Interesting photo of a Lancaster in George Square, Glasgow in June 1943 positioned adjacent to the Sir Walter Scott monument. The occasion was a ‘Wings for Victory’ exhibition. Present was Glaswegian Iain Nicolson DFC DFM (1923 – 2009) navigator and survivor of 96 missions (including the Peenemunde raid in 1943) and his crew. Hard to make out the serial number but looks as if it could be R5559 which falls within the range of numbers for a Lancaster I, which it seems to be. Note the sign to the left indicating the engines were made locally at the RR plant at Hillington not far from present-day Glasgow Airport. The plant still exists but RR moved out to a new state-of-the-art factory on the west side of Glasgow Airport at Inchinnan some years ago.
By: ericmunk - 23rd March 2017 at 18:24
http://www.verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/item2.php?PN=R5552
Shot down the evening of December 20th 1943, killing the entire crew.
By: Old Fokker - 22nd March 2017 at 19:05
Probably is worth contacting them! It is amazing what just comes up out of the blue on the internet!
Yes, the first photo I published popped up on my Facebook page from a group I belong to that posts pictures of old Glasgow. It wasn’t captioned so, being a Glasgow boy, I couldn’t resist investigating.
By: TonyL1962 - 22nd March 2017 at 17:48
Thanks D C Page – that completes the operational lifespan of R5552. That’s a really good little video, and interesting to see that pieces still survive.
By: TonyL1962 - 22nd March 2017 at 17:19
Probably is worth contacting them! It is amazing what just comes up out of the blue on the internet!
By: TonyL1962 - 22nd March 2017 at 17:17
R5552 replaced the previous 97 squadron aircraft coded P, R5513 which (piloted by W/O Mycroft) had been lost during the Augsburg raid.
By: Old Fokker - 22nd March 2017 at 17:16
That’s fascinating. Can’t help with further pictures. I’m sure the Evening Times has a lot more so it may be worth contacting them. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/
By: DC Page - 22nd March 2017 at 17:14
The gentleman at the start of this clip says R5552 was shot down on December 20th, 1944, but all the notes I have indicate December 20th, 1943. I’m looking through my files right now.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ijz0d-fKn_U
https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=51093
Added: Also I’ve seen R5552 listed as AS-P but several crash reports list it as R5552 AS-P2 crashed on Dec. 20th, 1943. Is AS-P2 the same aircraft as AS-P, or is it a replacement aircraft, or is this just a typo?
By: Old Fokker - 22nd March 2017 at 17:13
Excellent. Cheers. Just a minor correction, it is parked adjacent to the Sir Walter Scott column and not the Cenotaph. My mistake.
By: TonyL1962 - 22nd March 2017 at 17:05
I would be very interested to see more pics, as I have a family connection.
R5552 did it’s first operation with 97 squadron on 8 May 1942 with my mum’s cousin, Ernest Deverill, as pilot. This entire crew comprised the same men who had flown with Ernest on the Augsburg low-level raid on 17 April 1942.
However, they flew R5552 only once and Ernest and this crew then went on to adopt R5559, W-William, as their regular aircraft for the rest of their tour (another 19 operations).
From what I can see, R5552 went missing on the night of 20th/21st December 1943 while with 166 Sqn, though I do not know the details or crew members.
By: DC Page - 22nd March 2017 at 16:17
I have some higher res pics than the one posted and as Tony suggests it is in fact Lancaster R5552.
And didn’t this aircraft crash in December 1943?
By: Old Fokker - 22nd March 2017 at 15:44
That’s great info. You are correct! I got the 1942 date from Nicolson’s obituary but it is wrong. The Wings for Victory exhibition took place at the beginning of June 1943, finishing on the 5th. Here is another nice picture of it from the Glasgow Evening Times Archive.
By: TonyL1962 - 22nd March 2017 at 15:26
R5559 was with 97 Squadron in 1942, and lettered W. However the serial in the photo could be R5552, which was also with 97 Squadron in 1942 and was coded P, as per this photo. However this aircraft was continually on operations during 1942, the last one with 97 squadron being 23 March 1943 (see http://www.97squadronassociation.co.uk/operations.html). Then apparently it went to 20 MU and finally on to 166 Squadron – if it is this aircraft it would seem more likely that it was displayed in Glasgow in mid 1943, sometime after March, when allotted to 20 MU.
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March 22, 2017 at 7:47 am