129-576: The West Cliff Theatre in Clacton-on-Sea , England, dates back to 1894 when Bert Graham, a 21-year-old civil servant, set up a concert party on a patch of waste ground in Agate Road. In 1899, along with Bernard Russell and Will Bentley , Graham moved the concert party to the West Cliff Gardens. Bernard Russell died in 1910, but Graham and Bentley continued the concert party. In 1912 they signed up
258-494: A British-built Lancaster B.I was dispatched to Canada as a pattern aircraft, becoming the first of the type to conduct a transatlantic crossing . The first Lancaster produced in Canada was named the "Ruhr Express". The first batch of Canadian Lancasters delivered to England suffered from faulty ailerons; this error was subsequently traced to the use of unskilled labour. By the end of the conflict, over 10,000 Canadians were employed on
387-539: A Tuesday night which is held at the rugby club in Valley Road. Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC East and ITV Anglia . Television signals are received from the Sudbury and local relay transmitters. Clacton's local radio stations are BBC Essex on 103.5 FM, Heart East on 96.1 FM, Greatest Hits Radio East on 100.2 FM and Actual Radio , a DAB radio station. Clacton and Frinton Gazette
516-647: A canopy at the east end. The main station building dates from 1929. A typical neo-Georgian 'late Imperial'-style building, it is notable chiefly for the decorative use of moulded ' fasces ' on either side of the main entrance - a rare instance of Fascist symbolism in British civic architecture. There are three Martello towers between the Pier and Jaywick Sands to the south; they date from 1809 to 1812. The immensely thick brick walls look circular but are, in fact, rounded triangles, designed to deflect cannon-fire. The tower nearest
645-496: A capable aircraft, the Manchester was underpowered and its Vulture engines proved to be unreliable. As a result, only 200 were constructed and the type was withdrawn from service in 1942. By mid-1940, Avro's chief design engineer, Roy Chadwick , was working on an improved Manchester powered by four of the more reliable but less powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, specifically adopting the "Power-egg" installation developed for
774-477: A central 'grand' avenue (originally Electric Parade, now Pier Avenue) the street plan incorporates many previously rural lanes and tracks, such as Wash Lane. Plots and streets were sold off piecemeal to developers and speculators. In 1882 the Great Eastern Railway already serving the well-established resort of Walton-on-the-Naze along the coast, opened a branch line to Clacton-on-Sea railway station from
903-564: A century Clacton Pier has been an RNLI lifeboat station. Just before the Second World War the building of Butlin's Holiday Camp boosted its economy, though the Army took it over between then and 1945 for use as an internment, engineer, pioneer and light anti-aircraft artillery training camp. Four notable incidents occurred in Clacton-on-Sea during the Second World War. First, very early in
1032-408: A firm sand-and-shingle beach lying to the south-east of Great Clacton village, with the intention of establishing a new resort. One of the first facilities they built for the new resort was the pier , which opened in 1871, allowing visitors to travel by ship; the railway would not reach Clacton until 1882. The town of Clacton-on-Sea was laid out rather haphazardly over the next few years; though it has
1161-478: A greater focus on the populations of Clacton and Jaywick Sands between 2020 and 2024, noting a decline in economic performance of these locations. The strategy focuses specifically on local participation within communities and addressing long term prosperity and also proposes bold action in Clacton town centre, recognising that its future is unlikely to be led by retail. In 2023, Clacton had the highest proportion within
1290-526: A junction on the existing railway at Thorpe-le-Soken. Clacton grew into the largest seaside resort between Southend-on-Sea and Great Yarmouth , with some 10,000 residents by 1914 and approx. 20,000 by 1939. Due to its accessibility from the East End of London and the Essex suburbs, Clacton, like Southend, remained preferentially geared to catering for working-class and lower-middle-class holidaymakers. For well over
1419-719: A new height in August 1942, major raids were flown against targets in the Ruhr , Duisburg , and in the Baltic Sea . An emphasis was placed upon aiding the Battle of the Atlantic by hindering the German Navy . Often, when the weather was deemed to be unsuitable for bombing missions, night-time mine-laying operations were flown instead. A major improvement to night-time bombing came with the implementation of
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#17328558848751548-480: A new romantic baritone by the name of Stanley Holloway . He stayed with the company for three years. In 1928, Graham and Bentley built a new theatre on the site of their concert party, the theatre which still stands in Clacton-on-Sea today as the West Cliff Theatre. In 1934, Graham and Bentley sold the theatre and it was bought by Will Hammer , who already owned several seaside theatres. In 1934 he also founded
1677-610: A number of aircraft were lost in accidents as a result of the design limitations having been greatly exceeded. Compared with other contemporary aircraft, the Lancaster was not an easy aircraft to escape from as its escape hatch was only 22 in × 26.5 in (56 cm × 67 cm) in size; in a Halifax or Stirling (which both had an escape hatch 2 in (5.1 cm) wider), 25 per cent of downed aircrew bailed out successfully, and in American bombers (albeit in daylight raids) it
1806-407: A panel behind him and to his right. The pilot and other crew members could use the panel above the cockpit as an auxiliary emergency exit while the mid-upper gunner was expected to use the rear entrance door to leave the aircraft. The tail gunner escaped by rotating his turret to the rear, opening the door in the back of the turret, passing into the fuselage, and clipping on a parachute that was hung on
1935-435: A simple triangle of wood with a peephole at one corner and a nail in each of the other corners such that at the correct distance the nails coincided with the towers on the dams. Because each dam was a different width between the towers, each plane carried two or three different sights. Two Aldis lights were fitted in the rear bomb bay fairing, aimed forward so the bomb aimer could see the converging lights below his blister in
2064-413: A single aircraft, W4774 , was lost during the course of the mission. Losses were avoided by measures such as flying beneath German radar cover, aerial reconnaissance along the intended route, and the strict observation of secrecy. In late October 1942, the first Lancaster bombing missions over Italy were performed; on 22 and 23, the cities of Genoa and Turin were struck at night-time. On 24 October,
2193-536: A single running engine. Aviation authors Brian Goulding and M. Garbett have claimed that experienced Lancaster pilots were often able to out-manoeuver Luftwaffe fighters. It possessed largely favourable flying characteristics, having been described by Goulding and Garbett as being: "a near-perfect flying machine, fast for its size and very smooth...such a delightfully easy aeroplane to fly...there are instances of Lancasters having been looped and barrel-rolled, both intentionally and otherwise". The Lancaster benefited from
2322-465: A speculative private development of inter-war years, and increasingly capacious caravan sites, all swelled by the movement of retired Londoners into the area, altered the character of the town. Throughout the 1960s Clacton beach remained a popular summer excursion for residents of Essex and east London and in August was often crammed to capacity in the area around the Pier. The pirate radio ship MV Galaxy , which broadcast Wonderful Radio London ,
2451-461: A structure that possessed considerable strength and durability, which had been intentionally designed to maximise structural strength-per-weight; this resulted in the Lancaster being capable of withstanding some levels of damage resulting from attacks by hostile interceptor aircraft and ground-based anti-aircraft batteries . However, during the first year of the type's career, some instances of structural failures were encountered on Lancaster B.Is and
2580-515: A tunnel from the coast to the Ship Inn (16th century) opposite the church is discounted by historians; the pub is more than 1.5 km from the sea. The nearby Queens Head inn may be pre-1600. A large (and actually unfinished) church of 1912-13 between Tower Road and Wash Lane, St James's is a rare southern building by Temple Moore , an architect chiefly associated with the North of England. Somewhat grim on
2709-562: A variety of businesses and light industrial units. Clacton Urban District Council had provided the town with electricity since the early twentieth century from Clacton power station. Upon nationalisation of the electricity industry in 1948 ownership passed to the British Electricity Authority and later to the Central Electricity Generating Board . Electricity connections to the national grid rendered
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#17328558848752838-749: A variety of smaller weapons, including the Small Bomb Container (SBC) which held 236 4 lb (1.8 kg) or 24 30 lb (14 kg) incendiary and explosive incendiary bomblets; 500 lb (230 kg) and 1,000 lb (450 kg) General Purpose High Explosive (GP/HE) bombs (these came in a variety of designs); 1,850 lb (840 kg) parachute deployed magnetic or acoustic mines, or 2,000 lb (910 kg) armour-piercing (AP) bombs; 250 lb (110 kg) Semi-Armour-Piercing (SAP) bombs, used up to 1942 against submarines; post-1942: 250 lb (110 kg) or 500 lb (230 kg) anti-submarine depth charges . In 1943, 617 Squadron
2967-402: A ventral gun turret position. In response to feedback on the lack of application for the ventral turret, the ventral turret was often eliminated during the course of each aircraft's career. While some groups chose to discard the position entirely, various trials and experiments were performed at RAF Duxford , Cambridgeshire and by individual squadrons. A total of 50 Austin-built Lancaster B.Is
3096-486: A well-known large seafront restaurant has recently been demolished. The site of Butlin's Holiday Camp was redeveloped as a housing estate. The once famously crowded bus station in Jackson Road has become a car park. The Ocean Revue Theatre, where Max Bygraves made one of his first appearances, has closed. The town expanded substantially in the 1980s, 1990s and first decade of the 21st century, with new housing estates on
3225-492: Is located between Jaywick and Holland-on-Sea along the coastline and the original village of Great Clacton, now a suburb, to the north. The local authority is Tendring District Council . It is at the south-eastern end of the A133 . The resort of Frinton-on-Sea is nearby to the north-east. Clacton has a pleasure pier, arcades, a golf course, caravan parks and an airfield. The town and its beaches are still popular with tourists in
3354-614: Is one of the poorest in the UK (nearby Jaywick is often cited as the poorest of all). Since around 1970 several well-known local buildings have been demolished, including the palatial art deco Odeon Cinema (a great loss to both the town and the county); the Warwick Castle Pub; the Waverley Hotel; Barker House, a large home for the learning disabled, and John Groom's Crippleage which housed orphaned handicapped girls from London. Cordy's,
3483-580: Is situated in Jackson Road, in the town centre. It has a curved wood and brick corner design of 2001-2 by the Purcell Miller Tritton architectural partnership. The building has been redeveloped and now houses eighteen modern, privately let, dwellings. A huddle of self-builds and kit-houses were built in the 1920s and '30s in a bleak field dangerously close to the mean sea level. It has been described as resembling "a shanty town", but it also has its admirers who call it "a great place to live." Jaywick
3612-464: Is that attacking forces can locate aircraft by picking up transmissions. An important feature of the Lancaster was its unobstructed 33 ft (10 m) long bomb bay. At first, the heaviest bomb carried was the 4,000 lb (1,800 kg) high capacity HC " Cookie ". Bulged doors were added to 30 per cent of B.Is to allow the aircraft to carry 8,000 lb (3,600 kg) and later 12,000 lb (5,400 kg) "Cookies". The Lancaster also carried
3741-399: Is the town's local newspaper. Prior to the foundation of Clacton-on-Sea the chief occupations in the area were farming and small-scale fishing. A steam-powered mill was built in 1867 to replace the local windmill, which was eventually demolished in 1918. Today the town's main industrial area is in the northeast of the town (Gorse Lane Industrial Estate and Oakwood Business Park) which contain
3870-422: Is visible from many places in the flat hinterland of the town. As common with many English seaside towns, unemployment has remained stubbornly high in Clacton. In 2023, Clacton won a £20 million government levelling-up grant to improve the town centre. The modern day Clacton-on-Sea was founded by Peter Bruff in 1871 as a seaside resort. Originally the main means of access was by sea; Steamships operated by
3999-620: The Austin Motor Company works in Longbridge , Birmingham , later in the Second World War and post-war by Vickers-Armstrongs at Chester as well as at the Vickers Armstrong factory, Castle Bromwich, Birmingham. Belfast -based aircraft firm Short Brothers had also received an order for 200 Lancaster B.Is, but this was cancelled before any aircraft had been completed. The Lancaster was also produced overseas. During early 1942, it
West Cliff Theatre - Misplaced Pages Continue
4128-804: The Avro Lincoln , were fitted. Specific bomb loads were standardised and given code names by Bomber Command: Bombsights used on Lancasters included: The Lancaster had a very advanced communications system for its time. Most British-built Lancasters were fitted with the R1155 receiver and T1154 transmitter, whereas the Canadian-built aircraft and those built for service in the Far East had American radios. These provided radio direction-finding, as well as voice and Morse capabilities. During early 1942, No. 44 Squadron , based at RAF Waddington , Lincolnshire , became
4257-586: The Avro Shackleton ) and air-sea rescue. It was also used for photo-reconnaissance and aerial mapping, as a flying tanker for aerial refuelling and as the Avro Lancastrian , a long-range, high-speed, transatlantic passenger and postal delivery airliner. In March 1946, a Lancastrian of BSAA flew the first scheduled flight from the new London Heathrow Airport . In the 1930s, the Royal Air Force (RAF)
4386-621: The Beaufighter II , and installed on a wing of increased span. Initially, the improved aircraft was designated as the Type 683 Manchester III but was subsequently renamed the Lancaster . The prototype, serial number BT308 , was assembled by the Avro experimental flight department at Ringway Airport , Manchester , being modified from a production Manchester airframe, combined with the new wing to accommodate
4515-675: The Heinkel He 219 and Messerschmitt Me 262 night fighters erased any speed advantage and would have left the aircraft undefended. Consequently, Dyson's proposal was not adopted. Only the FN-5A nose turret which was similar to the FN-5 used on the preceding Avro Manchester , the Vickers Wellington and the Short Stirling remained unchanged during the life of the design, except in instances where it
4644-525: The Lancaster Bomber , is a British Second World War heavy bomber . It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax , both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirling , all three aircraft being four-engined heavy bombers adopted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the same era. The Lancaster has its origins in
4773-540: The Mark XIV bomb sight on his left and bomb release selectors on the right. He also used his view through the large transparent perspex nose cupola to assist the navigator with map reading. To man the Frazer Nash FN5 nose turret, he stood up placing himself in position behind the triggers of the twin .303 in (7.7 mm) guns. Ammunition for the turret was 1,000 rounds per gun (rpg). The bomb aimer's position contained
4902-696: The Metropolitan-Vickers F.2 turbojet . Lancasters were later used to test other engines, including the Armstrong Siddeley Mamba and Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops and the Avro Canada Orenda and STAL Dovern turbojets. Postwar, the Lancaster was supplanted as the main strategic bomber of the RAF by the Avro Lincoln , a larger version of the Lancaster. The Lancaster took on the role of long range anti-submarine patrol aircraft (later supplanted by
5031-489: The Pathfinder Force (PFF) in August 1942, multiple squadrons were transferred from Bomber Command groups to constitute the new unit. These pathfinders were tasked with flying ahead of bomber formations to locate and mark targets using Target Indicator flares to improve the accuracy of strikes by the following aircraft. Early PFF operations produced mixed results, but did prove decisive on 27/28 August against Kassel and
5160-738: The Red Arrows . Clacton has a shopping area with many national chains represented, and a Factory Shopping Village in the north of the town. Clacton has two theatres, the West Cliff Theatre and the Princes Theatre. Deposits at Clacton have provided important evidence for the Lower Palaeolithic occupation of Britain by Homo heidelbergensis during the Hoxnian Interglacial , around 424-375,000 years ago, including stone tools of
5289-530: The V-1 flying bombs and V-2 rockets aimed at London. A big role in the town during the pre- and post-war period was played by the Kingsman family, which bought and developed the pier and ran a pleasure-steamer service from London. A summer sea excursion to Calais also ran until the early 1960s. Butlin's reopened the holiday camp after the war. This, along with the expansion of the nearby chalet town of Jaywick , originally
West Cliff Theatre - Misplaced Pages Continue
5418-517: The Woolwich Steam Packet Company docked from 1871 at Clacton Pier which opened the same year. The pier now offers an amusement arcade and many other forms of entertainment. People who wanted to come by road had to go through Great Clacton. In the 1920s, London Road was built to cope with the influx of holidaymakers. Later, in the 1970s, the eastern section of the A120 was opened, obviating
5547-410: The 21 ft (6.4 m) long 12,000 lb (5,400 kg) "Tallboy" bomb, a scaled-down version of the upcoming 25.5 ft (7.8 m) long 22,000 lb (10,000 kg) "Grand Slam" "earthquake" bombs which were still being built. Aircraft intended to carry the "Grand Slam" required extensive modifications. These included the removal of the dorsal turret and of two guns from the rear turret,
5676-524: The Anglo-Saxon migration and the foundation of the kingdom of Essex, a village called Claccingtun ("the village of Clacc's or Clacca's people") was established. No pre-Norman buildings survive today. The Domesday Book of 1086 records the village as Clachintuna . Clacton was repeatedly surveyed by the Army in the Napoleonic Wars as a possible invasion beach-head for Napoleon and his Dutch allies. There
5805-457: The H2S. The mid-upper (dorsal or top) turret was an FN-50 on early examples and the very similar FN-150 with improved sights and controls on later examples. On all but the earliest examples, this turret was surrounded by a coaming which provided a track for a cam-operated interrupter device which prevented the gunner from shooting the tail of his own aircraft. The Mk.VII and late Mk.X Lancasters used
5934-662: The Italian city of Milan was raided by roughly 60 Lancasters during the daytime; railway infrastructure was a priority target for these attacks. These bombers had been escorted across the Channel by Spitfires before breaking formation to individually fly at low altitude to reach and fly over the Alps ; a total of three were reportedly shot down by enemy fighters. During November, targets in Italy and Germany were alternatively attacked by Lancasters, striking
6063-565: The Lancaster as quickly as possible. L7527 , The first production Lancaster made its first flight in October 1941, powered by Merlin XX engines. Avro received an initial contract for 1,070 Lancasters. The majority of Lancasters manufactured during the war years were constructed by Avro at its factory at Chadderton near Oldham , Lancashire and were test-flown from Woodford Aerodrome in Cheshire . As it
6192-695: The Lancaster participated in Operation Millenium , the first 1,000 bomber raid against the German city of Cologne . By this point, the number of Lancasters in operational service had surpassed those of the preceding Manchester. On 12 June, the first use of the type by RAF Coastal Command , having loaned aircraft from RAF Bomber Command , commenced; it was used to conduct long range anti- U-boat operations, reportedly attacking two on 15 June. Additional large-scale raids were performed against Emden between 19 and 23 June, and against Bremen between 25 and 29 June,
6321-403: The Lancaster stem from a twin-engined bomber that had been submitted to British Air Ministry Specification P.13/36 of 1936 for a twin-engined medium bomber for "worldwide use" which could carry a torpedo internally, and make shallow dive-bombing attacks. Further requirements of the specification included the use of a mid-mounted cantilever monoplane wing, and all-metal construction while
6450-483: The RAF, overshadowing the Halifax and Stirling, two other commonly used bombers. A long, unobstructed bomb bay meant that the Lancaster could take the largest bombs used by the RAF, including the 4,000 lb (1,800 kg), 8,000 lb (3,600 kg) and 12,000 lb (5,400 kg) " blockbusters ", loads often supplemented with smaller bombs or incendiaries . The "Lanc", as it was known colloquially, became one of
6579-508: The UK of people classed as "economically inactive". Clacton has comparatively few buildings of architectural interest. In addition to the surviving large seafront hotels, these are: The parish church of St John, Great Clacton, is the oldest surviving building in the town; it dates from the early decades of the 12th century, though considerably altered. In the late 16th century the vicar was Eleazer Knox (d. 1591) son of John Knox and Marjory Bowes of Norham . A local legend that smugglers used
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#17328558848756708-502: The West Clacton Estate, an amusement park to the west of the town. He opened a new amusement park on the site in 1937 and then, a year later on 11 June 1938, opened the second of his holiday camps. This location remained open until 1983 when, due to changing holiday tastes, Butlins decided to close the facility. It was then purchased by former managers of the camp who reopened it as a short-lived theme park, called Atlas Park. The land
6837-424: The additional engines. The first flight was made by test pilot H. A. "Sam" Brown on 9 January 1941 at RAF Ringway , Cheshire . Flight testing of the new aircraft quickly proved it to be a substantial improvement over its predecessor. The first prototype was initially outfitted with the Manchester I's three-finned tail but this was revised on the second prototype, DG595 , and subsequent production Lancasters used
6966-491: The aircraft when getting into position to open fire. This removal of perspex from the turret was called the " Gransden Lodge " modification. Ammunition for the tail turret was 2,500 rounds per gun. Due to the weight, the ammunition was stored in tanks situated near the mid-upper turret's position and fed rearward in runways down the back of the fuselage to the turret. Gunners using both the FN-20 and 120 removed perspex and armour from
7095-421: The area became more populous, largely due to the growth of the seaside resort, more urban forms of government were required. The parish of Great Clacton was made a local government district in 1891, governed by a local board. Such local boards were reconstituted as urban district councils in 1894. In 1895 the council changed the name of the urban district from Great Clacton to simply Clacton. The legal name of
7224-412: The bomb-release button was pressed. A drive belt and pulley to rotate the bomb at 500 rpm was mounted on the starboard strut and driven by a hydraulic motor housed in the forward fairing. The mid-upper turret was removed and a more bulbous bomb aimer's blister was fitted; this, as "Mod. 780", later became standard on all Lancasters, while the bombsight was replaced by a simple aiming device that consisted of
7353-559: The city of Osnabrück multiple times, conducting a heavy raid against Turin, and destroying supplies for the Afrika Korps in Genoa. Only eight bombing missions were conducted during all of December, the most prominent of which being against Duisburg, due to poor prevailing weather conditions. Throughout 1942, the Lancaster remained in relatively short supply; consequently, both training and crew conversion courses typically had to be performed by
7482-606: The county of Essex , on the east coast of England . It is located on the Tendring Peninsula and is the largest settlement in the Tendring District , with a population of 53,200 (2021). The town is situated around 77 miles (124 kilometres) northeast of London , 40 mi (65 km) east-northeast of Chelmsford , 58 mi (93 km) northeast of Southend-on-Sea , 16 mi (26 km) southeast of Colchester and 16 mi (26 km) south of Harwich . The area
7611-431: The dive. Furthermore, the Lancaster suffered longitudinal instability at speeds above 200 mph (320 km/h). The standard crew for a Lancaster consisted of seven men, stationed in various positions in the fuselage. Starting at the nose, the bomb aimer had two positions to man. His primary location was lying prone on the floor of the nose of the aircraft, with access to the bombsight controls facing forward, with
7740-434: The engines used, which was occasionally done in practice. Examples of modifications made include the relocation of the pitot head from the nose to the side of the cockpit and the change from de Havilland "needle blade" propellers to Hamilton Standard or Nash Kelvinator made "paddle blade" propellers. The Avro Lancaster was a British four-engined strategic bomber that was used as the RAF's principal heavy bomber during
7869-428: The expansive canopy, with the pilot sitting on the left on a raised portion of the floor (almost all British bombers, and most German bombers, had only a single pilot seat as opposed to the American practice of carrying two pilots, or at least having controls for two pilots installed). The flight engineer sat on a collapsible seat (known as a "second dicky seat ") to the pilot's right, with the fuel selectors and gauges on
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#17328558848757998-582: The extra engines required the wing and overall aircraft structure to be stronger, increasing the structural weight. Avro submitted the Avro 679 to fulfil Specification P.13/36 and, in February 1937, Avro's submission was selected, along with Handley Page's bid as a backup. In April 1937, a pair of prototypes for each design was ordered. Avro's aircraft, named the Manchester, entered RAF service in November 1940. Although
8127-592: The fact that the two main Luftwaffe night fighters of the time, the Messerschmitt Bf 110 and the Junkers Ju 88 night fighters were capable of over 300 mph (480 km/h), thus a 50 mph (80 km/h) increase over the Lancaster's normal cruising speed of around 180 mph (290 km/h), giving a speed of 230 mph (370 km/h), still left the Lancaster vulnerable to interception. The introduction of
8256-416: The factory itself. Nonetheless, the factory was successfully bombed, a feat that was personally hailed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the aftermath. The attack revealed the existence of the Lancaster to both Germany and the British public alike. On 27 April, an unsuccessful small-scale attack on Tirpitz was performed by Lancasters of both No. 44 and No. 99 Squadrons. On the night of 30/31 May 1942,
8385-408: The film company Hammer Film Productions , which was later to gain worldwide fame as the producer of many horror films. Will Hammer died in 1957 and there was much doubt over whether the theatre would continue. Eventually, Clacton Council bought the theatre and continued to put on shows. In 1985, a local group of theatre enthusiasts took over the day-to-day running of the theatre and in 1995 bought
8514-487: The first RAF squadron to convert to the Lancaster; it was quickly followed by No. 97 Squadron , which was also based at Waddington. On 2 March 1942, the first operational mission of the Lancaster, deploying naval mines in the vicinity of Heligoland Bight , was performed by aircraft of No. 44 Sqn; a planned mission against the German battleship Tirpitz had been rescheduled due to poor weather conditions. On 10 March 1942,
8643-437: The flight. The turret had 1,000 rounds of ammunition per gun. To the rear of the turret was the side crew door, on the starboard side of the fuselage. This was the main entrance to the aircraft, and also could be used as an emergency exit. The Elsan chemical toilet , a type of aircraft lavatory , was located near the spars for the tailplane. At the extreme tail-end of the fuselage, the rear gunner sat in his exposed position in
8772-554: The formations and shot down stragglers. This significantly reduced operational losses; and gun-laying radar was added to the last versions of the turret. Before the end of the war Lancasters built in the UK standardised on the FN-82 fitted with two .50 in (13 mm) machine guns and a gun-laying radar as production allowed, which was also used on early models of the Avro Lincoln. The disadvantage of all radar and radio transmitting systems
8901-426: The freehold of the theatre from the council. The West Cliff (Tendring) Trust is now solely responsible for putting on the shows at the theatre and still maintain the tradition of putting on a summer show. 51°47′12″N 1°08′54″E / 51.7867°N 1.1484°E / 51.7867; 1.1484 Clacton-on-Sea Clacton-on-Sea , often simply called Clacton , is a seaside town and resort in
9030-423: The fuselage even on the ground. At the end of the bomb bay was the mid-upper gunner's turret, at which the floor dropped down to the fuselage's bottom. His position allowed a 360° view over the top of the aircraft, with two Browning .303 Mark IIs to protect the aircraft from above and to the side. The mid-upper gunner sat on a rectangle of canvas that was slung beneath the turret and would stay in position throughout
9159-436: The fuselage side windows were deleted, the Perspex chin of the bomb-aimer was enlarged, and a larger astrodome was provided. Various additional bumps and blisters were also added, which typically housed radar equipment and radio navigational aids. Some Lancaster B.I bombers were outfitted with bulged bomb bay doors in order to accommodate increased armament payloads. Early production Lancaster B.Is were outfitted with
9288-551: The heavier, electrically controlled Martin 250 CE 23A turret equipped with two .50 in (13 mm) machine guns which was mounted further forward to preserve the aircraft's longitudinal balance, and because it had an internal mechanism to prevent firing on the aircraft itself, it did not require a coaming. Other experimental turrets were tried out, including the FN-79 and the Boulton-Paul Type H barbette system. The tail turret
9417-770: The high loss rates typically involved in such operations, daytime bombing missions were performed sparingly until the Allies had achieved a level of aerial supremacy over the Axis powers . On 17 April 1942, 12 Lancasters of No. 44 and No. 99 Squadrons undertook a bombing raid on the Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg A.G., Augsburg engine manufacturing plant in Southern Germany; despite flying at low altitude, three bombers were shot down by Luftwaffe Bf 109s over France, and at least two more were lost to anti-aircraft fire at
9546-434: The inner engine nacelles. The distinctive tail unit of the aircraft was outfitted with a large twin elliptical fins and rudder arrangement. Like any aeroplane, the Lancaster was not viceless in its handling. In a dive, it had a tendency to go more deeply into the dive as speed increased. Not all aeroplanes did this, for example, the Halifax tended to get increasingly tail-heavy as speed increased, and thus fly itself out of
9675-451: The larger elliptical twin-finned tail unit that was also adopted for the last Manchesters built. This not only increased stability but also improved the dorsal gun turret's field of fire. The second prototype was also fitted with more powerful Merlin XX engines. Manchesters still on the production line were converted into Lancaster B.Is. Based upon its performance, a decision was taken early on to reequip twin-engine bomber squadrons with
9804-549: The late 1930s, none of these were ready for production. Both the United States and the Soviet Union were pursuing the development of bombers powered by arrangements of four smaller engines; the results of these projects proved to possess favourable characteristics such as excellent range and fair lifting capacity. Accordingly, in 1936, the RAF also decided to investigate the feasibility of the four-engined bomber. The origins of
9933-405: The latter half of the Second World War. The typical aircraft was powered by an arrangement of four wing-mounted Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engines, each of which drove a 13 ft (4.0 m) diameter de Havilland Hydromatic three-bladed propeller . While not optimal, the Lancaster was capable of flying the return journey home on only two operational engines, along with very limited distances on
10062-490: The latter reportedly dealing considerable damage to the Focke-Wulf aircraft works. 40 Lancasters also flew an ineffective long-range raid upon Danzig , arriving after dusk and thus unable to effectively bomb its port to disrupt U-boat construction. On 31 July, 20% of Bomber Command's strength was directed against Dusseldorf , focused on Schiess A.G. 's machine tool manufacturing plant. The tempo of Lancaster operations rose to
10191-434: The left-hand end of the chart table, facing the rear of the aircraft. Behind these and facing forwards the wireless operator sat on a seat at the front of the main spar. On his left was a window, and above him was the astrodome , used for visual signalling and by the navigator for celestial navigation . Behind the wireless operator were the two spars of the wing, which created a major obstacle for crew members moving down
10320-615: The magnetic mines on board exploded on impact, killing the crew and two civilians; another mine was defused by experts from the Navy. Third, the Wagstaff Corner area was bombed in May 1941, demolishing some well-known buildings. Finally, a V-2 rocket hit in front of the Tower Hotel, injuring dozens of troops inside though without bringing down the structure. Clacton lay beneath the route taken by many of
10449-447: The most heavily used of the Second World War night bombers, delivering 608,612 long tons (618,378,000 kg) of bombs in 156,000 sorties. The versatility of the Lancaster was such that it was chosen to equip 617 Squadron and was modified to carry the Upkeep "bouncing bomb" designed by Barnes Wallis for Operation Chastise , the attack on German Ruhr valley dams. Although the Lancaster
10578-587: The need for Clacton visitors to go through Colchester. Today the Paddle Steamer Waverley operates from Clacton Pier, offering pleasure boat excursions. Clacton has a Blue Flag beach at Martello Bay (two more are locally at Dovercourt Bay and Brightlingsea ). Clacton Seafront Gardens which run along the top of the seafront west of Clacton Pier has also been awarded a Green Flag, and includes various sections with formal gardens, memorials and places to sit. In 1936, Billy Butlin bought and refurbished
10707-433: The nose emergency hatch in the floor; at 22 by 26.5 inches (560 by 670 mm) (two inches narrower than the Halifax escape hatch) it was difficult to exit through while wearing a parachute. Operational research experts, including British scientist Freeman Dyson , amongst others, attempted unsuccessfully to have the escape hatch enlarged. On the roof of the bomb bay the pilot and flight engineer sat side by side under
10836-415: The nose; the optimum height for dropping "Upkeep" was 60 ft (18 m) and, when shone on the relatively smooth waters of the dam's reservoirs, the light beams converged into a figure 8 when the Lancaster was flying at the correct height. The Type 464 Lancaster was also fitted with VHF radios (normally reserved for fighters) so that Gibson , the squadron leader, could control the operation while over
10965-481: The outside (as Pevsner noted in The Buildings of Essex ), the interior is surprisingly light and spare, with different orders of arch on either side of the chancel giving an asymmetrical feel. The building is only a third of its intended size; the original plans had included a large tower at the west end. Ordered for Anglo-Catholic worship, it is large, without pews, and boasts an impressive reredos which finishes in
11094-454: The parish which covered the same area as the urban district remained Great Clacton, but as an urban parish it had no separate parish council. The neighbouring parish of Little Holland covering Holland-on-Sea was abolished in 1934 and absorbed into Clacton. Clacton Urban District Council built the Town Hall on Station Road to serve both as its headquarters and as a public hall and theatre for
11223-518: The pier was, unusually, built within a moat. The name comes from similar fortifications in Mortella, Corsica. A real oddity: in Albany Gardens West, near the seafront to the north of the Pier, this house of the 1400s was moved from the village of Hawstead , Suffolk and reconstructed here in 1911 – though considerably modernised and altered – for a London builder named J H Gill. The former hospice
11352-408: The production line, which was producing one Lancaster each day. The Lancaster B.I was never fully superseded in production by a successor model, remaining in production until February 1946. According to aviation authors Brian Goulding and M. Garbett, the Lancaster B.I altered little during its production life, partially as a result of the sound basic structure and design; of the visible changes,
11481-444: The removal of the cockpit armour plating (the pilot's seatback), and the installation of Rolls-Royce Merlin Mk 24 engines for better take-off performance. The bomb bay doors were removed and the rear end of the bomb bay cut away to clear the tail of the bomb. Later the nose turret was also removed to further improve performance. A strengthened undercarriage and stronger mainwheels, later used by
11610-408: The removal of the majority of the Lancaster's defensive armament. He argued that this would reduce the loss rate by increasing the Lancaster's cruising speed by up to 50 mph (80 km/h) (assuming the bomb load was not increased), making the bomber harder to intercept. He also claimed reducing defensive air gunners would reduce human losses incurred with each aircraft lost. However this neglects
11739-489: The rural margins of town, and some brownfield developments. Many residents commute to work in Colchester , Witham , Chelmsford or London . Clacton was in the news when its town centre and seafront areas were struck by an F1/T2 tornado on 23 November 1981, as part of the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day. Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm , built in the early 2000s some 3 miles (4.8 km) offshore,
11868-463: The side wall. He could then exit through the rear entrance door. Behind the pilot and flight engineer, and behind a curtain fitted to allow him to use light to work, sat the navigator . His position faced to port with a chart table in front of him. An instrument panel showing the airspeed, altitude, and other information required for navigation was mounted on the side of the fuselage above the chart table. The wireless operator's radios were mounted on
11997-426: The small 2.15 megawatt (MW) internal combustion engine power station redundant. It closed in 1966; in its final year of operation it delivered 796 MWh of electricity to the town. In 2013 Tendring District Council undertook significant work to develop a 10-year Economic Strategy for the district which includes Clacton on Sea. Now, half-way through this 10-year strategy, the approach has been refreshed to add
12126-534: The south and round houses (as cropmarks) near the A133 extension from Weeley to the north. There may have been a pre-Roman (i.e. Celtic) settlement at Great Clacton and there were almost certainly scattered farmsteads as the important British Celtic settlement at Colchester was only about 15 miles (24 km) away. No traces of substantial Roman settlement have been found at Clacton though there are several Roman villa sites nearby (e.g. Alresford, Wivenhoe, Brightlingsea). After
12255-605: The summer and there is an annual entertainment programme including the Clacton Carnival, which starts on the second Saturday in August and lasts for a week. Clacton Airshow, an aerial display, takes place on the Thursday and Friday before the August Bank Holiday, with historic and modern aircraft such as the Lancaster , Spitfire , Hurricane , Harrier , Jaguar , Tornado , and helicopters . There are also wing-walkers and
12384-435: The tail turret, which was entered through a small hatch in the rear of the fuselage. Depending on the size of the rear gunner, the area was so cramped that the gunner would often hang his parachute on a hook inside the fuselage, near the turret doors. Neither the mid-upper nor the rear gunner's position was heated, and the gunners had to wear electrically heated suits to prevent hypothermia and frostbite . The Avro Lancaster
12513-446: The target, an early example of what became the master bomber role. After the 'Dam Busters' raid 617 Squadron was converted to a high-altitude precision bombing squadron in preparation for the arrival of Barnes Wallis's forthcoming Earthquake bombs for attacking special and hardened targets, and while they were training for this the bouncing bomb variants of B.I Specials had the spars and equipment removed and were then modified to carry
12642-546: The three factories of the Henschel aircraft company in the city. That same night, 12 Lancasters of No. 106 Squadron flew to Gdynia , armed with newly developed anti- capital ship bombs, intending to hit the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau , as well as the aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin , but did not manage to hit any ships due to a persistent haze. While the Lancaster had been designed to conduct night-time operations, daylight raids were occasionally performed by
12771-405: The titular Clactonian industry . At this time Britain had a temperate deciduous forest environment and climate similar to today. The " Clacton Spear ", a wooden ( yew ) spear found in these deposits around Clacton in 1911 is the world's oldest known wooden spear. There is plentiful archaeological evidence of scattered settlement in the area, including Beaker Folk traces at Point Clear to
12900-463: The town, with the theatre now called the Princes Theatre. It is a neo-Georgian building, with a tall portico of composite columns flanked by two-story wings. The architect was Sir Alfred Brumwell Thomas and it was completed in 1931. Clacton Urban District was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , with the area becoming part of the new Tendring District. No successor parish
13029-522: The turret to improve visibility, but trials by the RAF showed that a de Havilland Mosquito night fighter was still able to get within a very short distance of the tail gunner without being spotted, confirming what the Luftwaffe had already realised. The Rose turret attempted to improve on the FN turrets by being completely open to the rear (improving visibility and allowing easier emergency egress) and by being fitted with two .50 in (13 mm) machine guns. It
13158-572: The twentieth century. The town's economy continues to rely significantly on entertainment and day-trip facilities; it is strong in the service sector, with a large retired population. The north-west part of the town has two business/industrial parks. In the wider district, agriculture and occupations connected to the Port of Harwich provide further employment. It lies within the United Kingdom Parliament constituency of Clacton . Clacton-on-Sea
13287-551: The twin-engine Avro Manchester which had been developed during the late 1930s in response to the Air Ministry Specification P.13/36 for a medium bomber for "world-wide use" which could carry a torpedo internally, and make shallow dive-bombing attacks. Originally developed as an evolution of the Manchester (which had proved troublesome in service and was retired in 1942), the Lancaster was designed by Roy Chadwick and powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlins and in one of
13416-477: The type as well. Occasionally, lone Lancasters would be dispatched to perform decoy raids on key manufacturing sites, such as munitions factories, with the intention of being spotted to cause workers to go to air raid shelters, thus disrupting production. On 17 October 1942, an audacious daytime raid was performed by 90 Lancasters of No. 5 Group , the bombing of the Schneider Works at Le Creusot , France; only
13545-511: The type's first bombing mission was conducted over the German city of Essen , North Rhine-Westphalia . All Lancasters were temporarily grounded after a crash on 20 March in Boston, Lincolnshire ; this was lifted after each aircraft had been inspected for signs of buckling on the upper wing surface. The first recorded casualties amongst Lancaster crews were recorded on 24 March 1942 with the loss of R5493 to anti-aircraft fire over Lorient . Due to
13674-472: The use of the Rolls-Royce Vulture , which was in development was encouraged. Twin-engine designs were submitted by Fairey , Boulton Paul , Handley Page and Shorts , using Rolls-Royce Vulture, Napier Sabre , Fairey P.24 or Bristol Hercules engines. Most of these engines were still under development and while four-engined bomber designs were considered for specification B.12/36 for a heavy bomber,
13803-532: The versions, Bristol Hercules engines. It first saw service with RAF Bomber Command in 1942 and as the strategic bombing offensive over Europe gathered momentum, it was the main aircraft for the night-time bombing campaigns that followed. As increasing numbers of the type were produced, it became the principal heavy bomber used by the RAF, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and squadrons from other Commonwealth and European countries serving within
13932-460: The war a German airman bailed out over the town. Procedures for dealing with enemy captives were not yet well-established and he was treated as a celebrity guest for some days, including by the town council, before eventually being handed over to the military. Second, a Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111 bomber crashed into the town on 30 April 1940, demolishing several houses in the Vista Road area as one of
14061-407: The wing and fuselage sections were manufactured separately, during which they were outfitted with all of the required equipment in advance of final assembly being performed, as a measure intended to accelerate the rate of production. The Lancaster was equipped with a retractable main undercarriage and fixed tailwheel; the hydraulically -actuated main landing gear raised rearwards into recesses within
14190-558: The winter of 1943/1944, modifications were made, including downward observation blisters mounted behind the bomb aimer's blister and official and unofficial mounts for .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns or even 20 mm (0.79 in) cannon, firing through the ventral holes of the removed FN-64. The fitting of these guns was hampered as the same ventral position was used for mounting the H2S blister, which limited installations to those aircraft fitted with bulged bomb bays which interfered with
14319-417: Was a large army and militia camp where Holland-on-Sea now stands. In 1810 five Martello Towers were built to guard the beaches between Colne Point to the south and what is now Holland-on-Sea to the north of the town. In 1865 railway engineer and land developer Peter Bruff , the steamboat owner William Jackson, and a group of businessmen bought an area of undeveloped farmland adjoining low gravelly cliffs and
14448-406: Was anchored offshore from 1964 until its forced closure in 1967. With the advent of cheap flights to Mediterranean resorts in the 1970s, the holiday industry began to decline. Increasingly, hotels' and guest-houses' spare capacity came to be used as 'temporary' accommodation by the local authority to house those on welfare, refugees, migrants and asylum seekers. Pier Ward, in the centre of the town,
14577-437: Was as high as a 50 per cent success rate while only 15 per cent of the Lancaster crew were able to bail out. The Lancaster uses a mid-wing cantilever monoplane configuration. The wing is constructed from five separate main sections while the fuselage is likewise composed of five sections. Aside from a few elements, such as the fabric -covered ailerons , the Lancaster's oval-shaped fuselage had an all-metal covering. All of
14706-570: Was attractive to workers from the Ford plant in Dagenham , who bought strips of cheap agricultural land for holiday homes. Following the destruction of many East-End homes during the Second World War , they moved there permanently. The area was badly damaged by the floods of 1953 , when 35 residents died; most settlements were swept away. Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster , commonly known as
14835-399: Was constructed to a non-standard configuration, having a Frazer Nash turret installed directly above the bomb bay; however, this modification was largely unpopular due to its obstruction of the internal walkway, hindering crew movements. Various other turret configurations were adopted by individual squadrons, which included the removal of various combinations of turrets. The Lancaster B.III
14964-488: Was created for the former urban district and so it become an unparished area , directly administered by Tendring District Council. The current Member of Parliament for the Clacton constituency is Nigel Farage , the leader of Reform UK , who won the seat from Conservative Giles Watling in the 2024 general election . Clacton has a cricket club and a football team called F.C. Clacton , whose best F.A. Cup performance
15093-489: Was created to carry out Operation Chastise , the raid against the Ruhr dams. This unit was equipped with B.III (Specials), officially designated the "Type 464 (Provisioning)", modified to carry the 9,250 lb (4,200 kg) "Upkeep" bouncing bomb . The bomb bay doors were removed and the ends of the bomb bay were covered with fairings. "Upkeep" was suspended on laterally pivoted, vee-shaped struts which sprang apart beamwise when
15222-565: Was decided that the bomber should be produced in Canada, where it was manufactured by Victory Aircraft in Malton, Ontario . Of later variants, only the Canadian-built Lancaster B X was produced in significant numbers. A total of 430 of this type were built, earlier examples differing little from their British-built predecessors, except for using Packard -built Merlin engines and American-style instruments and electrics. In August 1942,
15351-422: Was historically in the parish of Great Clacton . The development of the seaside resort began in the 1870s and was called Clacton-on-Sea to distinguish it from the older village about 1 mile (1.6 km) inland. Great Clacton and Clacton-on-Sea were always administered together, forming a single urban district called Clacton between 1895 and 1974. The two settlements gradually merged into a single urban area during
15480-399: Was initially equipped with four Nash & Thompson Frazer Nash hydraulically operated turrets mounted in the nose, tail, mid-upper and underside. The original tail turret was equipped with four Browning .303 Mark II machine guns and all other turrets with two such machine guns. Late on in the war, Freeman Dyson (as a 19-year-old who had yet to win a degree) put forward a case for
15609-471: Was installed in a small number of Lancasters but never became common. Ultimately radar, rather than improved visibility, made the turret more effective. The FN-121 was the Automatic Gun Laying Turret (AGLT), an FN-120 fitted with 'Village Inn' gun-laying radar . Aircraft fitted with Village Inn were used as bait, flying behind the main formations to confront the night fighters that followed
15738-462: Was powered by Packard Merlin engines, which had been built overseas in the United States , but was otherwise identical to contemporary B.Is. In total, 3,030 B.IIIs were constructed, almost all of them at Avro's Newton Heath factory. The Lancaster B.I and B.III were manufactured concurrently and minor modifications were made to both marks as further batches were ordered. The B.I and B.III designations were effectively interchangeable simply by changing
15867-423: Was primarily a night bomber, it excelled in many other roles, including daylight precision bombing, for which some Lancasters were adapted to carry the 12,000 lb (5,400 kg) Tallboy and then the 22,000 lb (10,000 kg) Grand Slam earthquake bombs (also designed by Wallis). This was the largest payload of any bomber in the war. In 1943, a Lancaster was converted to become an engine test bed for
15996-403: Was primarily interested in twin-engine bombers . These designs put limited demands on engine production and maintenance, both of which were already stretched with the introduction of so many new types into service. Power limitations were so serious that the British invested heavily in the development of huge engines in the 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) class in order to improve performance. During
16125-600: Was quickly recognised that Avro's capacity was exceeded by the wartime demand for the type, it was decided to form the Lancaster Aircraft Group , which comprised a number of companies that undertook the type's manufacture, either performing primary assembly themselves or producing various subsections and components for the other participating manufacturers. In addition to Avro, further Lancasters were constructed by Metropolitan-Vickers (1,080, also tested at Woodford) and Armstrong Whitworth . They were also produced at
16254-520: Was removed entirely. The ventral (underside) FN-64 turret quickly proved to be dead weight, being both difficult to sight because it relied on a periscope which limited the gunner's view to a 20-degree arc, and too slow to keep a target within its sights. Aside from early B.Is and the prototype B.IIs, the FN-64 was almost never used. When the Luftwaffe began using Schräge Musik to make attacks from below in
16383-597: Was the 1st round. The football team play at the Rush Green Bowl with the stand for the supporters being known as the "bus shelter". The Cricket Club has many grounds around Clacton with one in Holland-on-sea and another where Essex County Cricket Club used to play. Clacton also have a rugby club with teams ranging from under 12s to a first and second team. The first and second teams play in Essex League 1 and train on
16512-588: Was the most important defensive position and carried the heaviest armament. Despite this, the turrets used, starting with the FN-20, were never entirely satisfactory and numerous designs were tried. The FN-20 was replaced by the very similar FN-120 which used an improved gyroscopic gun sight (GGS). Many rear gunners insisted on having the centre section of perspex removed from the turret to improve visibility. The transparencies were difficult to see through at night, particularly when trying to keep watch for enemy night fighters that appeared without notice astern and below
16641-452: Was then sold and redeveloped with housing. There are two tiers of local government covering Clacton, at district and county level: Tendring District Council , which is based at Clacton Town Hall , and Essex County Council , based in Chelmsford. The ancient parish was called Great Clacton. Until 1891 the parish was administered by its vestry in the same way as most rural areas. As
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