AVRO Lancaster EN-A in Flight 

Original Silver Gelatin photograph, 1940s

An aircraft of No. 27 Operational Training Unit which was based at RAF Lichfield. The OTUs were the last stage of aircrew training prior to transfer to an operational unit. Crews had already been formed up, and were trained to fly as a crew in the aircraft type they were to fly in combat. Occasionally the OTUs provided aircraft and crews for offensive operations, for example in the first ‘Thousand Bomber Raid’ on Cologne in May 1942. Loss rates in OTUs were high owing to the combination of the British weather, the crowded airspace, inexperienced crews – and even enemy action.

16 x 21 cm

Provenance: from the collection of Philip J R Moyes, author of many books on the RAF, most notably The Pictorial History which ran to several volumes.

Condition: Very good.