum of
Canada in Trenton, Ontario, where it is to be restored and placed
alongside the museum's restored RAF Handley Page Halifax heavy bomber,
NA 337.
For the 2018 flying season, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of
Operation Chastise, the Canadian FM213 Lancaster was painted in the
markings used by Guy Gibson's 617 Squadron aircraft (Code AJ-G, ED932)
when he commanded the "Dambusters" raids.
Victoria Cross awards
=======================
Many Lancaster crew members were highly decorated for their actions
while flying the aircraft. Amongst those who received the Victoria
Cross were:
* Squadron Leader Ian Willoughby Bazalgette
* Wing Commander Guy Gibson
* Warrant Officer Norman Cyril Jackson
* Pilot Officer Andrew Mynarski
* Squadron Leader John Dering Nettleton
* Squadron Leader Robert Anthony Maurice Palmer
* Flight Lieutenant William Reid
* Flight Sergeant George Thompson
* Group Captain Leonard Cheshire - for conduct on more than 100
missions in aircraft including the Lancaster, Mosquito and Mustang
* Captain (acting Major) Edwin Swales
({{NoMoreCruft}})
===================
The Avro Lancaster featured prominently in the 1955 film 'The Dam
Busters', and a number of B VII Lancasters in storage were modified to
the original configuration of the B.III (Special) for use on screen.
Lancasters play a prominent part in 'Appointment in London' with Dirk
Bogarde.
Sources
=========
* 'A.P. 22062A-P.N.: Pilot's and Flight Engineer's Notes for
Lancaster. Mark I - Four Merlin XX, 22 or 24 Engines. Mark III - Four
Merlin 28 or 38 Engines'. London: Air Ministry, May 1944. No ISBN
*
* Brickhill, Paul, 'The Dam Busters'. Evans, 1951.
* Bridgman, Leonard, 'Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II'. New
York: Crescent Books, 1988. .
* Brown, Eric, 'Wings on my Sleeve'. London: Weidenfeld &
Nicolson, 2016. .
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1935-1950'. Hinckley: Midland Publishing, 2004. .
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World War II Bomber'. Bath, UK: Parragon, 2003. .
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Cudham, Kent, UK: Kelsey Publishing, 2011.
*
* Cotter, Jarrod, 'Living Lancasters: Keeping the Legend Alive'.
Thrupp, Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing, 2005. .
* Falconer, Jonathan, 'Bomber Command Handbook 1939-1945'. Thrupp,
Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing, 2003, .
*
* Franks, Norman, 'Claims to Fame: The Lancaster'. London: Arms &
Armour Press, 1995. .
* Franks, Richard A., 'The Avro Lancaster, Manchester and Lincoln: A
Comprehensive Guide for the Modeller'. London: SAM Publications, 2000.
..
* Galland, Adolf, 'The First and the Last: Germany's Fighter Force in
WWII' (Fortunes of War). Black Hawk, Colorado: Cerberus Press, 2005. .
*
* Goulding, Brian, and Garbett, M., 'The Avro Lancaster I: Aircraft in
Profile Number 65'. Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications,
1966.
* Gunston, Bill, 'World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines' (fifth edition).
Sutton Publishing, 2006. .
*
* Hastings, Sir Max, 'Bomber Command' (Pan Grand Strategy Series).
London: Pan Books, 1999. .
* Holmes, Harry, 'Avro Lancaster (Combat Legend series)'. Shrewsbury,
UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 2002. .
* Holmes, Harry, 'Avro Lancaster. The Definitive Record 2nd Edition.'
Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd, 2001. .
* "The Immortal Lanc". 'Wings' Volume 1, Part 8, 1977. London: Orbis
Publishing Ltd.
* Iveson, Tony, 'Lancaster: The Biography'. London: Andre Deutsch Ltd,
2009. .
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Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1990. .
* Jacobs, Peter, 'The Lancaster Story'. London: Arms & Armour
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* Knott, Richard, 'Black Night for Bomber Command - The Tragedy of 16
December 1943'. Pen & Sword, 2007. .
*
* Lyzun, Jim, "From Warhorse to Workhorse: Lancaster Mk.10 Variants in
Canada". 'Air Enthusiast', No. 86, March/April 2000, pp. 16-26. .
* Mackay, R.S.G., 'Lancaster in action'. Carrollton, Texas:
Squadron/Signal Publications Inc., 1982. .
* Mantelli, Brown, Kittel, Graf, 'Avro Lancaster - Handley Page
Halifax - Short S.29 Stirling'. Edizioni R.E.I., 2017. .
*
*
* Mason, Francis K., 'The British Bomber since 1914'. London: Putnam,
1994. .
* Mason, Tim, 'The Secret Years: Flight Testing at Boscombe Down
1939-1945'. Manchester, UK: Hikoki, 1998. .
* McKinstry, Leo, 'Lancaster: the Second World War's Greatest Bomber'.
London: John Murray, 2009. .
* Moyes, Philip J.R., 'Avro Lancaster I & II'. Kidlington, Oxford,
UK: Vintage Aviation Publications Ltd., 1979. .
* Moyes, Philip J.R., 'The Handley Page Halifax B.III, VI, VII'.
Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications, 1966.
* Neillands, Robin, 'The Conquest of the Reich: D-Day to VE Day - A
Soldiers' History'. New York: NYU Press, 1995. .
* Norris, Geoffrey, 'The Short Stirling, Aircraft in Profile Number
142'. Windsor, Berkshire, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1966.
*
* Page, Bette, 'Mynarski's Lanc: The Story of Two Famous Canadian
Lancaster Bombers KB726 & FM213'. Erin, Ontario, Canada: Boston
Mills Press, 1989. .
*
* Richards, Denis, 'The Hardest Victory: RAF Bomber Command in the
Second World War'. London: Coronet, 1995. .
* Robertson, Bruce, 'Lancaster: The Story of a Famous Bomber'.
Watford, Hertfordshire, UK: Argus Books, Fifth impression 1977, First
impression 1964. .
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Ltd., 1982. .
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Engineer'. London: The Frazer Nash Archives, 2011. .
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External links
======================================================================
* [http://www.lancaster-archive.com The Lancaster Archive]
*
[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1942/1942%20-%201692.html
"The Avro Lancaster"] a 1942 'Flight' article
*
[https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/items/browse?tags=Lancaster
Lancaster at the International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive]
License
=========
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Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Lancaster