The crew of NO. 9 Squadron RAF Lancaster Mk I W4964/WS-J 'Johnny Walker', 31 July 1944

A Lancaster crew pose beneath 'Johnny Walker', with its decorated nose showing that this aircraft had already completed over 100 missions when this photograph was taken.

Of the more than 7,000 Lancasters built during the Second World War, only 35 surpassed 100 missions. The average number of sorties for a Lancaster before being shot down or written off was just 21. W4964 flew its first operation to Stettin in Germany (now Szczecin in Poland) on the night of 20 April 1943 – just eight days after leaving the Metropolitan Vickers factory at Old Trafford, Manchester. In total the aircraft completed 106 missions with No. 9 Squadron over Occupied Europe and then became an instructional airframe in December 1944.