Lancaster bomber was essential part of WWII victory in Europe

John Bullen of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum spoke at the Tillsonburg Military History Club about the Lancaster bomber and the story of one bomber, its crew, and how Andrew Mynarski received the Victoria Cross for trying to rescue a fellow crewman. (Jeff Helsdon Photo).

Jeff Helsdon, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Imagine if the outcome of the Second World War battle in Europe was different and Germany had invaded England by land. John Bullen of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum asserts the launch of the Lancaster heavy bomber in 1942 was one of the factors that kept the land battle off British soil.

Prior to the launch of the Lancaster in 1942, existing bombers lacked the range and couldn’t carry the heavy payloads necessary to incapacitate German military assets deep in the country. The hope was that the Lancaster would change that.

“Delivering this knockout blow, it was hoped would avoid a land offense,” he said while making a presentation for the Tillsonburg Military History Club recently. The talk, “An Extraordinary Act of Bravery” was about the bomber and a Canadian airman from Winnipeg who received the Victoria Cross attempting to rescue a fellow crewman and friend from a crashing Lancaster.

The Lancaster could fly further and higher than previous bombers. It was designed to fly without a fighter escort, with a tail-gunner turret, mid-upper gunner turret, and belly-gunner turret. The planes had a crew of seven. The Lancaster had a range of 4,000 kilometers and could carry six tons of bombs and 14,000 rounds of ammunition. The average mission was five to six hours and was typically at night. The planes were designed to carry a heavy payload with the powerful bombs essential to take out vital German military targets.

The Lancaster wasn’t built for comfort. Gunner turrets were unheated, and temperatures could reach -40˚˚ F. The interior wasn’t always warm either, and the planes were known to leak water in certain places when it rained. Getting into the gun turrets was an exercise in agility, but even getting the cockpit was not easy.

“It was a constant challenge for the crew to stay dry and warm and vigilant,” Bullen said.

Each mission was different, but often, hundreds of planes flew in a formation five miles wide and 100 miles deep.

Although the Lancaster could fly higher, the Nazis developed ways to fight back. Giant spotlights, along with anti-aircraft guns, probed the sky. Fighters, known as night fighters, were modified to shoot their guns vertically out of the top of the plane when the fighter approached the Lancaster from below. While the Germans were shooting .50 calibre and larger bullets at the Lancasters, the Allied gunners had machine guns shooting .303 British.

“Night fighters used stealth to attack,” Bullen said. “They pounced out of the darkness with cannons and guns blazing.”

While history tells us the Lancasters were effective, it came at a huge cost. Between 1941 and 1943, Allied forces lost 143 bombers and almost 1,000 air crew. Only 24 per cent of the 25,000 men who joined bomber command survived the war unscathed. Anti-aircraft guns accounted for 37 per cent of the losses, while the remainder were from night fighters.

Bullen also spoke about Andrew Mynarski, a mid-gunner, who tried to rescue tail gunner Pat Brophy after their bomber was shot and on fire. Brophy was wedged in his turret by fighter damage to the Lancaster. Mynarski couldn’t get Brophy out despite trying while his flight suit started to burn. He ended up parachuting out of the plane on fire and later died from the burns. Brophy didn’t get out of the plane but somehow miraculously survived the plane’s crash. He could then escape and eventually made his way back to England. His tale of Mynarski’s bravery earned his friend the Victoria Cross