During the final three years of WWII, the Lancaster became the greatest bomber for the Royal Air Force (RAF) based in England.
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The heavy bomber was designed and built by Avro for the RAF. It first saw active service with Bomber Command in 1942 and as the strategic bombing offensive over Europe gathered momentum, it was the central implement for the night-time bombing campaigns that followed.
The Lancaster that scored the most operational missions was ED 888 with a record of 140. Only 35 Lancasters were successful in scoring 100 or more ops. The number of Lancasters built was 7377 and from these, 3932 were lost in action.
A Lancaster crew consisted of: pilot, flight engineer, navigator, bomb aimer, wireless operator, mid upper gunner and rear gunner. For a Lancaster to survive an operational mission depended on the skill of the crew and a certain amount of luck.
Lancaster ED 888 began operations on May 4, 1943, with 103 Squadron at Elsham Worlds and became known as M-Mother. It performed 75 ops with 103 Squadron and 65 with 576 Squadron. ED 888 had two name changes during the war, V-Victor and M-Mike, but was best known as "Mother of Them All".
After doing its 50th op, ED 888 received the Distinguished Flying Cross and shortly after the 100th op, it had the Distinguished Service Order painted on her nose. After the 140th op, one more adornment was that of a rosette on her painted DFC ribbon, denoting a Bar to the decoration.
ED 888 was struck off charge on January 8, 1947. The only part of ED 888 which remains today, is her bomb release cable. This is the cable used by Neil Lambell (a former farmer from Gulargambone), as part of his job as the bomb aimer.
His position was in the nose of the plane and he was seated when operating the front gun turret, but positioned in a laying position as the bomb aimer when directing the pilot to the target prior to releasing the bomb load.
The bomb release cable is now in a museum in England and was taken off the aircraft in 1947 by Flight Lieutenant John Henry.
He was one of three Australian brothers, who were all in 103 squadron and who did, on one particular operation, all fly together to bomb Cologne. Flight Lieutenant Henry flew ED 888 on its very last trip down to the Maintenance Unit at RAF Tollerton in Nottinghamshire, where it was finally dismantled.
The Lancaster that scored the second-most number of ops was R5868 with 137. Its name was changed from Q-Queenie to S-Sugar and flew in Squadrons 83 and 467. It was preserved and is on display at the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon, London.
At the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Lancaster G-George is on display from 460 Squadron. It did 90 ops, which is also a remarkable feat.
Neil Lambell, did a total of 29 ops in Lancasters, 16 of these with ED 888 as the bomb aimer. He was also a qualified navigator and gunner and assisted with these jobs when required. Eleven of Neil's missions were to Berlin during the peak of the war. Neil was injured on one of these trips, being hit in the face by shrapnel.
Without mentioning his injury to his crew mates, he completed his mission and released his bombs at the correct time. It was not until the aircraft landed at base that other members of the crew realised that he had been injured. This fortitude earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Neil's name is on the 576 Squadron Honours and Awards board. After war duties, Neil came home via America and had a game of golf with Bob Hope, who was a famous comedian and war entertainer.
Neil was married to Meg (deceased). They had four sons, Brian, John, Phillip and Graham. A car accident claimed Neil's life in 1968 aged 46.
