Fly Past

100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

BOMBERS RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION 57

Above

Lancaster II DS723

‘B-for-Baker’ of

408 Squadron

RCAF. Returning to

Linton-on-Ouse from

a raid on Berlin on

November 27, 1943,

it is believed to have

ditched off Denmark;

all seven on board

perished.

Above

The RAF Museum’s

iconic Lancaster, Mk.I

R5868 is displayed

in the colours of 467

Squadron, Royal

Australian Air Force.

This aircraft achieved

139 operations in

795 fl ying hours

and dropped about

466 tons of bombs.

This Lancaster

was ear-marked

for preservation

in July 1945 and

after many years

as ‘gate guardian’

at Scampton was

installed at Hendon in

March 1972.

RAF MUSEUM

http://www.rafmuseum.org

AVRO LANCASTER

and refused to withdraw.

With the Lancaster’s lengthy

endurance and the experience of

683’s crews, the unit was considered

ideal for patrols over the featureless

desert. So instead of disbanding, two

aircraft were detached to Sharjah.

Operational blockade patrols

continued until early November

when the task was handed on to the

Avro Anson C.19s of 1417 Flight.

The 683 Squadron detachment

returned to Habbaniya on

November 13, 1953 and the unit

disbanded on the 30th. It had fallen

to 683 Squadron to bring to an end

the Lancaster’s illustrious frontline

career.

Air Marshal Sir Brian Reynolds,

Air Officer Commander-in-Chief

of Coastal Command, presided

over an emotional ceremony at St

Mawgan on October 15, 1956.

Fifteen days previously, the last RAF

unit to fly the Lancaster, 1 Maritime

Reconnaissance School, better

known by its original name, the

School of Maritime Reconnaissance

(SMR), had disbanded. Sufficient

Avro Shackletons were becoming

available to take over the training of

patrol crews.

The October 15 gathering marked

the end of the Lancaster’s service

with the RAF which had begun with

44 Squadron in December 1941.

Only one of the breed, Armstrong

Whitworth-built GR.3 RF325, was

on hand at St Mawgan but it made

a spirited display before heading off

for the scrap heap.

squadrons. An accident in May 1943
put it out of action and after repair it
was stored.
On March 3, 1944 L7527 went
to war, albeit briefly, when it
joined 15 Squadron at Mildenhall.
Twenty-three days later, Plt Off T
Marsh, skippered L7527 to Essen in
Germany. The Lancaster is believed
to have exploded near Aachen; all
seven crew perished.
With much of its time spent
in development flying, L7257
had a much longer life than most
Lancasters, clocking just over 353
hours.

FROM CHASTISE
TO GUZZLE
The 22 Lancaster IIIs converted
to carry the ‘bouncing bomb’

• code-named ‘Upkeep’ – were
  given the design ation Avro Type
  464 Provisioning. The term

‘Provisioning’ was designed to make
a very special modification sound
remarkably mundane.
Wg Cdr Guy Gibson DSO
DFC was selected to head a unit
at Scampton for special duties: 617
Squadron was formed on March 23,

1943. ‘Provisioning’ Mk.III ED932
      G-for-George was issued to 617 on
      April 30 and it was this machine
      that Gibson captained during
      Operation ‘Chastise’, the breaching
      of the Möhne and Eder dams on
      May 16/17.
      After the raid, ED932 was recoded
      as V-for-Victor and on February
      7, 1945 it was retired. In August
      1946, it was brought out of storage
      for use in Operation ‘Guzzle’, the
      disposal of the remaining stocks of
      Upkeep weapons in the North Sea.

Dropping these by any aircraft not

equipped with the special cradle in

the bomb bay would have been very

difficult.

While taking part in Guzzle,

ED932 suffered an accident at

Scampton on November 8, 1946.

Damage was assessed as Category

Ac; repair was possible on site, but

was beyond the means of resident

units. The aircraft that led Bomber

Command’s most famous exploit,

its captain being awarded a Victoria

Cross, was casually struck off charge

on July 29, 1947 and scrapped.

LAST OF BREED

In the FlyPast special that celebrated

the 75th anniversary of the

Lancaster’s first bombing raid, on

March 3, 1942, Andrew Thomas

revealed that the last operational use

of the venerable

bomber took

place in the Middle East in 1953.

The camera-equipped Lancaster

PR.1s of 683 Squadron were based

at Habbaniya in central Iraq by May

1952. As well as map-making for the
      Ordnance Survey (OS), intelligence-
      gathering flights were also staged
      in the increasingly unstable region.
      Much of the work of the RAF in
      the Middle East at the time was
      peacekeeping and ‘flying the flag’ and
      683’s large silver Lancasters made for
      an impressive visual presence.
      With much of the OS task
      completed, 683 was scheduled for
      disbandment at the end of July 1952.
      For some years Saudi Arabia had cast
      covetous eyes on the oasis at Buraimi
      in Oman that was thought to have
      oil reserves. At the end of August
      1952, a Saudi party occupied the area