Customer Reviews

Lancaster Squadrons 1942-43 (Combat Aircraft)

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What a wonderful aircraft the Lancaster is. A main factor that is given in this book from the very first page to the very last. Even though the life of this aircraft is only very short, the history and information given in this book is simply amazing. Mainly due to the simple fact that British ingenuity made the Lancaster a very versitile and adaptable weapon of war. The only task it could/did not adapt to, because it was not allowed to, was that being attached to Coastal Command against the dreaded U-Boat threat. For Harris resisted those from the Admiralty from having his bombers used for such a tasking that was best served with the aircraft then in use. However, that aside, Jon Lake has done a magnificent job with this book and has done credit to this magnificent aircraft. Not only to the design team, or to the men and woman who built her but also to the the brave men who flew the Lancaster into harms way over hostile airspace on a regular basis. The facts given within the pages of this book are educational to old buffs like me. Especially in the last chapter regarding the Dam Buster raid. Which highlighted a few facts that for me were not known.Well worth a purchase folks. The follow up edition covering 1944-1945 has alredy been covered by myself. Disappointent with this book is not on the menu folks.

Entering service in December 1941, the Avro Lancaster became the backbone of the RAF's Bomber Command. Yet the bomber's first two years of service were very much a period of trial-and-error as the aircraft assumed the lion's share of ops even as new weapons and tactics were tested and developed. Jon Lake covers Lanc ops during 1942 and 1943 in this 2002 Osprey 'Combat Aircraft' volume, #31 in the series.

Bomber Command's record of achievement was dismal in the early war years, most of its night raids failing to damage the German war effort in any way, shape or form. While the snake-bit Stirling was operational and the more potent Halifax was coming on line, the Lancaster would be Harris' weapon of choice. Initial ops were marked by mis-uses of the Lanc as in the disastrous April 1942 Augsburg mission, strikes against French coastal communities and work with the Capital Ship Bomb. The Lanc however soon showed its war-winning potential in the hands of 44, 97, 61, 207 and other squadrons. The development of the Pathfinder Force and new tactics helped ensure the Lanc would be Bomber Command's most effective tool.

Lake does a workmanlike job of summarizing early Lanc ops. Yet, in trying to cram two years worth of combat into 73 pages, his narrative is sometimes a long recital of missions flown with no details. Likewise, he relied on some 40-odd books in his research, generally foregoing first-person reminiscences, which add spice to a history. For those reasons, the text is rather dry. The book features dozens of photographs, some previously seen. Chris Davey's profiles though are marvelous, depicting 30 Lancs in all their painted glory.

So, if you're a Bomber Command, Lanc or just a generalist 'heavy metal' buff, you'll want to check out this Osprey title. Recommended.