ABSTRACT

As an example of wartime matériel, the Second World War Lancaster bomber possesses value as an archaeological object through its cultural associations. It was designed to fly higher than other aeroplanes of the day so that it could, in effect, escape flak in the sky and reach Germany to drop its bombs. Keeping trace of the Lancaster bomber, as tangible heritage, is important. It was not until the mid-1990s that the possibility of a 'sensory archaeology' came to the fore as prehistorian archaeologists. Being in a Lancaster bomber is a multi-sensorial experience and each individual aircrew used different senses, coming together as one in order to complete the task in hand, working as a trusting sentient team. There was full disclosure of casualties by Bomber Command and the aircrews of the Lancaster bombers were well aware of the high mortality rate and that the odds of completing a tour of thirty operations were extremely poor.