Avro Lincoln in brief RNZAF service

[tibbup]

Can anyone advise if our Lincolns ever carried armament in their (very!) brief service. From the few photos published it would appear not

[nuuumannn]

Just to be sure, the RNZAF never operated the Lincoln; 75 (New Zealand) Sqn, RAF was one of the British units that did however. The Lincoln first entered service three days before the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima at RAF East Kirkby - three examples were received by 57 squadron on 3 August and 75 Sqn, which was to be a part of the Tiger Force did not receive its first Lincolns until September 1945, although the unit had moved to Spilsby in preparation for the Tiger Force in July. Less than a month later in October the squadron and its brand new handful of Lincolns was disbanded.

From further investigation it looks like the early Lincolns had issues with their tail and mid upper turrets, so they might not have been armed during 75 squadron use. I don't know whether they received them with or without guns though, although there is a picture on ADF serials of RF388, which was one of 75 Sqn's three Lincolns, with 44 Sqn. Its rear turret appears to be armed.

www.adf-gallery.com.au/gallery/NZ-Lincoln/Lincoln_RF388_27th_February_1946_ex_75_NZ_Sqn_passed_on_to_47_Rhodesia_Sqn

A little article of interest about the squadron's only 'operational' sortie. It had only three aircraft. The common image of RF389 AA-A is also on this page devoid of armament.

75nzsquadron.wordpress.com/2014/08/28/the-homecoming-75-nz-squadron-and-the-s-s-andes/

[tibbup]

Not in the RNZAF as such yes, but 75(NZ) Squadron satisfies my model collection theme (which broadens the types to be built!) An interesting if challenging conversion from the Airfix Lancaster, the mid-upper Lincoln amament being quite different, if carried at all during it's short NZ deployment.

[davidd]

Interesting fact is that the crews of 75(NZ) Squadron were tailored for Tiger Force with no provision for a mid-upper gunner, and a strange new crew member, an animal never seen before (at least in the RAF), the Pilot-Flight Engineer (and all RNZAF). These latter were generally NZ-trained ME pilots (although some may have been Canadian-trained) and had been told that as the RAF was overflowing with excess pilots by this time, but was desperately short of flight engineers for the Tiger crews, so it was suggested that the unwanted pilots could still stay "in the war" if they volunteered for F/Engineer training at St Athans (home of a Technical Training School which specialised in running the F/Eng courses), so that is what a lot of pilots did. Unfortunately, in spite of their cunning plan, along came the atomic bombs, and it was all over, literally in a flash, sorry! TWO flashes. Bad joke.
David D

[pjw4118]

There are some Lincoln photos in the 75 squadron post , none appear to have armament , the others from the Baigent collection I have of the same aircraft but different angles are machine gun free. But it was common for the guns to be removed from the turrets for cleaning and checking and refitted prior to ops , so test flights may have been made without armament.

[nuuumannn]

Dec 7, 2020 13:42:44 GMT 12 tibbup said:

Not in the RNZAF as such yes, but 75(NZ) Squadron satisfies my model collection theme (which broadens the types to be built!) An interesting if challenging conversion from the Airfix Lancaster, the mid-upper Lincoln amament being quite different, if carried at all during it's short NZ deployment.

Will be nice to see your collection when done. Yes, the Lancaster and Lincoln did not share armament. The Lancaster was (nominally) fitted with Nash & Thompson F.N.5A front turret, F.N.50 mid upper and F.N.20 rear turret, all armed with .303 Browning guns. The Lincoln was fitted with a Boulton Paul Type D rear turret armed with two .50 cal Brownings, and Bristol B.17 mid upper turret with two 20mm Hispano cannon, and a Boulton Paul Type F nose turret fitted with two .50 cal Brownings. It's worth noting that MoTaT's Lanc is fitted with a Boulton Paul Type D rear turret, as fitted to the Lincoln, because it was a Mk.VII.

lincoln turrets.

BP Type D

Bristol B.17

BP Type F

Compare with Lancaster ones and they are quite different. Your surgical skills will be put to the test. Might be easier to buy a Lincoln conversion kit, if such a thing exists, as the Lincoln was a very different machine to the Lancaster.

Lancaster-3