Inside the plane there are four of the seven crew members, who are preparing for take off before another night raid on Nazi Germany during World War II.

Two pilots sit in the cockpit, while a navigator studies his maps, and in the foreground a flight sergeant turns a knob on the wireless device.

[1] The painter, Laura Knight, developed a long and accurate investigation in order to create this work: she later stated that this painting had been the most difficult task she had done so far in the war.

The completed painting depicts in a faithful and detailed manner the moment of preparation for the take-off of the British crew, which is concentrating in their next mission.

The navigator of the scene, Raymond Frankish Escreet, would be killed in action and his mother received a reproduction of this picture as a memento.