(Rus)  The first operation in which the Avro Manchester participated was the night raid of 24/25 February 1941, to bomb a Hipper class cruiser reported in Brest. Six aircraft of No 207 Squadron were involved, including L7284/EM:D with Fg Off P. R. Burton-Gyles and crew. One aircraft had undercarriage failure and crashed on landing back at Waddington. The Manchester had the highest combat loss-to-sorties ratio and the highest accident rate of all

Bomber Command bomber types. This was due primarily to the persistent overheating and failure of the Vulture engines, troubles that were never satisfactorily overcome. With the loss of one engine the power from the other usually proved insufficient for flight to be maintained for long. With much-troubled engines, L7284 was removed from operational use in April 1941 and scrapped two years later. (IWM CHI7297)