All Things Lancaster

We seem to be on a bit of Lancaster roll at the Friends of the Odd Bods website lately. That iconic WW2 aircraft has been in the news for a variety of reasons.

We recently posted an article about the flight of one of the last two flying condition Lancasters back in July – see article here.

And then Assistant Editor, Michael Rossiter, posted a great diagrammatic of the Lancaster showing the crew positions in the aircraft and giving some interesting general information - see article here.

Just last week our President, Bruce Waxman, alerted us to a novel with a link to WW2 Lancasters. The book is titled “The Diggers Rest Hotel” and includes a character (Charlie Berlin) who was a Lancaster Pilot. Here is part of a review on Goodreads –

“In 1947, two years after witnessing the death of a young Jewish woman in Poland, Charlie Berlin has rejoined the police force a different man. Sent to investigate a spate of robberies in rural Victoria, he soon discovers that World War II has changed even the most ordinary of places and people.

An ex-bomber pilot and former POW, Berlin is struggling to fit back in: grappling with post-traumatic stress disorder, the ghosts of his dead crew and his futile attempts to numb the pain.

When Berlin travels to Albury–Wodonga to track down the gang behind the robberies, he suspects he's a problem cop being set up to fail. Taking a room at the Diggers Rest Hotel in Wodonga, he sets about solving a case that no one else can – with the help of feisty, ambitious journalist Rebecca Green and rookie constable Rob Roberts, the only cop in town he can trust.

The first Charlie Berlin mystery takes us into a world of secret alliances and loyalties – and a society dealing with the effects of a war that changed men forever.”

And finally, we received an email highlighting a new product available from the Imperial War Museum in the UK. It is a metal construction kit of a Lancaster with over 385 pieces. The kit is aimed at young enthusiasts but as one of our older members suggested “To hell with the Grandkids, I wouldn’t mind a go at that”. Here is a link if you want to purchase the model - https://shop.iwm.org.uk/p/26264/Lancaster-bomber-construction-set

Did You Know This Information Was in the Airmen's Logbook?

In the example above, some Airmen listed this interesting information in the back of their Logbooks. This valuable information shows where they served (Unit), the dates they were attached to the unit and where the unit was located.

If you have a relatives logbook, knowing this may help if you want to see where they were.  The above Airmen turned 18 in August 1942 and signed up shortly after.