SQN LDR CLIVE ROWLEY TELLS THE STORY BEHIND THE NEW MARKINGS FOR THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN MEMORIAL FLIGHT’S LANCASTER
WITH BAGPIPES!
WORLD WAR TWO AVRO LANCASTER
A green Aldis light from the runway controller’s caravan beside the runway at Binbrook signalled the clearance to take off. It was 19:48 hours on Monday, September 6. The concrete was damp from a recent shower of rain as, with its four Merlin engines roaring under the strain of full power, a Lancaster of 460 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) surged down the runway. Moments later, its pilot, Australian Flt Sgt ‘Jerry’ Bateman, heaved his heavily-laden charge off the runway and into the air.
