Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British four - engined Second World War heavy bomber designed and built by Avro for the Royal Air Force ( RAF ) . It first saw active service with RAF Bomber Command in 1942 and , as the strategic bombing offensive over Europe gathered momentum , it became the main heavy bomber used by the RAF , the RCAF , and squadrons from other Commonwealth and European countries serving within the RAF , overshadowing its close contemporaries the Handley Page Halifax and Short Stirling . The " Lanc " , as it was affectionately known , thus became the most famous and most successful of the Second World War night bombers , " delivering 608 , 612 long tons of bombs in 156 , 000 sorties . " The Lancaster , an evolution of the troublesome Avro Manchester , was designed by Roy Chadwick and was powered by four Rolls - Royce Merlins , or , in one version , Bristol Hercules engines . A long , unobstructed bomb bay meant that the Lancaster could take even the largest bombs used by the RAF , including , the , , and " blockbusters " , loads often supplemented with smaller bombs or incendiaries . The versatility of the Lancaster was such that it was chosen to equip 617 Squadron , and was modified to carry the Barnes Wallis designed " Upkeep " Bouncing bomb " " for Operation Chastise , the attack on Germany ' s Ruhr Valley dams . Although the Lancaster was primarily a night bomber , it excelled in many other roles , including daylight precision bombing : in the latter role some Lancasters were adapted to carry the " Tallboy " and , ultimately , the " Grand Slam " earthquake bomb s ( also designed by Wallis ) . As early as 1943 , a Lancaster was converted to become an engine test bed for the Metropolitan - Vickers F . 2 turbojet . Lancasters were later used to test several different engines , including the Armstrong Siddeley Mamba and Rolls - Royce Dart turboprops , and the Avro Canada Orenda and STAL Dovern turbojets . Postwar , the Lancaster was supplanted as the RAF ' s main strategic bomber by the Avro Lincoln , itself a larger permutation of the Lancaster . Instead the Lancaster took on the role of long range anti - submarine patrol aircraft ( later supplanted by the Avro Shackleton ) and air - sea rescue . It was also used in roles as diverse as photo - reconnaissance and aerial mapping , as a flying tanker for aerial refueling , and as the Avro Lancastrian , a long - range , high - speed transatlantic passenger and postal delivery airliner . In March 1946 , a Lancastrian of BSAA flew the first scheduled flight from the then new London Heathrow Airport . Design and development . The origins of the Lancaster stem from a twin - engined bomber design submitted to meet Air Ministry Specification P . 13 / 36 , which was for a new generation of twin - engined medium bomber s for " worldwide use " , the engine specified as the Rolls - Royce Vulture . The resulting aircraft was the Manchester , which , although a capable aircraft , was underpowered and troubled by the unreliability of the Vulture engine . Only 200 Manchesters were built , with the type withdrawn from service in 1942 . Avro ' s chief designer , Roy Chadwick , was already working on an improved Manchester design using four of the more reliable , but less powerful Rolls - Royce Merlin engines on a larger wing . The aircraft was initially designated Avro Type 683 Manchester III , and later renamed the " Lancaster " . The prototype aircraft " BT308 " was assembled by Avro ' s experimental flight department at Manchester ' s Ringway Airport . Test pilot H . A . " Bill " Thorn took the controls for its first flight at Ringway , on Thursday , 9 January 1941 . The aircraft proved to be a great improvement on its predecessor , being " one of the few warplanes in history to be ' right ' from the start . " Its initial three - finned tail layout , a result of the design being adapted from the Manchester I , was quickly changed on the second prototype " DG595 " and subsequent production aircraft , to the familiar twin - finned specification also used on the later Manchesters . Some of the later orders for Manchesters were changed in favour of Lancasters ; the designs were very similar and both featured the same distinctive greenhouse cockpit , turret nose , and twin tail . The Lancaster discarded the stubby central third tail fin of the early Manchesters and used the wider span tailplane and larger elliptical twin fins from the later Manchester IA . The Lancaster is a mid - wing cantilever monoplane with an oval all - metal fuselage . The wing was constructed in five main sections , the fuselage in five sections . All wing and fuselage sections were built separately and fitted with all the required equipment before final assembly . The tail unit had twin elliptical fins and rudders . The Lancaster was initially powered by four wing - mounted Rolls - Royce Merlin piston engines driving 13 ft diameter de Havilland Hydromatic three - bladed airscrews . It had retractable main landing gear and fixed tailwheel , with the hydraulically operated main landing gear raising rearwards into the inner engine nacelles . The majority of Lancasters built during the war years were manufactured by Avro at their factory at Chadderton near Oldham , Greater Manchester , and test flown from Woodford Aerodrome in Cheshire . Other Lancasters were built by Metropolitan - Vickers ( 1 , 080 , also tested at Woodford ) , and Armstrong Whitworth . The aircraft was also produced at the Austin Motor Company works in Longbridge , Birmingham , later in the Second World War and postwar by Vickers - Armstrongs at Chester as well as at the Vickers Armstrong factory , Castle Bromwich , Birmingham . Only 300 of the Lancaster B II fitted with Bristol Hercules engines were constructed ; this was a stopgap modification caused by a shortage of Merlin engines as fighter production was of higher priority . Many BIIs were lost after running out of fuel . The Lancaster B III had Packard Merlin engines but was otherwise identical to contemporary B Is , with 3 , 030 B IIIs built , almost all at Avro ' s Newton Heath factory . The B I and B III were built concurrently , and minor modifications were made to both marks as new batches were ordered . Examples of these modifications were the relocation of the pitot head from the nose to the side of the cockpit , and the change from de Havilland " needle blade " propellers to Hamilton Standard or Nash Kelvinator made " paddle blade " propellers . Of later variants , only the Canadian - built Lancaster B X , manufactured by Victory Aircraft in Malton , Ontario , was produced in significant numbers . A total of 430 of this type were built , earlier examples differing little from their British - built predecessors , except for using Packard - built Merlin engines and American - style instrumentation and electrics . The final production version was the Mark VII and was made by the Austin motor company at their Longbridge factory . The main design difference with the Mark VII was the use of the American - built Martin dorsal gun turret in place of the English Nash & Thompson one ; they had to be mounted slightly further forward on the fuselage for weight balance . All were produced too late for the war in Europe and were tropicalized and upgraded as the Mark VII ( FE ) for use in the Far East against Japan . A total of 7 , 377 Lancasters of all marks were built throughout the duration of the war , each at a 1943 cost of £ 45 - 50 , 000 . Crew accommodation . Starting at the nose , the bomb aimer had two positions to man . His primary location was lying prone on the floor of the nose of the aircraft , with access to the bombsight controls facing forward , with the bombsight computer on his left and bomb release selectors on the right . He also used his view out of the large transparent perspex nose cupola to assist the navigator with map reading . To man the Frazer Nash FN5 nose turret , he stood up placing himself in position behind the triggers of the twin . 303 in ( 7 . 7 mm ) guns . Ammunition for the turret was 1 , 000 rounds per gun ( rpg ) . The bomb aimer ' s position contained the nose emergency hatch in the floor ; at 22 inches by 26 . 5 inches ( two inches narrower than the Halifax escape hatch ) it was difficult to exit through while wearing a parachute . Compared with other contemporary aircraft , the Lancaster was not an easy aircraft to escape from ; in a Halifax , 25 % of downed aircrew bailed out successfully , and in American bombers ( albeit in daylight raids ) it was as high as a 50 % success rate while only 15 % of the Lancaster crew were able to bail out . Operational research experts ( Freeman Dyson , amongst others ) attempted unsuccessfully to have the escape hatch enlarged . Moving back , on the roof of the bomb bay the pilot and flight engineer sat side by side under the expansive canopy , with the pilot sitting on the left on a raised portion of the floor ( almost all British bombers , and most German bombers , had only a single pilot seat as opposed to American practice of carrying two pilots , or at least having controls for two pilots installed ) . The flight engineer sat on a collapsible seat ( known as a " second dicky seat " ) to the pilot ' s right , with the fuel selectors and gauges on a panel behind him and to his right . The pilot and other crew members could use the panel above the cockpit as an auxiliary emergency exit while the mid - upper gunner was expected to use the rear entrance door to leave the aircraft . The tail gunner escaped by rotating his turret to the side and dropping out backwards through the two rear turret doors . Behind the pilot and flight engineer , and behind a curtain fitted to allow him to use light to work , sat the navigator . His position faced to port with a chart table in front of him . An instrument panel showing the airspeed , altitude , and other information required for navigation was mounted on the side of the fuselage above the chart table . The wireless operator ' s radios were mounted on the left - hand end of the chart table , facing the rear of the aircraft . Behind these and facing forwards the wireless operator sat on a seat at the front of the main spar . On his left was a window , and above him was the astrodome , used for visual signalling and by the navigator for celestial navigation . Behind the wireless operator were the two spars for the wing , which created a major obstacle for crew members moving down the fuselage even on the ground . On reaching the end of the bomb bay the floor dropped down to the bottom of the fuselage , and the mid - upper gunner ' s turret was reached . His position allowed a 360° view over the top of the aircraft , with two Browning . 303 Mark II s to protect the aircraft from above and to the side . The mid - upper gunner sat on a rectangle of canvas that was slung beneath the turret and would stay in position throughout the flight . Ammunition for the turret was 1 , 000 rounds per gun . To the rear of the turret was the side crew door , on the starboard side of the fuselage . This was the main entrance to the aircraft , and also could be used as an emergency exit . The Elsan chemical toilet , a type of aircraft lavatory , was located near the spars for the tailplane . At the extreme tail - end of the fuselage , the rear gunner sat in his exposed position in the tail turret , which was entered through a small hatch in the rear of the fuselage . Depending on the size of the rear gunner , the area was so cramped that the gunner would often hang his parachute on a hook inside the fuselage , near the turret doors . Neither the mid - upper nor the rear gunner ' s position was heated , and the gunners had to wear electrically heated suits to prevent hypothermia and frostbite . Many rear gunners insisted on having the centre section of perspex removed from the turret to improve visibility . The transparencies were difficult to see through at night , particularly when trying to keep watch for enemy night fighters that appeared without notice astern and below the aircraft when getting into position to open fire . This removal of perspex from the turret was called the " Gransden Lodge " modification . Ammunition for the tail turret was 2 , 500 rounds - per - gun , due to the weight the ammunition being stored in tanks situated near the mid - upper turret ' s position and fed rearward in runways down the back of the fuselage to the turret . Armament . Defensive armament . The Avro Lancaster was initially equipped with four Nash & Thomson Frazer Nash hydraulically operated turrets mounted in the nose , tail , mid - upper and underside . The original tail turret was equipped with four Browning . 303 Mark II machine guns and all other turrets with two such machine guns . Only the FN - 5A nose turret which was similar to the FN - 5 used on the preceding Avro Manchester , the Vickers Wellington and the Short Stirling remained unchanged during the life of the design , except in instances where it was removed entirely . The ventral ( underside ) FN - 64 turret quickly proved to be dead weight , being both difficult to sight because it relied on a periscope which limited the gunner ' s view to a 20 degree arc , and too slow to keep a target within its sights . Aside from early B Is and the prototype B IIs , the FN - 64 was almost never used . When the Luftwaffe began using Schräge Musik to make attacks from below in the winter of 1943 / 1944 , modifications were made , including downward observation blisters mounted behind the bomb aimer ' s blister and official and unofficial mounts for . 50 in ( 12 . 7 mm ) machine guns or even 20 mm cannon , firing through the ventral holes of the removed FN - 64 . The fitting of these guns was hampered as the same ventral position was used for mounting the H2S blister , which limited installations to those aircraft fitted with bulged bomb bays which interfered with the H2S . The mid - upper ( dorsal or top turret ) was an FN - 50 on early examples and the very similar FN - 150 with improved sights and controls on later examples . On all but the earliest examples this turret was surrounded by a coaming which provided a track for a cam operated interruptor device which prevented the gunner from shooting the tail of his own aircraft . The Mk . VII and late Mk . X Lancasters used the heavier electrically - controlled Martin 250 CE 23A turret equipped with two . 50 inch machine guns which was mounted further forward to preserve the aircraft ' s longitudinal balance , and because it had an internal mechanism to prevent firing on the aircraft itself , it did not require a coaming . Other experimental turrets were tried out , including the FN - 79 and the Boulton - Paul Type H barbette system . The tail turret was the most important defensive position and carried the heaviest armament . Despite this , the turrets used , starting with the FN - 20 , were never entirely satisfactory and numerous designs were tried . The FN - 20 was replaced by the very similar FN - 120 which used an improved gyroscopic gun sight ( GGS ) . Gunners using both the FN - 20 and 120 removed perspex and armour from the turret to improve visibility , but trials by the RAF showed that a Mosquito night fighter was still able to get within a very short distance of the tail gunner without being spotted , confirming what the Luftwaffe had already realised . The Rose turret attempted to improve on the FN turrets by being completely open to the rear ( improving visibility and allowing easier emergency egress ) and by being fitted with two . 50 inch machine guns and was installed in a small number of Lancasters but never became common . Ultimately radar , rather than improved visibility , made the turret more effective . The FN - 121 was the Automatic Gun Laying Turret ( AGLT ) , an FN - 120 fitted with " Village Inn " gun - laying radar . Aircraft fitted with Village Inn were used as bait , flying behind the main formations to confront the night fighters that followed the formations and shot down stragglers . This significantly reduced operational losses ; and gun - laying radar was added to the last versions of the turret . Before the end of the war Lancasters built in the UK standardized on the FN - 82 fitted with two . 50 inch machine guns and fitted with gun - laying radar as production allowed , which was also used on early models of the Avro Lincoln . The disadvantage of all radar and radio transmitting systems is that attacking forces can locate aircraft by picking up transmissions . Later in the war Freeman Dyson made a case for removing all the Lancaster ' s defensive armament , arguing it would reduce the loss rate by increasing the Lancaster ' s speed by up to 50 mph ( assuming the bomb load was not increased at the same time ) , and thus make it harder to shoot down . This became even more important when Dyson and Mike O ' Loughlin concluded that some of the German night fighters were using " Schräge Musik " upward firing guns , as the Lancaster had no ventral gun turret to defend itself , although any defence would depend on the crew detecting the attack from underneath . Dyson considered that the modification would be justified even if the aircraft loss rate was unchanged , as two defensive air gunners would not be required , reducing human losses . The case for speed over defensive armament was supported by the Mosquito , whose loss rates were far lower than the Lancaster ' s . As an example , during the Battle of Berlin ( 18 November 1943 to 30 March 1944 ) the average loss rate of the heavy bombers ( overwhelmingly Lancasters ) was 5 . 1 % , whereas for Mosquitoes it was 0 . 5 % , though a speed - optimised Lancaster would still be up to 50 mph slower than a Mosquito and unlikely to match its low loss rates . Bombs . An important feature of the Lancaster was its unobstructed , long , bomb bay . At first , the heaviest bomb carried was the high capacity HC " Cookie " . Bulged doors were added to 30 % of B Is to allow the aircraft to carry and later " Cookies " . The Lancaster also carried a variety of smaller weapons , including the Small Bomb Container ( SBC ) which held 236 or 24 incendiary and explosive incendiary bomblets ; and General Purpose High Explosive ( GP / HE ) bombs ( these came in a variety of designs ) ; parachute deployed magnetic or acoustic mines , or armour - piercing ( AP ) bombs ; Semi - Armour - Piercing ( SAP ) bombs , used up to 1942 against submarines ; post 1942 : or anti - submarine depth charge s . In 1943 617 Squadron was created to carry out Operation Chastise , the raid against the Ruhr dams . This unit was equipped with B . III ( Specials ) , officially designated the " Type 464 ( Provisioning ) " , modified to carry the " Upkeep " bouncing bomb ( which was referred to as a mine ) . The bomb bay doors were removed and the ends of the bomb bay were covered with fairings . " Upkeep " was suspended on pivoted , vee - shaped struts which sprang apart when the bomb - release button was pressed . A drive belt and pulley to rotate the bomb at 500 rpm was mounted on the starboard strut and driven by a hydraulic motor housed in the forward fairing . The mid - upper turret was removed and a more bulbous bomb aimer ' s blister was fitted ; this , as " Mod . 780 " , later becoming standard on all Lancasters , while the bombsight was replaced by a simple aiming device . Two Aldis lights were fitted in the rear bomb bay fairing ; the optimum height for dropping " Upkeep " was 60 ft and , when shone on the relatively smooth waters of the dam ' s reservoirs , the light beams converged into a single spot when the Lancaster was flying at the correct height . Towards the end of the war , attacking special and hardened targets , other variants of B I Specials were modified to carry the long " Tallboy " or long " Grand Slam " " earthquake " bombs : to carry the " Grand Slam " extensive modifications to the aircraft were required . The modifications included removal of the mid - upper turret and the removal of two guns from the rear turret ; removal of the cockpit armour plating ( the pilot ' s seatback ) and installation of Rolls - Royce Merlin Mk 24 Engines which had better take - off performance . The bomb bay doors were removed and the rear end of the bomb bay cut away to clear the tail of the bomb . Later the nose turret was also removed to further improve performance . The undercarriage was strengthened and stronger mainwheels , later used by the Avro Lincoln , were fitted . Specific bomb loads were standardized and given code names by Bomber Command : Bombsights used on Lancasters included : Radio , radar and countermeasures equipment . The Lancaster had a very advanced communications system for its time . Most British - built Lancasters were fitted with the R1155 receiver and T1154 transmitter , whereas the Canadian - built aircraft and those built for service in the Far East had American radios . These provided radio direction - finding , as well as voice and Morse capabilities . Operational history . Second World War . The first RAF squadron to convert to the Lancaster was No . 44 Squadron RAF in early 1942 . Lancasters flew 156 , 000 sorties and dropped 608 , 612 long tons ( 618 , 378 tonnes ) of bomb s between 1942 and 1945 . Just 35 Lancasters completed more than 100 successful operations each , and 3 , 249 were lost in action . The most successful survivor completed 139 operations , and was scrapped in 1947 . Lancasters took part in the devastating round - the - clock raids on Hamburg during Air Chief Marshal Harris ' s " Operation Gomorrah " in July 1943 . A famous Lancaster bombing raid was the 1943 mission , codenamed Operation Chastise , to destroy the dams of the Ruhr Valley . The operation was carried out by 617 Squadron in modified Mk IIIs carrying special drum - shaped bouncing bomb s designed by Barnes Wallis . The story of the operation was later made into a film , " The Dam Busters . " Also famous was a series of Lancaster attacks using Tallboy bombs against the , which first disabled and later sank the ship . Adolf Galland ( commander of the Luftwaffe fighters ) considered the Lancaster to be " the best night bomber of the war " , as did his adversary , Arthur " Bomber " Harris , who referred to it as the RAF Bomber Command ' s " shining sword " . Lancasters from Bomber Command were to have formed the main strength of Tiger Force , the Commonwealth bomber contingent scheduled to take part in Operation Downfall , the codename for the planned invasion of Japan in late 1945 . Together with the new Avro Lincoln and Liberators they would have operated from bases on Okinawa ; the invasion was made unnecessary by the Japanese surrender . RAF Lancasters dropped food into the Holland region of the occupied Netherlands , with the acquiescence of the occupying German forces , to feed people who were in danger of starvation . The mission was named ' Operation Manna ' after the food manna which is said to have miraculously appeared for the Israelite s in the Book of Exodus . The aircraft involved were from 1 , 3 , and 8 Groups , and consisted of 145 Mosquitoe s and 3 , 156 Lancasters , flying between them a total of 3 , 298 sortie s . The first of the two RAF Lancasters chosen for the test flight was nicknamed " Bad Penny " from the old expression : " a bad penny always turns up . " This bomber , with a crew of seven men ( five Canadians including pilot Robert Upcott of Windsor , Ontario ) , took off in bad weather on the morning of 29 April 1945 without a ceasefire agreement from the German forces , and successfully dropped its cargo . A development of the Lancaster was the Avro Lincoln bomber , initially known as the Lancaster IV and Lancaster V . These two marks became the Lincoln B1 and B2 respectively . A civilian airliner was based on the Lancaster , the Lancastrian . Other developments were the York , a square - bodied transport and , via the Lincoln , the Shackleton which continued in airborne early warning service up to 1992 . Postwar . In June 1947 , the Argentine Air Force received 15 Lancasters . During its Argentine service , Lancasters saw limited use in military coups , owing to the small number there . A total of 59 Lancaster B . Is and B . VIIs were overhauled by Avro at Woodford and Langar and delivered to the " Aeronavale " ( France ) during 1952 / 53 . These were flown until the mid - 1960s by four squadrons in France and New Caledonia in the maritime reconnaissance and search - and - rescue roles . Beginning in 1946 , Lancaster Mk Xs were modified for service with the Royal Canadian Air Force . Fourteen were modified for aerial and photo - reconnaissance work and performed much of the mapping of northern Canada until as late as 1962 . Throughout the 1950s the RCAF operated seventy modified Lancasters , designated Lancaster 10MR / MPs , as Maritime Reconnaissance and Patrol aircraft in an anti - submarine role . Modifications involved the installation of radar and sonobuoy operators ' positions , removal of the rear and mid - upper gun turrets , installation of a 400 - gallon fuel tank in the bomb bay to increase the patrol range , upgraded electronics , radar , and instrumentation , and a cooking stove in the centre section . They served throughout the 1950s , when they were replaced by the Lockheed Neptune and Canadair Argus . Civil conversions continued postwar . In 1946 , four Lancasters were converted by Avro at Bracebridge Heath , Lincolnshire as freighters for use by British South American Airways , but proved to be uneconomical , and were withdrawn after a year in service . In addition , four Lancaster IIIs were converted by Flight Refuelling Limited as two pairs of tanker and receiver aircraft for development of in - flight refuelling . In 1947 , one aircraft was flown non - stop from London to Bermuda . Later the two tanker aircraft were joined by another converted Lancaster and used in the Berlin Airlift , achieving 757 tanker sorties . From 1943 to 1947 the Canadian Government Trans - Atlantic Air Service ( CGTAS ) provided a trans - Atlantic military passenger and postal delivery service using a modified long - distance transport version of the Lancaster Mark X . Nine of these aircraft were produced , referred to as Lancaster XPPs ( for Lancaster Mk . X Passenger Planes ) , and each was equipped with rudimentary passenger facilities . The inaugural flight from Dorval ( Montreal ) to Prestwick , Scotland on 22 July 1943 , was completed non - stop in a record 12 : 26 hours ; the average crossing time was about 13 : 25 hours . By the end of the war , these aircraft had completed hundreds of trips across the Atlantic . CGTAS ushered in the era of commercial air travel across the North Atlantic , and in 1947 the service became part of Trans - Canada Air Lines , which carried paying civilian passengers in the Lancaster XPPs until they were replaced by Douglas DC - 4 s in 1947 . Variants . Due to the Luftwaffe " Schräge Musik " attacks , a variety of unofficial field modifications were made , including fitting of 20 mm cannon or a . 50 inch machine gun in the open hole where the FN . 64 had been installed , before an official modification ( Mod 925 ) fitted with a . 303 inch machine gun was authorized for the same location , though not in all aircraft . These were rarely installed on other variants as the H2S radar that was not used on the B II was mounted there . Three types of bulged bomb bay were used on the B II , the prototype having a narrow bulge running from just aft of the cockpit to the end of the bomb bay , while early production examples had a full width bulge that ran the same length and on late production examples the bomb bay doors were prominently bulged throughout their length . Surviving aircraft . Of the 17 surviving and largely intact Lancasters known to exist two are airworthy ; one , based in the UK , is operated by The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the other is in Canada , operated by the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum . Noted Lancaster pilots and crew members . Victoria Cross awards . Many Lancaster crew members were highly decorated for actions while flying the aircraft . Amongst those who received the Victoria Cross were : Popular culture . The Avro Lancaster featured prominently in the 1955 film " The Dam Busters " , and a number of B VII Lancasters in storage were modified to the original configuration of the B III ( Special ) for use on screen . The Lancaster also plays a central role in " Bomber " , the 1970 novel by Len Deighton about a night raid on a fictional German town by a formation of RAF bombers . It also featured in a 1989 British commercial for Carling Black Label lager which reused footage in a Dam Busters parody sequence in which a German soldier on top of a dam was catching the bombs in the manner of a football goalkeeper . The pilot of the attacking Lancaster then delivers the brand slogan : " I bet he drinks Carling Black Label ! " The commercial ran for many years , frequently appearing in commercial breaks during broadcasts of both the " The Dam Busters " and of documentaries about Operation Chastise . The Avro Lancaster was also featured in the UK TV series " Pathfinders " , airing in 1972 and released on DVD in 2006 , concentrating on the lives of the aircrew of a fictional Pathfinder squadron during the Second World War . Other films in which the Lancaster appeared include " Appointment in London " ( 1952 ) and " The Guns of Navarone " ( 1961 ) . The bomber was also featured in the Canadian television documentary series " Bomber Boys : The Fighting Lancaster " ( 2005 ) . Amateur color footage was taken in 1944 depicting daily operations of Lancasters , including footage from an actual night raid over Berlin . In the 1980s this was compiled into documentary form as " Night Bombers " and aired on BBC . It follows a typical mission of the Lancaster " V for Victor " as it flies a mission to Berlin . The pilot , Bob Chandler , is portrayed as " Flight Lieutenant Harris " , and mission is portrayed as being flow in 1943 , although the footage is actually shot in 1944 .