Halifax bombers of RAF Bomber Command being serviced in a hanger by night, c. December 1944. The ground crews are the forgotten men of Bomber Command, but it was their work which kept the bombers flying. Ground crew were known as 'erks', and it was their responsibility to make the bomber serviceable. An aircraft would not be handed over to aircrew until the erks had signed it off on a 'Form 700'. At RAF Binbrook, where No. 460 Squadron RAAF was stationed from May 1943, there were something like 2600 personnel, many of them RAAF engine and airframe fitters, electrical and instrument fitters and armourers. With damaged Lancasters being placed in the hands of the ground crews after every operation, it was an endless struggle to make sure the squadron was airborne again whenever required. Not surprisingly, a bomber's ground crew were just as attached to it as were the aircrew who flew it, and it was said that a bomber was simply 'on loan' to aircrew, its real guardians being the ground crew. Often members of ground crew, and other station administrative staff, would wave the bombers off as they headed into the sky on operations. [AWM SUK13517]
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