By Michael D. Hull
Wing Commander Guy P. Gibson of Royal Air Force Bomber Command was handed the most challenging assignment of his six-year career in the spring of 1943.
After winning the Distinguished Service Order with bar and the Distinguished Flying Cross by the age of 24, the chunky, modest son of an Indian Forest Service official took command of a unit newly formed for “special duties,” No. 617 Squadron. It was destined to gain a unique niche in the history of military aviation.
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Very good article…but Lancasters used in line Merlin Engines
Cheers
Son of WW2 fighter pilot
they did experiment with the Hercules radials but they didn’t go into production. Merlins were in very high demand across many different airframe types and were frequently in short supply.
Excellent review of the Lancaster, but the bomb payload quoted of 12,000 tons for the “Tallboy” and 22,000 tons for “Grand Slam” are very ambitious!! The word “tons” needs to be replaced by “pounds”………