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The Lancaster - PA474

PA474 is one of only two Lancasters remaining in airworthy condition out of the 7377 that were built – the other being in Canada . She was built in Chester in mid-1945 and was earmarked for the ‘Tiger Force' in the Far East. However, the war with Japan ended before she could take part in any hostilities. She was therefore assigned to Photographic Reconnaissance duties with 82 Squadron in East and South Africa. While operating with 82 Squadron, PA474 had her turrets removed and carried the identification letter 'M'.

On return to the United Kingdom PA474 was loaned to Flight Refuelling Ltd at Tarrant Rushton to be used as a pilotless drone. However, before the conversion started, the Air Ministry decided to use a Lincoln aircraft instead and PA474 was transferred to the Royal College of Aeronautics where she was used for trials on the Handley Page Laminar Flow wing. The trial wings were mounted vertically on the upper rear fuselage.

In 1964 she was adopted by the Air Historical Branch (AHB) for future display in the proposed RAF Museum at Hendon and was flown to Wroughton where she was painted in a camouflage paint scheme, though without squadron markings. During this period PA474 also took part in 2 films, 'Operation Crossbow' and 'The Guns of Navarone'. Later in 1964 she was moved to RAF Henlow in preparation for display at the RAF Museum. The first unit to be equipped with Lancasters was 44 Squadron and in 1965 the Commanding Officer of this unit, which was now flying Vulcans from RAF Waddington, sought permission from the AHB for PA474 to be transferred to the care of the Squadron. An inspection found that the aircraft was structurally sound and permission was granted for PA474 to make a single flight from Henlow to Waddington.

At Waddington a restoration programme on PA474 began, that would take several years to complete. By 1966 work was progressing well and both the front and rear turrets were in place. Permission to fly PA474 regularly was granted in 1967, although restoration continued. The aircraft eventually joined the Battle of Britain Flight in November 1973 prompting the change of the Unit's name to the 'Battle of Britain Memorial Flight'. Restoration work on various parts of the aircraft has continued ever since. A mid-upper turret was discovered in Argentina and was brought to Britain aboard HMS HAMPSHIRE and fitted to PA474 in 1975, the same year that the aircraft was adopted by the City of Lincoln. During the winter of 1995/6 PA474 received a brand new main spar, extending her life for the foreseeable future.

After major servicing at Air Atlantique in Coventry during the winter of 2006/07, PA474 wears the markings of EE139, the 'Phantom of the Ruhr', a ton-up Lancaster that flew her first 30 ops on No 100 Squadron based at Waltham before completing a further 91 ops on No 550 Squadron at North Killingholme. She sports the letters HR-W of 'The Ton' on her port side and BQ-B of 550 on her starboard, effectively commemorating the crews of both Squadrons.

Lancaster - EE139 'Phantom of the Ruhr'

Avro Lancaster PA474 in the markings of EE139 of 100 Squadron

Lancaster EE139 was built by A V Roe Ltd at their Newton Heath works in Manchester. Part of an order for 620 aircraft it was built as a Mk III aircraft powered by Packard Merlin 28 engines. The aircraft was delivered brand new to RAF Grimsby at the end of May 1943. The Station opened as a satellite to RAF Binbrook in November 1941 and, although officially named RAF Grimsby, was better known by its pre-war name, Waltham. No 100 Squadron arrived in December 1942 and began to re-equip with Lancasters as part of No 1 Group Bomber Command. The Squadron was reforming at Waltham having been virtually wiped out earlier in the year in action against the Japanese in Singapore flying Vickers Vilderbeest biplanes. The Squadron flew its first operational mission from Waltham on the 4th March 1943 and was to remain in continuous action from there until the end of the War.

Sergeant Ron Clark arrived at Waltham with his all NCO crew from No 1656 Heavy Conversion Unit at Lindholme. This “sprog” crew, arriving at the same time as EE 139, were fortunate to be given charge of this brand new aircraft, flying it for the first time on 2 June 1943. After successfully completing 7 training flights with EE 139, the crew appeared on the Battle Order for their first “Op”. The Battle of the Ruhr had been going on for 4 bitter months and Ron’s crew were thrown immediately into the full ferocity of the Battle. On 11th June they were sent, along with 783 heavy bombers, to the heavily defended city of Dusseldorf. Flying EE 139 at 21000 feet over the “Valley of Hell” between Cologne and Dusseldorf they somehow negotiated the “solid wall of flak” and bombed the rail yards and factories, returning shaken but uninjured to Waltham. The Squadron lost 2 aircraft that night and 13 men died with one surviving to become a POW. By mid June only 2 crews survived from those that had reformed 100 Squadron at Waltham just a few months earlier. Throughout June a total of 9 crews were lost, one-third the Squadron strength. The chances of Ron's crew surviving 30 operations at Waltham were not good.

Sergeant Ron Clark (centre, standing) with his crew under the Phantom

At the airfield their aircraft was parked on dispersal 7, just a short walk ‘through the hedge’ to the village Post Office in Holton-le-Clay. Ron and crew soon became good friends with the two elderly ladies running the Post Office and established a routine of joining them for tea and toast after their morning inspection of EE 139. The crew were soon discussing an identity for their aircraft. At the time the film Phantom of the Opera was being shown, all but giving them a name for their aircraft. Harold “Ben” Bennett, the Flight Engineer, was then given a free hand designing the motif and came up with the ghoulish hooded skeleton figure casting bombs out of the night sky. Ben said he might have been influenced by feelings of revenge from his time as a ground engineer with Fighter Command and suffering frequent bomb attacks. The crew had created their “Phantom of the Ruhr”, an aircraft destined to become one of the most famous Lancasters in Bomber Command. Initially coded FZ-A, depicting ‘C’ Flight 100 Squadron, it became HW-R for Roger in July 1943. Ron Clark would fly ‘Phantom’ on 42 occasions logging over 165 hours in the aircraft, 147 of these hours on night operations. He would captain the aircraft on 25 of the 33 operations ‘Phantom’ would undertake with 100 Squadron. Of those 33 operations, only 3 were aborted and when ‘Phantom’ left 100 Squadron in November 1943 she had 30 ‘Ops’ recorded in 2 rows on her side. Operational sorties were represented with yellow bombs while a red bomb signified a trip to the ‘Big City’ Berlin. Operations to Italy were recorded with an ice-cream cornet, an unofficial marking used by Bomber Command to signify a raid on Italian targets. Ron and his crew were responsible for 2 of the 4 cornets on ‘Phantom’ including an 11-hour epic to Turin, and flew her 3 times to Berlin. Against all the odds Ron’s crew survived some of the toughest bombing raids of the War. They flew to Cologne and Berlin 3 times, Essen, Nuremberg, and 4 times to Hamburg in what became known as the ‘Battle of Hamburg’. On 17 August 1943 they took part in the famous Peenemunde Raid on the secret German V-2 rocket research establishment near the remote Baltic town of Peenemunde. Having dropped their one thousand pound bombs from 8000 feet Ron Clark decided to make use of the perfect moonlight conditions and descended ‘Phantom’ to tree top height for five minutes allowing his gunners to open up on opportunity targets.

The Phantom of the Ruhr nose artwork after 21 operations.

Few of their ‘Ops’ with ‘Phantom’ were without incident, but it was on their last trip to Mannheim on 22/23 September 1943 when Ron and his crew came closest to disaster. By now a veteran crew they took off with the first wave arriving over the target on time. The weather was clear with the glow of the Rhine clearly visible. Commencing their bombing run at 21000 feet they were immediately caught by the master searchlight and quickly coned by up to 80 more. Ron Clark put the aircraft into a steep dive but the searchlights stayed with them and the aircraft hit by flak. One of the shells passed straight through the aircraft without exploding, entering through the bomb doors and out through the topside of the fuselage. It severed the starboard aileron control causing the aircraft to go out of control. With the control column jammed hard over the Pilot and Flight Engineer struggled to regain control as they plummeted earthwards. They finally succeeded in recovering the aircraft at 13000 feet but, still held in searchlights, were attacked by a night fighter from astern, damaging the port wing trailing edge and flap. Another shell hit the starboard tail plane. Having just regained control, Ron Clark could see streams of tracer flashing in front of him and knew that despite limited control and considerable damage to his aircraft he had no choice but to throw ‘Phantom’ into another steep dive. He successfully avoided the fighter and recovered the aircraft again, this time at only 4000 feet, but was still followed by the searchlights that now appeared to be almost ‘horizontal’ in their pursuit of the aircraft. The crew managed to clear the target area and jettison their bombs, but ‘Phantom’ was vibrating violently with the port wing and the tail plane “flapping up and down”. Ben Bennett the Flight Engineer, an ex Halton apprentice, had a tremendous knowledge of aircraft. Despite operating under the most extreme conditions he was able to work out that the severe vibration was due to the starboard aileron trim tab still being connected. Armed with some pliers he managed to find the correct control wires, cut them, and the vibration stopped. Ron Clark flew the crippled bomber home and made a good landing at Waltham despite having no flaps and only partial aileron control. For their actions that night, saving their aircraft and crew, Ron Clark and Ben Bennett received the DFC and DFM respectively.

Two views of the flak damage, left the starboard wing and upper fuselage, right, the tailplane with Ron Clark

In the hangar the tail fin from a 30 lb incendiary bomb was found in the air intake of one of the engines, indicating that the aircraft had also been hit by bombs from above. Severe damage was found to the tail and rudder and at least 300 shrapnel holes counted in the aircraft. ‘Phantom’ had survived but would be out of action until early November. Ron and his crew flew a further 5 ‘Ops’ with 100 Squadron before being posted with ‘C’ Flight to form the nucleus of the new 625 Squadron at Kelstern. They flew one further ‘Op’ before being screened, split up and posted. All survived the War with the exception of the navigator, Jim Siddell, who was killed over Holland in a Mosquito in 1944.

The ‘Phantom’ was repaired and flew 4 more operations with 100 Squadron before being transferred to the newly formed No 550 Squadron on 25 November 1943. The targets remained as tough as before as the Battle of the Ruhr continued. Flight Sergeant Bouchard and crew took the ‘Phantom’ on 5 raids to Berlin before the end of the year and 4 more times to the ‘Big City’ during January 1944. No 550 Squadron moved to North Killingholme in the same month from where ‘Phantom’ flew the rest of her wartime operations. On 5 September 1944, she became the first 550 Squadron aircraft to reach a tally of one hundred missions, a ‘century’, flying a daylight raid on Le Havre. The pilot credited with flying its one hundredth mission was Flying Officer Hutcheson, with his crew of Sergeant Wright (Flight Engineer), Sergeant Smith (Navigator), Flight Sergeant Francis (RAAF) (Bomb Aimer), Warrant Officer Smith (RAAF) (Wireless Operator), Sergeant Hodgson (Mid-upper Gunner) and Sergeant Tosh (Rear Gunner). This crew flew the ‘Phantom’ on 30 operations between the 22nd June 1944 and the 23rd September 1944, probably a unique achievement to fly a full operational tour on one aircraft.

Fg Off Hutcheson and his crew prior to the Phantom's 100th mission,
a daylight trip to Le Havre on 5 Sept 1944

On her 102nd trip, a raid on Frankfurt, the ‘Phantom’ was again coned by searchlights and suffered further minor flak damage before her pilot, Pilot Officer Ansell, was able to escape. Then a Messerchmitt 109 attacked her on three occasions but miraculously the ‘Phantom’ survived and slipped away into the night. Two trips later, after a raid to Stuttgart, the ‘Phantom’ came to grief when landing at North Killingholme. Landing in very wet conditions, the aircraft aquaplaned, and having run the full length of North Killingholme’s main runway she careered across fields, finally coming to rest stood on her nose. However this was not to be the end of the ‘Phantom’. She was dragged out, patched up and went on to do a further 17 trips before finally being retired from operations.

The ‘Phantom’s’ operational career came to an end on the 21st November 1944 after a night raid on the Aschaffenburg railway marshalling yards. Squadron Leader Willie Caldow DSO, AFC, DFM, a very experienced and decorated pilot, was alarmed by the handling of the aircraft and, believing that the airframe was twisted, instructed that the aircraft be retired from operations.

The Phantom featured on 550 Squadron's 1944 Christmas card.

The ‘Phantom’ was credited with 121 operational missions and 830 hours of operational flying. She had been declared Category 3 (repair beyond the capacity of the unit) three times but was repaired and put back in the air. On retirement the ‘Phantom’ was considered to be an ‘old lady’ but she was in fact only 18 months old. She was sent to 1656 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU) at Lindholme and later to 1660 HCU at Swinderby to be used to train new Lancaster crews. Despite becoming No 550 Squadron’s longest serving Lancaster, and being awarded the DFC, the ‘Phantom’, like so many other famous aircraft, was unceremoniously scrapped in February 1946.

In recognition of the bravery of all the men who flew the ‘Phantom of the Ruhr’ with 100 Squadron and 550 Squadron, both Squadron codes are displayed. The port side of PA474 shows ‘Phantom’ as she would have been at the end of her time on 100 Squadron, with 30 missions recorded in 2 banks of 15 and HW-R on the fuselage. The letters of 550 Squadron, BQ-B are painted on the starboard side.

N0 100 SQUADRON OPS 1943 - PHANTOM OF THE RUHR

DATE - CODE - CREW - TARGET

11/12 June - FZ-A - Sgt Clark - Dusseldorf
12/13 June - FZ-A - Sgt Clark - Bochum
14 June - FZ-A - Sgt Clark - Oberhausen (RTB, Icing)
16/17 June - FZ-A - Sgt Clark - Cologne
8/9 July - HW-R - FS Clark - Cologne
12/13 July - HW-R - FS Clark - Turin
24/25 July - HW-R - FS Clark - Hamburg
25/26 July - HW-R - FS Clark - Essen
27/28 July - HW-R - WO Clark - Hamburg
29/30 July - HW-R - WO Clark - Hamburg
30/31 July - HW-R - WO Clark - Remscheid
2/3 Aug - HW-R - WO Clark - Hamburg
7/8 Aug - HW-R - WO Wright - Genoa
9/10 Aug - HW-R - FS Bagot - Mannheim
10/11 Aug - HW-R - WO Clark - Nuremburg
12/13 Aug - HW-R - WO Clark - Milan
14/15 Aug - HW-R - FS Bagot - Milan
17/18 Aug - HW-R - WO Clark - Peenemunde
22/23 Aug - HW-R - WO Clark - Leverkussen
23/24 Aug - HW-R - WO Clark - Berlin
28/29 Aug - HW-R - WO Clark - Nuremberg (RTB, Oil Leak)
30/31 Aug - HW-R - WO Clark - Munchen Gladbach
31/1 Aug - HW-R - WO Clark - Berlin
3/4 Sep - HW-R - WO Clark - Berlin
5/6 Sep - HW-R - WO Clark - Mannheim
6/7 Sep - HW-R - WO Clark - Munich
22/23 Sep - HW-R - WO Clark - Hannover (Sgt Cook's Crew)
23/24 Sep - HW-R - WO Clark - Mannheim
3/4 Nov - HW-R - WO Heyes - Dusseldorf
10/11 Nov - HW-R - WO Peasgood - Modane
18/19 Nov - HW-R - WO Brook - Berlin
22/23 Nov - HW-R - Flt Lt Randall - Berlin (RTB Glycol leak)
23/24 Nov - HW-R - Plt Off Dripps - Berlin

Ron Clark’s Crew.

WO Ron Clark DFC - Pilot
Sgt ‘Ben’ Bennett DFM - Flight Engineer
Sgt Jim Siddell - Navigator
Sgt Doug Wheeler - Bomb Aimer
Sgt ‘Lish‘ Easby - Wireless Operator
Sgt Les Simpson - Mid Upper Gunner
Sgt Geoff Green - Rear Gunner

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