I received the following from RAFM Cosford today;
Dear Mike
Myself and 3 colleagues studied the photos of your panel, and compared them to actual panels we have fitted in our Lincoln and Shackleton turrets, and could not prove an exact match. On the fuse box cover is an RAF section reference number, which we think reads 5c/883 or 5c/893. We have a publication which lists what these section/ref numbers refer to, but alas it does not go back far enough for these numbers. They would also only relate to the fuses and not to the panel as a whole, so it wouldn’t prove too much anyway.
There were elements from your panel which were also present on our Boulton Paul later mark Lancaster/Lincoln turret, which would date it to wartime. Supporting this are the gun switches which are square edged and which were round edged on later panels, but it is strange there are only 3 of them, as all the RAF heavy bombers had guns in pairs. The photos were too indistinct to be sure, but going back to the fuse box cover is what appears to be a Queen Elizabeth crown (two humps!) and would date that component to post 1952.
So in summary, we cannot positively state what aircraft the panel was from. Elements are similar to panels in our Lincoln turrets (floodlight and switch, warning panel, heater buttons and fuse box cover) but the layout differs. An intriguing mystery!
Regards,
Clare Carr
Assistant Curator
RAF Museum Cosford
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