Off Duty Lancaster at Rest by Gerald Coulson In the mist n Avro Lancaster of the Royal Air Force is shown being
attended by ground crew.
Mission Completed by Simon Smith Depicting the morning after a gruelling operation during the autumn
of 1944. As day breaks a returning crew awaits the crew bus at their
aircraft dispersal, grouped before their mighty bomber which shows fresh
scars of battle from an arduous mission over occupied Europe. The
exhausted men are clearly relieved and thankful to be safely home at
their in Lincolnshire base.
Morning Glory by Robin Smith. Resplendent in the morning sunrise, the Avro Lancaster sits
majestically. One could almost believe it is a wild animal sniffing
the air, secure in its natural habitat. Watching the scene, the
total silence is occasionally broken by the chink of a dropped spanner, a
young voice expresses a solved problem, fresh human silhouettes
materialise through the mist from behind a massive wheel, we realise how
many people are actually there. These are not pilots or navigators
or gunners. They are fitters, armourers and mechanics, working as a
team, every individual with his or her own duty fulfilling a common
purpose, to get the aircraft ready for its next sortie that
evening.
In Remembrance by Michael Turner The official commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of Bomber Command
was marked by a moving service in St.Pauls Cathedral on 24th April 2002,
attended by over 1500 surviving WWII bomber crews and personnel. At the
end of the service, those present emerged onto the steps of the Cathedral
to hear the unmistakable sound of four Merlin engines approaching, and at
precisely 12.20pm the BBMF Lancaster flew over the assembled crowd who
burst into spontaneous applause - a fitting and emotive tribute to the
sacrifice and dedication of so many.
Lancaster Legend by Philip West After another long, dangerous mission this Lancaster is limping home
flak damaged, past the windmill at Cley-next-the-Sea.
Lancaster Over Kynance by Stephen Brown RAF Lancasters over Kynance Cove in Cornwall, returning from a daylight
sortie over Northern France in the winter of 1944. The Avro
Lancaster played a leading roll within Bomber Command during WW2. It
formed the backbone of a continuous 4-year offensive by the RAF that
eventually culminated in the Allied liberation of Europe.
Signatures : Flt Lt Phil Ainley DFC (Pilot) was accepted for aircrew training
in February 1942 at the age of 17 and a half years. He was selected
for pilot training and was sent to he United States Naval Aviation Base at
Pensacola. After gaining his United States Navy wings on completion
of his Catalina Flying Boat course, he was commissioned and returned to
the UK. Following retraining on land planes, he eventually joined
No. 57 Lancaster squadron in May 1944. The squadron was heavily
engaged in attacking both French flying bomb sites, the build up to D Day
and German industrial targets. One sortie to Konigsberg necessitated
flying for 11 hours 10 minutes, whilst another was to drop nine mines in
the Stettin canal from 250 feet. For this last sortie Flt Lt Ainley
was awarded an immediate DFC. He completed his operational tour of
33 sorties in October 1944, having flown all this time with the same crew
with the exception of a replacement flight engineer. On completing a
course at the Bomber Command Instructors School, he became a flying
instructor in Bomber Command.
Warrant Officer Ron Legg (Flight Engineer) joined the RAF at
Lords Cricket on 12 July 1943. Prior to that he was an engineering
apprentice with a well known Bristol company. He was called to the
Aircrew Selection Board at Oxford and chose to become a Flight Engineer
and following a minor operation on his nose, he went to Lords Cricket
Ground. After three week initial training in London, he went to
Torquay and then to St Athans for the six months training as a F/E. He
passed out in March 1944 having never flown in an aeroplane. When on
his first leave, friends would say "What's it like up there?" he
was was embarrassed to admit that he had not yet flown. After his
leave, he was posted to Scampton where he met the lads that had been
crewed up at OTU and were destined for the Lancaster. His next
posting was to Winthorpe, 1661 Heavy Conversion Unit. The aircraft
was the Stirling and he flew with Sgt Anscombe for a full course; this was
mainly to gain air experience. He was then crewed up with F/L
Oldcare and did the same course again as the F/E. An experienced F/E
flew with them until he was satisfied that they were competent. The
next posting was with his crew to Syerston for a conversion on the
Lancaster and then to 9 Squadron, Bardney where they did a total of about
12 hours on training flights. The pilot had to do one operation as a
2nd pilot. on that trip he was shot down but he baled out and evaded
capture. They then returned to another HCU 1654 Wigsley, once again
on the Stirling and another pilot W/O Ross. From there the course
was completed and they went through the Lancaster finishing course once
again, then to 57 Squadron East Kirkby for operational flying. The
first op was a daylight raid on Wilhelmshaven 5th October 1944 and the
last on 7th April 1945. His total was 31 operations. He was
then posted to a holding unit for redundant aircrew and never flew again
with the RAF.
W/O Roy Last (Air Gunner) was called up early in 1943 upon
reaching his eighteenth birthday. He trained at 7 AGS Stormydown and
crewed up at Wing OTU. He started ops at 101 Squadron, Ludford Magna
on 18th April 1944 on Aachen and was selected for Pathfinders after six
ops with 101 squadron. He completed 20 ops with 582 Squadron at
Little Staughton, carrying out several master bomb raids. He was
wounded by flak in September 1944 and returned to the Squadron. He
rejoined his skipper and completed another 10 ops before being posted to
PTFU as a gunner instructor.
F/O Fred Osborne (Bomb Aimer) joined the RAF in 1941 for pilot
training and after going 'solo' (Tiger Moths) at Fair Oaks, Surrey was
posted to the USA Detroit then Pensacola Naval Air Station, Florida.
He spent an enjoyable two or three months at Pensacola but was devastated
at being scrubbed and remustered to Observer course in Canada; his offer
to be a glider pilot was refused. He eventually served as B/A with
Bob Sexton's (Australian) crew and served on 101 Sqd and 7 Sqd PFF.
His 'Tour' and ops flying ended after a mid-air collision whilst returning
from an op on Leipzig. He cannot recall the actual crash but owes
his life to the late T Shaw who rescued him from the burning aircraft.
Flt/Sgt Jeff Palmer (Navigator / Bomb Aimer) volunteered for
aircrew duties at the age of 20 in 1941. He later trained as Nav/BA
in South Africa. After further training he joined 195 & 9 Sqdns
and took part in ops over Germany. Towards the end of the war he
took part in "Operation Manna" over Holland. After the end
of the war he flew to India with 9 Sqn and took part in victory
demonstrations. He was demobilised in 1946.
Warrant Officer Don Say DFC (Navigator / Bomb Aimer) joined the
RAFVR in March 1939 and was sent for Aircrew training to Calgary and
Hamilton in Canada in 1941. He qualified as Observer (armaments)
aimer and served first on Vickers Wellingtons with 466 Sqdn (Aus),
completing 20 Operations before moving on to 196 Sqdn for a further ten
Operations over France and Germany on Stirlings. After six months as
Instructor, his second tour (23 Operations) in Lancasters was with 514 Sqd.
The picture evoked memories of a daylight operation on oil refineries at
Bordeaux on 4 August 1944. Crossing the Cornish coast on return at
very low level, everyone reported nude sunbathers running for cover as 300
Lancasters roared overhead. His total war service was six and a half
years between 1939 and 1945, completing two operational tours. He
was awarded the DFC in 1944.
Flight Lieutenant Jack Stidard AE (Navigator) joined the
RAF in 1942 and trained as a navigator at No1 CNS, Rivers, Canada.
He eventually joined 90 Squadron at Tuddenham in early 1945 and was still
in the early stages of his tour when the European war was ended. He
felt privileged to take part in four Operation Manna Ops in late April /
early May, when food was dropped to the starving Dutch. but he did not
appreciate how desperate the situation was until post war visits to
Holland with The Manna Association. Released from the RAF in 1946,
he served in the RAFVR for 14 years in the Intelligence branch and was
also OC of an ATC Squadron.
Flight Lieutenant Robert Stone, Croix de Guerre, (Pilot)
volunteered for flying duties in 1941 and was trained as a pilot in
Canada. On returning to the UK he trained on Blenheims and was
posted to North Africa early in 1943. He was invalided home after a
short period, having suffered a rare tropical disease and was posted to
Bomber Command and trained on Wellingtons. He was subsequently
posted to 550 Sqd No 1 Group, stationed at North Killingholme in
Lincolnshire, flying Lancasters. After completing 29 operations he
was grounded (having developed a duodenal ulcer) and was discharged from
the RAF shortly afterwards. He was subsequently awarded the Croix de
Guerre. The rest of his working life was spent with the Bank of
England and he is now retired and living in Somerset.
Flt/Lt. B S Turner DFC (Pilot) volunteered for the RAF in 1940
and trained as a Heavy Bomber pilot flying Tiger Moths, Airspeed Oxfords
and Wellingtons at Hatfield, South Cerney and Pershore respectively.
His first operational posting was to a grass field aerodrome at Feltwell
where he flew Wellingtons with 75 N.Z. Sqd. After a tour of 37 trips
mainly over Germany he then spent two and a half years as "taxi
driver" with various navigation training flights and some two years
later was posted to 61 Sqd at Skellingforth for a second tour of ops
flying Lancasters - flying'N' for Nan on her 100th trip. After 21
ops he went to T.R.E. Defford as an experimental pilot. At that time
the Air Force was preparing Tiger Force for the invasion of Japan, but
because of the atomic bomb being dropped the invasion did not take
place. Flying at Defford was with radar 'boffins' testing their
various offensive and defensive radar equipment in about ten different
types of aircraft. In 1946 Flt/Lt Turner left the Air Force and
joined Unilever in what was then known as the Belgian Congo.
Warrant Officer Bernard Warren (Rear Gunner) joined the RAFVR on
25 January 1943 and qualified as an Air Gunner from No 7 AGS Stormey Down
in July 1943. After ITW he was posted to 29 OTU in August where he
crewed up as a Rear Gunner. The crew then moved to No 1662
Conversion Unit at Blyton until they were posted to 103 Squadron - 1 Group
- Elsham Wolds. His first op as a spare Mid-upper Gunner was to
Augsberg on 25 February 1944. On the same op his pilot went with
another crew and failed to return. With a new pilot they commenced
ops and had completed seven when they were shot down and baled out over
Dusseldorf on 22 April 1944. He spent the next 12 months in POW
camps and left the RAF in August 1946.
Inbound by Stephen Brown The magnificent Avro Lancasters bathed in early morning light as they
return home from a successful raid during the summer of 1944. The
Lancaster was undoubtedly Bomber Commands finest and most important
aircraft of WW2. Loved by its crews for its responsiveness, agility,
reliability and payload capacity, but probably most of all its ability to
absorb major combat damage and still get them home safely.
Lancaster VC by Robert Taylor Two Lancaster's, through 15,000 feet, heading towards Germany. Two
Victoria Cross signatures. Signatories: Norman Jackson VC, Bill Reid VC.
Home on Three by Fred McMain A sole Lancaster returns from a bombing raid as a squadron of US Air
Force Flying Fortresses above him depart the coast on their mission,
Mynarskis Lanc by Nicholas Trudgian
Lancaster V-RA, with its young Canadian crew, flew just a handful of
operations. On the night of June 12, 1944, it was set afire by a JU88,
forcing the crew to bale out. Seeing the rear gunner trapped Pilot
Officer Andrew Mynarski vainly braved the inferno to help, losing his
parachute to the flames. He was forced to jump without it. Miraculously
the burning Lancaster pancaked, and the rear gunner survived. Andrew
Mynarski was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously. Mynarski's
Lancaster is depicted setting out on that fateful night
