Pictured: The amazing tin can bomber made by British pilot in Great Escape POW camp

The Daily Mail (U.K.) ^ | January 7, 2009 | David Wilkes

[Stoat]

Skillfully crafted from tin cans, matchsticks and off cuts, one can only imagine the satisfaction a prisoner of war derived from finishing this stunning model aircraft as he languished in Stalag Luft III.

Constructed almost perfectly to scale, his detailed version of a Lancaster Bomber like the one he flew before his capture even bears what appears to be the skull and crossbones logo of RAF 100 Squadron, famous for its night-time raids.

Little is known about its maker, other than that he was an airman named E Taylor.
 

 

 

The model was found during a clearance sale at house in the south of England along with his prison camp diary, in which he had drawn a map of where his plane was shot down over Hungary on August 28, 1944.

He was incarcerated in the prisoner of war camp in Sagan, 100 miles south-east of Berlin, during its strictest regime, having arrived there only months after the 'Great Escape' when 76 Allied airmen made an audacious bid for freedom.
 

Only three made it home and 50 were executed by the Gestapo. In 1963, the story was turned into a hugely successful film starring Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough and James Coburn.

 

[Stoat]

My apologies for the severe editing of this article....this was done in order to remain in compliance with Free Republic posting rules pertaining to articles from The Daily Mail.  Please click on the main article link to read the full story....quite worthwhile in my view.

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This FR thread from May 2008 may also be of interest:

Pictured Lancaster bomber in dramatic flypast to mark 65th anniversary of Dambusters raid (U.K.)

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The 1963 film The Great Escape, starring Steve McQueen, portrayed the camp where the pilot E Taylor was held

 

Enlarge  

The infamous Stalag Luft III prisoner of war camp where the Great Escape and Trjoan horse bids for freedom took place

 

E Taylor's diary, complete with drawings of the prisoner of war camp, will be auctioned alongside the model plane

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One poster at the Daily Mail site says that the model is actually a Halifax bomber....can anyone verify the bomber type?  Thanks!  :-)

[Stoat]

[SolidWood]

It’s definately a Halifax.

[KamchakTuchuk]

The 2 were similar in design, but that one does look more like a halifax than a lancaster, the lancaster had a longer fuselage.

[massgopguy]

Could even be a Liberator.

[Little_shoe]

I wish I had the money to bid on it.

[tophat9000]

That not a Lancaster..it a Halifax Mk1

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

No it is not. The Lancaster used Merlin Water cooled engines. The Halifax used Radials. Try again buddy.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

AS you can see the Lancaster pictured here does not have Radial Aircooled engies as it is far too streamlined.

[Catholic Canadian]

It’s definately a Halifax.

You are 100% correct, it's a Halifax, very similar to a Lancaster however the Halifax has it's tail wings on top of the fuselage, while the Lancasters is lower.

[Catholic Canadian]

Link:

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.rafbombercommand.com/pics/archive/four_c_five.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.rafbombercommand.com/aircraft_heavy.html&h=278&w=370&sz=15&tbnid=aFdDB9_pOjrPgM::&tbnh=92&tbnw=122&prev=/images%3Fq%3DHalifax%2BBomber&hl=en&usg=__Atghl3EES1UXVWABXAiCej7FCSI=&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=5&ct=image&cd=1

[NorCoGOP]

Liberator wings were top mounted, not midmount like this one, plus, the model has no nose gear, where the Liberator did.

[End Times Sentinel]

I think, totally unsupported by any evidence, that this guy used it to show the Germans where the weak points on the Halifax were and what technological advantages we had they didn’t know about.

Nothin’ like automatically assuming the absolute worst about someone you don’t even know.

[SolidWood]

Nope. It's Halifax. The cockpit and front snout are clearly Halifax Mk.I.

Lancaster for comparison.

[massgopguy]

The tail stabilzers have that angled shape. Not the oval of the Lancaster. Yup, it’s a Halifax.

[21twelve]

“...what technological advantages we had they didn’t know about....”

Your comment reminds me of the “Hogan's Heroes” episode where Hogan offers to tell Klink all about the “Norton” for a trade of some sort. Klink thinks it is for the Norton Bomb Site, and Hogan draws a sketch of the Norton Vacuum Cleaner. "And the accuracy is great because of this extra long handle and the curve on the grip...."

[popdonnelly]

Early series of the Halifax actually used Merlyn engines and the ball nose turret similar to the Lancaster. At first glance, you could hardly tell them apart.

[IYAS9YAS]

Looks like a Halifax to me. Pics of Halifax and Lancaster for comparison

[Stoat]

I wish I had the money to bid on it.

Agreed, although my own preference would be that it be displayed properly in a museum, as testament to the bravery, tenacity and fighting spirit of our British Friends.  Artifacts like this make history come alive and remind everyone of the incredible hardships that the POW's were forced to endure.

[magslinger]

This is a model made in a POW camp. Some errors may have been made in the design because the builder was working from memory and limited research resources. It carries the 100 squadron logo which flew Lancasters, so it must be intended to be a Lanc.