AVRO Lancaster: Queen Of The Heavy Bombers 
The first Lancaster Mark 1 flew in October, 1941. It was powered by four Rolls Royce Merlin engines. The Mark II Lancasters had less powerful Hercules radial engines (Merlins were in short supply as they were also used in Halifax bombers, Mosquito fighter-bombers, Spitfire fighters and several other aircraft). When American-built Merlins became available, they were fitted into the Lancaster Mark IIIs. A Mark VII version had four-bladed props; it also was fitted with electronic jamming equipment in place of its nose and tail gun turrets. Mark VIIs flew in the bomber stream to jam German defences. Canadian-built Lancasters were designated Mark X aircraft. The first Canadian-built Lancaster – the Ruhr Express rolled out the hangars of Victory Aircraft, Malton (site of Toronto´s Pearson International Airport) in August, 1943. A total of 7,366 Lancasters of all marks were built. Of these, 3600 were lost on operations, and thousands of young Canadians were lost with them.
After the war, Lancasters continued in service with the Royal Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force, and the Royal Australian Air Force for many years. Many postwar Canadian Lancasters were converted for special missions, including maritime reconnaissance/patrol, navigator training, aerial survey and mapping, and air-sea rescue. A Lancaster was also used as a flying test-bed for new jet engines.
LANCASTER BOMBER FACTS
- Length – 69′ 6″ ft. / Wing Span – 102 ft.
- Bomb load – up to 22,000 lbs.
- Defensive Armament – eight .303 Browning machine guns
- Range – Up to 2,530 miles (varied with bomb load)
- Power – 4 Merlin engines; 1280 hp each (Packard Merlins: 1640 hp ea.)
- Speed – 275 m.p.h.
- Crew – Seven: pilot; flight engineer, observer/nose gunner/ bomb aimer; navigator, wireless operator, mid-upper gunner, and tail gunner.
- Weight – Empty/loaded: 37,000 / 65,000 lbs.
HISTORY OF TORONTO’S LANCASTER, Serial No. FM104
- Built at Malton, Ontario in April 1945
- Flew to Britain where it was prepared for combat and held in reserve. By the end of the war, it had not been assigned to a squadron.
- With the end of the war in Europe, FM104 was returned to Canada where it began to undergo preparations for the war in the Far East.
- - After WW II, the Lancaster B. Mark Xs were redesignated Mark 10s, dropping the cumbersome Roman numeral system.(Air-Sea Rescue) at Downsview
- Based at RCAF Stations Greenwood, N.S. and Torbay, Nfld.
- FM 104 participated in “Duck Butt” operations in the late 1950s, in which Sabres, CF-100s, Silver Stars and Expeditors were escorted over the North Atlantic to NATO bases in Europe. The Lancasters were essentially airborne radio and radar stations on these escort flights, with secondary S & R capability.*
- Participated in several search and rescue missions, and in the Cuban Missile Crisis
- Took part in RCAF retirement ceremony at Downsview in April, 1964
- FM 104 at retirement was a Mark 10 SR (for Search and Rescue). The SRs were upgrades of the MP model with added radios and Lindholme rescue gear. The MPs were in turn upgrades of the earlier MR model with improved APS 33 radar. The very early Mark 10 ASR model predated all of these and was not much different from a stock Mark 10.*
- Donated to City of Toronto by Air Force Assn.; placed on plinth 35 yrs. ago
- After restoration, will be on permanent loan to the museum for indoor display
- Will be restored and painted in its original wartime colours, as it left the factory at Malton in 1945.
Avro Lancaster Mk X FM 104 was built by the crown corporation Victory Aircraft Limited at Malton, Ontario (now part of Toronto) in 1944. In January of 1945 it was sent over to England but was kept as a reserve and was never active with any squadron before May when the war in Europe ended.
By June of 1945 it was back in Canada in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia as part of the buildup of 408 and 428 (Canadian) squadrons RAF to be part of Canada’s “Tiger Force” for the continuing war against Japan in the Pacific. But the war with Japan ended in July before the squadrons saw any service and FM104 was never officially taken on strength (it was never issued a squadron code).
FM 104 was officially handed over to the RCAF by the Mutual Aid Board on August 13, 1945. It was originally slated to be put in storage but that order was changed and by November 1945 it was converted to a Search and Rescue configuration (Lancaster Mark10 SR) and posted to No. 10 Rescue Unit.
In April, 1951 FM104 was again converted into a Maritime Reconnaissance role (Lancaster MarkX MR) for anti-submarine patrol and posted to 107 unit of Maritime Air Command and based out of Torbay, Newfoundland. FM104 served this role until January of 1957 when it was again re-configured to Search and Rescue markings though it is unclear how much of the equipment was modified. Finally, in August 1959 it was again re-configured to Maritime Patrol (Lancaster MarkX MP) still serving with 107 Unit Maritime Air Command. FM 104 was also part of Canada’s role in the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
Lancaster FM 104 was finally struck off strength on February 10 1964 when it was sold to the Royal Canadian Air Force Association Toronto Region to take part in the Official Retirement of the Lancaster celebration at CFB Downsview on April 9 1964. It was later put on display at that years’ CNE and finally donated to the city of Toronto to be placed as a memorial along Lakeshore Drive near the CNE grounds. Responsibility for Lancaster FM 104 was transferred to Heritage Toronto. But after 30 years outdoors corrosion, metal fatigue and vandals were threatening to destroy it for good, so Heritage Toronto held a competition to find an indoor home for it.
With the support of many volunteers and sponsors FM 104 was removed from its pedestal and moved to the former CFB Downsview where it was retired some 36 years ago. The Lancaster is now housed indoors where it will undergo a complete restoration by volunteers as an open exhibit where the public can come in and see the work being done. It’s final resting place will be in the hangar where it is now being restored.
-Glen Beauchamp-
*With thanks to Richard Banigan for additional information and corrections
