Gentlemen. Thank you for all that information, it's been a great help. Now for the next question. Were the Lancaster's that had these 0.50 guns fitted allocated to certain Sqns within Bomber Cmd or were they issued to all and sundry? I'm trying to sort out what aircraft were involved in a mid-air collision over Ruskington Fen (near Lincoln) in 1944. A grand old gentleman I know witnessed the crash (he was about 13 at the time) and he maintains that it was two Lancasters. After that crash site was cleared he managed to pick up a few bits and pieces including a 0.50 round of ammo. Someone has now told him if that's the case then one of the aircraft involved must have been American as they were the only Air Force that used 0.50 guns. Hmm, I now know that's not the case. The gentleman seems to remember that one of the Lancasters was from East Kirby. So now I need to find out which Sqns had these guns fitted. My son has a Robert Taylor print depicting a 101 Sqn ABC (AirBorne Cigar) Lancaster at Ludford Magna, it appears to have only two barrels in the rear turret so I suspect these must be 0.50 guns.
Last edited by beefix; 26th Apr 2008 at 17:14.