Lancaster at War: 2

Here is a collection of different ex-RAF men recalling the WWII bombing of Germany, with emphasis on repairs and operations.

It provides a holistic look at base support positions and the daily routine, including the food truck driven by a WAAF for tea breaks. They too, served their nation. Each chapter deals with a different function contributing to readiness for a mission.

Starting with unblooded planes, Garbett shows factory scenes, tests, mechanics at work (who rarely got proper credit). It may seem contrary, but the Merlin engine, same as on Spitfires, was ideal for Lancasters. Well known, they would drag their load into the air, then to battle, even give their last during the shooting. At base, the 'erks' would put them right so the ship was ready for ops again. Crews flight test, then, if airworthy, they are fueled and loaded with bombs and ammunition.

And on the other side of the base, crewmen try to down a meal, attend briefing, collect their kit. Trucks deliver them to the waiting Lancs and on time, taxi out for takeoff. Once in the air, they set course for the enemy coast. Then the mission gets interesting….

The Lancaster shares with its contemporary the Spitfire the distinction of having become a legend in its own lifetime. And since the war that legend has continued to grow, fostered by the inevitable nostalgia attending the vanished days of national greatness and the long gone youth of the men who flew and serviced the aircraft. Inevitably too, the legend has its element of myth. The Lancaster was, after all, a weapon of a particularly unpleasant form of warfare. All too often its role was ‘nasty, brutish – and short’. And yet – the legend remains, the stories proliferate and photographs abound.

Lancaster at War was first published in 1971 and has been reprinted ten times. It remains one of the classic books of the air war of World War II and is likely to continue in print for years. Lancaster at War – 2 is a totally new collection of Lancaster stories and photographs; it complements the earlier book, it does not duplicate it. Compiled by Mike Garbett and Brian Goulding over several years, much of its material has been, in many instances, inspired by the readers of the first Lancaster at War. The only change is that this book tends to look rather more closely at the men who flew the Lancaster and the men and women who kept it in the air. It is nonetheless a further expansion of the celebrated Lancaster legend and will delight Lanc veterans, air historians and enthusiasts alike.