Corgi 1/72 Lancaster Grand Slam Bomber 617 Sqdn YZ J U Boats Pen Raid (AA32616)

Corgi 1/72 Lancaster Grand Slam Bomber 617 Sqdn YZ J U Boats Pen Raid (AA32616) | Antics Online

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> Corgi Aviation Archive > World War II, Bombers & Logistics

Corgi 1/72 Lancaster Grand Slam Bomber 617 Sqdn YZ J U Boats Pen Raid (AA32616)
On 27th March 1945, 617 Sqn bombed the U-Boat Pens at Farge, Germany. These pens were one of the largest concrete structures on earth at the time and of the 20 Lancaster�s used on the raid, 14 were equipped with the huge 22,000lb Grand Slam Bombs � the highest number ever used on a single mission. 2 Grand Slams found their target and detonated rendering the pens unusable. No aircraft were lost. The raid was led by Group Captain Johnny Fauquier, a Canadian who assumed command of 617 Sqn in December 1944. He flew PD119, YZ-J, which was possibly the most distinctive of 617 Sqn, B.1 (Special) Lancaster�s. Whilst the aircraft wore a daylight camouflage its port rear rudder was damaged, probably by Flak on the 21st March and with no replacements readily available one was �borrowed� from another plane which wore a black night camouflage scheme, it remained this way until the end of the war.

The Grand Slam was a 22,000 lb (9.980 kg) earthquake bomb used by RAF Bomber Command against strategic targets during the Second World War. It was a scaled up version of the Tallboy bomb and closer to the original size that the bomb inventor Barnes Wallis had envisioned when he first developed his earthquake bomb idea.

> Corgi Aviation Archive > World War II, Bombers & Logistics