Avro Lancaster

Heavy bomber · Avro · United Kingdom

Avro Lancaster
ⓘ licence & creditCpl Phil Major ABIPP / OGL v1.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_Britain_Memorial_flight_Avro_Lancaster_(cropped).jpg
Typical crew7
Engines4 × Rolls-Royce Merlin
First flight1941
Number built7,377

Photographs

Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. An RAF officer inspects the hole left by a 22,000-lb deep-penetration 'Grand Slam' bomb which pierced the reinforced concrete roof of the German submarine pens at Rekum, north of Bremen, Germany. This was the result of a daylight raid mounted by 18 Avro Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron RAF on 27 March 1945, in which two direct hits by 'Grand Slams' caused much of the partially-completed roof to collapse.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Wilson (Plt Off) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bremen-Farge,_Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945_CL2607.jpgView source & full licence →
A re-manufactured BFP (Blind Flying Panel) for a W.W.II Lancaster Bomber made by myself and incorporated into my main Instrument Panel. This panel is reproduced in 2024 T3 Al.
ⓘ licence & creditA much better place / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blind_Flying_Panel_(BFP)_from_Instrument_Panel_of_Lancaster_Bomber.jpgView source & full licence →
Badly Damaged Lancaster Is Brought Back Safely After Attack on Mailly De Camp
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Badly_Damaged_Lancaster_Is_Brought_Back_Safely_After_Attack_on_Mailly_De_Camp_CE148.jpgView source & full licence →
A visit to RAF Scampton and the RAF Firefighting Museum on 11th August 2016. Sadly the Museum was forced to vacate Scampton in 2017 and is searching for a permanent home. The base has now closed and the aircraft collection dispersed.
ⓘ licence & creditkitmasterbloke / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avro_Lancaster_replica_%22Hi_Ho,_Hi_Ho!%22_nose_artwork_Scampton_110816.jpgView source & full licence →
Image from the Charles Daniels Photo Collection album "British Aircraft." SOURCE INSTITUTION: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
ⓘ licence & creditSan Diego Air & Space Museum Archives / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avro_Lancaster_I,_RR_Merlin_(15649790289).jpgView source & full licence →
Image from the Charles Daniels Photo Collection album "British Aircraft." SOURCE INSTITUTION: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
ⓘ licence & creditSan Diego Air & Space Museum Archives / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avro_Lancaster_I,_RR_Merlin_(15649790269).jpgView source & full licence →
Colour photograph of Avro Lancaster VN-N, (R5689). Comment : Squadron code VN appears to identify this with No. 50 Squadron RAF.
ⓘ licence & creditguessed to be RAF official photograph / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avro_Lancaster_298.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Ground crews refuelling and bombing up an Avro Lancaster of No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron RAF at Mepal, Cambridgeshire, for a night raid on Krefeld, Germany. The bomb load consists of a 4,000-lb HC 'cookie' and mixed 1,000-lb and 500-lb MC bombs.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Miller (Flt Lt) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avro_Lancaster_-_Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH14680.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Bomber Command King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited three Pathfinder stations on 10 February 1944. Here they are seen talking to ground crew of No 156 Squadron at Warboys, Huntingdonshire, beneath the imposing bulk of one of the squadron's Lancasters protruding from a T2 hangar.
ⓘ licence & creditCrouch F W (Fg Off), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avro_Lancaster_-_RAF_Warboys_-_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Bomber_Command_CH12153.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Bomber Command Mechanics working on the port-outer Merlin engine of a No 75 (New Zealand) Squadron Lancaster at Mepal, Cambridgeshire, 9 February 1945.
ⓘ licence & creditMiller (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avro_Lancaster_-_Mepal_-_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Bomber_Command_CH14681.jpgView source & full licence →
The British Army in North-west Europe 1944-45 Lancaster bombers taxying at Lubeck aerodrome, as they prepare to fly former British POWs back home to Britain, 11 May 1945.
ⓘ licence & creditNo 5 Army Film & Photographic Unit, West (Lt) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avro_Lancaster_-_L%C3%BCbeck_-_British_Army_in_North-west_Europe_1944-45_BU5889.jpgView source & full licence →
Lancasters of 97 Squadron practice low level formation flying in preparation for the Augsburg raid
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force Official Photgrapher / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:97Sqd-Lancasters-low-level-practice_for_Augsburg_raid.jpgView source & full licence →
IWM caption : Photograph looking back over the starboard wing of a Lancaster of No 61 Squadron, Bomber Command, after an attack on U-751 in the Bay of Biscay, 17 July 1942. The U-boat had been attacked and crippled by a Whitley of No 502 Squadron earlier, before being finally sunk by depth charges dropped by the Lancaster.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:61_Squadron_RAF_Lancaster_sinks_U-boat_Jul_1942_IWM_HU_91243.jpgView source & full licence →
AWM caption: HELGOLAND, GERMANY, 1945-04-18. AERIAL VIEW FROM 17,500 FEET. THE AIMING POINT PHOTOGRAPH WAS TAKEN FROM JOHN MUSGROVE'S PLANE (NO.576 SQUADRON RAF). HELGOLAND WAS ATTACKED ON 1945-04-18 BY 955 LANCASTER AND HALIFAX AIRCRAFT. EACH CARRIED 10 X 1,000LB GP BOMBS, 6 X 500LB MC BOMBS, AND 4 X 250LB GP BOMBS.
ⓘ licence & creditRAF / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:576_Squadron_RAF_bombing_Helgoland_Apr_1945_AWM_P00811.027.jpgView source & full licence →
Personnel of No. 419 (Moose) Squadron, RCAF, with an Avro Lancaster B.X aircraft, Middleton St. George, England, 1944
ⓘ licence & creditCC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:419SquadronRCAFwithLancaster1944.jpgView source & full licence →
An Avro Lancaster silhouetted over the Italian port of La Spezia on the night of 13/14 April 1943. Annotated section of a vertical aerial photograph taken during a night raid on the docks at La Spezia, Italy. An Avro Lancaster is silhouetted over the target area as a photoflash bomb (centre right) illuminates the docks below, revealing a 'Littorio' class battleship lying in harbour ('A').
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:An_Avro_Lancaster_silhouetted_over_the_Italian_port_of_La_Spezia_on_the_night_of_13-14_April_1943._C3697.jpgView source & full licence →
A Waaf Armourer Belting Up Ammunition For a Lancaster Bomber
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Waaf_Armourer_Belting_Up_Ammunition_For_a_Lancaster_Bomber_CH12285.jpgView source & full licence →
A No 617 Squadron Lancaster which crashed at Kegostrov in the USSR before the attack on the German battleship Tirpitz during Operation Paravane
ⓘ licence & creditUnidentified member of the Royal Air Force / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_No_617_Squadron_Lancaster_which_crashed_in_the_USSR_during_Operation_Paravane_in_1944.jpgView source & full licence →
"wings For Victory Week" in London, Britain, March 1943. Avro Lancaster B Mark I, 'O for Orange' (L7580 'EM-O') of No 207 Squadron, Royal Air Force, attracts the attention of crowds while on display in Trafalgar Square.
ⓘ licence & creditBridge (P/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%27Wings_For_Victory_Week%27_in_London,_Britain,_March_1943._CH9105.jpgView source & full licence →

About

The Avro Lancaster grew out of failure. When the twin-engined Avro Manchester proved hopelessly unreliable, Roy Chadwick’s design team stretched the airframe to take four Rolls-Royce Merlins, and the result became the most effective heavy bomber Britain fielded in the Second World War. The prototype flew in January 1941 and the type reached Bomber Command squadrons during 1942, quickly becoming the mainstay of the night offensive against Germany.

Its deep, unobstructed bomb bay set it apart: where rivals were limited by partitioned holds, the Lancaster could swallow the largest weapons in the RAF’s armoury, from ordinary high-explosive loads up to the 22,000 lb Grand Slam. Crews of seven flew it on more than 156,000 sorties, dropping in excess of 600,000 tons of bombs. Some 7,377 were built across ten factories. It is remembered above all for the 1943 Dams Raid flown by No. 617 Squadron.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including Avro Lancaster — RAF Museum and Avro Lancaster — Wikipedia. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.

Engines

3D model

3D model: Avro Lancaster by helijah on Sketchfab, licensed CC BY 4.0.

Airframes in this database

SerialCodeSquadronFate
DG358 — — Written off (non-op)
DS836 JI-L 514 Lost on operations
DS840 OW-C 426 Lost on operations
DS852 OW-Q 426 Lost on operations
DV240 PO-D 467 Lost on operations
DV245 SR-S 101 Lost on operations
DV264 SR-L 101 Lost on operations
DV276 SR-R 101 Lost on operations
DV278 BH-A 300 Lost on operations
DV282 BH-P 300 Lost on operations
DV286 BH-C 300 Lost on operations
DV290 SR-X 101 Lost on operations
EB152 — — Written off (non-op)
EB185 — — Written off (non-op)
ED327 BH-R 300 Lost on operations
ED485 GT 156 Lost on operations
ED525 PO 467 Lost on operations
ED529 PO 467 Lost on operations
ED588 VN-G 50 Lost on operations
ED619 GI-T 622 Lost on operations
ED763 KC-Z 617 Survived the war
ED814 BH-N 300 Lost on operations
ED825 AJ-T 617 Survived the war
ED864 AJ-B 617 Lost on operations
ED865 AJ-S 617 Lost on operations
ED886 AJ-O 617 Survived the war
ED887 AJ-A 617 Lost on operations
ED888 PM-M2 103 Scrapped post-war
ED906 AJ-J 617 Survived the war
ED909 AJ-P 617 Survived the war
ED910 AJ-C 617 Lost on operations
ED912 AJ-N 617 Survived the war
ED918 AJ-F 617 Survived the war
ED921 AJ-W 617 Survived the war
ED924 AJ-Y 617 Survived the war
ED925 AJ-M 617 Lost on operations
ED927 AJ-E 617 Lost on operations
ED929 AJ-L 617 Survived the war
ED932 AJ-G 617 Survived the war
ED934 AJ-K 617 Lost on operations
ED936 AJ-H 617 Survived the war
ED937 AJ-Z 617 Lost on operations
EE118 — 156 Lost on operations
EE124 BH-M 300 Lost on operations
EE130 — 617 Lost on operations
EE131 — 617 Survived the war
EE139 BQ-B 550 Survived the war
EE144 AJ-S 617 Lost on operations
EE174 VN-A 50 Lost on operations
EE176 QR-M 61 Survived the war
JA683 BH-S 300 Lost on operations
JA874 — 617 Lost on operations
JA898 — 617 Lost on operations
JB144 — 617 Lost on operations
JB288 LE-H 630 Lost on operations
JB561 BH-B 300 Lost on operations
JB722 MG-Q 7 Lost on operations
KB726 VR-A 419 Lost on operations
L7536 KM-H 44 Lost on operations
L7548 KM-T 44 Lost on operations
L7565 KM-V 44 Lost on operations
L7573 OF-K 97 Lost on operations
L7575 OF-Y 97 Survived the war
LL645 JI-R 514 Lost on operations
LL683 JI-P 514 Lost on operations
LL696 JI-A 514 Lost on operations
LL698 A2-J 514 Lost on operations
LL738 JI-D 514 Lost on operations
LL807 BH-N 300 Lost on operations
LL832 SR-K2 101 Lost on operations
LL855 BH-G 300 Lost on operations
LL857 BH-B 300 Lost on operations
LL861 SR-H 101 Lost on operations
LM172 BH-Q 300 Lost on operations
LM178 BH-U 300 Lost on operations
LM360 QR-O 61 Written off (non-op)
LM376 PO-O 467 Lost on operations
LM394 VN-E 50 Lost on operations
LM463 SR-K 101 Lost on operations
LM486 BH-C 300 Lost on operations
LM487 BH-J 300 Lost on operations
LM488 BH-D 300 Lost on operations
LM632 BH-O 300 Lost on operations
ME323 PH-P 12 Lost on operations
ME618 SR-J 101 Lost on operations
ME624 AS-X 166 Lost on operations
ME638 AS-B 166 Lost on operations
ME664 LE-T 630 Lost on operations
ME669 — 106 Lost on operations
ME686 AS-V 166 Lost on operations
ME744 BH-P 300 Lost on operations
ND337 LE-S 630 Lost on operations
ND361 AR-? 460 Lost on operations
ND406 GT-S 156 Lost on operations
ND433 MG-L 7 Lost on operations
ND458 HW-A 100 Scrapped post-war
ND466 GT-Z 156 Lost on operations
ND476 GT-V 156 Lost on operations
ND492 GT-L 156 Lost on operations
ND562 PH-D 12 Lost on operations
ND646 TL 35 Unknown
ND738 AR-? 460 Lost on operations
ND750 AR-? 460 Lost on operations
ND767 GI-D 622 Lost on operations
ND798 AS-C 166 Lost on operations
ND811 F2-T 635 Lost on operations
NF959 BH-R 300 Lost on operations
NG266 BH-L 300 Lost on operations
NG269 BH-K 300 Written off (non-op)
NG501 BH-U 300 Lost on operations
PA161 BH-X 300 Lost on operations
PA163 BH-M 300 Lost on operations
PA185 BH-W 300 Lost on operations
PA269 BH-U 300 Written off (non-op)
PB171 BH-K 300 Lost on operations
PB252 BH-M 300 Lost on operations
PB371 — — Lost on operations
PB518 HW-P 100 Lost on operations
PB722 BH-J 300 Lost on operations
PB812 AR-Y 460 Written off (non-op)
PB823 BH-T 300 Lost on operations
PB846 BH-K 300 Lost on operations
PB854 BN-I 300 Lost on operations
PD112 — 617 Survived the war
PD257 BH-U 300 Lost on operations
PD377 — 9 Lost on operations
PD383 BH-Z 300 Written off (non-op)
R5488 OF-F 97 Survived the war
R5496 OF-U 97 Survived the war
R5506 KM-P 44 Lost on operations
R5508 KM-B 44 Survived the war
R5510 KM-A 44 Lost on operations
R5513 OF-P 97 Lost on operations
R5537 OF-B 97 Survived the war
R5546 VN-T 50 Lost on operations
R5743 OL-K 83 Lost on operations
R5868 PO-S 467 Survived the war
W4118 ZN-Y 106 Lost on operations
W4232 RC-Y — Written off (non-op)
W4783 AR-G 460 Survived the war
W4904 — — Written off (non-op)
W4964 WS-J 9 Survived the war