AVRO LANCASTERS|RCAF RCAF|AVRO LANCASTERS
Thunderbirds
T
he Royal Canadian Air Force
made a huge contribution
to the Bomber Command
campaign against Germany
in World War Two. In fact, from
January 1943 it fielded an entire
bomber group, the Yorkshire-based 6
(RCAF) Group flying Halifax and
Wellington aircraft. One ofthe units flying the latter was 426
Squadron based at Dishforth under
Wg Cdr Les Crooks. It had been
operational in the UK since mid-
January 1943, but after a mining
mission on June 16 it temporarily
stood down to move a little way
south to Linton-on-Ouse prior to
re-equipment.The unit had been selected to become
the first RCAF squadron to receive the
Lancaster and crews had been training
with 1679 Conversion Unit at East
Moor, near York. Its new mount was
the Lancaster II, a bomber powered
by Bristol Hercules radial engines.
This variant had been developed as
insurance against any disruption to
the supply of Merlin engines, though
in the event this never materialised.
Built by Armstrong Whitworth
and with only 301
examples produced, it
first enteredNICKNAMED THE THUNDERBIRDS, 426 SQUADRON WAS THE FIRST
RCAF LANCASTER UNIT IN THE EUROPEAN THEATRE AND FLEW THE TYPE
THROUGH THE BATTLE OF BERLIN, AS ANDREW THOMASRECOUNTS.
BELOW
Lancaster II
DS689/OW-S at
Linton-on-Ouse
in September- It was lost
returning from
Stuttgart early on
October 8 on its
seventh operation.
(RCAF/PAC)
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