Avro 683 Lancaster (WO 2): boeken - historie en inzet

The Merlin: The Engine That Won the Second World War

De Rolls-Royce Merlin is een van de beroemdste vliegtuigmotoren in de geschiedenis. Hij dreef belangrijke vliegtuigen uit de Tweede Wereldoorlog aan, zoals de Spitfire en Hurricane, die Groot-Brittannië verdedigden tijdens de Slag om Engeland in 1940. Ook de Lancaster- en Halifax-bommenwerpers, evenals de Mosquito, bekend om zijn precisiebombardementen en verkenningsmissies, waren uitgerust met de Merlin.
Voor de Verenigde Staten werd de Merlin gebruikt in de P-51 Mustang, die B-17- en B-29-bommenwerpers begeleidde tijdens dagaanvallen. De Mustang werd ook ingezet in Noord-Afrika, het Middellandse Zeegebied en de Stille Oceaan. De motor speelde een cruciale rol in de geallieerde overwinning.
De Merlin blijft iconisch en zijn kenmerkende geluid is nog steeds te horen boven Engeland, vooral tijdens demonstraties van de Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Hij was onlangs te zien tijdens de viering van 100 jaar RAF, waar een Lancaster Spitfires en Hurricanes in formatie leidde.
Voormalig piloot Gordon Wilson beschrijft de ontwikkeling en het gebruik van deze motor in oorlogstijd en deelt de ervaringen van vliegtuigbemanningen die erop vertrouwden.

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The Lancaster

The Avro Lancaster took the RAF's bombing campaign right to the heart of Nazi Germany, night after night, despite sometimes suffering appalling losses. The unique airframe, with one continuous long bomb bay and four powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, allowed the Lancaster to carry a variety of bomb loads suited to the target being attacked. There is no doubt that without the Lancaster, RAF Bomber Command's offensive against Germany would not have had the devastating and controversial impact that it achieved.

This book is both the story of the Lancaster and that of its seven-man crews: pilot, bomb aimer/nose gunner, wireless operator, flight engineer, navigator and mid-upper and rear gunners.
Illustrated with over 250 photographs, including several wartime images as well and many in full colour, it is also the history of the four most complete surviving airframes: the only two flying Lancasters in the world (PA474 and FM213) and the two ground-running aircraft (NX611 and FM159).

Lancaster NX611 has been extensively photographed inside and out by Martin Keen, to give a real sense of what it was like to fly in this aircraft.

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Ton-Up Lancs : A Photographic Record of the 35 RAF Lancasters That Each Completed One Hundred Sorties

A welcome reassessment of a study which first appeared under the 'Claims to Fame' series. Since that publication years ago, information and photographs continued to be sent to and researched and collected by the author, so much so that a complete revision was necessary, with a new 100-sortie aircraft added to the list, and with many more photographs of the aircraft and men who flew in these very special Avro Lancs.

Each aircraft's history is recorded, supported by stories from aircrew that flew them, along with what happened to them once - or if - they survived. The most famous is 'Sugar' (W5868), the only one still in existence and which can be seen in the Bomber Command Hall at the RAF Museum, Hendon. She, as with some others, has some controversial accounting regarding the actual number of operations flown, which the book covers in full.

Such controversies can also be explained by the detailed listing of each raid flown by each pilot and crew during 1942-1945, on sorties all over Hitler's Third Reich, Northern Italy, during support missions before and after D-Day, as well as in attacking V1 rocket launcher sites in Northern France.
There are also first-hand accounts of the experience of flying on ops, supported by over 200 photographs reproduced throughout the book, many from personal albums which have not been published before.

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Avro Lancaster (Osprey)

The Avro Lancaster was one of the finest bombers of World War II and became the spearhead of the RAF's strategic bombing campaign over the Third Reich.
Richard Marks draws on extensive research and detailed technical drawings to explore the evolution of this heavy bomber, revealing how its design developments transformed an old airframe from a dangerous liability into one of the most powerful weapons in the RAF arsenal. It demonstrated excellent performance, ruggedness and good handling qualities and it was soon at the fore of all the RAF's bombing campaigns.

This book tells the story of the iconic Lancaster in full, providing a comprehensive account of the design, development and operational history of the aircraft and its evolution into successor aircraft.

Contents: Introduction - Design and Development - Technical Specifications and Variants - Operational History - Conclusion - Bibliography and Further Reading.

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Avro Lancaster - RAF Bomber Command's Heavy Bomber in World War II (Legends of Warfare)

The Avro Lancaster was the Royal Air Force's main four-engine bomber in World War II. Its superb design, overall performance, and load-carrying capacity proved key factors in successfully prosecuting the nocturnal bombing offensive against Hitler's industrial and military base.
With its ability to carry up to 16,000 pounds in explosives and incendiaries, specialist Lancasters could also deliver the 12,000-pound "Tallboy" and 22,000-pound "Grand Slam" bombs, which took out key targets.

The Lancaster was also featured in the classic 1955 British film The Dam Busters, the story of the famed May 1943 low-level bombing raid in Germany's Ruhr River valley.
By the end of the war, upward of sixty squadrons operated the Lancaster, demonstrating clear proof of its preeminent presence within the RAF's offensive.

Part of the Legends of Warfare series.

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Avro Lancaster in Military Service 1945-1964 (Flight Craft)

The Avro Lancaster, such a stalwart of the skies during the Second World War, also enjoyed an interesting and surprisingly colourful post-war career. It is this era that the authors have chosen to focus on by profiling the type across its many variants.
Split into three primary sections, this book offers a concise yet informative history of the Lancaster's post-war operational career (from 1945-1965) charting the course of the various alterations and improvements that occurred during this time and including a selection of contemporary photographs with detailed captions.
A 16-page section features 32 colour illustrations (in profiles, 2-views and 4-views) specially prepared by Mark Gauntlett. The book's final section provides a list and box top illustrations of the plastic model kits produced of the Lancaster in all scales plus reviews and 'how to' construction notes on building a selection of kits in 1/144, 1/72 and 1/48 scales.

As with the other books in the Flight Craft series, whilst published primarily with the scale aircraft modeller in mind, it is hoped that those readers who might perhaps describe themselves as 'occasional' modellers - if indeed they model at all - may also find that this colourful and informative work offers something to provoke their interests too.

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Avro Lancaster, Lincoln and York in post-war RAF service 1945-1950

Never intended to be a further account of the Lancaster's illustrious wartime career so thoroughly examined and documented elsewhere, this book, in words, around 150 photographs and using specially commissioned artwork, conveys something of the Lancaster (and its derivatives), largely overlooked early post-war years of service from 1945 to 1950.

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Bf 110 vs Lancaster - 1942-45 (Osprey)

The RAF introduced the Avro Lancaster in 1942 and used it to spearhead this aerial offensive. In response, the Luftwaffe created an elite nightfighter force based primarily upon the Bf 110.
The Luftwaffe was quick to equip it with airborne radar that allowed it to intercept and destroy Lancasters over Germany. In turn, the RAF adopted countermeasures such as the Monica rearward-looking radar to alert Lancaster crews to the approach of nightfighters.

In May 1943 the Luftwaffe suddenly developed a novel technical and tactical approach to attacking RAF bombers. The new tactic proved amazingly successful, and British bombers could be attacked from below with no warning. For its part, the RAF failed to detect the new German tactic for six crucial months, during which time its Lancaster bombers were almost defenceless against this new threat.
In time, however, the German advantage of surprise was lost and the RAF developed countermeasures to deal with the new threat. The duel between upgraded Bf 110s and Lancasters in the night skies over Germany became increasingly dominated by cutting-edge technology, which would determine the efficacy of strategic bombing.

Contents: Introduction - Chronology - Design and Development - Technical Specifications - The Strategic Situation - The Combatants - Combat - Statistics and Analysis - Aftermath - Bibliography - Index.

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Last of the Lancasters

This riveting and highly intriguing collection of pilot and civilian reminiscences works to commemorate the spirit of the almighty Lancaster bomber. Each chapter is dedicated to a unique individual or group of individuals who took part in its history in some capacity. Be they pilot, civilian, or journalist, each played their own part and their accounts offer a host of fascinating insights.

Episodes featured include the battle for Munich and the Nuremburg and Berlin Raids. Stories of PoWs downed in their Lancasters and captured in enemy territory also feature, communicating a real sense of peril experienced behind enemy lines. Two sections of fascinating black and white photographs supplement and complete this trawl through the history of the Lancaster bomber and the men and women who witnessed its glory days.

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Sinking the Beast : The RAF 1944 Lancaster Raids Against Tirpitz

During the autumn of 1944, three RAF raids - using Avro Lancaster heavy bombers - finally sank the German battleship Tirpitz. Many previous attempts, including the use of midget submarines and raids by carrier-based aircraft, had damaged Tirpitz at her Norwegian hideout. Throughout the war, Tirpitz had become a much feared asset of the Third Reich war machine, almost gaining mythical status.

In mid-1944, No. 5 Group of RAF Bomber Command was assigned the job of finally sinking Tirpitz. The first raid, codenamed Operation Paravane, saw Tirpitz damaged by Russian-based Lancasters where the great ship was heavily damaged.
Subsequently, the battleship was transferred further southwest to Tromsö for repairs, which meant that it came within the range of UK-based bombers.

The last raid proved successful. Each Lancaster carried a 12,000 lbs 'Tallboy' bomb packed with high explosive. The Tallboy, engineered by Barnes Wallis who was responsible for the Dambusters' bouncing bomb, proved highly effective.
Despite heavy flak and tracer fire, the Tirpitz was rocked by violent explosions of an apocalyptic magnitude: windows were broken and houses were rocked off their foundations some three miles away. A stray Tallboy hit the island and silenced all AAA batteries.
The job was done: near misses and a direct hit pulverised the mighty battleship. The Tirpitz capsized and sank, taking her doomed crew with her.

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The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Lancaster Bomber

The Lancaster Bomber led the air offensive in the darkest days of World War II. This book describes how the plane was developed to fit into an entirely new role in warfare, and explains how the Lancaster could take the war to the enemy to devastating effect.

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The Lancaster Story

Here is the unique story of the RAF's Avro Lancaster bomber. Peter R. March covers the Lancaster's genesis, first flight and flight testing; its part in the bomber offensive during the Second World War and how this iconic aircraft lives on in the 21st Century, with a listing of surviving Lancasters and where to see them.
The text is supported by a comprehensive selection of colour and black and white photographs.

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