Through much of the early part of the 20th century, military doctrine viewed the bomber aircraft much like we view the nuclear bomb today; it was the war-winning weapon, and a nation with a strong bomber force would crush opposing powers by sheer tonnage of explosives. Through the late-1930s, the Royal Air Force sought to build up its bomber force with a series of twin-engine medium bombers. Among the likes of the Wellington, the Beaufort, and the Blenheim, there was also the Avro Manchester, with an initial prototype built in 1937 and entering into RAF service in November 1940. By then, however, the UK’s situation had changed rapidly: now on the backfoot in a total war against Nazi Germany, the RAF needed a bomber that could reach deep into German territory. Enter the Avro Lancaster, designed by Avro’s chief design engineer Roy Chadwick, with an extra two engines - and all four swapping out the Rolls-Royce Vulture for the more powerful Merlin – and a much larger bomb bay, which could many thousands of pounds of conventional bombs at a time. It was also large enough to carry experimental weapons, such as the bouncing bomb and the earthquake bomb, famously used in Operation Chastise and against the Tirpitz battleship, respectively. Between 1941 and 1946, almost 7,400 of the type would be built, with their rapidly being phased out of RAF service after the end of the war. Only 2 airworthy Lancasters survive today: one in Canada, and one belonging to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight in the United Kingdom.

Here Lancaster PA474 approaches the Wales Air Show over the steelworks in Port Talbot, likely giving the residents there a rather loud wake-up call as it roars along the coast. It occurred to me, seeing her fly over the factory, that the lone plane could have carried enough tonnes of conventional bombs for flatten the entire site, but during wartime would’ve done so from much higher altitude, with much reduced accuracy, and consequently far more civilian casualties. Do remember, dear reader, that beautiful as we may find these aircraft, they are tools and weapons of warfare, and their existence is a sad reminder of humanity’s brutal past. While vestiges of that past may attempt to return to haunt us today, we must remain firm in that belief in a better tomorrow, when hatred is but a distant, bitter memory.

Hope you enjoy!