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The mighty Lancaster was the mainstay of Bomber Command, this awesome heavy bomber being able to deliver a greater payload than any other aircraft of WWII. Crewed by volunteers from Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Rhodesia, South Africa and many other nations opposed to Nazi rule, these gloriously brave flyers endured overwhelming odds, frightening losses, and some of the worst flying conditions imaginable.
One aircraft typified the resilience of the men and machines of RAF Bomber Command. Flying with 460 Squadron RAAF, Lancaster serial number W4783, call sign G for George, took part in almost every major attack on Germany between December 1942 and its retirement in April 1944, completing no fewer than 90 bombing sorties. Targets included Berlin, Hamburg, Wilhelmshaven, Bremen, Cologne, Essen, Nuremberg, Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Peenemunde. Time and again G for George upheld the squadron motto "Strike and Return", often limping home riddled with flak and bullet holes, occasionally on three engines, a victim of enemy action.
By the war's end G for George, and other Lancasters of 460 Squadron, had flown the most operational sorties, dropped the highest tonnage of bombs, suffered the heaviest casualties, and were awarded the most decorations of any squadron in Bomber Command.
Robert Taylor's emotive painting shows G for George, damaged and straggling home at the back of the pack, returning from one of this famous Lancaster's last gruelling sorties. Battle scarred, with paintwork showing all the signs of a long and arduous tour of duty, the valiant Lancaster descends towards RAF Binbrook, G for George's base in the heart of the Lincolnshire countryside. This specially published commemorative edition, signed by crew members, was released to help aid the preservation of G for George, which proudly resides at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
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