Lancaster Serial Number ME665 - Just one question

[Sergio]

I've recently been writing a factual book about a motorcycle racer that involves a German engineer visiting the crash site of Lancaster ME665 (near Luckenwalde (south of Berlin) to scavenge duralumin sheeting and extrusions for a Formula 3 racing car he was planning to build. That got me into researching the story of ME665 (its pilot was the 21 year-old Squadron Leader Kenneth Bickers, DFC). On the evening of 24-25 March 1944, ME665 was taking part in the last of the big Berlin Raids when it was intercepted and shot down by Leutnant Heinz Bergel flying a Messerschmitt Bf110. Adding detail to my recreation of that disastrous night for Bickers and his crew (all of whom perished) I was trying to remember something I had once read that the Lancaster's rear turret and its armament were powered by a hydraulic pump driven by one of the Lancaster's Merlin engines. The best Luftwaffe night-fighters knew this and always tried to disable the rear gun by stopping just one of the Lancaster's engines.

My question is simple. Was this true and if so, which of the Lancaster's engines powered its rear turret?

 

[nuuumannn]

My question is simple. Was this true and if so, which of the Lancaster's engines powered its rear turret?

Yes, it's true. The turrets fitted to the Lancaster were Nash & Thompson hydraulically actuated power turrets. The N&T turrets were keyed into the aircraft's hydraulic system, which also actuated undercarriage retraction and flaps. System pressure was provided by engine driven pumps (EDP) and each turret was keyed into a particular EDP as follows: Tail turret, port outer, front turret, starboard inner, mid upper, stbd outer and under turret if fitted, port inner.

 

[Sergio]

Yes, it's true. The turrets fitted to the Lancaster were Nash & Thompson hydraulically actuated power turrets. The N&T turrets were keyed into the aircraft's hydraulic system, which also actuated undercarriage retraction and flaps. System pressure was provided by engine driven pumps (EDP) and each turret was keyed into a particular EDP as follows: Tail turret, port outer, front turret, starboard inner, mid upper, stbd outer and under turret if fitted, port inner.

WOW! I didn't expect the answer to arrive quite this fast. Neither did I think I'd remembered it as accurately as I seem to have done.
Many thanks for sharing your great knowledge of the Lancaster's hydraulic power systems with me. You are a gentleman, sir.

 

[nuuumannn]

WOW! I didn't expect the answer to arrive quite this fast. Neither did I think I'd remembered it as accurately as I seem to have done.
Many thanks for sharing your great knowledge of the Lancaster's hydraulic power systems with me. You are a gentleman, sir.

No problem at all!