Is this a Lancaster or Halifax or......?

[DIK SHEPHERD]

Perhaps, perhaps not. It might have been a maintenance accident on it's home field, or even an ordinance accident.

Without knowing the withalls about it, serial number, etc., one should not always assume the worst.

The fact that none of the prop blades appear to be bent should indicate that the engines weren't running, although engine number 4's prop looks to be feathered.

So, unless the aircraft glided into the field and did a dead stick landing while it was on fire, I'd say that a maintenance accident is probably the cause for the burned pile of junk.

[hairy]

Thanks again guys, I suspected it was a Lanc but I wasn't sure.

I also very much doubt it was a maintence accident as the photo is a wartime German propoganda shot.

[DIK SHEPHERD]

Than, if that's the case, I would suggest that the aircraft's crew were able to land tha Lanc., and then set it on fire in order to keep it from the Germans. Not an uncommon event in the early days of the war.

[Raven]

Hi Dik,
You make a good point regarding the state of the airframe; there's no vertical crushing of the nacelles, nor are the props bent, implying it fell gently, perhaps bellied in, although the engines seem 'high' for a belly landing and some of the props would normally be turning and thus bent. There's not enough visible clues to be certain.

However, a few caveats - we don't know what happened to the crew. They may have survived; they may not. Had it been a crash in Germany they may even have been lynched by civilians, after surviving the crash - sadly that did happen. What is certain is that it wasn't a good night for them, and to call the aircraft 'a burned out piece of junk' might be technically correct, it lacks a bit of tact.

May I also point out 55,750 men were killed in Bomber Command? - most dying in 'a burned out piece of junk'.

Secondly the Lancaster entered service in March 1942, thus the earliest possible date the photo could be taken is 1942. While that's 'early days' for most US citizens (Eagle Squadron, 'RCAF' and Chinese mercenaries aside) the Commonwealth had been fighting Germany since 1939 - so hardly 'early days' for the combatants involved - nearer 'half-way' as it was to work out. (And let's not forget that the Chinese and Japanese had been fighting their bit of W.W.II since 1937...)

Generally the crews of Lancasters a) baled out rather than trying to belly in their aircraft, and b) rarely had a chance to fire their machine before attempting to evade - although the aircraft was set, with a charge, for destruction. It's much more likely it was on fire or caught fire. There's literally tons of good books on the history of Bomber Command. Worth a look.

Regards