Lancaster Bomber 514 Squadron

Alex the pic with you and Taffy and the rear turret is still one of the most classy photos from your stint in the war............thanks

I'll be waiting for the rear gunner accounts

 

yes I especially love the aspect of the rear turret guns. When they are in a standing position thye almost look kike a pair a bag pipes ready to go to battle.

 

Have been working on restoring the rear turret pic with the "Browning" bagpipes. Computer is hi-speed, brain is dial-up. Indulgence please. Alex

 

Alex :

"Browning bagpipes" that is a great name............ in fact I am keeping that one for future use somewhere

 

Yes I have always thought of bagpipes when I saw these, besides there was a Scott on this Lancaster

 

Great pictures Mr Campbell ! I have a few more questions. Did the Anson have a manual gun turret or was it powered ? Did the right hand controls in the Anson fold up or how did the crewman get to the nose of the aircraft ? Looks impossible to do in the picture.

Were you disappointed to be assigned to bombers instead of fighters or were you happy to just fly ?

 

TA I'm sure the turrets were manual and not many were functional as we removed them and faired over the opening on their arrival from Britain. This increased the speed and lowered fuel consumption. I know the undercarriage was manual. While employed there we could scrounge the odd "flip" and after take-off we were allowed to wind up the undercart with over 100 turns of the crank. Lowering was slightly easier.
It seems to me the rudder pedal support arms could be disengaged and pivoted up in a stowage position and there was enough room between the throttle quadrant and control column for a body to squirm down to the bomb aimers' position.
Yes most aircrew envisioned themselves as fighter pilots. But in all trades the rapid pace and challenges of the schedule kept our minds occupied with little time for brooding. I'm sure I got my share of excitement. You are observant TA. Alex

 

Here is the "bagpipe" picture on behalf of Alex Campbell

 

Just think how cold and cramped it was to be back there with no glass to protect you from the cold and wet. Not to mention how exposed you would feel when the an Me-110 shows up with it's cannon. On the other hand I am sure the view while in flight was breath taking !

 

Thanks Skipper for the posting. The Brownings, we were told, had a firing rate of some 20 rounds per second. I think in reality more like 12 rps. In the pilots armament course I had to dismantle and reassemble a .303 to firing condition. We were given ample time but the gunners had to accomplish this in darkness (or blindfold). All in all they were a good and reliable weapon with no more than expected number of stopages due to extreme cold and thickening lube etc. The frequency of tracer shells was every third for daytime and probably 7 or 10 for night. However they came out so fast it looked like an endless stream. Hope to come up with a bit on the Me 109 and their tactics. Alex

 

I read that some rear gunners actually kind of liked the intense cold to keep them away because their position was essential for spotting dangers.

 

Hello All:

Can't believe I didn't click on this amazing thread sooner - this is the internet at its very best.

Earlier in the thread a Mosquito crash on 6 January 1944 was mentioned. The 464 Squadron ORB, which is available online at National Archives of Australia, states that the crew were F/Sgt Kenneth Royce Russell and W/O Ernest Roy Lumsdaine. Royce was a New Zealander, Lumsdaine an Aussie.

Some mention has been made of the Lost Bombers website. If it hasn't been noted before, the names of the Giffin crew are listed there:

Lost Bombers - World War II Lost Bombers

Also, I should mention, if you're not already aware, that a Lancaster bomber is under restoration at the Toronto Aerospace Museum, on the site of the old de Havilland Canada plant at the former Downsview airport. Their website is here:

FM104 Home Page, Toronto's Lancaster Bomber

This is the aircraft which stood for many years in front of the Canadian National Exhibition site near the waterfront. When I was at the museum, they mentioned that a number of aircrew veterans are among their regular visitors.

Thanks again for this wonderful discussion.

 

Mhuxt , your links and comments are very welcome. The Campbells will apreciate this help too. Glad you like this great discussion.

 

Yes Mhuxt, Glad you clicked on this thread. I'm learning more and more all the time, thanks for your research and input. E A Campbell

 

The subject of wingloading has likely been a decisive factor on many occasions. The outcome of the following duel with an Me 109 may well have been influenced in that way.
After the startling command "Fighter Port Go!" the rear gunner immediately added " Tighten the turn skipper- tighten." "More skipper- more"- "Tighter"
I had no time to wonder why I should not continue with the corkscrew nor was it my place to do other than follow the instructions of the gunners. The calls increased in urgency as the "G" forces pulled the cheeks away from the eyeballs. Suddenly my arm slammed down onto my knee and I just could not seem to raise my hand back up to the control wheel. After two full revolutions I heard "He's broken away skipper" and was able to restore more normal flight conditions without losing attitude control.
Sorry Erich and Skipper I cannot pinpoint this incident. I wonder if our inverted flight episode with the simultaneous attacks had any relation, (I guess not) . We had no knowledge then of any structural deficiencies of the fighters. The see saw batle was endless such as the Spitfires" inability to dive away fast enough to avoid the German fighters.
That's enough for now. Cheers Alex Campbell

 

Some news about Freteval: Peloquin (usaaf) who was there with you wrote his story in a Canadian Magazine called "Canadian Weekend Magazine". The name of the Article is "Forest of Hidden Men". Unfortunately I don't know whether Peloquin is still alive and don't know when this article was issued. I found this reference mentionned on the 44BG site.

 

About the Me 109 Episode: As Erich told earlier the units which could have been involved wtih your flight paths patrolled over Holland, Belgium and Germany mainly, so the episode would have been during an Operation on Northern Germany. I don't think there were any units above central France, maybe the north of France for those based at Verneuchen

 

Thanks again Skip- A bit of a hodge podge here. I'm sure that ever-tightenig steep turn did not take place over Dortmund (May 22/44). Speaking of Dortmund-many years ago I met a FW 190 pilot,Gerhard Doehler, while we were both working for De Havilland Canada at Downsview Ont.
I was involved with winterzing Lancasters for the Air Force. Gerhard was a technical wrighter for DHC. During an extended happy hour reminiscing at his home one evening Dortmund entered the conversation. It turned out he had unsuccessfully attacked a Lanc near the outskirts of the city. As this occurred sometime after midnite of the 22nd we agreed the possibility of our having met before was rather great. This we were never able to verify. Gerhard also ran a Saturday morning German radio program on a local station in the early 50's.
Oscar Bosche is another FW pilot I have met. He used to put on a beautiful performance at the Canadian National Exhibition in a sailplane. I don't know if they knew each other but both pilots told me they had survived being shot down themselves.
I think Wayne located a Doehler one time on the internet But he is away a few more days 12 time zones distant. Alex

 

ah back from the crazy thanxgivs of the weekend.........

I'll check further on the 22 May 44 time frame and yes I know Oskar Bösch as well through previous corespondance back in the early 1990's. Great guy.

 

Alex I firmly believe after checking through my data base that Gerhard was flying an Fw 190A-6 maybe or maybe not with the radar FuG 217 Neptun with the unit I./NJGr 10 stab or 1./NJGr 10 which flew single seaters. For the 22nd and 23rd of May 1944 the Stab Kommandeur Hauptmann Karl Friedrich Müller both nights claimed a Lancaster in his Fw 190A-6, green 3.

Erich ~