BELOW RIGHT:
Reg Lane and the
rest of KB700’s
ferry crew, including
poodle puppy
mascot Bambi.
CWHMBELOW:
The newly
completed KB700,
still devoid of
squadron markings
but wearing its Ruhr
Express nose art.
CWHM48 http://www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE SEPTEMBER 2017RUHR EXPRESS
New colours on the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Lancaster salute the fi rst example of the type to be built in Canada, and its wartime record
T
he decision to set up a
Canadian shadow factory for
Avro Lancaster production
was born of necessity. Away
from the attentions of enemy action,
and with aircraft manufacturing
capacity fi t for expansion, Canada
was an ideal place. The subsequent
establishment of an entirely Royal
Canadian Air Force-manned group
within RAF Bomber Command
cemented a link that made a very
meaningful contribution to the Allied
strategic offensive during the latter
half of World War Two.
It was on 18 December 1941 that
a contract was placed with Canada’s
National Steel Car Corporation to
build the Avro machine. The fi rm
would do so at its aircraft plant inThe war diaries of
Malton, Ontario. This facility was
relatively new, and had already been
turning out Westland Lysanders and
Avro Ansons for the RCAF, along
with major sections and components
for several other types. However, it
still required considerable expansion
on what remained a fairly small
company, and one with no experience
of making such a large aeroplane.
Upon the formation in October
1942 of No 6 (RCAF) Group, the
impetus for Canadian Lancaster
production grew. There was
understandably a desire for the
group’s RCAF-manned units to
receive their own Canadian-built
equipment. Lancaster I R5727 had
been ferried across from Britain to
act as a pattern aircraft, but NationalSteel Car was felt to be lagging behind
the government’s desired schedule.
On 4 November 1942, its aviation
department was taken over by the state
as a Crown corporation and given a
new name: Victory Aircraft.
Canada’s fi rst Lancaster provided an
opportunity for a major propaganda
campaign, emphasising the country’s
part in the Allied war effort. The
Packard Merlin-engined, Victory
Aircraft-built derivative was
designated as the Lancaster X, and the
initial example, KB700, was ready in
the summer of 1943. Before taking to
the air, it was given nose art: the name
Ruhr Express in a yellow arrow over a
falling red bomb.
Such was the desire to get Ruhr
Express to the UK and into serviceThe Canadian Warplane Heritage
Museum’s Lancaster cruises above
the clouds in its new, temporary
guise as KB700 Ruhr Express.
DAVID BLAIS/CWHM48-57_AM_LANCASTER_Sept17_cc C.indd 48 31/07/2017 10:54