AVRO LANCASTER The Lancaster had a crew of seven or eight, with a maximum speed of 287 mph (Mks I,lll, and X). Maximum range of 2,500 miles and a ceiling of 22,000 feet. ARMAMENT. two .303 browning machine guns in  nose turret, dorsal turret,  and four tail turret. or two .50mm in tail turret. payload of 18,000 lb of bombs, one 12,000 lb or 22,000 lb bomb if modified. DIMENSIONS. span 102 ft. length 69ft 4inches. and height 20ft. 6inches. The Avro Lancaster arose from the avro Manchester and the first prototype Lancaster was a converted Manchester with four engines, The Lancaster was first flown in January 1941,  and started operations in march 1942,  By March 1945 The Royal Air Force had 56 Squadrons of Lancasters  with the first squadron equipped being the no. 44 squadron. MAJOR EVENTS Dambuster Raid on the Mohne and Eder dams,   The Sinking of the Tirpitz,  Bombing and destruction of German Rocket  research station at Peenemunde. A Total of 7,378 Avro Lancasters were built and flew after world war two with  The Royal Canadian Air Force, French Air force, and Argentinian Air Force  Chadwicks Masterpiece by Ivan Berryman  When Roy Chadwick first drew the Avro 679 Manchester bomber for the RAF, he could little have known that from this rather lacklustre machine would evolve the classic 683 Lancaster. This painting is not a record of any single event in the Lancaster's illustrious history, rather a portrait of a fine aeroplane and a tribute to the many crews who flew and serviced them. Heading into Darkness by Adrian Rigby Lancasters of 619 Squadron forming up over the Lincolnshire coast and gaining altitude after leaving their base in Coningsby. Signatories: Sqn Ldr Tony Clifford Iveson DFC AE RAF. 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.   n 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.  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. Return of the Dambuster by Keith Woodcock A tribute to Flt Lt Mike Chatterton, pilot of Lancaster PA474 with the Battle of Britain flight 1988-1977, as he flies over the Derwent Dam in Derbyshire, recreating the training flights of the famous 617 'Dambuster' squadron in 1943 prior to their epic mission.

Lancasters 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.