The First of the Line

There are many books about the Lancaster, Halifax, Stirling and Wellington bombers, as well as multiple biographies and autobiographies written by their crew members. Less common are authoritative books about the earlier aircraft which, while less successful, paved the way for the later 'heavies', which were instrumental in winning the strategic bombing campaign against Germany in Occupied Europe. One such largely overlooked machine was the Avro Manchester, the direct forerunner of the mighty Lancaster. Over an 18-month period 202 Manchesters using 538 Vulture engines managed just 1,264 operational sorties ranging widely in nature. The rationale justifying the attention given here to a 'minor type' is the unbroken development link between the Manchester and its successors. This is the only account that deals adequately with the initial challenges in trying to use this 'engine test bed' simultaneously as an operational bomber. It makes clear why it was militarily a wise decision to persist. A further initial attraction to a researcher was that, though used in only small numbers and solely in the European Theatre, much of such little as had already been published about the aircraft, its engines and career was woefully inaccurate. Dr. Robert Kirby's book on the Avro Manchester has become the authoritative work on the type. Revised and updated, this book is indispensable to Bomber Command enthusiasts and historians.