R5868 “S for Sugar”

Metropolitan-Vickers built R5868 in Manchester as part of a batch first ordered as Manchesters, and A.V. Roe finished it at Woodford. It reached No. 83 Squadron at Scampton on 29 June 1942 and flew its first raid, to Wilhelmshaven, on the night of 8/9 July as OL-Q, 'Queenie'.

With 83 Squadron it joined the Pathfinder Force in August 1942 and flew 68 sorties, including eight trips to Berlin. Canadian pilot Rickie Garvey flew it more than anyone else. Crews complained it always flew one wing low. In September 1943 it moved to No. 467 Squadron RAAF at Bottesford, later Waddington, as PO-S, 'Sugar'.

On 11/12 May 1944 New Zealander Tom Scholefield flew it to Bourg Leopold, beating off repeated Ju 88 attacks. Back at Waddington, the station watched its 100th bomb symbol being painted on. After repair by Avro and four new Merlins in late 1944, it flew its last sortie, against shipping at Flensburg, on 23 April 1945. Its tally is disputed: the museum's own research notes that official records support fewer sorties than the bombs painted on the nose.

In May 1945 it ferried freed prisoners home and became the first Lancaster to land on a German airfield. It was set aside as a museum piece that August, stored at Wroughton and Fulbeck, and stood at Scampton's main gate from 1960. It reached Hendon by road in March 1972 and moved into the new Bomber Command hall in August 1982.

Displayed in Hangar 5, the bomber hall, alongside the Halifax W1048 wreck and the Stirling. Look for the mission bombs on the nose and the 467 Squadron pilots' names on the cowlings.