DB-2 LANCASTER

DISCOVERY OF AN ICON

LANCASTER ED825

It was rumoured that ED825 had come down 30 kilometres north of Amiens and around 50 kilometres from where its crew were buried.

This location had been pointed out several years before by author and researcher Jean- Pierre Ducellier, who had interviewed a farmer in the Doullens and taken meticulous notes and even had a wartime RAF reconnaissance photograph of the farm showing a disturbed area of ground where the Lancaster could have fallen. Unfortunately after an extensive search of the area nothing was found.

Only one final clue remained, a secondhand account that the aircraft had in fact crashed, high on the hill a kilometre away. The research team walked from the farm up the hill towards the area; swinging metal detectors wearily to-and-fro in the desperate hope of picking up the trail of wreckage. As the sun set over the village of Doullens, the first small piece of aluminium appeared from the earth.

The team quickly began to find parts scattered far and wide but the most identifiable object made from perspex and aluminium revealed that they had found something unique to the Type 464 Lancasters – the lower gun mounting. It was this finding that confirmed they had indeed found ED825 which had not dived steeply into the ground as first thought, but had flown into the rising ground before bursting into flames.

SMELTING HISTORY

As British watchmakers, we have a history of retelling stories through our beautifully engineered watches. Past models include the S4 Spitfire and H1 Hurricane both featuring recast Merlin engine casing from their respective planes P9427 and P3708. The pilots of these iconic planes bravely fought during the Battle of Britain and the detailed accounts of these can be found behind every Zero West timepiece.

In 2020 we started researching ‘Project Chastise’ the holy grail of wartime aviation stories with scientist Barnes Wallis and the audacious Dambuster mission. This had been on our must have list from the beginning of the brand but finding material from an actual Dambuster Lancaster may have been a mission too far. Fortunately in early 2021 Zero West made connections with part of the aviation archaeologists who had researched and located the remains of ED825, one of the 11 Lancasters that successfully returned from that historic night, but later went missing in action in Northern France.

Negotiations ensued and we incredibly were able to obtain some precious pieces of ED825 aluminium that we would be able to smelt and recast to create a unique and rare watch for this once in a lifetime project. The significance of the ED825 material cannot be overstated and Zero West are privileged to have the opportunity to explain to other people why something so seemingly insignificant is entirely the opposite, and in doing so keeping the story alive.

ONLY 100 BUILDS