Lancaster Radio
Listen in to the calm radio chatter of a RAF 207 Squadron crew on a bombing mission over Berlin. The Avro Lancaster B.Mk, named F for Freddie, gets through search lights, anti-aircraft fire and an attack from a German fighter.
The recording was made by two BBC correspondents on board the Lancaster. Wynford Vaughn and Reginald Pidsley joined the crew on 3 September 1943 to capture a dangerous and terrifying mission over enemy territory. Twenty-two Lancasters were shot down on the same night.
The navigator heard in the clip is Queenslander Harold Frederick 'Con' Connely during his fiftieth sortie. Connely had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFC) the previous year and went on to earn the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC).
Aircraft Transmitter Receiver Command Radio as fitted to Lancaster aircraft. Type R1155A (10D/820) for use with mounting type 210 (10A/13788). T1154 radio transmitter of the type used in Lancaster bombers. 'Air Ministry' is stamped on the metal plate and there is a reference number, 10D/196.
The type 'G' green rubber oxygen mask with built-in Type 26 magnetic microphone is lined with brown chamois leather and has elastic straps for attachment to a flying helmet.
Type 'G' entered RAF service in 1943. Its main advantage over earlier masks was in the channeling of cool fresh oxygen into the upper part, while carrying warm exhaled air out at the bottom. Together with the new chamois lined rubber construction, this largely alleviated the condensation problems experienced with earlier masks.
