Lookout Newspaper |November 10, 2008, Vol 53, No 45 | Six air crew tough out 12 days at sea Lancaster KB784 of 428 Squadron Mission to Kiel 13/14th April 1945 Took off at 20.20 from Middleton-St.George to bomb the U-Boat yards. Hit by Flak both outbound and homebound. With three engines failing, the Lancaster was ditched. F/Sgt Vardy is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. The crew drifted for 12 days before washing ashore. F/O Payne and F/O Riley were later decorated for their supreme courage. F/O D M Payne RCAF DFC PoW Sgt T F Sinclair RCAF PoW F/O G C Riley RCAF MBE PoW F/O V Banks RCAF Inj WO2 E V Miller RCAF Inj F/Sgt E R O Casey RCAF Inj F/S A E Vardy RCAF Killed
Nice report but poor research here. He called his navigator for a course across the North Sea in an attempt to return to their base in Sweden, but the aircraft lost power and the main engine faltered. Fuel poured from the plane.
...and Lancasters clearly have a main engine and three others for decoration. Still, it does not take anything away from the incredible story of survival.