The Lancaster Bomber

We had five Canadians and two RAF in the crew. Interviewer: And what type of aircraft did you fly? On the squadron, just Lancasters. The Lancaster was a good aircraft, nothing like the modern ones. There was no cushions inside they were all just bare metal. But the Lancaster carried the largest bomb load, for one. It did have eight guns if you were flying at night and caught the enemy before he caught you, you could discourage him. I think the volume of ammunition discouraged him. If you saw an enemy coming and he was closing on one side, you would maybe go port or dive if you had the altitude and there was certain procedures where if the enemy followed you down you could actually shoot at them without any leading, like they would be flying maybe two or three hundred miles an hour so you had to make sure you shot far enough ahead of them to discourage them and they would see the ammunition.

Mr. Callas describes the unique characteristics of the Lancaster aircraft and some techniques used in enemy attack.

Charles Callas

Charles (Cal) Edgar Callas was born in Wainwright, Alberta, on February 24, 1924. He enlisted in Edmonton, Alberta, in late 1942 after completing grade 12. He completed basic training there and then enrolled in an SFTS (service flight training school) in Dauphin, Manitoba. Mr. Callas trained in Trenton, Ontario, and MacDonald, Manitoba, in bombing and gunnery, and joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Air Crew, 625 Squadron, 1 Bomber Command. He successfully completed 33 trips between March and July of 1944, and had achieved the rank of pilot officer when the war ended. He was presented with the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM) in 1946 by the Governor General of Canada. He returned to Edmonton and married his fiancée Wynee Gould. They raised three children, and are proud of their seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Mr. Callas celebrates 70 years with the Royal Canadian Legion this year, as well as long time memberships with the Canadian Air Search and Rescue Association (Air Division), the Royal Canadian Air Force Association and the Army Reserve..