Lancaster Production Armstrong Whitworth
Avro achieved a high rate of Lancaster production through a combination of factors, most notably by outsourcing production to a group of factories called the Lancaster Production Group, which included Metropolitan Vickers at Trafford Park, Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth and Co. in Coventry, and Vickers-Armstrong at Castle Bromwich. This group was later expanded to include Vickers at Chester and Austin Motors in Birmingham. Avro itself also had factories at Newton Heath and Yeadon. This dispersal of production across multiple factories made it more difficult for the Luftwaffe to disrupt production with bombing raids. The use of subcontractors also made it harder for the Luftwaffe to interrupt production.
In addition, Avro used a modular design for the Lancaster, which allowed major sections of the aircraft to be manufactured off-site and then transported to the main assembly line. This modular construction also made it easier to repair damaged Lancasters, as damaged sections could be easily replaced. This method of construction was likely informed by the earlier Manchester bomber, as production for that aircraft was similarly split between Avro’s factory in Chadderton and Metropolitan-Vickers’ factory in Trafford Park.
Avro’s factory at Woodford had three production lines running simultaneously, each a quarter of a mile long. In August 1944, this factory produced 155 Lancasters, which was “an incredible achievement. By the end of the war, Avro alone had produced 3,673 Lancasters.
Another factor that may have contributed to the high production rate was the relative simplicity of the Lancaster’s design. Lancaster was “more refined” than other bombers like the Halifax, but it was still a relatively simple and easy-to-manufacture aircraft. The Halifax was a fairly crude aircraft, whereas the Lancaster was more refined in every sense. This suggests that while the Lancaster was a capable aircraft, its design may have also been optimized for ease of production.