Day Duties for the Night Workers by Robert Taylor. (B)

With its mission completed, the mighty Lancaster slowly rolls to a halt on the lonely dispersal point, the roar of its four pulsating Merlin engines steadily slackens, replaced by an eerie silence, broken only by the snapping cracks of cooling metal. Slowly the seven weary crew tumble out of the fuselage, their faces etched with strain, eyes rimmed red with tiredness. For them it is the final act of another long, arduous and nerve-wracking operation, another eight-hour ordeal to attack industrial targets in the Ruhr. This time they know they've been lucky, they reached the target and returned home safely, despite the deadly flak and prowling Luftwaffe night-fighters. For others, however, the work of war has just begun. As the massive Lancaster looms majestically over them, the ever vigilant ground crew begin the task of preparing their aircraft for the coming night's operation. Checking, repairing and double-checking again, making sure that nothing goes wrong on the next trip, nothing that could endanger the lives of the crew who depend on them. And then there are guns to be re-armed, bombs to be loaded and near-empty fuel tanks refilled. It will be a race against time.

Supplied with a copy of the book Heroic Endeavour by Sean Feast, signed by the author.

Signed by Flight Lieutenant Boris Bressloff DFC,
Warrant Officer Reg Cleaver,
Flight Sergeant Alan Payne DFC,
Warrant Officer William Bell,
Warrant Officer Jim Booker,
Flight Lieutenant Ken Carlton,
Flt Lt Eric Clarke MiD,
Warrant Officer Richard Curnock,
Warrant Officer Eric Evans,
Warrant Officer Reg Eves,
Flight Lieutenant Dennis Field,
Flying Officer George French,
Warrant Officer Harry Gough,
Flying Officer Les Hadley,
Squadron Leader John Hall, DFC*,
Warrant Officer Jeff Hildreth,
Flight Sergeant Ken Jenkinson,
Warrant Officer Ken Johnson,
Warrant Officer Norman Jones,
Flight Lieutenant William J Kelbrick,
Flight Lieutenant H W Bert Kirtland DFC*,
Flt Lt Bob Lasham DFC*,
Flt Sgt Rudolf Leksinski,
Warrant Officer Jack Linaker,
Flight Sergeant Norman Lusher,
Flt Lt Len MacNamara DFC,
Warrant Officer Fred Maltas,
Sergeant Len Manning,
Warrant Officer Frank P Mannion,
Warrant Officer John Morrison,
Flt Lt Bluey Mottershead DFC,
Flt Lt Henry Oakeby,
Warrant Officer Ken OBrien DFM,
Warrant Officer Lou Parsons,
Warrant Officer Ernie Patterson DFC,
Warrant Officer John Pearl,
Warrant Officer Ken Rogers,
Squadron Leader John Rowland DSO DFC*,
Flt Lt Ron Smith DFC AE,
Warrant Officer Rex Statham,
Pilot Officer Richard Dick Starkey,
Flying Officer Malcolm Staves,
Flying Officer Phil Tetlow,
Warrant Officer Sam Thompson,
Flight Lieutenant Fred Tunstall DFC,
Flight Sergeant Eric Varney,
Flying Officer Frank Wheeler DFC (deceased),
Warrant Officer Andrzej Wesolowski,
Warrant Officer Tony Winser (deceased)
and
Flying Officer Raymond Worrall.

Bomber Command edition of 125 prints.

Paper size 20 inches x 14 inches (51cm x 36cm)