Fly Past

WARBIRDS AVRO LANCASTER

62 FLYPAST September 2018

WARBIRDS AVRO LANCASTER

the worst of the impact. After being

labelled a Category B accident, the

airframe was dismantled and placed

in storage.

A suitable replacement Lancaster

Mk.10 centre section was found on

KB895, which had been declared

surplus. It was duly purchased from

a farmer near Penhold, Alberta,

and work to repair FM213 was

undertaken by de Havilland Canada.

The aircraft finally arrived in

Greenwood in August 1953 and

spent most of its career with

No.107 Rescue Unit at Torbay,

Newfoundland, marked as CX213.

Its duties included search and rescue,

intercepting aircraft in distress over

the Atlantic and guiding RCAF

aircraft such as F-86s, CF-100s and

T-33s over the ocean. On three

occasions FM213 also escorted the

Royal Family across the Atlantic.

Retiring from duty on November

6, 1963, it flew to No.6 Repair

Depot at Dunnville, Ontario, with

4,392 hours on the airframe. Bill

Clancy, of the Goderich Royal

Canadian Legion, heard about

the disposals of old airframes and

enquired about purchasing one for

a memorial. Receiving a positive

response from the Minister of

National Defence, the Legion

formed the Lancaster Memorial

Committee and bought FM213

for Can$1,300 (£750). The RCAF

provided a crew and ferried the

Lancaster to Sky Harbour Airport

at Goderich where it was received

by Air-Vice Marshal John Sully on

behalf of the Legion and township.

Two years’ fundraising ensued,

as the committee endeavoured to

create a permanent display at

Sky Harbour. It

had the foresight to

envisage the Lancaster

might eventually

fly again, and

mounted it using

jack points,

minimising

stress to the

airframe. But, as is

almost inevitable with

any aircraft stored outside,

FM213 soon deteriorated and the

money needed to paint and repair it

couldn’t be found.

At this point, the then fledgling

Canadian Warplane Heritage

(CWH) expressed interest in

acquiring the bomber for its

museum and secured ownership

on July 1, 1977. The problem of

transporting such a large exhibit

proved hard to overcome – the

engines were no longer suitable to

fly and dismantling the Lancaster

and moving it by road would

Two years’ fundraising ensued, be expensive.

as the committee endeavoured to

create a permanent display at

envisage the Lancaster

almost inevitable with

any aircraft stored outside,

FM213 soon deteriorated and the

be expensive.

Above

Lancaster FM213 painted

as KB772/VR-R ‘Ropey’,

surely one of Bomber

Command’s most

colourful aircraft.

Right

The BBMF’s Tony

Banfi eld (left) talking to

CWH president Dennis

Bradley (right) and

Lancaster co-pilot Bob

Hill on September

10, 1988.

Right centre

Almost ready – getting

closer to completion in

June 1988.

Below right

BBMF pilot Tony

Banfi eld taxiing FM213

on September 11, 1988

after the fi rst post-

restoration fl ight. This

photo appeared in the

November edition of

‘FlyPast’ that year.