Avro Lancaster Mk.I - British Users part eight

The Avro Lancaster was the main British bomber of the World War II and was the main night bomber of the war. It was used by various squadrons, among them these two:

• No.97 Squadron: From January 1942 until March 1942 this squadron transitioned to the Avro Lancaster from the Avro Manchester, while being based at RAF Coningsby, in Lincolnshire. They took part in the bombing campaign against fortress Europe that they have been taking part since they flew the Manchester. They took part on the low level day bombing raid, together with No.44 Squadron, at MAN Diesel engine works at Augsburg, they took part in the famous 1000 bomber raid against Cologne, Essen and Bremen and in October 1942 they took part on the famous Scheneider locomotive and armament works raid in Le Creusot, France. In early 1943 they made their first raid against Northern Italy and, in April 1943 they were transferred to No.8 Pathfinder Force after being rebased to RAF Bourn, in Cambridgeshire, becoming that way a "marker" squadron and taking part against the raids against Zeppelin Works in Friedrichshafen and the Italian shipyards in La Spezia. They remained in that role until April 1944 when they returned to RAF Coningsby to help the No.5 Bomber Group to prepare the final raid against Germany in 25/26th April 1945. They retained the Lancasters in the early postwar, until July 1946 when they were replaced by the Avro Lincoln.
• No.35 (Madras Presidency) Squadron: This squadron replaced their De Havilland Mosquitoes with the Avro Lancaster very late in the War, in March 1944. They took part in the Normandy Landings by bombing two coastal batteries, one at Maisy and the other one at Longues. Later, during the liberation of Belgium, they bombed the gun batteries on Walcheren Island which were key to the defence of Antwerp. During the famous battle of the Bulge, they managed to bomb Von Runstedts's communications hubs, disrupting this way German communications. During the final months of the war they took part against industrial targets. After the war, in 1946, they took part in a goodwill tour across the USA, and they returned in RAF Stradishall, in Suffolk because their original base, RAF Graveley, in Lincolnshire, closed. They retained the Avro Lancaster until September 1949 when they were replaced by the Avro Lincoln.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Lancaster

2. https://www.raf.mod.uk/history/bombercommandno97squadron.cfm

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._97_Squadron_RAF

4. https://www.raf.mod.uk/history/bombercommandno35squadron.cfm

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._35_Squadron_RAF

6. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 52 - Lancaster in Action