Of over 3,000 Avro Lancasters used by RAF Bomber Command only 24 were successful in flying 100 or more operational missions. Of these, the most successful was Avro Lancaster B.III ED888, which completed 140 “ops” and became known as “Mother Of Them All”.
Avro Lancaster B.III ED888 was built by A.V.Roe at Manchester early in 1943, and was assigned to “B Flight “103 Squadron which was based at RAF Elsham Wolds in Lincolnshire.
ED888 began its career on 4th May 1943 with a raid to Dortmund while allocated to 103 Squadron, a unit which would later contribute 24 aircraft to the 600 used by Bomber Command in August 1943 to attack the German V-weapons experimental station at Peenemunde.
After completing her 50th sortie she received a DFC in November 1943.
After 66 operations, ED888 was then transferred, as one of the founding aircraft , along with thirteen other 103 Squadron aircrew, to 576 Squadron which was formed at Elsham Wolds on 25th November 1943. 576 Squadron first went into action on 2nd December 1943 with a raid by seven Lancasters on Berlin.
On 31st October 1944 and after 65 more raids on enemy targets, ED888 was returned to 103 Squadron for nine more operations. After completing 100 sorties ED888 received a DSO. After completing all 140 sorties on 24th December 1944, plus 2 Luftwaffe fighters shot down, she received a Bar to her DFC.
In all, ED888 had spent 974 flying hours on active service.
After spending several months at a maintenance unit, the aircraft was struck off charge on 8th January 1947 and scrapped soon afterwards.
History of RAF No.576 Squadron
No. 576 Squadron was formed on 25th November 1943 from ‘C’ Flight of 103 Squadron at RAF Elsham Wolds in Lincolnshire. It started operations in the night of 2nd/3rd December 1943, when seven Avro Lancasters were sent out to bomb Berlin. Eleven months later 576 Squadron moved to RAF Fiskerton, a little way outside Lincoln. During its brief period of existence 576 Squadron operated only one type of aircraft, the Avro Lancaster four-engine heavy bomber. It carried out 2,788 operation sorties with the Lancaster, with the loss of 66 aircraft. The last bombs of the squadron were dropped on 25th April 1945, when 23 of the squadrons aircraft bombed Berchtesgaden. Its last operational mission was a food dropping to the starving Dutch people in Rotterdam on 7th May 1945. 576 Squadron was disbanded at Fiskerton on 13th September 1945.
History of RAF No.103 Squadron
No. 103 Squadron was formed as No. 103 Squadron, RFC at RAF Beaulieu, Hampshire on 1st September 1917 equipped with Airco DH.9 aircraft. In May 1918 the Squadron was transferred to France and flew reconnaissance and day bombing operations on the Western Front during the Great War. The Squadron was disbanded on 1 October 1919 at RAF Shotwick, Flintshire.
The Squadron was reformed on 10th August 1936 at RAF Andover, Hampshire as No. 103 (Bomber) Squadron, a light bomber Squadron flying biplane Hawker Hind bombers. The Squadron was then posted to RAF Usworth in County Durham. In July 1938 103 Squadron was re-equipped with the more advanced Fairey Battle monoplane bomber.
At the outbreak of the Second World War the Squadron was deployed to France as part of the RAF Advanced Air Striking Force. On 10th May 1940 the Luftwaffe and the German Army invaded France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The Squadron was heavily committed during this period, sustaining many losses. In mid – June 1940 the Squadron withdrew from France for RAF Abingdon in England. 103 Squadron was then transferred to RAF Newton near Nottingham and reverted to the control of No. 1 Group RAF, Bomber Command. In October 1940 it was re-equipped with Vickers Wellington bombers. Operations were carried out with this type on targets on mainland Europe. The Squadron moved into the new airfield at RAF Elsham Wolds in July 1941. In July 1942 the Wellingtons were replaced by Handley Page Halifax bombers.
These were in turn replaced in late October 1942 by Avro Lancaster bombers, which 103 Squadron flew on many operations to Germany and occupied Europe for the rest of the war. During the Second World War 103 Squadron flew over 6000 operational sorties, at a high cost in both men and machines. At the conclusion of the Second World War, on 26th November 1945, the Squadron was disbanded by renumbering it to 57 Squadron.
103 Squadron was subsequently reformed at RAF Gütersloh, West Germany on 30th November 1954 and was part of the 2nd Tactical Air Force. During this short period the unit flew the English Electric Canberra bomber. The Squadron was however again disbanded on 1st August 1956.
103 Squadron reformed at RAF Nicosia, Cyprus on 1st August 1959 after renumbering of 284 Squadron. From then onwards it became a support unit with Bristol Sycamore HR.14 helicopters operating in search and rescue, casualty evacuation and internal security roles. 103 Squadron was disbanded on 31st July 1963 by breaking the squadron up into Nos. 1563 (at Nicosia) and 1564 (at El Adem) flights.
103 Squadron itself was reformed in the Far East at RAF Seletar, Singapore on 1st August 1963 by renumbering 110 Squadron. At that time it was equipped with Westland Whirlwind HAR.10 helicopters. In 1969 the Squadron was posted to RAF Changi and subsequently moved to RAF Tengah in 1971. In November 1972 the Westland Whirlwind was replaced with the more modern and capable Westland Wessex helicopter, but three years later 103 Squadron was disbanded for the last time, on 1st August 1975 at RAF Tengah.
Corgi Aviation Archive 1/72nd scale AA32624 Avro Lancaster B.III, ED888/PM-M2 ‘Mike Squared’, RAF No.103 Squadron, Elsham Wolds, Lincolnshire, Late 1944.
Flying Tigers will be receiving its delivery of this famous “heavy” next week ! All your pre-orders will soon be on their way. If you haven’t order one yet, there is still enough time. Please click on the image or link below to take you straight to the model page.
Other Arrivals at Flying Tigers this week and next.
Deliveries on many brands have arrived this week and more again next week… even including Corgi and Oxford Diecast ! Thank you all for your patience. I have listed all the Hobbymaster models arriving today in last week’s Newsletter. If you missed it CLICK HERE to see the details. Others are listed below :-
Corgi Aviation Archive 1/72nd scale AA39006 Westland Lynx RRP £45.00 Flying Tigers only £41.99 .Arriving at Flying Tigers next week and close to sell out at Corgi !
New 1/72nd scale J C Wings Fighter range added to the website.
I have added the following new models available to pre-order. Please click on the images or links below to take a closer look. These will be available in small quantities from July and August… so quite soon !
Activity at Sywell this week
This week has been a very busy one at Sywell this week .Two days of glorious Spring weather and a lot of prop activity. I managed to pop out at lunchtime to take a few shots. All these aircraft were on the Aerodrome at the same time ! See how many aircraft you can identify… previous Newsletters might help if you get stuck !
Well, that’s it for this week. Thank you for taking time to read this week’s Newsletter.
Richard.
Flying Tigers.