Battle Stations: Lancaster Bomber - Target Germany (War History Documentary)
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- čas přidán 26. 04. 2014
- Battle Stations: Lancaster Bomber - Target Germany (War History Documentary)
Colour archive film reveals the role of the Lancaster bomber in World War Two. Designed by Roy Chadwick, the plane was the most successful Allied attack aircraft in Europe, capable of carrying twice the payload of its counterparts. However, its devastating impact on Germany came with a price : nearly half of all crews were lost in action.
My dear ole Dad, who died in 1997, was a rear gunner with 460 Sqn RAAF. He undertook 20 something trips until he went "out of his tree" with stress related problems. The trip he didn't go on resulted in the loss of Q Queenie (I think the Lanc was named) and all of her crew. After returning to Oz he had a flight in G George which is now on display in the Canberra War Memorial. Let's all have peace in our minds our hearts, homes and communities! Peace and blessings form the Land Downunder.
Utterly INCREDIBLE! 😳 he designed & drew every little piece & part, each with it’s precise size, & then had each one created & assembled, & it all worked wonderfully! It’s really beyond comprehension!
Excellent documentary. It's a shame that the history channel isn't making programs of this caliber.
Thanks for the upload.
I honestly think the Lancaster is the most beautiful plane ever built.
Agree to disagree
I agree
mwbright ugly as sin itself !!!!
A History Channel documentary when History Channel really was a real history channel :p
Yes, Mathias, now it seems to keep on about antiques/collectables/reality shows - loosely based on history, but not in the true sense, as you have said!
+Ps Middx yes! 90% reality, 5% history and 5% commercials
Lol - very true my friend! ;o)
Very sad to think this was made 13 years ago. Bomber command crew are now in their 90's and fewer and fewer are left each year. My grandfather was a navigator (Mosquito's for most of the war, Mostly in the African and far east theatre) and I grew up listening to his stories, often through my father. He had two relatives (also both navigators, it must have been a family trait) that died - one in training and the other lost over the channel attacking German shipping. Ultimately my Grandfather was downed and became a Japanese POW, fortunately it wasn't long before he was freed, but his war was over.
As a boy I was always warned by my grandfather and his war buddies that we could pretty much rely on peace in Europe so long as there were people left to remember the horror of not having it, but they worried about my generation, when people had forgotten. He warned us to be vary wary of politicians and leaders who thought their ideas were worth you dying for, and his favourite saying was "Peace can always be found if you put the leaders in a room with a bomb and don't open the door until they agree". Sadly I have to say I see it more and more these days. Brexit, rising nationalism and right wing ideas... as we forget the consequences, more and more people start to fall into the same traps.
They renamed a British TV show called Heavy Metal (I think).
Thank you for this, The Lancaster is truly the most beautiful aircraft ever designed, and the sound of those engines as the fly over you is just awesome. As for the the crews that that flew in them ........ HEROES TRUE HEROES.
a truely beautiful plane and im lucky my last name is Lancaster, so im called bomber by the older fellas i have a natural bias toward it but i also love the mosquito
@@christopherlancaster7705 was a great night out and then
I lived in Burlington Ontario and our house was right on Lake Ontario and from time to time the Lancaster stationed just outside of Hamilton would fly by. The whole family knew the sound of those engines and we would all turn our heads to watch "Vera" fly by. The sound of those 4 engines was unmistakable.
My late father and Uncle both flew in Lancaster Bombers during the war, RCAF 429 Bison Squadron.
Amen ....here's to your Dad and all of that generation that gave so much. An old VN era American.
My grandfather was a tail end Charlie in 617....he died in the mid 90's....I miss him every day and I loved his stories of the Lanc....
Datsun Zed ..Bless his heart..Thanks it him and his mates, we speak English,. Not German.
Thank you for his service.
We owe our freedom to those brave flyers of Bomber Command and Fighter Command. Respect from South Africa.
He had the toughest job in the aircraft. He was aimed at first by the enemy and a huge target. It took balls to be tail end charlie.
not to seem like I don't care about any of this and im just going around to correct ppl... which im not.
but the rear was not targeted first. unlike in the movies the nazis would fly head first and fire at the glass front. because they realized along with the B17 flying fortress they germans learned it was safer to target the front... all glass and held the bombardier, pilot/copilot
One of the best documentaries ive seen !!!!! Brilliant reanactment and original material !!!!
God Bless these men....
When I was a kid, the local chemist was ex Lancaster crew. Mr. Clarkson had a story where he had been pulled from a bombing mission only minutes before take off. The was called to the base commander's office and told some of his paperwork was out of order. Lancaster crews have a lot of stories where a crewman narrowly misses being sent on the mission where the bomber gets shot down, so as he was filling out the paperwork Mr. Clarkson thought this was going to be one of those stories. However, the bomber returned intact.
We must NEVER forget.
Young people today have their freedom because we fought for it.
Nobody ever "fought for freedom".
Wars are about "spreading" the own right to rule and dominate.
Outstanding aircraft, flown, serviced and built by outstanding people.
I agree!!
My late granddad who absolutely loves the Lancaster he worked on its successor the Lincoln. Rest in peace,Grandad
Successor?
I wish someone would post all the Lancaster TV show from the early 70's called "Pathfinders". That show was freaking awesome!
I used to have that series on vhs video
A Great watch. thanks..
For all their sacrifices, these boys didn't receive the honours which were their due in a timely fashion. They received some recognition for their sacrifices a full 60 years after the war! So how many were alive then?
When I was young I would watch this video all the time I just loved it, it's been about 5 or 6 years since I last saw this it's like someone shot a nostalgia bullet into me.
Yeaaa same
Two most beautiful planes of the war the Lancaster and the Spitfire. Brave men.
The Lancaster was ungainly looking compared to the sheer beauty of the B-17.
@@tedmebane195yeah and carried twice as much payload..
Superb interviews
this is for the amazing people hop made this film you're amazing
Outstanding effort by all flight crews, ground crew and the people who built this beautiful war winning aircraft.
Respect to those that fought in the RAF when Britain stood on its own right from the beginning , example Handley Page Hampdens to the Famous Lancaster. Thank you.
Lancaster NN758 ( PM-S).Proud to be a part of its story.Canadian and British crew.Sadly lost March 45.Crashed near Laichingen near Ulm after raid on Nuremberg. Our German friends made a memorial and we have all kept in touch since 2015.We met witnesses to our relatives deaths and reconciliation between two countries.Respect to our friends in the Swabian Alb.NN758 like hundreds of Lancs.Gone, never forgotten.
Wow! A movie about WW2 British bomber design without a single mention of Barnes Wallis.
where would they have gotten without him.
Barnes Wallis designed a very capable bomber, the Wellington. Arguably the best of the early bombers which were only superseded when the heavies came along.
@@cjmillsnun True. In fact many of Wallis's ideas were incorporated in the Lancaster. Especially wing trailing edges and flaps.
Every time I hear our Lancaster fly over I run to see it . Almsost every weekend Toronto gets a fly by,Love it.
I have seen many doco's about the Lancasters and their crews, and while I am not really interested in remembering war, which so many people seem to want to remember and glorify, I have nothing but pure admiration for all bomber crews that flew in WWII. With the odds against them coming back, they still risked their lives fir their country, not the medals.
I miss when the history channel was the ww2 channel
So many gave their lives to protect our Freedom in WWII.
RICHARD P DIMARE ..We are eternally grateful to them all.
+RICHARD P DIMARE
Yeah, and at the end they lost...Rip Axis Powers !
DeutschwehR uneducated and brainwashed nazi
Is John "Ginger" Stevens still alive? I love that guy and would like to talk with him as he has that joy and excitement of flying such a powerful airplane. I felt the same way flying C-47s. I love the take-off as much as he does
Thanks for Telling The TRUTH , I RESPECT YOU 4 "TRUTH" !!!!.
May they rest in peace this brave young men thank you for our freedom 🇬🇧
This brings tears to my eyes.
May God forgive me
For my sins.
Amen.
Derek. God bless you brother.
Awesome aircraft I'm lucky enough to have been on one stays with you for life.
I See the Lancaster oftern , saw two flying in tandem last year one came from Canada, probably the last time two will fly together, i live just up the road from Coningsby and East kirkby in lincolnshire where the only other Lancaster is,
LUCKY YOU!!!!!!
Beat documentary ever
Re: Christopher Lancastera truely beautiful plane and im lucky my last name is Lancaster, so im called bomber by the older fellas i have a natural bias toward it but i also love the mosquito
I totally agree the mosquito was another fantastically beautiful bomber, and amazing to think when you see one tearing around the skies like a fighter that it's only made from WOOD ! If I ever had the chance to fly one I'd choose the mosquito over a spitfire or hurricane.
Lancaster defences.
Same engines, i think.
@@meirionowen5979 Yes, all of those planes mentioned had either one, two or four Rolls Royce Merlin engines.
A modified version of the Merlin also powered tanks!
@@koitorob meteor engine i think the tank engine was called..its certainly wasnt the packard copy of the merlin that went into british lancs, dont know if canadians used them? As i dont know what year merlin gave packard the licence to copy merlin, more than likely when brits sent the designs and specifics for the mustang...
have respect ...
My gran once told me that her cousin ...” Hughie Blackwell “ was a tail gunner in a Lancaster....one mission he never came back....never able to find out any squadron or other info. It’s a pity that youth of today were never reared to respect others or have the mentality to do their duty for “King and Country” as it was in the war years. Those young boys all volunteered for flying duties and were fully aware of their chances of ending a tour alive.
I was born in England in 1942 so I cannot pretend to have known firsthand what went on in WWII, however I had an older brother and sister who DID experience the war.
I was told that I was born in the middle of an air raid, I am not sure how accurate that was.
I had an uncle who joined the RAF at age 19 in 1940 and flew in some of the very first air raids in a Handley Page Hampden a small twin engined bomber that was very ill suited for the job.
Returning from a raid the pilot of my uncles Hampden lost his way and heavy fog disoriented him. Fortunately they were over England but plane was short of fuel so the pilot decided to crash land in a field. He hit a tree but landed the plane without casualties, except for my uncle who was pinned under part of the wing with a smashed hip.
They got him out and he went to hospital but his injury so incapacitated him that he was grounded permanently.
My uncle survived the war but none of the crew of his plane survived, they all died in later raids, hows that for a mixed blessing.
Uncle Dennis, my hero, married the nurse who nursed him through his recovery, they should have made a movie out of it.
My aunt was from Malta and if you want to read about a people who suffered almost more than any others in WWII read about the heroic fight that the people of Malta fought.
Our undying thanks and gratitude should go to ALL who took part in that stupendous struggle to defeat the Nazis and the Japanese Empire in WWII.
24:33 - that resembles a Cross fountain pen.
Beautiful plane.
Can this video be licensed? How can I contact you?
The British aid to Dutch to restore Dutch control of Indonesia was based on Chequers Agreement signed between Dutch and British government heads on 24 August 1945. The agreement stated that British troops would be sent to Indonesia, disarmed the Japanese, and took control of Indonesia on behalf Dutch government, and restored Indonesia under Dutch control.
I do think that the post war British Govt was churlish in their treatment of these bomber boys. No specific Air Bomber Services Medals.
Closed captions here are humorous.
In rememberance of Harry Webster 35 sqdrn 🙏
The Moral of this story: Allies always get them back!
The best bomber was the po2. So slow you can't tail it!
Should be shown in every secondary school in the UK
“Target: Germany” is very accurate because the strategy really was just to pour bombs over areas and hope that a military target would be among the hundreds of structures destroyed
I have been very fortunate in my life to meet and know these bomber crews many i would calll friends, such brave honorable men with such courage and determination, one did three tours plus special ops flying Stirling bomber, he was hospitalised for months after his Halifax cartwheeled down the runway upon landing the aircraft was badly damaged over Germany , his crew all 6 of them elected to stay with the aircraft and died in the accident, he kept the clock from the aircraft and when recovered from his injuries carried on the fight against Germany, this time flying Lancasters He passed away a few years ago, I am 69 now and should have a brother of 79 but he was killed in a german air-raid , I have no problem whatsoever for what our airforce did to Germany they did afterall deserve it, however that feeling must be tempered by the thought did the run of the mill german have any choice being under a totalitarian regime, war is such a nasty business , but i say again i am proud to have met such men who were with Bomber Command.We must never forget them but the lefty luvvies would have us do that !
Superb, The RAF by late 1944 could and did wipe out a Germany city in one night. Awesome British engineering and British guts.
+MrLongbow1415 If they could wipe out an entire city in one night, they could also have wiped out an entire factory, or industrial estate.
Why didn't they?
When Allied troops entered the Ruhr Area (heavily industrialized area with cities like Essen), they realized that around 75 % of vital industry was functioning, some at full production, including some churning out weapons and ammo used against British soldiers only days before.
In the meantime, cultural cities like Wurzburg and Pforzheim had been "wiped out" as a matter of official policy. I always thought you Brits were so savvy.
Hmmm...anyway.
Congratulations.
Reeeaaaally awesome :-)
+Ralph Bernhard The Brits, the Germans and eventually the US came to understand that the pre-war estimates of bombing accuracy was far overstated (never mind European weather and defences reducing accuracy) So the policy of trying to bomb specific point targets (surgical strikes as we call them today) was physically not possible, so area bombing became the normal mode of operation. Perhaps if indiscriminate bombing such as Guernica, Warsaw, Rotterdam etc etc had not happened then the air campaign in Europe may have been conducted differently - But they happened, as Harris said "They have sown the wind, now they shall reap the whirlwind"
Dave Hopkin That is a widely accepted excuse, which does not match up to the facts.
During the raid on Kassel in 1943, the aiming point of the bombers was the city center (a church). The city center was destroyed 100%.
The well known heavy industrial plant of Henschell (producer of the Tiger tank) was only slightly damaged by spill-over, because it was not aimed at.
Tell me.
How do you ascribe that to "the weather", "bombing accuracy", or any of those other excuses made after the event had passed?
How can it be that the designated target (the city center) was completely destroyed, if "the weather", "visibility", "enemy flak", etc. was such a deciding factor?
Surely, if a set amount of square miles in a city center could be destroyed in a raid, the same could also have been achieved a mile further down the road (seeing that one would usually find that the same factors of "weather", "visibility", "bombing accuracy", "enemy flak and night fighters", etc. also applied here)
It was therefore the decision to afford priority to the city center, rather than bomb Henshell, which led to the target being completely destroyed.
That should be quite clear, if one is able to apply deductive reasoning.
Now, I suppose your "comeback" will consist of the regular "they deserved it", "payback for Coventry", etc.
Bear in mind though.
WHO suffered because the Tiger tank production plant was afforded a LOWER priority than killing "enemy" women and kids in the center of a city?
Think carefully before you answer.....
WHO suffered, Dave?
+Ralph Bernhard If you re-read my post about accuracy, I said they expected to be able to bomb accurately but in practice they could not - most bombs (of all nations) had an CEP measured in miles. The navigational aids were simply not capable of finding a target that accurately.
In the early part of the war they attempted to hit point targets but the effectiveness of this was incredibly low, so the deliberate decision to attack the city itself was made, Harris made no secret of that (there is a wartime propaganda film of him saying the words "They sewed the wind now they will reap the whirlwind"
Add in the effect of what the RAF called "Bomb Creep" where the impact point would gradually drift back as some crews dropped bombs a few seconds early.
You are also talking about trying to get 500-1000 heavy bombers to hit the same small target in a bomber stream that could be 10km wide.... impossible...
The correctness of that decision cannot be rationalised against a 21st century set of post war morals, Britain and Germany were engaged in a total war where the outcome would be measured in the survival of one country at the expense of the other - in those terms the gloves are off
You have to put yourself in the mindset of the 1940's to judge it all
The bombing of women and kids - unavoidable but then again those women were going to work at the Factory making tiger tanks, so just and much as a legitimate target as the heart of Coventry, Bath, London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Hull, Portsmouth was wasn't it..... Afraid BOTH sides were guilty of carpet bombing of civilians
Dave Hopkin Your answer is based on the presumption that I mean ALL German civilian casualties should have been avoided. That is an incorrect assumption.
Let's stick to Kassel, to show what I mean.
If the RAF can launch a destructive raid on the center of the city, with a concentrated bomb pattern which destroyed the entire city (the aiming point and the surrounding 5-6 square miles), then they could also do that if another aiming point is chosen a few miles further on down (say for example the chimney stacks of the factory, instead of the steeples of the church).
In that case several square miles of houses are ALSO destroyed, then one can say "tough shit, that's the price they pay for living near the target".
BUT
The target is destroyed (a valuable and irreplaceable tank plant).
Completely destroyed.
Juxtapose the images of the city center of Kassel, on the production halls of the Henshell plant, and what do you see?
I see a plant in which no further Tigers would have been built, because the plant would have looked like Kassel center.
Is that logical enough?
I'm an advocate of strategic bombing, and know that everything you say is correct.
However, I'm also talking about later on (1943-45), after the crews had gained experience, the equipment had improved, and the tactics adapted.(the best crews as pathfinders, the rookies as the bomber stream to bomb an already "marked" target). I'm not talking about 1941, when (as the Butt Report stated), the accuracy was really bad. In this respect, it is not valid to say "we couldn't find the target", etc. anymore. The amount of city centers destroys proves conclusively that the crews COULD find their targets. These had been designated as the city centers, and the crews found and destroyed them.
You might revere men like Harris for their spirit of "revenge". By the time Hamburg had happened, the Brits should have had their "payback satisfaction", and created more forward thinking policies.
His clinging to a policy which obviously was not working, not only led to a DIRECT loss of young British and Commonwealth soldiers, it also led to an INDIRECT loss loss of thousands of Allied soldiers all over the front lines (especially Russia).
They had to face superior German weapons which could have been destroyed, if the right TARGETS had been chosen.
You might forgive the policy makers, because of the times they lived in.
I will merely conclude that they were short-sighted and obstinate.
On the 13th June 1944, Michael Wittmann, commander of a Tiger tank (which could have been destroyed in the 1943 raid on Kassel), killed 213 young British soldiers.
Would you have been equally forgiving if a father, an uncle or a brother had unnecessarily died that day?
I know, you won't answer that...........
The Lancaster is a great aircraft.However one aircraft seems to get overlooked and that is the short stirling.My uncle flew and was killed in one
your uncle died doing a job many would shy away from today, they were all brave men. The Stirling does get forgotten, that's partly due to relatively poor performance characteristics compared to a Lancaster and therefore numbers produced were fewer so it's impact on the war less. that's not to say they were not useful and some pilots preferred them. during the invasion of Europe at D Day lots gliders were pulled by Stirling's.
I find it so interesting that one particular crew forced a member to drop a girlfriend who had previously lost two lovers and had become involved with him. I've always wondered if the jinx factor is in fact genuine. During war, it sure has had its impact on young men and who can blame them? If there are any WW2 bomber crew reading this, I would certainly like to know how the Lancaster and B-17 compare, i.e, flight characteristics etc...
sadly its the truth things like that happened my grand father was a c/o of lancaster sqn there was a pilot on his sqn over a period of 5 weeks he had lost members of his crew all crews refused to fly with him on the members of grandads crew insisted if they flew with him they wouldnt come back 23/12/1943 they were ordered to attack Berlin a hour before take off grandad was pulled of by group jimmy jinx a sqn ldr and A flight commander was ordered to fly my grandads crew never came back luckily enough all 7 men bailed out and were taken prisoner of war .
robert. Lancaster designed for night bombing, thus minimum armament and guns. It could hold twice the 4,000 lb short distance payload of a B-17, (a Mosquito could carry 4,000 lb of bombs) which was over built and had 13 Browning 50cal guns from 7 positions, as opposed to 6 .303 cal guns from 2 positions. The B-17 was lazier and more forgiving on the controls and more manoeuvrable, till it was in thinner air as it was designed for close formation flying. The lanc was far more responsive at the controls, like the Stirling. The lanc relied on the dark of night to shield it and the B-17 relied on armament for daytime bombing. The weight of arms, armor plating, ammunition and the extra crew to man the guns reduced the potential payload of the B-17. I've just spent the last 4 years writing the Biography of an engineer and second pilot who served in 214 (Bomber Support) Squadron, in the only "British" Fortress squadron performing Radio Countermeasures, jamming the German radar and coms. He flew and engineered Stirlings and Fortresses. He's 95 years old and in full physical and mental health. A living legend. Enjoy.
Can you clear this pageSimon Clark
@@danielpauldebs6526 BULLSHIT on you statement !!! The Lancaster was NOT designed as a night bomber !!! It was a heavy bomber in which the designer left off crew and defensive guns in favor of more bombs !!! It did NOT have the defenses to fly daylight raids so it was switched to night time raids !!! Also USAF specs on the B17 was 6,000# of bombs for 2,000 miles !!! The B17 was a easy plane to fly thanks to its huge wing, very forgiving and very rugged and reliable. Also only 283 Mosquito Bombers were ever built and had to be modified to carry the 4,000# cookie bomb !!! Do not lie to us as "WE..." know the truth !!!
The Lancaster was indeed a great bomber. It was designed to carry weight against flying high which was the B-17 strength. A Lancaster could carry about twice or thrice the weight of bombs a B17 could. They did not have the same defensive armament of course and would have suffered worse casualties if used by day.
Jorge Mario Rodas I see no point in debating the two aircraft. They were both superb bombers for their time.
But why compare them directly? The two had very different intended uses; the Lancaster as an easy to build heavy night bomber, the B17 as a heavily armoured day bomber able to attack targets where fighter support could not go.
How do you go about it even? On the one hand, the Lancaster was the one which most exceeded it's design brief by being able to carry such a greater load than the brief called for whilst in practice the B17 never really met the no need for fighter support goal. On the other, the the Lanc was a relative death trap with 15% chance of escape thanks to its tiny escape hatch and double rotation rear turret exit, whilst B17 crews managed to bail out nearly 50% of the time. a Third hand is The Lanc was armed with .303's which could not pierce German armour, requiring lucky hits to shoot down night fighters, while the B17 was covered in .50 cal guns which could smash attackers. Whilst the lanc's offensive bomb load was unparalleled, The B17 had the better bomb sight, but the Lanc was able to hit precision targets when requested later in the war.
The reality is that the differences were minimal. Casualties were similar for both ultimately. Which would you have rather flown on? I'm glad that their sacrifice means I never have to.
@@jjm7036 The average bomb load for all Lancasters throughout the war was right at 8,000#'s. RAF figures of sorties flown and tonnes dropped were far short of the 14.000# Claimed possible load, very short missions. Each bomber weighed about the same empty and about the same loaded for take off, fuel, bombs, ammo/guns. IF you wanted to go further, you carried less bombs, more fuel, shorter less fuel and more bombs and the B17 could fly 10,000 ft Higher due to it having a TURBOcharger feeding the standard mechanical supercharger, so a 2 stage system, ALL lancaster used a SINGLE stage mechanical supercharger and 25,000 ft was lucky to get !!
Beautiful Merlin engine sound
Brrrr Lancasters....Stalin was ROTFL
But no belly gunner...Jerries noticed and it cost 1,000 Lancs to die until they put one there...Man, the worst airplane in WW II, the BF 110 installed "Schräge Musik"(discord-slant in German), copying the Boulton Paul Defiant shooting upward after sliding under the belly and shot the wing and cut it off to be able to escape...100 Lancaster a night was blownn off every night until the sneaks were noticed and Cal 50 were nstalled in the belly of the Lancs.
The efforts of Bomber Command during the first 2/3 years of WW2 simply gave the German air defences two years of target practice and ample time to develop their night fighter and flak tactics. The Lancasters and Halifaxes would pay dearly for that period.
Nice way of putting it Nicholas, but that did, ironically become the case!
Yes true.. But, Packard MERLINS.. designed by ROLLS ROYCE, built under licence by Packard as the US had spare industrial capacity whereas UK factories were somewhat overwhelmed.. and under constant threat of being bombed themselves.
Never mind DuuuuH.!!!
If you cannot offer facts that are correct, without being smartarsed or plainly rude.. you should shut and go home.
Frankly, this service is wonderful and truly world class. But poisoned by trolls and twerps firing out spite from behind their keyboards.. like you.
Packard built Merlin.
Its the cost of victory. What else were they going to do? Its easy 75 years later to sit back in our arm chairs but those young men went and did it and at great cost. We ought to be forever thankful for their sacrifice.
Yeah Packard built
Of course the Brits were never broken by area bombing. British citizens have a habit of being some of the most stubborn people in the world. Where do you think us New Englanders get it from? We have a blend of Irish Italian and British in New England so of course we are gonna be stubborn
That thin strip of water between Britain and Europe is what saved you, not Irish pacifism, Italian backstabbing and British arrogance. And please, New England liberals are about the softest, paranoid, and medicated people in the world.
Corey and Nathaniel Chartier so it was water that saved us fuck off it was the guts of our country at the time battle of britain ring a bell
Mark Scouler ..The strip of water to which you refer certainly helped, however, the British do not frighten easily, furthermore if you mess with them you will live to regret it.
The Lancaster was a marvelous aircraft and I don't wish to take anything away but the bottom truth is that without the Merlin Engine it may have not been what is was. I consider the Merlin as one of the crucial pieces of equipment that helped win the war. The Merlin matched with our P-51 air-frame was a match made in heaven, there wasn't a similar situation of co-operation between Britain and America with such success until the outer planets were investigated.
Titus Tucker What you do NOT realize is the engine thing went both ways !!! The USA provided hundreds of the Packard M2500 PT Boat engines to the Brits, along with Packard supplying 37,137 Merlin engines to the Brits, and also the Sunderlund Mk V flying boats used the PW R1820 engine same as used in the B24 !!! So it was NOT a one way street !!! You do realize that 3,440 British and Canadian built Lancasters used the Packard built merlins don't you ???? and 7377 lancaster were built total almost 1/2 the total !!!
@@wilburfinnigan2142the more i read your comments the more i see your very stupid?, sunderlands and other big flying boats used radials not inlines like a merlin or packard, in fact sunderlands used bristol pegasus through the war, and why would a lanc built in britain not use a british built merlin you complete tit, dont know if canadians used packards in theirs, but brits never, the only brit plane that had packards was the mustang built under british specifics with packard under licence in the states...
Lancaster Bomber tribute song - czcams.com/video/Zbm5k4IPeYQ/video.html
Same trolls flaming & chest beating on every WW2 airwar videos. 😒
Good documentary. But a bad ending. Just cut out...
It's interesting how the specs are almost identical to the B17, yet the B17's losses are around 34%. Was the Lancaster weaker in some way or just involved in more dangerous missions?
The Germans really got the night fighter program working by early 1944. Bomber Command's losses absolutely rocketed for pretty much the whole of that year until the effects of desperate gasoline shortages (and equally desperate shortage of pilots) shrunk the Luftwaffe to ineffectiveness. That's down to the strategy of USAAF General Spaatz - against the alternative views of Harris and Portal who believed that the Allied efforts should be directed against Europe's transportation network.
Mediocre M M The lancaster was less defensive armed, and more fragile !!!! The B17 was well armed and a tank, hard to kill, and the numbers show that !!!
And in 43 they had worked out the radar use by the germanys and started putting radar detecting on the planes .
My mum built those .lancasters and spitfires where the two planes she worked on .a riveter and a wirer.crazy huh 18 yr old
55,000 of 95,000 RAF from Bomber Command died. 60% of the total force. The most dangerous Allied assignment of the war. A war that was caused by the selfishness of the whole world!
" A war that was caused by the selfishness of the whole world!" What the fuck are you smoking?
It was Hitler that caused the war! He was hell bent on making Germany great and in doing so expand it's borders and influence!
YOU DUMB PRICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
See that Manchester struggling to take off
“this is terrible…thank god we’re [inflicting this on other people]”
As a veteran I am hard pressed to understand why either side would bomb non combatants....collateral damage seems unnecessary considering what the nasty Truman did in Japan...a most Terrible destruction of life...war is unfair...and most likely not needed...the human race in all culture excuse killing non combatants as a price to solve conflicts between two peoples...all the same as a veteran it is still hard to accept murder of the innocents...
One of my great grandads severed as a lancaster navigater, he lost one of his eye's, did he stop serving with the RAF no he kept going.
He probably carried on trying to find where he'd lost it. They had no sense of fear back then!
Bloody heroes the lot of 'em!
Many of us were superstitious (even though I am a staunch Catholic). I my survival gear, I carried a perfumed scarf folded in a sealed (zip-lock) bag on every mission (to protect it from the JP5 smell) along with dog tags, St Christopher medal, and a scapular with my military ID. I worked, Ciao, L (Veteran)
Ironically Germany lacked Heavy Bombers
JokerHut He - 177
The "Reichsbrandfackel"? It was technically not reliable, had always problems with overheating and then burning engines. It were never enough of them to have any impact on the war.
It's alive. she's just sleeping.
Up ha ma ta butan sathi ho
Well as propoganda and history written by the victors to massage the masses this is good, the crews are great, the plane and the engines simply beautiful. But it is tiresome to hear so many inaccuracies in the script, anyway the lads did a job given to them by politicians and bureaucrats and they got on with it.
I could handle being a fighter pilot in a spitfire but on a bomber, no way , far to dangerous in a lumbering fuel filled bomber , those men were a different breed.
So were/are fighter pilots (all pilots for that matter). When you fly a fighter and god forbids, get into a dogfight, it will be a fight to the finish - one of us is going to get shot down. As a student pilot, we were trained to hit three areas (the engine, the fuel tank (usually above the engine on many jets, and the pilot who was considered the most fragile). Ciao, L
lancelot1953 well that’s true but in a fighter you at least get a chance and you can hit back especially after you’ve done a few missions and get experienced. My uncle was a navigator in a Lancaster and he had one finger which he couldn’t bend because he was hit with shrapnel from flak. He was a really nice bloke sadly now gone to that big Lank in the sky.
My dad flew lancasters in WW2 & trained in texas.
Bien que os importó poco cuando en Madrid estaban en algo parecido.
Excellent, classic bomber, bomb load mostly only superceeded by the later B-29
1000!
At the end of the war when churchill thanked all the allied armed forces with the exception of bomber command was a criminal betrayal of these hero's sacrifice and was totally reprehensible
Bomber Command were terrorists like the IRA.
The bombing of Coventry happened after the RAF had bombed Germany for eight months.
Mark Harrison oih arse wipe germany bombed london first, would you rather we did fuck all twat
The Germans did not bomb London until the summer of 1940. The RAF first bombed Wilhelmshaven on 3 September 1939.
@@markharrison2544yeah, thats a major naval base and sub pens, the germans bombed london first, a group of bombers couldnt find their original military target so dropped them on london instead, so churchill sent a few Halifax bombers the next day to bomb berlin, that many didnt come back from thats how it all got ramped up, this is fact read some history books...
A great historical journal until the (now inevitable) whizzy stuff ( hand moving across screen lights flashing etc = eye cancer).
Chadwick could have designed the Lanc to fly higher with a bigger load but due to Air Ministry regs, the wing had
to fit inside existing RAF hangers. Makes you wonder how many lives were lost due to this idiocy.
g2macs BUT to do that they also would have had to up grade the engines as ALL war time Lancasters used a single stage supercharged merlin engine that struggled to get a lanc to 25,000 ft !!!! Remember a B17 went to 35,000 ft !!!! They were Turbocharged as a 2 stage supercharger !!!
Not good Designers, who are not able to calculate the lift of a wing.....!!!
What a masterpiece the Merline engine must have been. Seems like it powered almost every aircraft in the western allied arsenal!
Oh its a thing of beauty. It seems to be one of those rare occasions where you just hit the balance right between power output and fuel consumption while maintaining a good reliability.
One of its "weaknesses" was it was carborated, which meant it could have problems adjusting values in air intake, while rapid changes in altitude.
David Rodgers
soaringtractor Plus the P38 and P39.
soaringtractor Never said they did use the Merlin...just pointing out inlines as opposed to radials...and the initial statement.
Keep things in context Wilbur.!
soaringtractor No, my remark was to..."Western ALLIED aircraft include the American planes and onlt two the P51 Mustand and 2011 P40 F&L 's Most all used the Radial engines check the specs.....FYI" ....and your remark was in answer to "Seems like it powered almost every aircraft in the western allied arsenal!"
meaning you remark about "apart from the P51 and P40...most used radials" was erronious. jus accept that you are wrong.
Silly final comment. The greatest single factor in winning the war in Europe was Russia. Bombing has never seemed to achieve a lot militarily (the blitz, Iwo Jima, Dresden, etc etc). But the bomber crews were amazing heroes. As mentioned, combat casualties were 50%. Makes the Somme look like a picnic.
I remember crawling inside a working Lancaster during the seventies while I was in the RAF. I must say it was so cramped inside, I just don't know how the aircrew managed to move around. I often wondered how the Lanc compared with the B-17?
this guy deleted his channel. he was stealing valor. he has never been in a plane. just a wanna be man.
You can experience it at the Imperial War Museum in London - it's pretty cramped.
Reality was the tail turret was a nightmare to get out and the escape hatches were too small. B17 Vs Lanc arguments are usually just a total waste of time, but when it comes to crew evacuation the B17 was far easier to escape from, and it's reflected in the KIA numbers per lost aircraft.
@@jamesoren7238 Bingo !!!!
The Lancaster was beautiful but I can't help but think that it was horribly un-aerodynamic. Was it?
You don't know do you lol
At the start of the war only German industry that had influence in the war was bombed never populated areas it was not until Coventry, and other cities that had nothing to do with the war were bombed that England changed tactics
Per ardua ad astra
The workhorse of the European bombing campaign.
Lancaster . a happy mistake, a miss design put right afterwards. always porpoising and hard to get out of in a hurry. the Stirling by contrast was the first heavy bomber and best. stupid prewar specifications crippled it.....no fault of the Shorts' design. it flew like a swan and was very comfortable on long missions, and very strong and safe.
If it was the best then it wouldn't have been replaced, WOULD IT!
We need more youngsters like Roy who can remove the heads from you know where
Why do they always say "Nazi Germany" or "Nazi soldiers"? Who knew the political ideology of each soldier?
One thing this american can tell you is that Winston Churchill was the greatest leader of the 20th century.
+always crabby I would characterize that as British folklore which I've heard many times. I would say that 99% of Americans would say that the greatest leader of the 20th Century would be FDR. But if you ask Brits they'll say it's Churchill. I believe that both of them should win the prize.
he was indeed and we are all very fortunate he was there when free world needed him.
and the biggest murderer of women and children he ordered the Dresden raid and was not man enough to take responsibility
Churchill was definitely a war criminal. But since his side won, he became the hero.
right on
Germany built bombers and Britain had to catch up.Geman bombers were converted airliners ,under powered and under armed.
they should have thought of that before they started
germany built the bombers to conquer europe great briton and the united states built bombers to take it back. the short stirling was mentionede above how many years between it and the b29
they should have thought twice about a lot of things especially the japanese
I will not disrespect the bomber crew of ww2 no way. they died for my family to have freedom .and i thank all of them english ,all the countries who faught along side us . Please don,t slag them off