What was the maximum effective range of the standard British Bomber in
the Fall of 1942.  I think the Bomber used was the Lancaster.  When
launched from England, how far into Germany could these Bombers reach?
 More specifically, could they reach as far as Munich?

Hi halejrb-ga, and thanks for your question.

The bomber was indeed the Lancaster, and you can read the basic story
of it's development and use in WWII on the webpage of the Nanton
Lancaster Society.

http://www.lancastermuseum.ca/lancbomber.html

This page lists the specifications of the aircraft, including its
range. The range was of course dependent on the amount of weight the
plane was carrying and the same site lists flight ranges for various
payloads ranging from 2530 miles with a 7000 lb. payload to 1550 miles
with a 22,000 lb. payload. With the round trip distance from London to
Munich at around 1280 miles, Munich would have been in range of the
Lancaster from most British airfields with all but the highest
payloads.

The "After the Battle of Britain" webpage at,

http://www.blvl.igs.net/~jlynch/bharis84.htm

talks about the British air war against Germany and includes stories
about the Lancaster known as "G is for George," and it's 90 missions
against German targets, including..."Berlin,  Hamburg Wilhelmshaven,
Bremen, Cologne, Essen, Nuremberg, Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt,
Dusseldorf and Peenemunde."

I hope this answers your question. Please feel free to ask for a
clarification or further information if needed.

wayga-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by wayga-ga on 09 Nov 2002 18:50 PST

Sorry, I forgot to post my search strategy.

Search terms: british military aircraft "lancaster"

wayga-ga

A great answer.  Very fast too.  If I'd known it was so easy I'd have
looked it up myself.

Sorry wayga, but you are wrong. The standerd British heavy bomber of
that time, Autumn 1942, was the Handley Page Halifax.  Its performance
was somewhat less than the Avro Lancaster. Also still in use was the
Short Stirling.

Could the Halifax bomber reach Munich from England carrying a full load of bombs?

I am not an "expert" on bombers of WWII so I could be wrong about
which was the "standard" bomber at that time. I found links to a page
that lists the specs on the Halifax and it appears that it could reach
Munich as it lists a range of at least 1600 miles. If kemlo-ga has
alink that clears up the "standard bomber" question I would love to
see it just for my own information.

Here's the link for the The Handley-Page HALIFAX info:
http://www.btinternet.com/~steven.ballance/ballance/main.htm

wayga-ga

To halejrb-ga  Yes, but not with a full bomb load of five and a half
tons.
The extra fuel required was traded off against the bomb load, so
probably around four tons could be carried that distance.

To wayga-ga Sorry again, but my knowledge is gleened from good old
fashioned books with paper pages. To search you could try
RAF Bomber Command. or
 Bomber Command Timeline or
 Military History On Line.