Heavy destruction of German industrial resources was achieved during the Battles of the Ruhr and Hamburg in 1943, but only at the cost of a steadily increasing loss ratio, especially due to Luftwaffe night fighters
British and Commonwealth citizens have a special place in their hearts for the Lancaster bomber, where pride and fondness coexist. These sentiments may be similar to those Americans have for the B-17 Flying Fortress. The evening sight and sound of streams of Lancasters “heading out” toward the heart of the German Reich was the ultimate expression of a war-weary people’s will to see the Nazi military and industrial machine — the source of colossal suffering for so much of the world — battered into oblivion, just as the Spitfire epitomized the Commonwealth’s supreme spirit of defiance in the face of seemingly irresistible defeat.
The Lancaster gave the RAF its first bomber with which to attack Germany.
According to R.S.G. Mackay in his book Lancaster in action, the introduction of H2S in 1943—first to Pathfinder Force aircraft, then to Main Force—led to the Lancaster undergoing its first consistent and noticeable change in shape. The set scanners required a half-pear-shaped fairing because they reached below the rear fuselage. The perspex rear piece was left unpainted to make it easier to see the enclosed identification lights.
H2S was a downward-looking radar set based on a high-power magnetron valve that received echoes more strongly from built-up areas than from flat countryside. The echoes received by the rotating aerial system were displayed on a cathode-ray tube that traced a representation of the countryside below, very nearly a map that could be traced on the cathode-ray tube right through cloud cover.
Heavy destruction of German industrial resources was achieved during the Battles of the Ruhr and Hamburg in 1943, but only at the cost of a constantly rising loss ratio that was principally brought on by Luftwaffe night fighters. An aerial in the shape of an arrow was installed below the rear turret to aid the rear gunner’s sight search. This brand-new system, code-named Monica, was a rearward-looking radar set intended to warn of fighter aircraft at a 45-degree angle.
A notable event during the Battle of Hamburg was the complete paralysis of German night defenses by “Window,” an originally very efficient method of obscuring Luftwaffe radar on the ground and in the air. The defenders’ eyes were covered by the window, and the target was located using H2S. Over 50,000 people were killed, half the city’s structures were destroyed, and nearly a million people were left homeless as a result of the city being the target of four major strikes, 3,095 sorties, and 9,000 tons of explosives. British losses totaled 87 aircraft, or 2.8%, which was far less than the 6% losses that Bomber Command often experienced when assaulting Hamburg.
The window was made of aluminum foil strips that were 1.5 millimeters wide and 30 centimeters long, reinforced with a black paper backing. Lampblack was applied to the silvery side so that the aluminum foil clouds would not be seen in searchlight beams but would still reflect radar waves. The window was first dispersed through any available opening in the aircraft, but within a few weeks, Lancs were equipped with a louvered box structure on the lower starboard side of the nose through which the Window was distributed by either the Flight Engineer or the Bomb Aimer.
By the end of 1943, Bomber Command had made the decision to conduct frequent deep penetration raids, the majority of which were carried out by Lancasters, which were thought to be the only heavy aircraft capable of striking targets with acceptable loss ratios. The choice to equip British bombers with .303 machine guns early in the war put Lancasters at a significant disadvantage when engaged in combat with night fighters armed with cannons.
Unknown to Bomber Command, the Luftwaffe’s Night Fighter division had created devices to home on both H2S and Monica as well as Schrage Musik, an upward-firing armament. During the winter and spring of 1944, this new German weapon severely damaged Lancaster aircraft, culminating in the tragic raid on Nuremberg on March 30, which resulted in the loss of no less than 96 bombers out of an attacking force of 795 aircraft.
Aircrews were instructed to turn off H2S when not in use after Bomber Command learned about the Luftwaffe’s new homing devices. Monica was also taken out of service. The new upward-firing weaponry of the Luftwaffe was not met with any general defensive action by Bomber Command, giving the night fighters complete freedom to employ Schrage Musik. The majority of the ventral turrets on Mk I/III Lancasters had been removed, and starting with LM522, under-turrets had to be moved to make room for H2S equipment.
New defensive turrets were added, and the ones that already existed were improved. Several FN20 rear turrets were equipped with an automatic gun-laying system (A.G.L.T. ), which the 49 Squadron first used in combat operations in late 1944. Wartime distribution was restricted to a few units, including 101, 460, and 635 Squadrons, despite being shown to be relatively successful.
The A.G.L.T. turrets carried .303 guns, whereas the updated FN82 turret bore a pair of .50s. From Rose Rice came to a new .50 armed turret which was less cluttered internally and whose open-ended canopy offered much better escape for the gunner who, unlike his FN20 colleagues, could carry his parachute inside the turret. No similar improvements were made to the nose or upper turrets of Mk I/III aircraft before 1945.
Bomber Command switched from nighttime raids on German industry to daylight attacks on German Ground forces in France as a result of the invasion of Occupied Europe. Colored fins were selectively applied to Lancasters of the 5 Group, which served as the formation leaders of their affiliated units. Similar facilities were used by 1 Group, however, they were confined to 460 Squadron.
The introduction of G-H, a precise blind-bombing aid pioneered in late 1943 on Mk IIs, on 3 Group aircraft during late 1944 was made possible by its full-scale manufacture. Even with a 10/10 cloud cover, G-H enabled incredibly precise assaults. The two parallel yellow bars on the fins of G-H-equipped Lancs during daylight raids served as bombing and formation leaders for non-G-H aircraft. When there were 10/10 clouds, No. 3 Group conducted numerous successful attacks both during the day and at night, using G-H aircraft to provide their own Pathfinder services.
The Lancaster’s dominance within Bomber Command peaked in April 1945, the final month of active combat, when no fewer than 56 Squadrons were outfitted with the model. Nos. 1, 3, and 5 groups were fully equipped with Lancs. Additionally, the No. 8 (PFF) Group, which began operations in August 1942 with mixed Halifax, Wellington, and Lancaster Squadrons, exclusively used the Lanc as the heavy bomber element within its total ranks. Apart from the all-Halifax equipped No. 4 Group only the Canadian No. 6 Group operated both heavies, and even here the Lanc equipped 10 of the 17 Squadrons in the Group.
Photo credit: SAC Jack Welson / Crown Copyright