460 Squadron - Bomber Command: 1942-45

My tribute to the lads from Bomber Command Revamped a little bit.

The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force (RAF). It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other Commonwealth and European countries serving within RAF Bomber Command.
The "Lanc", as it was affectionately known,[1] became the most famous and most successful of the Second World War night bombers, "delivering 608,612 tons of bombs in 156,000 sorties."[2] Although the Lancaster was primarily a night bomber, it excelled in many other roles including daylight precision bombing, and gained worldwide renown as the "Dam Buster" used in the 1943 Operation Chastise raids on Germany's Ruhr Valley dams.

"There are no words with which I can do justice to the aircrew who fought under my command. There is no parallel in warfare to such courage and determination in the face of danger over so prolonged a period. . . it was, moreover, a clear and highly conscious courage, by which the risk was taken with calm forethought. . . it was, furthermore, the courage of the small hours, of men virtually alone, for at his battle-station the airman is virtually alone. It was the courage of men with long-drawn apprehensions of daily 'going over the top'. Such devotion must never be forgotten!" - Sir Arthur Harris, Marshall of the Royal Air Force - Lest we forget!

"The Lancaster Bomber was used in the war to drop the bouncing bomb. The RAF practice for the attack on the dams in Germany's Ruhr Valley at Ladybower Reservoir not far from where I live. These dams were used by Dr. Barnes Wallis and his team to test his bouncing bomb and the film 'The Dam Busters' telling this interesting story was shot here." A.Wrigley

I quote a figure of 'over 57,000' names commemorated in this Roll of Honour; it is now necessary to be much more precise and explain in some detail the reasoning and methods used in garnering the statistics that follow. In recent years various figures have been bandied about as to how many airmen, and airwomen, died while serving with Bomber Command, the general consensus of opinion settling on '55,500'. The first question now must be; from where did this figure originate? Turning to the quite invaluable work of Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt in compiling their epic Bomber Command War Diaries and in particular to their analysis of the operational statistics for the period 3rd September, 1939 to 7th-8th May, 1945, the breakdown of aircrew casualties are shown as, and I now quote precisely from what is reported on page 708 of the diaries:

'The Air Ministry was able to compile the following figures up to 31 May 1947:
Killed in action or died while prisoners of war 47,268
Killed in flying or ground accidents 8,195
Killed in ground-battle action 37
Total fatal casualties to aircrew 55,500
Prisoners of war, including many wounded 9,838
Wounded in aircraft which returned from operations 4,200
Wounded in flying or ground accidents in U. K. 4,203
Total wounded, other than prisoners of war 8,403
Total aircrew casualties 73,741'

The Australians at War Film Archive contains the transcripts of interviews with representative veterans from all conflicts dating back to World War I. This search result includes the stories of 38 Australians that were involved in some way with 460 Squadron.

Here is the journey from ariving in Brighton in England as a individual to leaving Lichfield as a bomber crew ready to fly the Lancaster Bombers of 460 Squdron over Europe in 1943-44.

A typical group of 'Aussie' aircrew of No 460 Squadron, RAAF, photographed at Breighton, Yorkshire, 21 April 1942.

Fortunately I vividly remember the words of a now long-dead Lancaster pilot who had also flown just about everything else that was capable of taking to the air in the Second World War: "The Lancaster was the most boring bomber I ever flew. She had no character, no temperament, no vices... simply the dullest plane one could imagine flying. And that is exactly how war time pilots like their bombers: docile, trustworthy, doing exactly as they're told, without a will of their own".