Armstrong Whitworth
Contract:
239/SAS/C4 ( C )
SW302
Works Order:
Delivered:
1945-06-12
Struck off:
1953-07-31
An intriguing image. AW's batch of Lancasters under the listed contracts were Mk.Is modified for Far East service, but this aircraft on entering service was designated a PR.1, of which there isn't a huge amount of information out there about, specifically regarding camera fit, which I'm thinking was installed in the bomb bay. In the picture the turrets are not fitted, most likely to save weight and where the H2S blister is normally located there's a flat plate. The flight deck glazing is reduced, most likely as a result of its intended theatre of ops. This aircraft operated with 82 Sqn, a bit of info snaffled from the unit's wiki page:
"On 1 October 1946, the squadron was reformed at RAF Benson equipped with Avro Lancasters and Supermarine Spitfire PR. XIXs to undertake aerial surveys of Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia. The squadron moved to Kenya in October 1947, it was flying from RAF Eastleigh [Nairobi] by 1950. In 1952, the squadron relocated to the UK and was re-equipped with Canberras in November 1953, remaining in the reconnaissance role. On 1 September 1956 the squadron was disbanded."
More from the Lancaster wiki page:
"PR.1, B.1 modified for photographic reconnaissance, operated by RAF No. 82 and No. 541 Squadrons, wartime. All armament and turrets were removed with a reconfigured nose and a camera carried in the bomb bay. "
This is slightly misleading as neither 82 nor 541 Sqns operated Lancasters during wartime, although both squadrons were active in the war. Operating PR Spitfires postwar, 541 Sqn received a few Lanc PR.1s in 1946, but the Lancaster Flight was reformed as 82 Sqn in October that year.