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80th Anniversary of the Maiden Flight of the Avro Lancaster

(On 9th January 1941 the prototype of the Avro Lancaster flew it’s maiden flight. To mark the 80th anniversary here is a piece I wrote for the producers of ‘The Lancaster: Britain’s Flying Past’, when they were in the process of devising the programme, trying to describe what the Lancaster represents.)

The Lancaster Bomber

The Avro Lancaster is a weapon, of war, designed and developed to deliver explosive to a designated target. That is its prime purpose. During the Second World War thousands of young men perished in the wreckage of fallen Lancasters. Tens of thousands died as a result of its prime function.

But it has come to represent so much more.

The comfort, indeed the safety, of the crew was secondary. So why does the Lancaster, when it is on display at air shows, at museums, on television, evoke such fond memories and sentiment in veterans – a sentiment that has been adopted by the general British public.

The Lancaster represents the circumstance in which lifelong friendships were made – the crew bond – forged through interdependency on each others skills in the face of extreme danger. And by the very nature of the fact that they are veterans, the Lancaster, which had taken them to war, also brought them home from war.

The Lancaster is a symbol of defiance, against an evil regime that threatened to engulf the world in a second dark age. Merged with this defiance, it represented hope. The hope to be free again. In the territories occupied by the Nazi’s, the oppressed population could hear by night, and, in the latter stages of the war, see during the day, that someone was confronting, and taking the war back to, the aggressor. It is a symbol of liberation – the delivery of food to a starving Dutch population, and the bringing home, to their families, the prisoners of war.

The story of those who flew the Lancaster is one of extraordinary airmanship and bravery, confronting and overcoming, or succumbing, to fear. It is the backdrop to the memory of lost friendships and past romance. It is certainly a tale of design ingenuity and manufacturing efficiency, but the Lancaster becomes iconic because it represents the context in which the human spirit was tested against a maelstrom of conflict and brutality.

Steve Darlow

(The photograph features the 7 Squadron Avro Lancaster crew of pilot Alan Grant, whose story I told in the book ‘D-Day Bombers’.)

Published inBomber CommandGeneral

3 Comments

  1. David M. Kelley David M. Kelley

    Hi Steve, you probably won’t remember me, we met at the St Ives Veterans day in 2019, I was wearing my Irvin Jacket, and had come after working with, The Stirling Aircraft Project on Alconbury airfield, however, what I wanted to say is, Jan Stangryciuk / Black is a personal hero of mine, he always gives me a bug hug when I see him; is there any possibility of getting his story in a book? I know he has done video interviews, and he is the last Polish Guinea Pig, but his story really needs to be told and preserved in a book, doesn’t it?

    • admin admin

      Hi David. Alas I am not aware that Jan is going to be appearing in a book, and I don’t have any plans at the moment – this year is going to be have to be a recovery year, and I don’t have any plans for new books. However did interview Jan for the forthcoming ‘Lancaster’ documentary, capturing his story. Hopefully the documentary will be out later this year. All the best. Steve

  2. Steve , it’s a pleasure to be connected to you on Facebook. I am a USAF/ USAAF/USAAC/AEF historian. I live 50 miles west of Chicago. I’m looking forward to viewing your documentaries.

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