Lancaster (Total: 7,377, Canadian: 100, Group 100)
Avro Lancaster
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
The Avro Lancaster 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 wartime 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 capable medium bomber for "world-wide use". 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 version, 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. Wikipedia
Lancaster Bomber
Wikipedia 
Harold A Skaarup Web Page Lancaster NN694, Mk.I
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Wolds, detailed to bomb Neuss, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after takeoff and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at 2020 hours about 1km south east of Kapellen on the southern outskirts of Moers, Germany, and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of NN711 were:
Sergeant Charles John Brady (R/170692) (RCAF) (Air Bomber)
Flying Officer Stanley Frederick Durrant (151718) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flying Officer James Johnstone (153834) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant James Gordon Mackey (R/216220) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant James Robert McIntyre (426653) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Ronald Ernest Pearce (1880404) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant David Spowart (1567579) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
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Bombing Nuremberg Germany 1945-03-16 to 1945-03-17
103 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Elsham Wolds
103 Squadron (Noli me tangere) RAF Elsham Wolds. Lancaster I aircraft NN 758 PM-S was shot down by night fighter pilot Feldwebel Joseph Brunner of 10/NJG6, crashing two miles north of Laichingen, Germany during a night operation against targets in Nuremberg, Germany
Only one crew member survived the loss of this aircraft
Flight Lieutenant Alastair Clarence Watt (RCAF), Flight Sergeant William Henry Fetherston (RCAF), Pilot Officer Albert Edward Wotherspoon (RCAF), Flight Sergeant George William Blackshaw (RAFVR), Flight Sergeant James Stanley Hickey (RAFVR) and Sergeant James Frederick Jackson (RAFVR) were all killed in action
Flight Sergeant Albert Charles Bellisle (RCAF) bailed out and survived to be taken as Prisoner of War
Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1945 1 January - 3 May by Theo Boiten, page 83
1945-March-17 PoW RCAF Flight Sergeant Albert Charles Bellisle 2025-02-12
1945-March-17 KIA RAFVR Flight Sergeant George William Blackshaw 2025-02-12 1945-March-17 KIA RCAF Flight Sergeant William Henry Fetherston 2025-02-12 1945-March-17 KIA RAFVR Flight Sergeant James Stanley Hickey 2025-02-12 1945-March-17 KIA RAFVR Sergeant James Frederick Jackson 2025-02-12 1945-March-17 KIA RCAF Flight Lieutenant Alastair Clarence Watt 2025-02-12 1945-March-17 KIA RCAF Pilot Officer Albert Edward Wotherspoon 2025-02-12 Lancaster NN759, Mk.I
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1945-January-07 KIA RCAF Flight Sergeant Donald Fletcher Campbell 2024-01-25 1945-January-07 KIA RCAF Flight Sergeant Meyer Greenstein 2024-01-25 1945-January-07 KIA RCAF Warrant Officer 2nd Class Millard Henderson Horne 2024-01-25 1945-January-07 KIA RCAF Flying Officer Ralph James Lougheed 2024-01-25 1945-January-07 KIA RCAF Flying Officer William John McArthur 2024-01-25 1945-January-07 KIA RCAF Flight Sergeant Donald Joseph McAulay 2024-01-25 Lancaster NN767, Mk.I
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1945-February-21 PoW RCAF Flight Lieutenant W H Holman 2023-08-26 1945-February-21 PoW RCAF Flight Sergeant A D Kall 2023-08-29 1945-February-21 KIA RCAF Pilot Officer Edric Stephen Neil 2021-08-17 1945-February-21 PoW RCAF Warrant Officer 2nd Class V S Reynolds 2023-09-26 1945-February-21 PoW RCAF Flying Officer R C Taylor 2023-10-02 Lancaster NN786, Mk.I
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1945-February-14 KIA RCAF Flight Sergeant Charles Joseph Anthony Caryi 2024-04-04 1945-February-14 KIA RCAF Flying Officer Lorne Albert MacDonald 2024-04-22 1945-February-14 KIA RCAF Flight Lieutenant Clement Robert Mills 2021-08-16 1945-February-14 KIA RCAF Flying Officer Ross Samuel Stanzel 2022-01-03 1945-February-14 KIA RCAF Warrant Officer 1 John Howard Wilson 2024-11-01 Lancaster NN804, Mk.I
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Avro Lancaster
Click to open:
Avro Type 683 Lancaster
| General Characteristics | ||
| Crew: | 7 (typical) | |
| Length: | 69 ft 6 in (21.18 m) | |
| Wingspan: | 102 ft 0 in (31.09 m) | |
| Height: | 20 ft 6 in (6.25 m) | |
| Wing area: | 1,300 sq ft (120 m2) | |
| Aerofoil: | Root: NACA 23018. Tip: NACA 23012 | |
| Empty weight: | 36,900 lb (16,738 kg) | |
| Max takeoff weight: | 72,000 lb (32,657 kg) | |
| Fuel capacity: | 2,154 imp gal (9,792 L) | |
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| Powerplants: | Lancaster Mk.I, III, VI, VII & X:
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| Propellers: | Lancaster Mk.I, III, VI, VII & X:
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| Maximum speed: |
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| Armament: | ||
| Standard: |
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| Alternative/additional: |
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| Bomb loads: | Typical:
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| Communication and navigation equipment: |
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Ventral Turrets
As originally designed the Lancaster was provided with ventral defence in the form of a Nash and Thompson FN64 turret, which was fitted to some early production aircraft. However, in common with all other periscope sighted ventral turrets, the narrow viewing angle made it almost impossible for gunners to acquire and track targets, and the few turrets which were installed were soon removed from service.
The ventral .50 inch (50 calib) was approved as Lanc Mod.925 during February 1944, and was one of a number of unsuccessful measures taken to counter night fighter attacks from below.
The growth of the Luftwaffe night fighter force was followed by an increase in the in the number of attacks from below, exacerbated from August 1943 onward by the introduction of aircraft equipped with Schrage Musik upward firing 20mm cannon. A number of responses were considered by Bomber Command including a free mounted ventral .50 calibre Browning machine gun, which was approved on the Lancaster as Modification 925 during February 1944.
The modification was very basic, consisting of little more than an enlarged bicycle seat for the gunner and a simple free mounted gun with open sights which fired through the ventral turret/H2S aperture. On aircraft with bulged bomb doors the mounting (often unpainted) was incorporated into the fairing at the rear of the doors.
Non-H2S fitted aircraft were sporadically equipped with the gun from February 1944 onward, although a clear plan for installation appears to have been lacking. The quantity of aircraft which actually had the gun installed is unknown and photos of the mounting with a Browning actually installed are very rare.
Serious problems quickly became apparent, as noted in the following V Group monthly newsletter for April 1944:- "With the gunner strapped in his seat it is difficult to follow the gun round on the beam; it is difficult for the gunner to get his head down behind the sight as it tends to push the oxygen mask upwards on the gunners face; and also considerable vibration is experienced on the sight when the gun is fired."
These problems, plus the gradually more widespread introduction of H2S saw the gun fall out of use quite quickly, although it does appear to have been retained on some aircraft until war's end (most notably in 3 Group).
The quantity of aircraft which actually had the gun installed is unknown and photos of the mounting with a Browning actually installed are very rare.
Notice on these aircraft the extra position in the eight person crew of Mid-Under-Gunner.