AVRO LANCASTERS
NICKNAMED THE THUNDERBIRDS, 426 SQUADRON WAS THE FIRST RCAF LANCASTER UNIT IN THE EUROPEAN THEATRE AND FLEW THE TYPE THROUGH THE BATTLE OF BERLIN, AS ANDREW THOMAS RECOUNTS.
The Royal Canadian Air Force made a huge contribution to the Bomber Command campaign against Germany in World War Two. In fact, from January 1943 it fielded an entire bomber group, the Yorkshire-based 6 (RCAF) Group flying Halifax and Wellington aircraft. One of the units flying the latter was 426 Squadron based at Dishforth under Wg Cdr Les Crooks. It had been operational in the UK since mid-January 1943, but after a mining mission on June 16 it temporarily stood down to move a little way south to Linton-on-Ouse prior to re-equipment.
The unit had been selected to become the first RCAF squadron to receive the Lancaster and crews had been training with 1679 Conversion Unit at East Moor, near York. Its new mount was the Lancaster II, a bomber powered by Bristol Hercules radial engines. This variant had been developed as insurance against any disruption to the supply of Merlin engines, though in the event this never materialised.
Built by Armstrong Whitworth and with only 301 examples produced, it first entered servic…
