I'm very glad he survived, and that he was able to share a long life with you. You have my condolences, and though of course I did not know him, your father has my utmost respect and gratitude for his service. May we never forget the selflessness and heroism of those men.
I'm proud to say my Dad won the DFC for piloting Lancs on a tour from Wickenby. He died ten years ago aged 94. Like that generation, he didn't speak about his experiences unless asked, and then was only matter-of-fact and unemotional. A class apart, as were all the men who served.
My father was on a Lancaster Pathfinder during the war; THE most dangerous duty of all. They could always count on the Lancaster to bring them home. His crew made more than 60 flights over occupied Europe; compare that to the 25 flights that U.S. bomber crews had to survive before being able to rotate home. Dad died in 1998. R.I.P. Wilfred G. Young, D.F.C.
My one uncle, was a flt .did 25 ops with 630 sq ( east kirby ) 👍up for the Lancaster. Not build for comfort .build too carry a lot of bombs. It is sad that over 55,573 young air men didn't make it
@@SiusaidhMac hello sir, i was so lucking to visit the airborne museum in Nanton Albera Canada, and i see the second Lanc, in the world how still flicht, greets from Europ
@@shawndarling5855 if you Yanks weren't so stupid and dumb and didn't stuff up nearly every campaign you were involved in, the war would have ended a long time before it did, and also, they didn't get aluminium (that's how it is properly spelt) and steel from the US, they got other (usually inferior) equipment for which they were ripped off royally. The Yanks couldn't hit within miles of a bombing target during the day (they were too scared and incompetent to fly at night) yet the Poms did very well at hitting targets at night.
A magnificent aircraft and nice to fly according to my Dad. He was a pilot with 61Sqn., flying his first tour of operations on Hampdens and the second on Lancs., plus Manchesters with 106 Sqn. and other bombers on training units (inc. the first two 1000 bomber raids in a Wellington bomber in 1942 with 25 O.T.U.). He was a determined chap who just wanted to do his job efficiently. I gather that he was a meticulous and lucky pilot who lost no crew during the war, nor passengers in his long career with B.O.A.C. afterwards, finishing on Jumbo Jets. War is always a regretful affair, but I salute every young man who did their bit in whatever branch of the services. I am very proud of you all!
well Pete, can you pls extend my thanks to your Dad for his service. although he'd not hear of it and tell me he was just doing his job!! i'm assuming he's still alive of course. if he isn't then I still extend my thanks to him, belatedly. you must be very proud of him. your comment is just lovely.
I knew a Colonel Preston from South Africa 🇿🇦 playing golf, it was towards the evening when the bombers passed. He said it was the most impressive sight his ever seen.
One of the gifts I received one xmas, was a Tamiya 1/35 scale model of the Lancaster, it took me most of the winter to paint and assemble it, and what made me the happiest, was the fact that my dad, adored the finished results! Such an outstanding plane!
Ned When I was in the Service in the 1960s I met WWII fighter pilots as Group Captains on their way to the top, and good luck to them, but WWII bomber pilots languishing as Flight Lieutenants in ground jobs in order to serve political expediency. Sheer hypocrisy! 😡
@bobagopaaa Get over it; or perhaps you'd like a (long) list of the atrocities Nazi Germany were responsible for? ....Just to even things up a bit. After all Dresden was way worse than the holocaust and ethnic cleansing, right? Not to mention the torture and human experiments.
May the Great Spirit bless the brave crews who flew the Lancasters in WWII. For your father, David, may he rest in the sky knowing he did his best. By the way, I am in American and my dad served in the Marine Corp fighting the Japanese. He admired Winston Churchill greatly.
Beautifully filmed with wonderful soundtrack. Thank you so much. Here's to the brave young men who flew in them and to the many who were lost flying them. We remember them.
During National Service I managed passenger trips in the Avro York. That wonderful roar of Merlins and those flaming exhausts conspicuous during night tests. Alas , a beacon for German nightfighters.
The BBMF get about approx. 15 landings out of those tyres...You know a fellow aviation enthusiast from the US once said to me that he thought that the 'Lanc' was the ugliest aircraft he'd ever seen from WW2...and yet for me it not only smacks of Brit...but wiith that undershot jaw rammed full of class and breeding...4 Rolls Royce Merlins humming a major G chord...Its as beautiful 50 years on from when I made my first Lanc Airfix kit with Roy Cross' famous artwork on the box...to this day...Never tired of it!
My uncle Fred was a rear gunner in a Lancaster. Also did some ops as a rear gunner & waist gunner in flying fortresses. Did 27 ops and survived the war, many a time he came back with one engine out. Amazing aircraft.
what a beautiful iconic aircraft, lest we forget. my friends grandfather died in the first dawn raid in a Lancaster that was part of the dam busters whilst my grandad stormed the beach in his gmc m10 American tank and onwards to Greece and then Africa, he used to feed me kippers as a young child. if I was a millionaire I would buy a Lancaster or spitfire or both instead of a private jet any day
I worked at the Woodford Aerodrome (home of the Avro Lancaster, Vulcan bomber, Nimrod, along with several civil programmes) for 15 years. Back in the day, they were churning out x10 Avro Lancasters every week. Sadly the whole site was demolished in 2015, after the site was closed in 2011, after 87 years of aviation history. I remember delivering the 1st Lufthansa RJ146 (RJ85) Regional Jet in October 1994, when the airline acceptance team ( as a light hearted joke) presented a photograph to the BAE team, taken by a Luftwaffe reconasance aircraft over the Woodford site in 1943. So the Germans new where the factory was, despite it being camouflaged, but perhaps didn't appreciate its significance! When I left Woodford in 2003, there were still traces of the original camouflage paint on the brickwork of the main hanger. Happy days...
Great video, thank you for sharing. I've sat in the only other flying Lancaster in the world, VR-A, owned and flown by the Canadian War Plane Heriitage Museum in Hamilton in Canada. Such beautiful planes.
Well fleuger99--you top my experience. But in 2014, during my visit to Canada, I was standing under 'Vera' at Hamilton museum, and talked to some of the crew about it's up-coming trip to Britain that year. Those guys were extremely friendly and answered all our questions. It was a great and successful visit to the UK.
fleuger99 i remember clambering around inside one at the Hendon aerodrome museum in the early 70's as a little boy. Sadly it was grounded, the years, oft repaired battle damage and fatigue had it closed off to onboard tours in the mid eighties 😟
Philip Croft i was so busy moving countries that I never knew it came! I'd have been ringside like a shot! Where was it? Duxford? Missed opportunity to finally see one take to the skies and revel in the prop roar
I've seen both Lancaster's flying together at Eastbourne, the sound of those eight engines together is amazing. British and Canadian air crews top Mark's.
When I was a boy I would draw all the WW2 aircraft. No video games, internet, cable TV or money... but books at the library were accessible. Zero's and B-17s were my favorites to draw. Always thought this was an interesting plane. I wonder if young people still draw military aircraft for fun.
I was obsessed as a child with WW2 aircraft. My late father was a veteran & loved flying, although he was in anti aircraft unit. I bought a scale model of the Avro Lancaster some 48 or so years ago after seeing G for George in the Canberra War Memorial. Mind you it now looks like it’s done 60 sorties over Europe. But to all our men, those men who gave their young lives so selflessly rest in peace. Lest We Forget
One of these beauties went over low over my house years ago and it is still the most noise i have ever experienced.. items on my kitchen table were vibrating.. I can't imagine what hundreds of them would sount like.. I'm thinking loud...
I seldom shed tears at YT videos; I'll make an exception here. Thank you to the great Dutch people, who along with the Poles and Czechs, were our greatest allies in WW2. They acknowledge the tens of thousands of young lives we sacrificed (together) in helping to liberate Europe. Our losses were particularly severe, but bravely and relentlessly given. Would that the denizens of Brussels today recognized that. My own uncle died over Peenemünde piloting a Short Stirling, a predecessor design in a way to the brilliant Lanc. My late father in law was lucky to survive his 3 years in Wellingtons as FOff, and spent the years after the war helping Germany recover, as a fluent speaker, with the Control Commission in Hamburg.
@@frankderryberry1412 Yep, and not mentioning our commonwealth cousins either. , I think I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, and assume he was reffering to Europeans ,whose country had been invaded, and these brave guys who escaped, and joined in the fight.
Am I the only person that gets a tingling sensation down the spine whenever I hear the sound of these magnificent machines. Same with the Spitfire and Hurricanes whenever they flypast at airshows. I was born 8 years after WW2 but there is just something about that sound! Maybe there's something in reincarnation after all :)
My local airport was frequented by Avro 'Yorks' (the freight/passenger planes that used the Lancaster wings and tail ) until the early '60s. One non-flying 'York' has been preserved. The 'KC-A' markings on the BBMF 'Lancaster' in this clip were carried by a 617 Squadron machine 'DV 385' which was with the squadron from late 1943. One of its 50 missions was to bomb the battleship "Tirpitz".
Very emotional to watch a great bomber my brother Sgt Gilbert Herbert McDonald Batten was a flight engineer and co-Pilot and was many of the young boys who lost their life's when bombing Leipzig to defend. Our great country God bless them all Clive Batten
A sound that triggers a smile, that smile starts off as a fluttering in the stomach and gathers momentum until the the hairs on your neck rise and a wide grin sweeps across you face....Ahh...Merlins :)
just imagine those young lads of years ago flying this truly handsome aircraft. although it was a bringer of death and destruction, no-one can deny its a damned fine looking plane. there are stories aplenty of those young brave pilots actually barrel rolling these planes in evasive manoeuvres, even doing so in fun at times. this Lancaster is proper mollycoddled compared to how they used to be flown back in wartime, but we have to remember that they weren't designed to last forever and the lifespan of men and machines was very short. little wonder they lived life to the full when they could.
Average flight hours for a Lancaster to destruction by various causes [ mostly Luftwaffe [ was 85 hrs.. Aircrew in Bomber command was most dangerous rank in any service !
It's always an emotional feeling I get just hearing the engines even tho I wasn't born but both my folks were kids during the blitz and my dad has Barnes Wallace's autograph I've seen it. I hope I find that again in all his stuff. 617 Sqd Scampton Lincs. I met an Actual crew member of the Dambusters hitch hiking from Barnstable to Bude but never got his name, Always has bugged me !!! It was what it was and they did it & if we were in that time we all would of done the same but Yes Less we Forget their Sacrifice. Rolls Royce Engines won the Air War. What a plane the Avro Lancaster R.I.P. All Crews Lost.
Lest we forget their own sacrifices they were all brave , god bless them . A poignant and beautiful sight and sound of the LANCASTER. ♥️🙏♥️🙏 THE CITY OF LINCOLN RAF SCAMPTON March 2020
A retired German soldier being interviewed on a documentary on the Dam busters quoted the most terrifying sight he ever saw was seeing a Lancaster come out of the mist at low level and at the same time said he thought it was the most beautiful aircraft he ever saw
The work of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) is one of the great untold stories of WW2. Women made up about one-eighth of the total ranks of the ATA, which delivered over 300,000 new aircraft to the airfields to which they were assigned. It was not a safe job. During the course of the war, 174 men and women would perish performing this task.
There she goes my lovely.. I just love the Lancaster...... And my greatest respect for the men and that lady who flew the Lancaster . R.I.P. To all the brave heroes all..
We used to hear ‘Vera’ roar over the house overhead when we lived in Burlington, Ontario. You’ll never get tired of the sound of those 4 Merlin engines. What a thrill it was.
i HAVE A VINYL lP OF WARTIME PLANES( BOTH SIDES) TAKING OFF AND FLY PASTS. BUT MY FAVE IS A 1000 BOMBER NIGHT RAID, FLYING OVE NORFOLK (EASTWARDS--OF COURSE) AND WITH THIS AMAZING THUNDEROUS BOOM, IS THE SOUND OF HEDGEROW BIRDS SINGING ALLONG. WHAT A CONTRAST.
My father ( Ted Hall) was also in bomber command during WWII. Flying as a flight engineer. I remember the day when everyone stood to watch all the squadron fly off - mum said the squadron was finishing and the planes were all flying away. It was a long time before I understood the reason they never came back. Those wonderful old birds were scrapped. I still remember the sound of that flight.
The Lancaster Creates An Unforgettable And Melodic Harmony When It Is Taking Off, Just Listening to those 4 merlins slowly glide past you creates a beautiful tune, a tune of Victory.
Having been born in 1942, 44 and 46 my brothers and I used to see them regularly flying over Bessacarr, then a small outskirt of Doncaster, on their way to landing at RAF Finningley, 4 miles away as the Lancaster flies, quite a bit further by bicycle. This was long before the Vulcans took over its mile long runway and at least a century before it got christened with Robin Hood Airport. I remember from one airshow there leaning at 45º into the wind from the propellers behind a Lancaster parked there, but poised to trundle off.
Thank you Mr. Soeberg ! Amazing camera and sound work . We here in Southern Ontario, Canada have the only other flying Lanc in the world. And about two times a month I get to see and hear her fly over my apartment in the summer. But not as good as your vid !
The two flying Lancasters were briefly reunited recently - here's a link, if you haven't already seen it: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-60jRgKbuKi8.html
The efforts of Bomber Command and then the USAAF was to keep 1 million Germans busy in defending their sir space. As for hitting their targets 90% of the bombs dropped made craters in a cow pasture, The RAF in 1942 presented to Churchill a analysis of the effectiveness [ or total lack ] of bombing campaign into Germany , Thousands of aircrew killed for no effect on German war production . He ordered the report buried not to see light of day for years . Destruction of cities was the next target which as bomber Harris called de-housing factory workers . That was succsesful as accuracy was not important . Not until the P51 Mustang arrived with range to escort USAAF in and out of germany was precision bombing campaign " successful ".. In retrospect a huge cost of aircrew for the impact on German war production. The real victims were German civilians , As General Foch commented on leaving the railcar where german surrender was arranged at end of WW! , ""This is not an armistice but a cessation of hostilities for 20 yrs ! "" The sons of soldiers who survived WW1 would do it all over again . This time without poison gas but with better aircraft.
I talked to a Pathfinder Vet of 109 sqn. He told me how when on holiday in Holland the hotelier found out he war time past. He walked round the counter and took his hand and spoke... "When you flew over at night, my parents pointed up and said, overhead fly free men. Safe journey. May the day of our freedom come soon". May peace in Europe last forever.
Duggie - I used to work with an old timer, who first flew bombing ops in Lancasters, and then flew unarmed Mosquitoes on Pathfinder operations - he always felt safer in the Mosquito. Even a pair of Me262s couldn't nail him, nor indeed any of their specialist night-fighters. As a very young lad in Singapore in the early 1950s, I saw operational late marque Spitfires and Mosquitoes, and the follow on to the Lancaster, the Lincoln, bomb and arm up at RAF Changi, in preparation to go 'up country'/the Malayan jungle, and attempt to bag a few Communist insurgents. All those Merlins.
I wonder who that was. My late father was a pilot on 109 Sqn Mosquito Pathfinders based at RAF Marham and RAF Little Staughton in 1943-44. I have his log books and medals; he flew 129 operations. Not many survived that number of incursions over enemy held territory.
My dad would hear these fly over in the war, thousand bomber raids, USAAF in the day time, and Germany flying to Britain, all while he spent the war as a child in Eindhoven.
From one of these Lancasters my friend Philip, member of the SOE, was parachuted over the occupied France during WWII. The funny thing is that while in the flight he was sleeping and was awakened minutes before the jump by an attendant with a cup of tea, saying: "Sir, be ready soon"
My Dad was also a pathfinder navigator who flew 72 missions never spoke much about it but I am so proud of him - he died at 94 a few years ago R.I.P. Alex Archibald Stuart
All the men in my family who served in WW2 were by coincidence and chance, navigators. They all at some point served in Lancasters in the RAAF. One ended up in Mosquitoes and later flew in the pacific in Hudsons, one flew a liberator and earlier a halifax. All loved this aircraft. Felt safe in it despite the dreadful losses. hard to imagine today when air war is so one sided, the western air forces with complete air superiority in recent conflicts. But the idea of flying these things deep into enemy territory for hours on end, attacked by everything and continuing doggedly onto target. Unbelievable really.
Quick question... as a yank, I'm curious about the landing gears. They seem huge compared to a B 17 or other US counterparts. Was that intentional to handle grass runways or just how they're made? A beautiful bird.
I was just reading about the Development of the Short Stirling which had even longer landing gear. The first Stirling prototypes had a very long take off run and the Air Ministry said it had to be shorter. There were 2 possible solutions. Raise the wing to increase the angle of attack or redesign the whole wing. Obviously raising it would be much easier so they went with that. If you look at the Stirling it is even higher than the Lancaster. Considering that the Lancaster is essentially a modification of the previous Manchester design, the original Lancasters were actually called Manchester mk 3, they simply modified the landing gear of the Manchester to suit the newer design.
OF COURSE, I INCLUDED ALL, THOSE WHO FLEW UNDER R.A.F BOMBER COMMAND, I GAVE A FIGURE, I DIDN'T ALLOCATE NUMBER'S TO NATIONALITIES.- THIS LANCASTER BOMBER, REPRESENTS ALL THOSE BRAVE MEN, INCLUDING MY 22 YEAR OLD HALF BROTHER, WHO DIED ON THE LAST BOMBING RAID OF WW2 OVER GERMANY, 5 DAYS FROM WARS END. WITH THE IMMINENT OFFICIAL OPENING, OF THE NEW BOMBER COMMAND LINCOLN MEMORIAL , ALL THOSE NAMES ARE ENGRAVED ON IT. THE LATEST OFFICIAL FIGURES FOR LOSSES, IS NOW OVER 58,000.
No one will , or ever should, forget the American contribution, there are many impressive memorial's to them in Britain. If this was a video of a B17 etc, landing in Europe, I would have made a similar and respectful comment too.
Have you seen the next visit of the Lancaster in 2016? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Fd5FrPl33rI.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3l6V2C1tR8Y.html
Iconic is a much overused word these days, but it can really be used to describe the Lancaster. My mother was in the WAAF and father in the RAF at Lancaster squadrons in Licolnshire during the war. So wonderful planes like this can still fly and a shame that ones like the Vulcan can't because they are way beyond the air hours allowed.
I live literally a mile away from a factory in Chadderton, Oldham, England where i believe more than half the Lancasters built were built there, didnt know that until not long ago either...
