KB882 was part of the first production batch of 300 Canadian Lancaster Mk.X's built by Victory Aircraft Ltd., Malton, Ontario, Canada. Construction Number 37183. KB882 arrived in the United Kingdom on March 4th, 1945 and issued to No. 32 Maintenance Unit, 434 Squadron then taken on strength by No. 6 Group 428 "Ghost" Squadron, RAF as NA-R. Although the aircraft itself belonged to the RAF, this was an all-Canadian formation.
By March 12th she was with 428 Squadron and flew her first mission, a raid against Dortmund. Overall, she participated in 12 missions, being flown by Flight Lieutenant W.L. Ross and his crew on eight occasions. What was unusual about this crew was that it consisted completely of officers, with F/L Ross being on his second tour. The targets varied from cities to industrial sites, with five of the attacks being conducted during daylight. One mission was not completed as the mission to Bremen was aborted due to bad weather. Flight Lieutenant R.D. Hay, the pilot, dropped his bombs in the North Sea.
Although by this late in the war the German fighter and night-fighter forces had been severely reduced, they were still able to hurt Allied bombers on the occasions when the Luftwaffe did send them into combat. KB882 had a close encounter with a night fighter on the night of 4 April. After having dropped their bombs on Merseburg at 2250 hours, F/L Ross turned the aircraft for home. Despite the clouds and the fact that German night fighters had not been putting in many appearances, the crew maintained a sharp look-out. It paid off three minutes after turning for home when the rear gunner, Flying Officer W.H. Watson, spotted a night fighter above the aircraft at a range of 300 yards on the starboard quarter. With a warning from Watson, Ross immediately put the aircraft into a corkscrew, while Watson opened fire on the night fighter. This had the desired effect, as the German pilot veered off after Watson had fired only 100 rounds. No shots were fired at the Lancaster.
KB882’s last mission was on 25 April to the German island of Wangerooge, on the approaches to the port of Hamburg. The personnel of the Squadron knew the war in Europe was almost over and they would soon be going home. This happened in early June when the aircrew of 428 Squadron started flying back to Canada, taking two lucky ground-crew with them in each aircraft. The route was to the Azores, and after a day of rest, on to Gander. From there they flew to Yarmouth. Before they could fly back, aircraft had to be selected. As the aircraft used by the RCAF in Europe did not belong to the RCAF, the Lancaster’s that were to be flown back to Canada had to be transferred to Canadian ownership. These aircraft were to be used for “Tiger Force”, Canada’s contribution to the planned bombing campaign against Japan. For this purpose, those aircraft with the fewest flying hours were chosen. KB882 was transferred to Canada on 1 June. Fittingly, it was F/L Ross and his crew with two passengers who flew KB882 back to Canada, arriving in Yarmouth on 10 June.
