Avro Lancaster

The roots of the Lancaster can be found in the twin-engined Avro Manchester, which was yet to enter service. On the 20th February 1940 Avro met with the Air Ministry to discuss a four-engined version of the Manchester. Nine months later, on the 19th November 1940, Avro got the green light from the Air Ministry on, what was known at that time, the Manchester Mk III. The prototype would have an increased wingspan of 10 ft 2 in, over the Manchester's original 90 ft 1 in wingspan, to accommodate the four 1,145-hp Rolls-Royce Merlin X engines, and also featured a third central fin on the tail.

Flying from Ringway Airport on the 9th January 1941, with Captain Harry Brown and Sydney Thorn at the controls, the aircraft was a big improvement, and on the 27th January 1941 it was sent to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment based at Boscombe Down, where it would undergo intensive trials. The 28th February 1941 saw the aircraft officially named the Lancaster. No. 44 Squadron at RAF Waddington would receive the prototype during September 1941 to undergo evaluation and for crew training. The second prototype flew on the 13th May 1941 and was powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin XX engines and featured a twin-finned tail layout, with the third central fin now removed, and it was this prototype that production models would derive from.

The Lancaster housed a crew of seven, which consisted of pilot, bomb-aimer, flight engineer, navigator, wireless operator, mid gunner and rear gunner. The first production Lancaster B.I flew on the 31st October 1941 from Woodford Aerodrome, powered by the 1,280-hp Rolls-Royce Merlin XX, giving the aircraft a top speed of 275 mph, range of 2,530 miles with a service ceiling of 24,500 ft. Armament consisted of eight 0.303-in machine-guns, two each in the nose and mid-upper turret and four in the rear turret. Bomb load was 8,000lb. No. 44 Squadron at RAF Waddington was the first to be equipped with the new aircraft, when they received three on the 24th December 1941, as they began to replace their twin-engined Handley Page Hampdens. They also used the Lancaster for its first operational sortie when four laid mines in the Heligoland Bight on the 3rd March 1942.

It was not until five month later that the general public were informed of this new aircraft, when on the 17th August 1942, twelve Lancasters, six each from Nos. 44 and 97 Squadron, attacked a U-boat diesel factory in Augsburg, Germany. The raid itself was to confirm that sending heavy bombers on unescorted daylight sorties was unfeasible as of the twelve Lancasters sent on the raid only five returned. During this raid Squadron Leader John Nettleton and Squadron Leader John Sherwood were both awarded the Victoria Cross. The 18th August 1942 saw Bomber Command's new Pathfinder force undertake its first operation when Flensburg, Germany was attacked and No. 83 Squadrons Lancaster B.Is would be involved in marking the target. The operation was a failure as winds took the bomber force off course and areas of Denmark were mistaken for Flensburg.

As with a number of other aircraft, the Lancaster relied on the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, and as a result the engine was in danger of becoming in short supply. To counteract this a Lancaster B.II prototype was proposed, this used four Bristol Hercules engines, and flew for the first time on the 26th November 1941. The first production Lancaster B.II flew on the 2nd September 1942 and was powered by the 1,735-hp Bristol Hercules XVI engine which gave the aircraft a top speed of 265 mph, range of 2,370 miles and a service ceiling of 18,500 ft. Armament was eight 0.303-in machine-guns, two each in the nose and mid-upper turrets and four in the rear turret, with a bomb load of 14,000lb.

September 1942 saw three Lancaster B.IIs from the first production batch sent to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment and nine were sent to equip No. 61 Squadron based at RAF Syerston. This squadron was to perform service trials and had previous experience with the Lancaster after formally being a Lancaster B I squadron. The Lancaster B.II made its operational debut on the 11th January 1943 when two took part in a raid on Essen, Germany, and during its six months with No. 61 Squadron they did not lose any of the aircraft assigned to them. The Lancaster B II flew its last mission on the 23rd September 1944 with No. 514 Squadron. One of the main drawbacks of the Bristol Hercules powered Lancaster B.II was its low service ceiling and it was the slowest of all the Lancaster variants and after 301 had been produced, production was ended. Although a few remained in service, even into the post-war era, they were mainly used as test beds and the last Lancaster B.II was scrapped in 1950.

The next variant was the Lancaster B.III, powered by the 1,420-hp Packard Merlin engine, it also featured minor changes to the equipment and the bomb-aimer's 'bubble' was enlarged and this would be produced alongside the Rolls-Royce Merlin engined Lancaster B.I. The Lancaster B.III had a top speed of 275 mph, range of 2,530 miles with a service ceiling of 24,500 ft. Armament was eight 0.303-in machine-guns, with two each in the nose and mid-upper turret with four in the rear turret. Bomb load was 12,000lb. It was the Lancaster B.III, modified to carry the Barnes Wallis designed 'Upkeep', known as the 'Bouncing Bomb', which was used for the Dambusters raid, officially known as Operation Chastise, when on the 16th May 1943 Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron, led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, and having to drop their bombs from just 60ft, attacked the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany, breaching the first two and causing minor damage to the third. This came at a heavy price as of the nineteen aircraft sent out, eight failed to return with 3 aircrew taken prisoner and 53 killed, whilst as a result of the flooding caused by the breached dams, around 1,300 people died.

The Lancaster B.VI was next, the two Lancaster variants before this, the Lancaster B.IV and Lancaster B.V, had been redesigned so much they were renamed the Avro Lincoln I and II respectively. It was suggested to use either the Rolls-Royce Merlin 85 or 87 engines for the Lancaster B.VI. As a result, Rolls-Royce received several airframes for comparative tests. A number of these aircraft joined No. 635 Squadron at RAF Downham Market in July 1944 and were used operationally as Pathfinders with an improved H2S radar bombing aid and early electronic countermeasures equipment and both nose and mid-upper turrets removed. But despite showing much improved performance over early Lancasters, none were produced, and were removed from service in November 1944, with the aircraft used for a number of different tests and experiments.

The Canadian built Lancaster B.X was next, powered by Packard Merlin 38 or 228 engines, it was similar to the Lancaster B.III, but with instrumentation and electronics which were American and Canadian built and the armament for this aircraft was fitted once the aircraft arrived in the UK. The 6th August 1943 saw the first example fly. The Lancaster B.X had a top speed of 275 mph, a range of 2,530 miles and a service ceiling of 24,500 ft. Armament comprised eight 0.303-in machine-guns, two each in the nose and mid-upper turrets and four in the rear turret. Bomb load was 12,000lb.

The final production version was the Lancaster B.VII which was powered by the 1,620-hp Rolls-Royce Merlin 24 engine, which gave the aircraft a top speed of 275 mph, range of 2,530 miles and a service ceiling of 24,500 ft. Armament was four 0.50-in machine-guns, two in the mid-upper turret, placed further forward compared to previous variants, two in the rear turret and two 0.303-in machine-guns in the nose. Bomb load was 12,000lb.

As the Lancaster started to enter service in larger numbers it would become Bomber Command's main bomber and equipped at least 59 squadrons and alongside the Handley Page Halifax and Short Stirling would take part in Bomber Command's strategic bombing campaign against Germany during 1942 – 1945. This included a number of operations, such as the Battle of the Ruhr, which began on the 5th March 1943 with a raid on Essen, Germany and ended on the 31st July 1943 with a raid on Remscheid, Germany. This saw 18,506 sorties undertaken with the loss of around 5,000 aircrew. This was followed by the Battle of Berlin, which started with a raid on Berlin, Germany on the 18th November 1943 and concluded with a raid on Nuremberg, Germany on the 31st March 1944. This saw 2,690 aircrew lose their lives during 9,111 sorties.

The Lancaster also took part in Operation Crossbow, originally Operation Bodyline, which ran from the 17th August 1943, when Peenemunde, Germany was attacked, and this raid was known as Operation Hydra, to the 2nd May 1945, targeting the German V-1 and V-2 programs. It would also play a part in attacking vital targets in France in the run up to D-Day

Another important task given to the Avro Lancaster was to sink the German battleship Tirpitz. The battleship had already come under attack on numerous occasions since October 1940 from Bomber Command, Royal Navy midget submarines and Fairey Barracudas of the Fleet Air Arm without success. Once again a Barnes Wallis designed bomb was used, this time the 12,000lb 'Tallboy', and No. 9 Squadron and No. 617 Squadron would be tasked with sinking the battleship. The first attack took place on the 15th September 1944 and scored one hit on the bow of the battleship, making it unseaworthy. The second attack on the 29th October 1944 saw no direct hits, but a near miss did bend the ships propeller shaft. The third attack saw three direct hits, and on the 12th November 1944 the Tirpitz was sunk.

As the war in Europe reached its conclusion the Lancaster would still take part in two more major operations. The first was Operation Manna which lasted for nine days between the 29th April 1945 and 7th May 1945 which saw food dropped in the Netherlands, which had been in a famine since late 1944, during this operation a total of 3,156 sorties were carried out by the Lancaster. The second was Operation Exodus which ran between the 3rd April 1945 and the 31st May 1945 and saw the Lancaster among a number of aircraft bringing home prisoners of war. It was also planned for nine Lancaster squadrons to serve in the Pacific as part of the 'Tiger Force' in the run up to the invasion of Japan, Operation Downfall, but the Second World War (1939 – 1945) ended before this force was fully established. During its wartime service the Lancaster flew 156,000 sorties for the loss of 3,249 aircraft.

Post-war use saw a number of Lancasters converted for civil use and renamed Lancastrian and four Lancaster B.IIIs were converted for the use of testing in-flight refuelling with two serving as tankers and two as the receiving aircraft. One of these flew non-stop from London to Bermuda, a total of 3,459 miles, and the two tankers, along with other Lancaster variants, also took part in the Berlin Airlift (26th June 1948 - 30th September 1949). A number of aspects of the Lancaster were also used on the transport aircraft the Avro York.

When the last Lancaster rolled off the production line, a Lancaster B.I, which from 1945 was renamed Lancaster B1, on the 2nd February 1946, it ended the production run of the type with 7,377 being built between 1941 and 1946. It would still be another ten years before the type was withdrawn from Royal Air Force service, when on the 15th October 1956, a Lancaster MR.3 from the School of Maritime Reconnaissance was retired. It wouldn't be until the 1st April 1964 that the final Lancaster in Royal Canadian Air Force service was retired.