In total, Lancaster bombers flew 156,000 missions and dropped 608,612 tons of bombs. On 14-, Lancaster bombers and their American counterparts devastated the German city of Dresden, killing at least 25,000 (some estimates were as high as 60,000).
With this weapon, Harris was able to drop 2,000 tons of high explosives on Cologne on 30- in a mere 90-minute window, the Lancaster bombers left 45,000 residents of Cologne homeless. Their ability to carry large quantities of bombs was among the reasons British Air Marshal Arthur Harris was given the nicknames "Bomber Harris" and the more accusive "Butcher Harris". When the blueprints of chief designer Roy Chadwick for the Lancaster was accepted, most of the original Manchester bombers were rebuilt as Lancaster bombers. The design was actually a Manchester bomber variant, Mk III, but the improvement was so significant that the variant received a totally new name. However, five minutes later they were surprised by a group of soldiers shouting at them to put their hands up.Ww2dbaseFirst used in 1942, the Lancaster bombers were four-engined bombers that served as Britain's heavy bombers. The remaining 3 crew climbed through the bomber’s top hatch, pleased to be alive and unhurt.
He later rather modestly described it as ‘ very tight flying.‘ Sgt Singleton had in fact miraculously brought the heavy four engine bomber safely down on to the only suitable piece of ground on the Island of Sark. They hadn’t landed on the Isles of Scilly or even the Isle of Wight. It ploughed the length of one field, burst through a hedge and eventually came to rest in a second field. Wheels up, Eric brought the huge bomber down onto its belly. They approached from the south skimming over the chimneys of houses. Low on fuel, they HAD to make a landing and had to do it soon. Several hours later, in bright moonlight, Eric thought they had reached the Isles of Scilly, the rear gunner however thought it was the Isle of Wight. Their efforts were eventually rewarded when they succeeded in extinguishing the fuselage fire, and miraculously, a short time later, the engine fire went out.Įric asked rear gunner Sergeant Saunders to act as navigator to try to get them home. His two remaining crew, mid upper gunner Eddie Pope and rear gunner Les Saunders, stayed with him battling the fire. They were taken off next day to a prison in Germany.Įric, however, decided to see just how far he could continue to fly the damaged aircraft. The navigating instruments had been shot away and four of the crew had bailed out over France, leaving only the pilot and two others to land here. The plane circled round and we were awakened by the noise… the German patrol appeared in our drive, running madly in order to take a short cut through the field… we heard no shots, although Bishop said he could hear English voices… later I got details from the German doctor who confided to me that the plane was returning from a raid on Stuttgart. There was great excitement one night when a Lancaster bomber made a forced landing in a field near the Seigneurie. Arriving just after 22:00 hours the bombers began to pound the city.Īfter dropping their bombs Eric Singleton turned his aircraft to get clear when it was hit several times by flak.
Despite this and with the help of a bright moon, Eric and his crew managed to pick up the river from the north and were able to gain good fixes. Ground haze and thin cloud over Stuttgart prevented the Pathfinders from locating the centre of the city. That night they took off with 6 other bombers from their squadron to join the bomber stream of over 200 aircraft heading for Stuttgart. So what is the story of this bomber, its crew and how it ended up on Sark? The StoryĮric Singleton and his crew were members of 49 Squadron based at Scampton – later to become the home base for the famous “Dam Busters”. By 4am the next morning this beautiful machine lay wrecked in a field on Sark. With him were 6 other young men all on their second operational sortie – their target that night was the industrial city of Stuttgart in Germany. With a mighty roar they pulled the fully laden bomber into the night sky. On the evening of 22nd November 1942, 21 year old Flight Sergeant Eric Singleton sat in the cockpit of his Lancaster bomber, W4107, and gunned the 4 Merlin Rolls Royce engines.