What was the importance to Britain of the Avro Lancaster Heavy Bombers during World War 2?
It was also the Volkswagen of bombers until the American Boeings arrived in theatre…crews loved them for their reliability and durability, but the Boeings were a superior aircraft. Had Britain not had the Lancs, their strike capability would have been significantly limited prior to the arrival of the Americans, and it is possible, but ONLY JUST possible, that without the Lancs, the Germans could have kept enough of their own aircraft available for cross-channel strikes that the Battle of Britain might have turned out differently. Many (but by no means all) Lancaster veterans do actually believe that without the Lanc, Germany might well have been able to proceed with a land invasion of Britain. Of course, the BoB was so close that had Britain not had ANY single weapon or advantage, the same would be true. So while the Lancaster WAS critical to Britain’s strike capability (and so indirectly to its defensive capability), so was just about every other aircraft or major weapon they had at
