The aircraft

The Lancaster was the RAF's heaviest and most feared bomber. JB 367 was a Mark III: the same airframe as the Mark I, but with Merlin engines built under licence by Packard in the United States, each rated at 1,480 hp.

Armament in three turrets — nose, mid-upper and tail — with a fuselage between them that was almost impossible to leave in the dark. Navigation relied on the H2S radar set; that night it failed over the North Sea, before the aircraft even reached Germany.

JB 367 served with 97 Squadron, a Pathfinder unit flying from Bourn in Cambridgeshire. Pathfinders flew ahead and marked the target with coloured flares so the main force knew where to drop. The squadron flew 4,091 operational sorties and lost 130 aircraft.

The squadron crest with its motto “Achieve your aim” was drawn years later by Steven Stoner, grandson of navigator Philip Pepper.

10–11 November 1943, Modane: eighteen Lancasters attacked the railway complex on the French–Italian border. JB 367 left Bourn at 21:12 and landed back at 04:11. Full moon, red target indicators.

11–12 November 1943, Cannes: ten Lancasters, six 1,000 lb bombs each, off at 18:36 and back at 02:21. The railway repair shops were destroyed.

18–19 November 1943, Berlin: the third flight was the last. In the squadron records JB 367 was replaced by JB 221 — an aircraft lost on 25–26 November 1943.