The R1155 RX, in action perhaps! - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

dave walsh · 16th Jan 2023, 9:53 pm

Ive recorded a number of documentaries about the Wartime Lancaster Bomber over the years but they've always been very disappointingly light re the TX/RX Navigation area of the Aircraft. Apart from flooding in Hastings, the South East Today, local BBC news carried a story about a very lively and amusing french woman who has now reached the age of 102. She met her husband after he crashed Lancaster Bomber in Paris during the war.

I'd recorded the news and seen this at lunchtime but it was only when I did it again at 6-30pm that I noticed a very brief film clip that showed someone actually operating an R1155. If you saw or can access this I'd be interested to know the source. It may be on again at 10-30pm BBC1 but previous experience has shown annoying deletions in the script by then!

Dave W

Bexhill, near France

Graham G3ZVT · 17th Jan 2023, 12:47 am

Well I'm in the "Metropolitan Borough", but through the magic of Web catch-up
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006pfp8
I have now seen it and grabbed the relevant frame.

Perhaps someone can point to the archive footage where it came from.

David G4EBT · 17th Jan 2023, 1:12 pm

The remarkable thing about the 1155 and similar military equipment is that with hindsight, it was designed, arguably over-engineered, and built to far exceed its actual service life, given that some are still intact, (albeit often much modified) almost 80 years later, yet the average life of a Lancaster was just 19 weeks until the last year of the war.

I guess the design brief was 'make it rugged, make it reliable, and we need them in a hurry'.

Back in the 50s and 60 the surplus market was awash with 1155s, and other equipment such as 19 sets. They were just seen as 'donor' sets to modify to make them better suited for amateur use - not to be preserved intact. I've lost count of the number of times I heard people back then who had 1155s romanticising: 'this came out of a Lancaster bomber'. No it didn't - it never went into one - it's ex-WD surplus.

Not many Lancasters survived the war - there are now only two left in the world that are still airworthy.

On a single night, Bomber Command suffered more losses than did Fighter Command during the entire Battle of Britain.

Lots of info on the Lancaster, including pics of the 1155/1154 at this link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Lancaster

Of the 120,000 who served in Bomber Command (all volunteers), 55,573 were killed, including more than 10,000 Canadians. Of those who were flying at the beginning of the war, only ten percent survived - a loss rate comparable only to the worst slaughter of the First World War trenches. Only the Nazi U-Boat force suffered a higher casualty rate.

Of every 100 who joined Bomber Command, 45 were killed, 6 were seriously wounded, 8 became Prisoners of War, and only 41 escaped unscathed (at least physically). One in four were Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders. During the RCAF’s Halifax operations between March 1943 and February 1944, the average loss rate, produced a mere 16% survival rate for a tour of 30 operations.

When I started work as an apprentice in 1954, a decade earlier all the guys I worked with had been involved in WW2 in one way or another - D-Day or Bomber Command, some had been POWs. The first guy I worked with had been a Lancaster pilot. He was 22 in 1942, and the rest of the crew were in their teens, (not old enough to vote) so called him 'Pop'. None of the crew had learnt to drive a car, and he still couldn't in 1954.

I asked him how he got to be a pilot, and he said 'Because I wasn't clever enough to be a bomb-aimer navigator. If you're flying over Germany to bomb some docks or factories, if you get lost, or don't drop them in the right place, the lives of the whole crew have been put at risk for nothing and you've still got to get back to base in one piece'.

Interesting times, fading into obscurity.

So much more I could say about those guys, but really, it's off topic for the forum.

Rich Woods · 17th Jan 2023, 5:30 pm

My late father was “mentioned in dispatches” for curing a stability issue in one of the Lancaster’s radars. He apparently reconfigured one of the valve circuits to cathode follower which did the trick.

Rich Woods · 17th Jan 2023, 5:32 pm

It’s ultimately his fault I’m on the forum, needless to say I was in the back of old wireless and TV sets from an early (pre teen) age.

16th Jan 2023, 9:53 pm	#1
dave walsh Dekatron Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Ramsbottom (Nr Bury) Lancs or Bexhill (Nr Hastings) Sussex. Posts: 5,817	The R1155 RX, in action perhaps! Ive recorded a number of documentaries about the Wartime Lancaster Bomber over the years but they've always been very disappointingly light re the TX/RX Navigation area of the Aircraft. Apart from flooding in Hastings, the South East Today, local BBC news carried a story about a very lively and amusing french woman who has now reached the age of 102. She met her husband after he crashed Lancaster Bomber in Paris during the war. I'd recorded the news and seen this at lunchtime but it was only when I did it again at 6-30pm that I noticed a very brief film clip that showed someone actually operating an R1155. If you saw or can access this I'd be interested to know the source. It may be on again at 10-30pm BBC1 but previous experience has shown annoying deletions in the script by then! Dave W Bexhill, near France

17th Jan 2023, 12:47 am	#2
Graham G3ZVT Dekatron Join Date: May 2010 Location: Greater Manchester, UK. Posts: 18,713	Re: The R1155 RX, in action perhaps! Well I'm in the "Metropolitan Borough", but through the magic of Web catch-up https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006pfp8 I have now seen it and grabbed the relevant frame. Perhaps someone can point to the archive footage where it came from. Attached Thumbnails __________________ -- Graham. G3ZVT Last edited by Graham G3ZVT; 17th Jan 2023 at 1:00 am.

17th Jan 2023, 1:12 pm	#3
David G4EBT Dekatron Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Cottingham, East Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 5,761	Re: The R1155 RX, in action perhaps! The remarkable thing about the 1155 and similar military equipment is that with hindsight, it was designed, arguably over-engineered, and built to far exceed its actual service life, given that some are still intact, (albeit often much modified) almost 80 years later, yet the average life of a Lancaster was just 19 weeks until the last year of the war. I guess the design brief was 'make it rugged, make it reliable, and we need them in a hurry'. Back in the 50s and 60 the surplus market was awash with 1155s, and other equipment such as 19 sets. They were just seen as 'donor' sets to modify to make them better suited for amateur use - not to be preserved intact. I've lost count of the number of times I heard people back then who had 1155s romanticising: 'this came out of a Lancaster bomber'. No it didn't - it never went into one - it's ex-WD surplus. Not many Lancasters survived the war - there are now only two left in the world that are still airworthy. On a single night, Bomber Command suffered more losses than did Fighter Command during the entire Battle of Britain. Lots of info on the Lancaster, including pics of the 1155/1154 at this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Lancaster Of the 120,000 who served in Bomber Command (all volunteers), 55,573 were killed, including more than 10,000 Canadians. Of those who were flying at the beginning of the war, only ten percent survived - a loss rate comparable only to the worst slaughter of the First World War trenches. Only the Nazi U-Boat force suffered a higher casualty rate. Of every 100 who joined Bomber Command, 45 were killed, 6 were seriously wounded, 8 became Prisoners of War, and only 41 escaped unscathed (at least physically). One in four were Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders. During the RCAF’s Halifax operations between March 1943 and February 1944, the average loss rate, produced a mere 16% survival rate for a tour of 30 operations. When I started work as an apprentice in 1954, a decade earlier all the guys I worked with had been involved in WW2 in one way or another - D-Day or Bomber Command, some had been POWs. The first guy I worked with had been a Lancaster pilot. He was 22 in 1942, and the rest of the crew were in their teens, (not old enough to vote) so called him 'Pop'. None of the crew had learnt to drive a car, and he still couldn't in 1954. I asked him how he got to be a pilot, and he said 'Because I wasn't clever enough to be a bomb-aimer navigator. If you're flying over Germany to bomb some docks or factories, if you get lost, or don't drop them in the right place, the lives of the whole crew have been put at risk for nothing and you've still got to get back to base in one piece'. Interesting times, fading into obscurity. So much more I could say about those guys, but really, it's off topic for the forum. __________________ David. BVWS Member. G-QRP Club member 1339.

17th Jan 2023, 5:30 pm	#4
Rich Woods Pentode Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Ceredigion, Wales, UK. Posts: 248	Re: The R1155 RX, in action perhaps! My late father was “mentioned in dispatches” for curing a stability issue in one of the Lancaster’s radars. He apparently reconfigured one of the valve circuits to cathode follower which did the trick. __________________ It’s all about the music…….

17th Jan 2023, 5:32 pm	#5
Rich Woods Pentode Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Ceredigion, Wales, UK. Posts: 248	Re: The R1155 RX, in action perhaps! It’s ultimately his fault I’m on the forum, needless to say I was in the back of old wireless and TV sets from an early (pre teen) age. __________________ It’s all about the music…….