Lancaster bomber crew numbers free#
Bomber Command, Secret Narrative, March 1943.Īirmen from Commonwealth countries – Canada, Australia, New Zealand – as well as free forces of occupied nations flew on Bomber Command missions, or worked with ground crews. squadrons participated in this raid, contributing a total of 113 aircraft, of which 89 attacked the target and three were reported missing. A squadron that suffered losses of 5% and over on several occasions was assigned to less dangerous missions such as mine-laying in the Bay of Biscay or the North Sea, to give its crews a chance to rest and train.ĮSSEN was attacked a second time in the course of the month on the night of March 12th. Every night, flying crews learned that some of their pals had gone missing: dead, wounded or prisoners in Germany.Īfter each mission, Bomber Command estimated the loss ratio, the percentage of lost aircraft in relation to the total number of aircraft involved. Landing on cluttered airstrips in bad weather conditions was also a risky business. Some would crash at take-off or collide with a friendly plane. Every night, bombers were hit by Flak or shot down by German fighters. With each mission, some aircraft were reported missing. The success of a bombing mission rests on three factors: the capacity to enter enemy territory while withstanding fire from anti-aircraft defences, the accuracy of navigation and target identification, and the quantity and efficiency of the bombs dropped on the target. National Defence Image Library, PL 45597. The Nissen huts with their curved, corrugated iron roofs were used as lodging quarters, August 10th, 1945. Part of the Skipton-on-Swale Air Base facilities, in Yorkshire, where No 424 and No 433 Squadrons were stationed.
Both sides conducted intensive research work to improve radars and counter-measures against enemy technologies all this made the bomber war a form of sophisticated electronic warfare. Germany fought bitterly to defend its territory, using fighters, anti-aircraft artillery and a whole range of detection and scrambling devices. Those air raids deep inside German territory were conducted with large numbers of aircraft, at times more than a thousand bombers flying at high altitude and moving on in successive waves under the cover of the night. To optimize the destructive effects of bombing and reduce casualties, heavier, longer-ranged, four-engine Halifax and Lancaster bombers gradually replaced the earlier twin-engine bombers. National Defence Image Library, RE 74-385.Īllied bombers had to cross Germany’s daunting anti-aircraft defence lines in order to reach their targets, as well as on their way back home. The Operations Room of RCAF No 405 Squadron, in 1941. The RAF soon switched to night bombing as the only way to avoid enemy fighters. Just as the Luftwaffe’s Dorniers 17, Junkers 88 and Heinkel 111 bombers did not stand a chance against the Spitfires, in the same way Bomber Command’s Wellingtons and Hampdens could not escape the Messerschmitts 109 that guarded the Third Reich’s air space. They proved to be almost suicidal, as the bombers were no match for the faster and more manoeuvrable German fighters. It is only after the end of the Battle of Britain that the Allies would, in their turn, assume the offensive and launch bombing raids against Germany. Starting in July 1940, such raids became a reality, as German bombers attacked Britain. The doctrine of strategic bombing resulted from that theory. Pre-emptive, offensive bombing, that would crush the enemy before it can engage in such action, was therefore deemed to be the only way to escape utter destruction. By kind permission of the Pelland family.īetween the two world wars, advances in aeronautics were such that a theory was born, claiming that, with aircraft flying increasingly faster and higher, no country could survive systematic high-explosive and incendiary bomb strikes. Porritt, was killed but the other crewmembers were able to escape the flaming wreck. Halifax “J” of No 432 Squadron crashed at take-off at East Moor, Yorkshire, April 16th, 1945.
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