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AVRO Lancaster Part 3. Mks II, VI, X, Type 464 & B.I(Special) 1942-45 Photo Archive Number 18 ISBN: 9781908757296 Wingleader Publications The AVRO Lancaster was the mainstay of Britain’s Bomber Command once it reached service, pushing out the inferior Stirling and mediocre Halifax, once it resolved its own issues and grew an additional pair of engines and an extra wing panel to accommodate them. That turned the disappointing Manchester into the workhorse that was the Lancaster, which seemed able to transport any bomb load offered to it from sea mines to specialist bouncing bombs and the Grand Slam earthquake bombs that were used to great effect toward the end of the war. The heart of the Lanc went almost unchanged throughout the war, although there were more variants that you might possibly be aware of, beyond the ‘Specials’ that we all know and love. If I had a £1 for every sentence written on the subject of the Lancaster I’d be a rich man, but that’s not the point of this book. Not entirely, at least. Although it is a photo archive book, it has plenty of text throughout the pages, of which there are eighty, plus the two covers that are also printed. The volume is landscape A4 with a card bound cover, and each of the pages are fully printed, usually with at least one main photograph plus caption, and when there are more than one photo, the captions are arranged around them. In addition, there are numerous small red annotations to the photos where it counts, with corresponding legends in the captions, which makes finding the salient portions of the photos much easier. This third volume in the series by Peter Allam covers the later Mk.IIs and beyond, starting with the Hercules engined airframes that were created in case of a shortage of the more desirable Rolls Royce Merlins that seemed to be obligatory for almost every British aircraft that flew during WWII, and even a few that didn’t (think Meteor AFV engine). Type 464, otherwise known as the DamBuster Lanc is also described, as is the B(1) Special that carried the Tall Boy and even larger Grand Slam bombs, and the Universal Power Plant installation of the Merlin engine that was intended to simplify repair and maintenance of the sometimes finicky motor, but didn’t quite work out as simple as expected, at least initially. Some of the photos are staged of course, but there are also a large number of candid shots, a few of which are in colour, and some are of battle-damaged aircraft, two lying flopped on the airfield after a less-than-successful landing. The photo of the rear turret that has been ripped from the tail of the aircraft by a falling bomb, taking its gunner with it is particularly poignant. A visually impressive book with plenty of reading material into the bargain that will have you coming back to it again and again. I can see myself picking up Volumes one and two at some point, which cover the Mk.I and Mk.III respectively, due to the unusual way that the marks reached service. There is the possibility of a further volume in the future that deals with the electronics, internal equipment, weapons loads and crew clothing to round out the series. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of