Warbird Information Exchange

These color photos are featured and presented by the IWM photo archives. Most likely seen many times by most folks here, but these copies are about as clear as there is out there.


Avro Lancaster aircraft under construction at the A V Roe & Co Ltd factory at Woodford in Cheshire, 1943.


Avro Lancaster aircraft final assembly at the A V Roe & Co Ltd factory at Woodford in Cheshire, 1943.


Testing the tyre pressure of Avro Lancaster R5540 of No 44 Squadron Conversion Flight at Waddington, Lincolnshire.


An armourer cleans the .303in Brownings in the front turret of Avro Lancaster R5666/`KM-F' of No. 44 Squadron while another member of the ground crew cleans the cockpit windows, Waddington, October 1942.


Mechanics work on the port engines of an Avro Lancaster, believed to be an aircraft of No 207 Squadron, Royal Air Force, near the technical site at Bottesford.


A view from the cockpit of an Avro Lancaster, believed to be an aircraft of No 207 Squadron, Royal Air Force, as work is done on the starboard Merlin engines of the aircraft, near the technical site at Bottesford.


Royal Air Force mechanics carrying out repairs to the mid-upper turret of Avro Lancaster bomber R5540 at Waddington, Lincolnshire.


A rigger touches up the code letters KM-O of Avro Lancaster R5540, No 44 Squadron, Royal Air Force at Waddington, Lincolnshire.


A rigger touches up the code letters KM-O of Avro Lancaster R5540, of No 44 Squadron, Royal Air Force at Waddington, Lincolnshire.


The rear gunner of a Lancaster of No. 44 Squadron peeks out through a cut-out in the perspex of his gun turret, October 1942.


HM Queen Elizabeth inspecting flight and ground crews on a visit to Warboys, a station of No 8 Pathfinder Group. An Avro Lancaster of No 156 Squadron, Royal Air Force is seen in a T2 hangar.


The King inspects ground crewmen lined up beneath the nose of Avro Lancaster B Mark I, ED989, DX-F, 'Frederick III', which bears a motif derived from a caricature of Wing Commander Campbell Hopcroft, the Commanding Officer of No 57 Squadron which shared Scampton with No 617 Squadron at this time.


Avro Lancaster Mk I R5740/`KM-O' of No. 44 Squadron at Waddington in Lincolnshire, 29 September 1942. At the controls is Squadron Leader Pat Burnett, 'B' Flight Commander.


Lancaster B Mark Is of No 50 Squadron, Royal Air Force, based at Skellingthorpe, flying in spread formation. The two aircraft beyond the wing tip are `VN-D' and `VN-J' the former, serial number JA899, was missing on the night of 24 - 25 June 1944 with Pilot Officer L G Peters and crew.


pilot's view over the two starboard Merlin engines from the cockpit of an Avro Lancaster of No 50 Squadron, Royal Air Force.


Three Avro Lancaster B Mark Is of No 44 Squadron, Royal Air Force based at Waddington, Lincolnshire, flying above the clouds. Left to right: W4125, `KM-W', being flown by Sergeant Colin Watt, Royal Australian Air Force; W4162,`KM-Y', flown by Pilot Officer T G Hackney, (later killed while serving with No 83 Squadron); and W4187, `KM-S', flown by Pilot Officer J D V S Stephens DFM, who was killed with his crew two nights later during a raid on Wismar.


Three Avro Lancaster B Mark Is of No 44 Squadron, Royal Air Force based at Waddington, Lincolnshire, flying above the clouds. Left to right: W4125, `KM-W', being flown by Sergeant Colin Watt, Royal Australian Air Force; W4162,`KM-Y', flown by Pilot Officer T G Hackney, (later killed while serving with No 83 Squadron); and W4187, `KM-S', flown by Pilot Officer J D V S Stephens DFM, who was killed with his crew two nights later during a raid on Wismar.


The seven man crew of an Avro Lancaster bomber wait near the crew room at Waddington, Lincolnshire for transport out to their aircraft. The pigeons seen in boxes in the foreground are homing pigeons carried for communication purposes in case of ditching or radio failure.


A gathering of men of No 467 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force to celebrate the completion of 100 operations by the Avro Lancaster R5868/`PO-S' (S for Sugar) after its sortie on 11 - 12 May 1944 to a communications target in Belgium. Below the cockpit of the Lancaster are the emblems indicating the number of operational flights and the award of three DSOs and two DFCs to crew members. May 1944.

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Zero Surprise!!...

Stunning images, thanks for sharing them!


Rob

Out of curiosity I did a bit of Google research on all of the above Lancs, only to find that all of them were lost in accidents or on operations,bar the famous R5868 S-Sugar now at Hendon. It gives you some idea of the scale of loss Bomber Command suffered, very sobering stuff.

JB276 - (fuselage just visible at left in factory shots) 103 Sqn, Lost on a raid to Kassel, 23 Oct 43 with 91 hours on the clock, approx. one month after delivery. Nav and Bomb Aimer PoW, rest of crew killed
R5540 - Lost in an accident while serving with a Heavy Conversion Unit in January 1943
R5666 - Lost on ops, 18 Dec 1942, shot down by flak near Nienburg. Five PoW, two KIA.
R5740 - Lost without trace on operations 26 June 1943, crew remembered on Runnymede Memorial
ED989 - "Frederick III" lost on ops on the famous Peenemunde raid August 17/18 1943, crew all killed
JA899 - As mentioned, lost 24/25 June 1944 on mission to Normandy
W4125 - Lost December 21/22 1942, target Munich, Nav and Wireless Op POW, rest of crew killed
W4162 - Lost 23 November 1943, shot down by Nightfighter ace Paul Zorner, Lanc exploded mid-air. One crew member survived
W4187 - As mentioned, lost on Wissmar raid Oct 1st 1942, crashed at Skallingen, crew all lost
R5868 - Preserved RAF Museum, Hendon, 137 ops total

Glorious images to match!! Thanks again for posting them.

Thanks for the info! Brave men flew in these aircraft. They are owed so much.

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

Thanks Mark

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

There is just something about a Lanc! It has a bulldogish but elegant look to it.

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Cheers!

Lance Jones

No elf n safety issues to deal with back in those days

HM King George VI is also in this photo, the right one of the two officers with their back to camera.

For whatever reason, I missed R5666 "Mary" off the list in my earlier post, have now edited it.

R5666 - Lost on raid 18 Dec 1942, shot down by flak near Nienburg. Five PoW, two KIA.