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The Avro Lancaster was normally manned by seven crew members:

Crew (standard) of seven:

Crew (special) of Eight:

Pilot, Flight Engineer, Navigator, Bomb Aimer, Wireless Operator, two Air Gunners, and Special Equipment Operator.

Pilot - Seated on the left hand side of the cockpit. There was no Co-Pilot.

Flight Engineer - Seated next to the pilot on a folding seat.

Navigator - seated at a table facing to the port (left) of the aircraft and directly behind the pilot and flight engineer.

Bomb Aimer - seated when operating the front gun turret, but positioned in a laying position when directing the pilot on to the aiming point prior to releasing the bomb load.

Wireless Operator - seated, facing forward and directly beside the navigator.

Mid-Upper Gunner - seated in the mid upper turret, which was also in the unheated section of the fuselage.

Rear Gunner - or "Tail End Charlie" seated rear turret this too was in the unheated section of the fuselage and was also the most isolated position. Most rear gunners once in their turrets did not see another member of the crew until the aircraft returned to base, sometime 10 hours after departing.

Each crew member volunteered for aircrew dues. None were conscripted into their jobs.

A crew was formed by the pilots picking out each crew member from those available at the Conversion Unit they were posted to. Conversion Units were one of the last steps in an aircrew's training period before they reached an operation squadron.

An Operational Tour for a bomber crew consisted of thirty, non-aborted, operational sorties. Upon completion of their tour, the crew were normally given time to rest by being assigned to various conversion units, non-operational units, etc. It was not uncommon for a rested crew member to volunteer for a second tour.

An exception for thirty operations in a tour applied to the crew of the Pathfinder Force ( No. 8 Group). These crews were required to complete forty-five operations before resting. The additional fifteen trips were required, because of the high rate of training and practice required in order to become proficient in target marking. More often than not, Pathfinder crews continued on; in the hopes of making the magic sixty Operations (or two tours) mark.

Some crews were increased to eight members. This was usually due to one of the following reasons:

a) The crew was attached to the Pathfinders. These crews often had an extra Navigator/Radar Operator who operated the H2S blind bombing radar.

b) The crew was attached to the No. 100 Group and/or was operating an aircraft equipped with Airborne Cigar (ABC). In either case, a German speaking radio operator was added. Their job was to scan for German night-fighter radio frequencies. Once they located one, they would tune one of several jamming transmitters on board the aircraft to the frequency. They would there by prevent further information from being transmitted from the German ground controllers to the night-fighter pilots.

c) All new pilots were required to fly one or two familiarization or "Second Dickey" trips with a veteran crew in order to expose them to operational hazards and the German defenses. Although, the new pilots did not take their crew with them on these trips, the trips usually counted towards the pilot's tour of operations. Most pilots, however, continued to fly with their crews until all members had completed the required thirty trips.