Flying Into History

Kent reverberated to the sound of the mighty Merlins this afternoon after an air display by the Battle of Britain Flight: two Lancasters escorted by an element of Spitfires. It is very unlikely that anyone will ever see Lancasters flying in formation ever again.

The Lancaster was arguably the best bomber of WWII, capable of carrying bigger bomb loads further than anything else.

The Lancaster fleet grew to around one thousand aircraft by the end of '44. The night battles with the Luftwaffe over Germany pioneered modern air warfare. Lancasters were equipped with radio navigation, ground following radar, fighter warning radar and electronic countermeasures. The fleet bombed on illuminated flares placed by pathfinder Lancs controlled by an airborne command plane. In the bomber stream were wild-weasel electronic warfare planes to interfere with the Ludtwaffe's night fighter control systems.

Losses were horrendous as the wings were full of petrol. Few crews survived a tour of duty in the night bomber fleets. One was my uncle who flew as navigator in an Australian -crewed Wellington. They even survived being raked by a night fighter's 'jazz music' cannon over Berlin although the navigator's chair was blown out of the plane - fortunately my uncle was passing the pilot a course correction at the time.

The men who crewed this historic aeroplane fought and died so my generation wouldn't have to live in fear of the concentration camp and the gas chamber.

Last look.