CHAPTER FIVE
Bomber Command’s rationale throughout its thirty years of existence was to provide an offensive bombing force to take any war to the enemy’s homeland: the doctrine of strategic bombing. The striking power of the Command’s aircraft rose from the virtually insignificant with slow biplanes, whose bomb load in some cases was as low as 500 lb, through the massive wartime armada of heavy bombers, each capable of carrying 10,000 lb or more of bombs and whose total bomb lift was massive, to the Cold War period when the individual effect of atomic weapons meant that the numbers of aircraft were less significant but the strategic value was enormous. Only the types used in the Second World War had to test themselves in a major war and their reputations, as passed down to history have varied from the ‘superlative’ for the Avro Lancaster to the ‘heroic failure’ of the Fairey Battle. What, however, cannot be denied for any of the wartime types is the courage and tenacity of their aircrew and the hard-work and dedication of their ground crew. Mention must also, of course, be made of the designers and manufactures, some of whom battled against official indifference to produce aircraft that subsequently became key components of Bomber Command.
The Avro Lancaster is remembered as the most important and effective RAF bomber of the Second World War.
This chapter is divided into the same three periods we have used throughout this book: Pre-1939, the Second World War and the Cold War (1945–1968). The most significant aircraft types (and one missile) are included and reference is made in each section to other aircraft if this is appropriate. Aircraft tables concentrate on the period of use of the type by Bomber Command: this is reflected in service dates by placing start or end dates in brackets if it occurred outside of the period of Bomber Command use; for example the aircraft types that were part of No. 2 Group at the end of May 1943 when the Group transferred to the Tactical Air Force. The entries are not therefore a mini history of the type as in many instances the type was used outside of Bomber Command. Occasional notes are included if considered relevant; for example the operational use of the Vulcan and Victor in their later, post Bomber Command years. The tables do not show individual Marks of aircraft and the airfield list is main bases only and not detachments. Airfields are only listed for the period the type was in use with Bomber Command use.
Pre-1939
When Bomber Command was formed from Central Area, Western Area and No. 1 Air Defence Group in May 1936 it acquired three operational Groups equipped with a variety of biplane bomber, from the light-bomber Hawker Hinds, the most common type within the Command, to the large bomber types such as the Virginia and Heyford, which were concentrated in No. 3 Group. The fourth operational Group, No. 2 Group formed in May 1936, was also primarily equipped with Hinds, although some squadrons had Fairey Gordons. Considering that the Second World War was only three years away it was not an impressive Order of Battle. The Fairey Gordon is best known for its overseas service with the RAF and it was in the Middle East and Africa (Sudan) that the type spent most of its career in the 1930s; although, a number of Bomber Command squadrons were equipped with the aircraft for a short period of time in 1936–1937 it has been omitted from the list of types. A number of squadrons also acquired other types as expedients whilst waiting for their real equipment; some were aircraft, such as the Avro Anson, that were operational types, albeit not as true bombers, but they too have been omitted from this list.
Vickers Virginia
The Virginia had entered service with 7 Squadron in May 1924 and was to be the RAF’s main home-based strategic bomber for almost 15 years, eventually equipping eight squadrons. Designed to Specification 1/21 the Virginia first flew in November 1922 and was intended as a night bomber, although bomber doctrine also claimed that it could operate by day. Over the next few years the Virginia was produced in a large number of Marks, the final operational variant being the MkX. Production came to an end in December 1932 by which time the RAF had received 124 aircraft, fifty of which had been built as the MkX with its fabric-covered metal structure (the early variants had been wooden structure); most of the surviving examples of the early Marks were upgraded to MkX standard.
By the time that Bomber Command formed only three squadrons were still equipped with Virginias, the other five having re-equipped, although two of the long-serving Virginia units, 7 Squadron and 9 Squadron, both of which had used the type since 1924, had only given them up in spring 1936.
Virginia of 9 Squadron, March 1927; the airmen are in the ‘fighting tops’, each of which carried a single machine gun.
Handley Page Heyford
The lumbering shape of the Heyford first took to the air in 1930 and at the time was a reasonable day bomber with its ‘fighting tops’ with gunners who could protect the aircraft against the manoeuvrable but under-armed fighters of the day. This was still true – just – in November 1933 when the Heyford 5 entered service with 99 Squadron. However, it is amazing to think that Bomber Command still had five squadrons equipped with this bomber well into 1939; if war had come with the Munich Crisis of September 1938 this would have been one of the front-line bombers!
The Handley Page Heyford was the culmination of a generation of large biplane bombers that had started in the First World War with the Handley Page 0/100 and 0/400. These types had helped pioneer the doctrine of strategic bombing and were followed by the likes of the Vimy and the Virginia. The Handley Page HP.38 (the Heyford) was designed to Specification 22/32 and first flew in June 1933; its most unusual feature was that the fuselage was attached to the underside of the top wing rather than the more usual arrangement of it sitting on the lower wing. It was a massive aircraft and with its large wheel spats was not the most attractive of aircraft. Its performance of 142 mph, 21,000 ft and a 1,600 lb bomb load over a range of 920 miles was not bad for the period. The maximum bomb load was 3,500 lb, part of which was carried in internal bomb cells – one of the first aircraft with a bomb bay. Self defence was provided by three gun stations each with a Lewis gun. By late 1936 Bomber Command had nine squadrons of Heyfords in service; the concept of operations involved stooging around in formation at 10,000 ft looking for their targets. In exercises the gunners ‘fought off’ the attacking Demons and Furies and the bombing theory appeared practical.
Heyford K6898 on its nose having overshot on landing when diverted due to bad weather.
The RAF had received 124 Heyfords by the time production ceased in July 1936, these being made up of three main variants, the Mk I/Ia, Mk II, and Mk III. The type appeared in the news a number of times, two such instances being the Royal Review of 1935 and the loss of three of 102 Squadron’s aircraft when returning to Finningley from Aldergrove in mid December 1935. Seven Heyfords left for the flight back to their base but in poor weather only one made it; of the others, three crashed and three landed elsewhere, although one ended up its nose having overshot the runway. With its replacement in front-line units the Heyford remained in second-line service to summer 1941 when the type was finally declared obsolete.
Boulton Paul Overstrand
If there was a prize for the ugliest Bomber Command aircraft the Overstrand would almost certainly be the runaway winner, which in some ways is unfair as its ugliest feature – the ‘greenhouse’ on the nose was actually the RAF’s first power-operated gun turret and as such pointed the way to the future armament of bombers. When first developed to Specification 29/33 it was known as the Sidestrand V but in March 1934 the name was changed to Overstrand (a small village on the Norfolk coast and thus not far from Boulton Paul in Norwich). Only twenty-four service aircraft were produced under Specification 23/34 and only one squadron was fully equipped with the Overstrand, 101 Squadron acquiring the type in January 1935 to supplement and then replace the Boulton Paul Sidestrand. However, when the Squadron’s ‘B Flight’ became the nucleus of 144 Squadron at Bicester in January 1937 they took their four Overstrands with them, although they were given up the following month in favour of Ansons (the Ansons too were a temporary measure pending equipment with Blenheims).
Overstrands of 101 Squadron; despite its antiquated appearance the Overstrand included a number of advanced features.
The Overstrand had a crew of five, a top speed of 153 mph, a ceiling of 22,500 ft (on a good day) and a maximum bomb load of 1,600 lb. When 101 Squadron re-equipped with Blenheims a number of the remaining Overstrands continued to be used for support roles.
Hawker Hind
At the peak of its service with the light bomber squadrons (spring 1937) there were 452 Hinds in service, an incredible total – especially when they had all vanished from the front-line within two years. The Hawker Hind is very much one of the ignored aircraft types in the history of Bomber Command but its importance to the Command during this period of rapid expansion cannot be overstated. It was always intended as an interim aircraft but it enabled squadrons to form, train and gain experience prior to receiving more appropriate aircraft; for that reason alone it deserves a place in the Bomber Command record – and as a derivative of the delightful Hart it had an excellent pedigree. It is worth mentioning here that a number of Hart-equipped squadrons joined Bomber Command when it was formed, although they re-equipped with Hinds during 1936.
The Hind was designed to Specification G.7/34 for a General Purpose day bomber and the prototype first flew on 12 September 1934 and looked almost identical to the Hart, although it had a supercharged Kestrel engine and a different gunner’s cockpit. First unit was 21 Squadron at Bircham Newton but equipment of squadrons proceeded at a rapid pace. The Hind had a top speed of 186 mph, a ceiling of 26,400 ft and a minute bomb load of 500 lb and two machine guns: this performance, and a range of only 430 miles meant that this was certainly not a truly operational type for Bomber Command but as with other members of the Hawker family of biplanes it was said to be a delight to fly and was well liked by its crews. Having been taken out of ‘front-line’ service, although the last squadron did not lose its aircraft until 1940, the Hind continued in use throughout the war in support roles, primarily training. This included 139 light-bombers that were converted to dual-control Hind Trainers.
The Hawker Hind had a brief spell with Bomber Command but for a few months it equipped a large number of squadrons; 98 Squadron had Hinds for nearly two years.
A total of 528 aircraft were produced; the Hind was the RAF’s last biplane bomber and from an aesthetic if not operational point of view it was not a bad way to go out. A small number of aircraft (Harts and Hinds) have been preserved, including an immaculate airworthy Hind operated by the Shuttleworth Collection.
Fairey Hendon
Only fourteen Fairey Hendon night bombers were produced but it has a place in Bomber Command, and indeed RAF history as the first all-metal low-wing monoplane to enter service. The Fairey Night Bomber (it was not called the Hendon until November 1934) was designed to Specification B.19/27 for a ‘heavy’ night bomber and the prototype flew in November 1930. The fabric-covered metal structure gave a rugged aircraft and its performance of 155 mph, ceiling of 21,500 ft and bomb load of 1,600 lb met the Specification.
The Fairey Hendon night bomber was slow and had a small bomb-load but it did incorporate a number of advanced features.
The Hendon entered service with 38 Squadron at Marham in November 1936. However, the development period having taken longer than expected meant that there were better options becoming available by this time and the main contract for another sixty aircraft was cancelled.
In June 1937, ‘B Fit’ of 38 Squadron became the nucleus of 115 Squadron and took four Hendons across the airfield with them, although the new unit was re-equipped with Harrows in June. The short career of the Hendon came to an end in January 1939 when 38 Squadron received Wellingtons.
Handley Page Harrow
The Handley Page origins of this high-wing monoplane were obvious; indeed at first glance it might be thought that the manufacturers had simply taken the lower wing off the Heyford. The Harrow was designed to Specification 29/35 for a heavy bomber and the prototype flew in October 1936, although orders had already been placed the previous year. There were no significant problems in the development and the aircraft entered service with 214 Squadron at Scampton the following January. By the end of the year five Bomber Command squadrons had equipped with the type; all of them kept the Harrow in service to mid 1939, with 215 Squadron being last to lose the type, in December, although its first Wellingtons had arrived in the summer.
Despite its somewhat ungainly appearance, not helped by the spatted undercarriage, the Harrow had a reasonable performance with top speed of around 200 mph, ceiling of 22,800 ft and bomb load of 3,000 lb. It also had three power-operated turrets, although the mid-upper turret was not fitted to all aircraft. These figures would have been fine for the early 1930s but by 1938, when the five squadrons were very much in the front line, they would have been little short of disastrous should war have broken out.
Atmospheric shot of a 115 Squadron Harrow at Marham; note the squadron number painted on the fuselage of the aircraft. The powered turrets in the nose and tail were a pointer to the future but the rest of the aircraft was grounded in the past.
Bomber Command gave up its Harrows before the shooting war started but the aircraft served with other units and did see active service during the war as well as being used for various support roles. The most unusual utilisation was that of 93 Squadron, which used Harrows to sow aerial minefields as part of the night defence of England. The major user of the Harrow was 271 Squadron in the transport and later medical evacuation role, the type usually being referred to as the Sparrow.
Vickers Wellesley
The Wellesley was a private venture not intended for an Air Ministry Specification but with the hope that in the mid 1930s period of a desperate rush to expand the RAF there was a good chance of acquiring a contract. The prototype flew in June 1935 and was the first Vickers design to use the fabric-covered metal geodetic structure. In September the ‘expected’ contract was received, ninety-six aircraft being ordered to Specification 22/35. The Wellesley entered service with 76 Squadron at Finningley in April 1937 as a two-seat day General Purpose bomber.
It was a strange-looking aircraft with its twin cockpit arrangement and very long wing. Despite being single-engined the overall performance was reasonable with a top speed of 228 mph, ceiling of 33,000 ft and bomb load of 2,000 lb – not too bad for a GP type. Self-defence armament was not very impressive, comprising single machine guns fore and aft.
The Wellesley had a very short career with Bomber Command; by autumn 1937 there were six squadrons but by the end of the following year this had reduced to a single squadron. This was not the end of the Wellesley’s service and a large number of aircraft were transferred to squadrons in the Middle East and Africa, where they saw active service against the Italians. The type finally left front-line service in August 1943 but a number of aircraft remained in use in support roles.
The one notable achievement of the Wellesley was the autumn 1938 flight by three Wellesleys of the Long Range Development Flight; two of the aircraft completed a record-breaking non-stop flight from Egypt to Australia – a distance of 7,162 miles in around forty-eight hours.
Formation of Wellesleys of 76 Squadron airborne out of Finningley. The Wellesley was a two-crew day bomber and when it entered service in 1937 was totally out of date from an operational point of view.
Second World War
As mentioned above, Bomber Command was in a poor position in respect to its Order of Battle in the late 1930s. The aircraft that had entered service in the earlier part of the decade were definitely obsolete and the new types under development in the mid 1930s were only just starting to arrive on squadrons in the late 1930s, and even then they were based on what was soon to prove a flawed doctrine of daylight operations. Despite the fact that the expansion plans of the early 1930s had placed the greatest emphasis on bombers over other types, and despite large orders being placed, often straight off the drawing board, the Command was poorly equipped in 1939. Whilst a number of new types were coming on line the advanced nature of those types caused its own problems; for example, the high incidence of wheels-up landings by Blenheim pilots who were not used to having a retractable undercarriage. Bomb loads had increased but the bombs, with their origins in the First World War, were to prove woefully inadequate in the new war. Bombers had started to sprout more self-defence guns but the concept of ‘impenetrable massed firepower’ from formations of bombers had yet to be tested. Furthermore, most of the new medium bombers required two pilots and the strain on the training system was enormous.
All the four-engined bombers were under development before war broke out and by 1940 the RAF was planning an all-heavy bomber force of 4,000 aircraft to be achieved by 1944–1945; if this had come to fruition the bomb lift, and thus the destructive potential of the Command would have been enormous.
The Halifax had a mixed record with Bomber Command but the overall assessment of it being inferior to the Lancaster is in large measure unjustified. The Command’s desire from 1940 onwards was for a bomber force comprising thousands of four-engine bombers.
Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley
The Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley entered service with 10 Squadron at Dishforth in March 1937, one of the new heavy bombers for Bomber Command and the only one designed as a night bomber. The aircraft was designed to Specification B.3/34 and first flew on 17 March 1936 (prototype K4586), by which time its top speed of less than 200 mph and an operational ceiling of less than 20,000 ft, and limited defensive armament, were beginning to look inadequate. As with all the other bomber types entering service around this same period it was an improvement over the existing front-line types but was nevertheless verging on obsolete. The one saving grace when it entered service was that it had been designed for night operations and as night fighters were a rarity in the late 1930s the fighter threat was almost non-existent.
Nevertheless, a number of armament improvements were made to the variants entering service over the first few years of the Whitley’s service, including the Mk IV with the impressive Nash and Thompson four-gun powered rear turret. More powerful engines were also introduced and the Whitley V had a maximum speed of 222 mph. The initial order for eighty aircraft was costed at an average of around £25,000 per aircraft. Orders were soon increased and the unit price reduced to £17,000 per aircraft.
At the outbreak of war No. 4 Group, with whom the type was concentrated, had a well established operational routine with its squadrons as most had re-equipped with the type by late 1938. The Whitleys were airborne on the first night of the war with Linton-on-Ouse despatching aircraft of 51 and 58 Squadrons to drop leaflets over the Ruhr. This first nickelling sortie set the scene for the Group for the first months of the war, including a trip to Berlin on the night of 1/2 October 1939 – the first British aircraft over the German capital being a Whitley of 10 Squadron. Between the start of the war and late December 1939 the Whitleys operated, in small numbers, on twenty-two nights with leaflet-dropping the main activity, although ‘night reconnaissance’ was also tasked. Losses were low and the crews, and Bomber Command in general, gained experience and information on night operations. This factor was to be highly significant when the Command abandoned daytime attacks in favour of the cover of night.
With the launching of the bombing campaign against land targets the Whitley units began dropping other cargo than leaflets, although the 3,000 lb bomb load was not impressive by later standards. The Whitleys also took part in the maritime war both with mine-laying and anti-submarine operations, the latter with units detached to Coastal Command. Sidney Munns was an experienced Observer: ‘Compared with the Fairey Battle, the navigator’s station in a Whitley was to me like a palace: a comfortable seat to sit on, and a proper plotting table to work on, with instruments conveniently to hand and even an angle-poise lamp to see by. The bomb-aiming position in the nose of the aircraft was equally well equipped and comfortable by comparison. With its longer range, navigating in a Whitley was a more satisfying experience and by the end of August 1940 I was navigating on night-time exercises of eight hours’ duration, similar in length to typical operational sorties over Germany.’
Whitley of 7 Squadron at Finningley; the Squadron re-equipped from Heyfords in March 1938. The Whitley became standard equipment for No. 4 Group and pioneered night leaflet-dropping operations.
The Whitley flew its last Bomber Command operational sortie over Germany (five aircraft of 58 Squadron) on the night of 27 April 1942 the target being Rostock, the fourth night that week that Main Force had attacked this Baltic port. The final sortie was made by two of the Squadron’s aircraft the following day against Dunkirk. This was not the end of the Whitleys career with Bomber Command and the type continued to serve with the OTUs for some time; it also served with other Commands, especially Coastal Command – the other major user – to the end of the war. The Mk V was the only variant built in significant numbers (1,466) and of the over 1,600 Whitleys built there are no survivors, although a number of major airframe components have been salvaged in recent years. The Whitley even had a ‘ditty’ that was popular with the crews of No. 4 Group and was sung to the tune of Waltzing Matilda:
Ops in a Whitley
The first silly blighter got into his aeroplane,
Said he would fly over Germany,
And he sang as he swang and pranged it on the boundary,
‘Who’ll come on Ops in a Whitley with me?’
Chorus:
Ops in a Whitley, Ops in a Whitley,
Who’ll come on Ops in a Whitley with me?
And he sang as he swang and pranged it on the boundary,
‘Who’ll come on Ops in a Whitley with me?’
The second silly blighter got into the air all right,
Flew over Flamborough and crashed it in the sea,
And they sang as they swam right up and down the coast and back,
‘Who’ll come on Ops in a Whitley with me?’
Chorus:
The third silly blighter got out over Germany,
Up came the flak like a Christmas tree,
And the Wireless Op, cried as the Captain quite forgot himself,
‘Who’ll come on Ops in a Whitley with me?’
Chorus:
The fourth silly blighter flew out over Hanover,
Up came the fighters, one, two, three,
And the Rear Gunner cried as he buckled on his parachute,
‘Who’ll come on Ops in a Whitley with me?’
Chorus:
The fifth silly blighter he got over Magdeburg,
They couldn’t find the target and dropped ‘em in the sea,
And the Navigator cried as the Captain tried to shoot himself,
‘Who’ll come on Ops in a Whitley with me?’
Chorus:
The sixth silly blighter he got there and back all right,
They gave him a Green but he couldn’t see the ‘T’,
And he sang midst the flames as he pranged it on the hangar-roof,
‘Who’ll come on Ops in a Whitley with me?’
Fairey Battle
The Fairey Battle is not an aircraft that is usually associated with Bomber Command and yet the role of the aircraft was important – as well as tragic. The Battle, like the Blenheim, was produced in response to Specification P.27/32 for a Light Bomber and like the Blenheim initially showed promise. Prototype K4303 first flew on 10 March 1936 and entered service in May 1937 with 63 Squadron at Upwood. Replacing biplane light bombers such as the Hart and Hind the Fairey Battle was a definite improvement with its 241 mph speed and 1,000 lb bomb load. The sleek lines and stressed-skin construction gave it an advanced appearance and pilots considered that it was a responsive aircraft; however, they were to add that, ‘Despite its agreeable qualities it was not an operational machine. It could only carry four 250 lb bombs and was far too slow if enemy fighters were around.’ Fairey was given an initial instruction to proceed with an average price of £7,250 per aircraft, the initial ten being costed at £22,009. The initial order for 155 aircraft was almost immediately increased to 339.
When the Battle came to fight its war there proved to be far too many enemy fighters around that were well-armed and fast. The Battles equipped No. 1 Group and as war approached all ten squadrons were allocated to the Advanced Air Striking Force (AASF) for deployment to France in support of British operations. They duly deployed in September 1939 and over the next few months were primarily used on reconnaissance missions, although the occasional contact was made with the enemy. During this phase of the Phoney War the bombers were not allowed to attack strategic targets as bombing of land targets was still prohibited. When the Germans launched their offensive in the West in May 1940 the Fairey Battles of the AASF entered the fray in a series of daring attacks on lines of communication, mainly bridges, and troop movements. In the face of heavy German defences, fighters and anti-aircraft fire, the Battles were shot out of the sky; over half of the available aircraft were lost in a single day. For one of these attacks on 12 May 1940 two members of the crew of 12 Squadron Battle P2204 were each awarded the Victoria Cross.
Battles of 218 Squadron; the Fairey light-bomber was a revolution when it entered service and its ‘place in history’ as a disaster (ops in connection with the German attack on May 1940) is not fully justified.
The remnants of the Battle force were withdrawn to the UK for rest and re-equipment. This was not the end of the aircraft’s participation in bomber operations and the Battles continued in the front-line with No. 1 Group, although some squadrons began to re-equip with Wellingtons. Attacks on the ports being used for the invasion build-up were prime targets and the Battles, along with all other Bomber Command types, made frequent attacks on this type of target. Whilst it was appreciated that the Battle would have to be removed from front-line Bomber Command service as soon as possible it was still used as initial equipment for new squadrons. The Battle flew its last Bomber Command operation on the night of 15/16 October 1940, nine aircraft being part of a force that attacked the Channel ports. After its final departure from the operational Groups the Battle was used in a variety of training roles and as such continued to play a part in the development of the Command. There are two surviving – or rather restored/rebuilt – examples of the Fairey Battle, one in the RAF Museum at Hendon and one in Belgium.
Handley Page Hampden
The Handley Page Hampden is one of the forgotten aircraft of Bomber Command and yet it played a major role in the first two years of the war, perhaps its most significant contribution being the development of the Command’s air-dropped minelaying campaign. The Hampden was designed to the same twin-engine bomber specification, B.9/32, as the Wellington; and the Handley Page HP.52 was an impressive sleek-looking monoplane when it was first unveiled in the mid 1930s, a time when Bomber Command was equipped with lumbering biplanes. Prototype K4240 first flew on 21 June 1936 and its early performance was promising: it was faster than the Wellington and had a better bomb load and range than the Blenheim. An initial order was placed for 180 aircraft and the Hampden entered service with 49 Squadron at Scampton in August 1938. The initial order was soon increased to 320. Two more Bomber Command squadrons had re-equipped by the end of the year and by the outbreak of war there were ten squadrons in service.
The Hampden had a crew of four and from a purely flying point of view it was popular with pilots because of its manoeuvrability, which proved valuable during evasion of searchlights over Germany. It was considered to be an aircraft with no vices, although the cramped cockpit made a tight fit for the crew. From the defensive point of view the Hampden was not so well served; the early manually-operated 0.303 inch guns were typical of bomber armament of the late 1930s, but even though they were upgraded and their numbers increased, with twin guns in upper and ventral positions and one fixed and one movable gun forward, they were still inadequate. Losses on early daylight raids were heavy but this appears to have been primarily due to anti-aircraft and operational hazards such as weather rather than enemy fighters. From the offensive perspective the Hampden had a small load for a ‘strategic bomber’ of only 2,000 lb.
The Hampden was the main equipment of No. 5 Group during the early years; its limited bomb-load was a major limitation but it remained in service with the Command to late 1942.
The Hampden suffered an additional problem in that its long pencil shape and bulbous front end, which led to its nickname of the ‘flying panhandle’, meant that it was frequently mistaken for the German Dornier Do.17. There were numerous instances of Hampdens being engaged by British fighters and anti-aircraft guns.
Hampdens flew the Command’s first minelaying sortie on 13/14 April 1940; the operation was flown by fifteen aircraft, with fourteen reporting successful laying of mines in the sea lanes off Denmark between the Norwegian coast and the German ports. One Hampden was lost from this mission. No. 5 Group became the operational Group for the Hampden but it was obvious from 1940 that the type had severe limitations; however, with few options in terms of an immediate replacement the type remained in the frontline for three years, the last Bomber Command operation taking place on 14/15 September 1942.
No Hampdens have survived but at least two restoration projects are underway using wreckage recovered from various locations.
Bristol Blenheim
The Blenheim stunned the aviation world when it first appeared in 1936 as it was superior in performance to the current front-line fighters of the RAF. However, the highly-manoeuvrable but slow bi-planes were themselves in the process of giving way to modern types – and the Luftwaffe was already re-equipping with types such as the Bf 109. Without detracting from the importance of the Blenheim and the splendid achievement it represented as a private venture development it, like all of Bomber Command’s new aircraft, was fine in 1937 for the planned doctrine but a mere two years later the situation had dramatically changed – and the Blenheim squadrons were to suffer very high losses as a result.
The Blenheim was under development in the early 1930s at a period when the RAF was desperate for new aircraft and it looked so impressive on paper that 150 were ordered ‘off the drawing board’ in August 1935, the prototype (K7033) not making its first flight until 25 June 1936. Destined to join Bomber Command as a light bomber the first Blenheims went to 114 Squadron at Wyton in March 1937 and the type became standard equipment for No. 2 Group. The concept of operations for the light bombers was daylight low-level attacks and although the Blenheim I had been replaced by the Mk IV in Bomber Command by the outbreak of war both its performance and armament were to prove inadequate. The first Mk IV unit, 90 Squadron, re-equipped in March 1939 and it was a Blenheim IV of Bomber Command that was the first British aircraft to intentionally cross the German border, a 139 Squadron aircraft flying a reconnaissance mission on 3 September 1939.
The Blenheims shouldered the burden of the daylight campaign for the first two years of the war, initially with anti-shipping operations but following the German invasion in May 1940 and clearance to attack land targets with an increasing variety of targets in Occupied Europe.
Some of the early anti-shipping sorties demonstrated the vulnerability of the Blenheim to both flak and fighters and although additional armour plating was added in the Mk IV the aircraft was, in common with all Bomber Command types at this period, ill-provided with passive defensive aids such as armour plate and self-sealing fuel tanks. The limitations of the Blenheim were known and attempts were made from 1941 to find a replacement, the Purchasing Commission in America eventually acquiring a number of American light and medium bombers – some of which were proved equally limited in operational terms. In the meantime the Blenheim units of No. 2 Group soldiered on and a number of notable attacks were made, including one led by Wing Commander Hughie Edwards of 105 Squadron against Bremen on 4 July 1941; an attack for which Edwards was awarded the Victoria Cross.
The last Bomber Command Blenheim op was flown on 18 August 1942, an intruder operation flown by 18 Squadron from Wattisham against German night fighter airfields in Holland. Bomber Command was only one of the users of the Blenheim and the aircraft served with Army Co-operation, Coastal and Fighter Commands in the UK, playing a key role with the latter in the development of radar for night fighting, as well as with overseas Commands and in training roles.
Over 4,000 Blenheims, mainly Mk IVs, were built and the type remained in service to the end of the war. A number of airframes have survived, although most of these are the Canadian-built Bolingbroke variant, including one airworthy aircraft that flies out of Duxford, Cambridgeshire.
Blenheim of 107 Squadron: when it first appeared in 1936 the Blenheim was a vast improvement in every respect over the aircraft then in service with Bomber Command; however, in daylight operations in the early years of the war it suffered heavy losses.
Vickers-Armstrongs Wellington
The Wellington was one of the most important aircraft in Bomber Command but its role in the war is overshadowed by the four-engined ‘heavies’ of the second half of the war. For its four years of operational service and its role as the most important type in service with the Operational Training Units, the Wellington deserves far greater recognition. Designed to Specification B.9/32 for a twin-engined heavy bomber (although the designation was changed to Medium Bomber with the advent of the four-engined types) the prototype Wellington (K4049) first flew in 15 June 1936. With its performance and payload it was a massive improvement on the front-line types such as the Heyford and the Air Ministry placed an initial order for 180 aircraft. The concept of operations remained that of formation day bombing and the Wellington was provided with defensive armament of twin guns in nose and tail turrets plus single guns in the beam positions, all being 0.303 inch calibre. Various alternate gun positions were tested, including a retractable ventral turret but the general principle that was applied to all of the later 1930s bombers was that fighters were nothing more than a moderate threat and that anti-aircraft fire was unlikely to be accurate at the operational heights of the bombers. Both of these tactical tenets were soon proved to be false.
The most distinctive feature of the Wellington was its fabric-covered geodetic structure, designed by Barnes Wallis for strength and lightness but one that also proved resilient to enemy fire – as witnessed by many a badly damaged Wellington that made it back to base with fabric burnt away or part of the geodetic structure destroyed. When 99 Squadron at Mildenhall became the first squadron to re-equip, October 1938, Bomber Command entered a new era with the first true modern bomber in its inventory. By the outbreak of war the Command had six Wellington squadrons in service and over the next few months additional squadrons re-equipped or formed. The poor showing of the aircraft in the anti-shipping attacks of autumn 1939 was not the fault of the Wellington or its crews; rather, it was a simple case of inappropriate tactics and a lack of appreciation of enemy defensive potential.
The Mk 1C became the Command’s standard equipment and of the 2,685 of this variant that were built most served with Bomber Command. When the Wellington Groups turned to night operations the major problem was that of weather and crew comfort, although it was no worse than the other bombers operating in the cold night skies of a European winter. Normal bombing heights were 10,000–12,000 ft, although the Pegasus-powered Mk 1C had a ceiling of 18,000 ft, and standard bomb load was 4,000 lb over a range of 1,200 miles. Throughout 1940 and 1941 the Wellington squadrons, increasing in number up to mid 1942, were responsible for the majority of night sorties over Germany and although the accuracy and effectiveness of those attacks, due to lack of navigation aids, has often been called into question, they did provide invaluable training for Bomber Command as well as their direct effect on the German war effort caused by diversion of resources into air defence. Other Marks of Wellington, primarily the Mk II and Mk III entered service with the Command but in each case there was little significant improvement in overall performance or capability.
By early 1942 it was obvious that future operational potential for the Wellington was limited, it simply didn’t have the defensive firepower or operational ceiling to cope with the increased German night defences; also, its bomb lift was too small in comparison with that of the new bomber types. The Wellington would soldier on for another year, in part as initial equipment for new squadrons, and it was not until the night of 8/9 October 1943 that the last operational Wellington sortie was flown, the target being Hanover and twenty-six Wellingtons from 300 Squadron and 432 Squadron were part of the total force of 504 bombers; all the Wellingtons returned safely.
It would be safe to say that the majority of Bomber Command aircrew, with the exception of those destined for the light bomber force, had contact with the Wellington during their training. From 1940 to the end of the war the Wellington was the single most important aircraft in service with the Operational Training Units, and there were hundreds of aircraft in service at any one time as a full-size OTU would have a strength of fifty to sixty aircraft. Not that this contact was also looked on favourably as many of the OTU aircraft were cast-offs no longer considered fit for operational duties!
Wellington of 149 Squadron.
Wellingtons of 9 Squadron, which was one of the first bomber squadrons to re-equip. After a disastrous introduction to daylight operations in late 1939 the Wellington was moved to night bombing and for three years was the mainstay of the Command’s bombing offensive.
It would be unfair to this great aircraft not to mention its other roles, especially with Coastal Command – both with units loaned from Bomber Command and with Coastal’s own squadrons, especially the Leigh Light Wellingtons that played an important part in the anti-submarine war. Whilst other bombers of its generation – such as the Hampden and Whitley – had vanished into obscurity by the end of the war, the Wellington remained in RAF service into the early 1950s. One final statistic that shows the aircraft’s importance is that 11,461 Wellingtons were built, the largest total for a British multiengined type: sad then that so very few survive in museums today. The best examples are in the RAF Museum at Hendon and the Brooklands Museum, the latter being a partially restored aircraft recovered from Loch Ness.
Like the Whitley, the Wellington had its own song; not perhaps as interesting as that of the Whitley but obviously sung with feeling. Judging by the words it was probably being sung in the later years of the aircraft’s use, and perhaps by OTU crews for whom old and tired airframes were a matter of routine. The nickname Wimpey was taken from the cartoon character.
Old Fashioned Wimpey
Tune: ‘That Old Fashioned Mother of Mine’
There’s an old-fashioned Wimpey
With old-fashioned wings,
With a fuselage tattered and torn.
She’s got old-fashioned engines
All tied up with strings,
It’s a wonder she was ever airborne.
Still, she’s quite safe and sound
‘Cos she won’t leave the ground,
And there’s something that makes her divine;
For the Huns up above were all taught how to love
That old-fashioned Wimpey of mine.
Short Stirling
Of the four-engined British types to serve with Bomber Command the Short Stirling acquired the worst reputation and is often virtually ignored in histories as being an insignificant and ill-fated bomber. Whilst there is some truth in aspects of this statement it does, however, paint too bleak a picture of the aircraft. Designed to Specification B.12/36, the four-engined ‘heavy’ bomber specification that spawned all the Command’s operational aircraft of this type, the prototype Stirling (L7600) first flew on 14 May 1939, the first of the new types to fly. Despite the crash of the prototype at the end of that first flight and despite early indications that the Stirling would suffer from certain operational limitations there was an urgent need to replace old twin-engined types and increase the bomb lift. The Stirling certainly fitted the latter category as its 14,000 lb load was a massive increase over the 4,000 lb of its predecessors.
No. 7 Squadron at Leeming became the first operational unit with the Stirling, August 1940, and it was some months before any other units re-equipped. The Squadron had given up Hampdens for the new bomber and were initially delighted as it seemed that they now had a powerful bomber with which to take the war to the enemy rather than the somewhat limited Hampden. It was on the night of 10/11 February 1941 that the Stirling made its first operational bombing mission, aircraft of No. 7 Squadron bombing the oil storage targets at Rotterdam. The Stirling was a difficult aircraft to produce and entry to service was slow, it was not until April 1941 that a second squadron was equipped. The decision was taken to concentrate all Stirling units in No. 3 Group and over the next few months the Group’s units duly re-equipped, although not without problems and the AOC wrote a number of memos concerning the unsatisfactory rate of aircraft delivery and poor aircraft serviceability.
Despite the indications of performance problems the early showing of the Stirling was good and the aircraft appeared to be able to take a reasonable level of punishment from flak and fighters, although there was some concern over the Hercules engines.After early fin problems had been overcome the manoeuvrability of the aircraft, an important aspect in evasive manoeuvres, was considered reasonable by pilots and the airframe was definitely strong. This latter aspect owed much to the designers having used knowledge gained with other Shorts types such as the Sunderland, although in the longer run this was to prove detrimental to attempts at improving the aircraft’s performance. Likewise, the unique cell arrangement in the bomb bay initially looked like a good idea but as the maximum bomb in any cell was 4,000 lb this later became a problem.
Although the Stirling was the first of the ‘heavies’ to enter service, build-up was slow because of production problems.
Stirling R9358 of 214 Squadron at Stradishall, September 1942; the Squadron operated Stirlings from April 1942 to August 1944.
Stirlings of No. 3 Group formed part of Main Force on a large number of attacks over Occupied Europe and Germany and by 1942 questions were being asked as to why the type appeared to have a higher loss rate than the other ‘heavies.’ As more Lancasters and Halifaxes entered service the statistics certainly supported the view that the Stirling loss rate was higher, with a number of instances when the loss rate exceeded 10 per cent. The conclusion was that the lower all-round performance, especially in terms of operational ceiling, with the Stirling flying at around 15,000 ft, meant that they were more likely to be engaged by flak and more likely to be picked up by night fighters. The introduction of the Mk III did little to improve the overall situation and the loss rates, combined with continued production problems and the restrictions of the bomb bay led to a decision to replace the type in the front-line at the earliest opportunity. The final squadrons re-equipped in late 1943 – after the decision to replace Stirlings had been made but with no choice if the planned expansion of the Command and its bomb lift were to be maintained. However, by mid 1944 the aircraft’s role in Main Force was coming to an end, the final bombing sortie taking place in September.
This was not the end of the Stirling with Main Force as two squadrons of the specialist No. 100 Group used the type for Radio Counter Measures operations. These specially equipped Stirlings continued to operate to the latter part of the war and with its large sturdy airframe and reasonably spacious interior the Stirling was well suited to this role. No. 199 Squadron took on the new role on 1 May 1944, the aircraft being equipped with Mandrel and Shiver equipment, the former being the main system. The Squadron was operational by June, the first op taking place on the night of 5/6 June, and its Mandrel screens became a routine part of the Group’s protective work. A second RCM Stirling was created in September when ‘C Flight’ of 199 Squadron became 171 Squadron, also at North Creake.
Almost 1,800 Mk I and Mk III bombers were built but in addition to use with Bomber Command the Stirling played a key role with the airborne forces, for paratroop dropping and as a glider tug, and two later variants, the Mk V and Mk VI, were developed for the transport role. In the latter role the Stirling continued to serve with the RAF into mid 1946.
There are no surviving Stirlings but a group of enthusiasts is determined to find enough parts – or build them from scratch – to ensure that this bomber is not completely forgotten.
Avro Manchester
The twin-engined Avro Manchester has gone down in aviation history as a disaster but one whose failure gave rise to the greatest RAF bomber of the war, the Lancaster: both statements are partly true and partly overstated. Designed to Specification P13/36 as a medium bomber the prototype first flew on 25 July 1939, a contract for 200 aircraft having been issued in July 1937. The basic airframe was sound, although a central fin had to be added after initial trials showed lateral stability problems. However, it was the Rolls-Royce Vulture engines that were to prove the key failing of the Manchester; the twenty-four-cylinder engines were of a new design and they proved both unreliable and under-powered, with a tendency to catch fire!
The Manchester entered service with 207 Squadron at Waddington in November 1940, the Squadron having re-formed to become the first Manchester unit. After a few months of familiarisation the Squadron flew its first op with the type on the night of 24/25 February 1941, six Manchesters took part in this attack on warships at Brest.
As more aircraft entered service the engine problems became frustratingly common, although questions were also asked about the aircraft’s overall performance. The notional 10,000 lb bomb load was good for an aircraft of its class and self-defence armament was standard for the time, but within months of the type becoming operational it was obvious that the problems would be hard to overcome, although serviceability did increase in the latter months of the Manchester’s operational service. Follow-on orders for 300 aircraft were cancelled and production ended in November 1941. The final operational sortie took place on the night of 25/26 June 1942 with twenty Manchesters as part of the Thousand Bomber (actually 960 aircraft) force that attacked Bremen.
Skellingthorpe-based 50 Squadron only spent three months with the Manchester before re-equipping with Lancasters.
Avro Manchester of 83 Squadron; the Manchester operated with No. 5 Group and flew 1,185 operational sorties for a loss of sixty-nine aircraft (5.8 per cent).
A number of Manchesters remained with Bomber Command in the training role but the short period of operations was over and the type entered the history books as a failure. One Victoria Cross was awarded to a Manchester crewman, Flying Officer Leslie Manser, a pilot with 50 Squadron being awarded the VC for his actions on the Cologne raid of 30/31 May 1942.
Only 209 Manchesters were built and, not surprisingly, there are no survivors.
Handley Page Halifax
The Handley Page Halifax’s wartime career has always been compared with that of the Lancaster and it is invariably written up as ‘inferior’; whilst there is some truth in this, especially for the Mk I Halifax it is an over-generalisation. One Squadron Commander stated: ‘We were very favourably impressed by the flying qualities of the Halifax B.III with its powerful Bristol Hercules engines, which gave it a lively climbing ability and good all-round performance.’
As one of the trio of four-engined bombers designed to Specification P13/36 the Halifax first flew on 25 October 1939 (L7244). The type entered service with 35 Squadron in November 1940, the second of the ‘heavies’. The first operational sortie by the Handley Page Halifax (35 Squadron) took place on the night of 10/11 March 1941, the target being Le Havre. Six aircraft took part, four of which bombed the primary target. One aircraft aborted the mission because of hydraulic problems and one was shot down by a British night fighter.
Over the next few months the other squadrons of No. 4 Group re-equipped and the Halifax began to take an increasing role in bomber operations. Initial impressions of the Halifax were favourable but within weeks the first problems occurred and the aircraft were temporarily withdrawn from operations for modifications to hydraulic pumps and undercarriages. An attempt was also made to regulate the cabin heat as excessive heat had given rise to a good deal of sickness amongst crews. Modifications were also made to the front escape hatch as this tended to fly off in the air. Whilst the latter two points appear to have been cured, at least they do not crop up again in the official records, the undercarriage remained troublesome.
Halifax MZ910 of 433 Squadron at Skipton-on-Swale.
Two French squadrons, 346 and 347, operated Halifaxes from the summer of 1944 to the end of the war.
However, by early 1942 the Halifax was already under investigation as its loss rate was higher than that of the other four-engined bomber, the Stirling. An ORS report looked at loss rates for the period July 1941 to June 1942 with the Halifax having a 50 per cent higher loss rate on all except lightly-defended targets. The conclusion was that the aircraft was more vulnerable to fighter attack and that a major factor was the ‘greater visibility of the Halifax exhausts and its rather doubtful stability in making evasive turns.’ With a loss rate of over 6 per cent, rising to 10 per cent for August 1942, the decision was taken to reduce the scale of Halifax operations until the majority of aircraft had received additional modifications, including weight reduction. A new fin and rudder were tested on the prototype Mk III and when engine and propeller improvements were added the new variant was far better than its predecessors; indeed, it was close to the Lancaster in overall performance.
In October 1942 the Bomber Command Operational Research Section (ORS) was again investigating why the Halifax had a higher loss rate than other operational types. Once more it was the aircraft’s poor manoeuvrability that was highlighted as the most significant defect. The conclusion recommended that in order to gain experience and confidence, ‘The pilots posted to Halifax squadrons should be detailed to complete at least three, preferably five, sorties as 2nd Pilot or against lightly defended targets before being employed on main operations.’ However, this laudable aim was not always possible, indeed it was seldom achieved, and the higher than average loss rates of the early Halifax variants continued. The bomb load of 13,000 lb was a great improvement on that of the medium bombers and unlike the Stirling the bomb bay was of standard design and gave good flexibility of bomb load. The self-defence armament of four-gun rear turret and twin-gun front turret, with beam guns in some aircraft, was inadequate but was soon improved with the addition of a mid-upper turret.
The first Mk IIIs entered service with 466 Squadron at Leconfield in October 1943 and this ‘definitive’ variant gradually replaced the older variants and was to remain in service until the end of the war. By early 1944 the new aircraft had demonstrated their superior performance and the plan to replace all squadrons with Lancasters was reconsidered – or at least delayed. The Halifax was the standard equipment of No. 6 (RCAF) Group based in Yorkshire and the Canadian squadrons had few problems with serviceability or operational difficulties; loss rates stabilised and the Group was happy with its Halifaxes, although in recent years an ill-informed debate has been reopened as to why the Canadians were given ‘inferior aircraft.’
An ORS report in July 1943 related loss rates to training as the Halifax had acquired a bad reputation for instability during hard manoeuvres. As the corkscrew manoeuvre was the standard tactic by which bomber pilots avoided enemy defences it was vital that pilots had the confidence to undertake the hard manoeuvring demanded by this technique. Report B160 looked at the, ‘Effect of operational experience on No. 4 Group Halifax losses’ and concluded that: ‘There is no reasonable doubt that pilots on their first two operations have a casualty rate well above the average and that those who have survived twenty sorties had a rate well below the average. This must be aircraft related as the Lancaster does not suffer the same problem.’ The report stated that the major problem occurred when aircraft attacked heavily defended targets. ‘New pilots are a bit nervous of the aircraft as it had gained a bad name for instability in manoeuvre. It thus may happen that a new pilot is reluctant, when he meets defences, to manoeuvre his machine sufficiently in combat or that in a sudden emergency he puts his machine into an attitude in which he has had no previous experience of controlling it.’
The Halifax Mk III was the most effective of the variants but by the time it entered service the earlier reputation of the Halifax as being inferior to the Lancaster had been established.
The Halifax also saw action with Bomber Command as part of No. 100 Group, the airframe proving well-suited to this RCM usage and at one stage became the main type used by the Group. The main role of the Halifax RCM squadrons was Mandrel, although 462 Squadron was fitted with ABC, and the first effective mission was flown by 171 Squadron from North Creake in late October 1944. Indeed, it was 171 and 199 Squadrons from this Group that flew the Command’s last Halifax operation of the war, on 2 May 1945 against Kiel.
Total Halifax production was 6,176 aircraft and whilst some of these were specialist Coastal or Transport variants, the majority were bomber variants, including 2,238 of the Halifax MK III. There is no surviving complete Halifax today, although a number of well-preserved aircraft have been recovered from lakes in Norway and the museum at Elvington, Yorkshire has ‘built’ a Halifax, with parts coming from a variety of sources. This is an appropriate location as Elvington was home to two Free French Halifax squadrons. One of the recovered aircraft is being rebuilt in Canada as a tribute to No. 6 (RCAF) Group.
Boeing B-17 Fortress
On 8 July 1941 Wing Commander MacDougall, OC of 90 Squadron led the RAF’s first B-17 Fortress I attack, the target being shipping at Wilhelmshaven. The RAF had decided to acquire the Boeing B-17 as part of its search for new bombers and in the spring of 1941 twenty B-17C variants were flown to Britain. The Boeing B-17 was designed for the US Army Air Corps and first flew on 28 July 1935, the concept of operations being for high-level daylight bombing. By the outbreak of war the Americans were claiming that their ‘Flying Fortress’ would be able to protect itself from enemy fighters and with its new bombsight could, ‘Drop bombs into a pickle barrel from 30,000 ft’. These bold claims appealed to the RAF and the Fortress seemed an ideal strategic bomber – despite its very low bomb load of 2,500 lb.
The new aircraft went to 90 Squadron at West Raynham and after a short work-up the Squadron flew its first operation, sending three aircraft to Wilhelmshaven. Two aircraft bombed the target and all returned safely. The RAF only employed small numbers of Fortresses, a concept alien to the American doctrine of massed mutually-defensive formations of bombers. Over the next few months the Squadron continued to mount daylight operations but the aircraft were proving troublesome, with numerous serviceability problems that meant a very poor sortie rate and a high percentage of aborts; the Norden bombsight and the guns proving particularly troublesome. By September Bomber Command had decided to abandon this experiment with the Fortress and for the next few years Coastal Command was the RAF’s main user of the type, gradually acquiring, as the Fortress II, the much improved B-17E and F.
With the growth of the Radio Counter Measures war the Fortress once more returned to Bomber Command with 214 Squadron of No. 100 Group acquiring Fortress IIIs (B-17G) in January 1944. It took some while for the aircraft to be given their special equipment and it was not until the 20/21 April that the Squadron mounted its first sortie. The Fortresses were equipped with various jamming devices including ABC, Jostle and Mandrel but they spent much of their time operating with the Special Window Force. In March 1945 a second Fortress unit was formed in No. 100 Group, 223 Squadron being based alongside 214 Squadron at Oulton. By the end of the war the RCM Fortresses had flown around 1,000 operational sorties. Although both units disbanded in July 1945 the RCM Fortress continued in service for a while longer with the Radio Warfare Establishment.
Dozens of B-17s have survived, including a fair number of airworthy examples but all are preserved in memory of USAAF usage and particular the 8th Air Force.
Douglas Boston
The Douglas Boston was one of the American types selected in 1940 as a replacement for the light and medium types in Bomber Command, particularly the Blenheim. In summer 1940 the RAF received 20 DB-7 Boston Is but although a number of these were issued to squadrons it was primarily used for conversion training. Having been chosen as the first Boston squadron in the Command 88 Squadron received a number of Boston Is, which it used for training whilst the Blenheim was used as the operational type. The first Boston IIIs, with an improved all-round performance, arrived in the summer of 1941 and the first were issued to 88 Squadron at Swanton Morley. The first operational sorties were flown on 12 February 1942 and from then on the Bostons flew anti-shipping missions as well as day low-level sorties against industrial and military targets in Europe, including a number of spectacular raids. By the time that No. 2 Group transferred to the Tactical Air Force in May 1943 it had four squadrons equipped with Bostons, and with some of these the type continued in service to spring 1945, albeit in later variants.
The Boston, and its Havoc derivative, also served in a number of other capacities with the RAF, most notably – albeit short-lived and with limited success – as a ‘night fighter’ using the Turbinlite searchlight system. Of more relevance to Bomber Command was the limited use as a night intruder to attack German night-fighter airfields, with 23 Squadron specialising in this role. Over 1,000 Bostons were delivered to the RAF but overall it was not considered to be a very successful aircraft, although better than many of the other ‘new’ bombers acquired by No. 2 Group.
Unusual shot of a Boston of 226 Squadron, May 1942. This was one of four Bomber Command squadrons to use the type and in its career with No. 2 Group, as part of Bomber Command, the Boston flew 1,215 operational sorties.
De Havilland Mosquito
The Mosquito was without doubt one of the great British aircraft of the war and it performed astoundingly well in a variety of roles, of which the pure bomber role was in many ways the least significant. It served with the Coastal Command Strike Wings and Fighter Command, especially as a night fighter, as well as performing a variety of other roles. The Mosquito was produced in an impressive number of Marks and served into the post-war period. With Bomber Command it performed three main roles – target marker, bomber and night fighter, but was also used in the reconnaissance role.
The de Havilland Mosquito started life in late 1938 as a private venture for a high-speed, unarmed all-wooden bomber and there was little initial interest from an Air Staff that was looking towards a heavy bomber force. Planned to have no self-defence armament, relying on its speed and height, and with no real thought of a bomb load, the initial RAF reaction was poor but under Specification B.1/40 an order was placed for fifty aircraft able to carry a 1,000 lb bomb load. The prototype flew on 25 November 1940 and its startling performance convinced any doubters that this aircraft had a future and fighter and photo-reconnaissance variants prototypes were soon underway.
First of the bombers was the Mosquito IV, the prototype of which flew on 8 September 1941 and with its top speed of 380mph and ceiling of 40,000ft was unlike any previous bomber. Entry to service was with 105 Squadron at Swanton Morley in November 1941 where it replaced the Blenheim. It was not until 31 May 1942 that the Squadron made the first operational sorties with the Mosquito, five aircraft being sent to Cologne the day after the Thousand Bomber attack to take photographs and drop a few nuisance bombs. One aircraft was damaged by flak and later crashed into the North Sea with the loss of its two crewmen. This single loss would equate to a 20 per cent loss rate but of course that figure means nothing as the average loss rate for the Mosquito with Bomber Command for the duration of the war was less than 1 per cent, by far the lowest of any type (although the short period of ops with No. 2 Group had a 5 per cent loss rate over 793 sorties).
No. 2 Group was desperate for new aircraft and the Mosquito seemed to be the answer to the problem of low-level daylight attacks on pinpoint targets; however, such was the demand for the new type that deliveries were slow. However, it was not long before the Mosquito was in the news, such as the dramatic attack on the Gestapo HQ in Oslo by four aircraft of 105 Squadron on 25 September 1942. One pilot at Marham remarked, although not in connection with this raid, that they didn’t read the news, they made the news. The Mosquito had the range to reach Berlin and the first such attack was made on 31 January 1943 – by 105 Squadron again, although followed by 139 Squadron the same afternoon – and from then on Berlin was a regular target for the Mossies as they were reasonably immune from the German defences.
The more powerful Mk IX variant entered service in April 1943 and it was this variant that was initially equipped with the Oboe navigation system for use on target marking. April 1943 also brought the Mosquito into action with Bomber Command in two new tactics: firstly, the formation of No. 1409 Flight, a specialist unit tasked with Met reconnaissance (Pampas) over Europe; and, secondly, the employment of the Mossie for night harassing raids. The idea behind the latter was twofold: help confuse the defences as to the Command’s target for the night and to keep the air raid sirens going over as wide an area as possible. The first such operation took place on 13/14 April when six Mosquitoes of 105 Squadron flew raids to Bremen, Hamburg and Wilhelmshaven. This was the forerunner of what was to become the highly effective Light Night-Striking Force (LNSF). The Mossie’s ability to carry a 4,000 lb bomb, find pinpoint targets with great accuracy, and its incredibly low loss rate (with the added benefit that if lost it was only two crew and not the six of a ‘heavy’ bomber) has led many post war commentators to remark that an all Mosquito bomber force would have been far more effective. Whilst there is some truth in this, as there invariably is with the benefit of hindsight, it would not have suited the doctrine of the time of overall bomb lift and tonnage on target – it would have required a fresh doctrine more along the lines of that used by the 8th Air Force.
Prototype Mosquito W4050 first flew in November 1940; a 4,000 lb bomb load and the range to reach Berlin added a new dimension to Bomber Command for diversionary and nuisance raids.
The Mosquito IV was the first of the operational bomber variants, entering service with 105 Squadron at Swanton Morley in November 1941.
The Mosquito appeared in so many variants, performed so many roles and served with so many squadrons that a short overview can never do justice to the part it played in RAF history and the campaigns of the Second World War. With Bomber Command the Mosquito operated in No. 2, No. 5 and No. 100 Groups, the latter primarily as a night intruder or night fighter in which it flew 8,814 missions for the loss of 75 aircraft.
The Mosquito continued in RAF service into the 1950s and with overseas air forces even longer than that. A reasonable number of airframes have survived, with the collection at the Mosquito Aircraft Museum being particularly impressive. Sadly there is no airworthy aircraft at present, or at least not one that actually flies, although a number of restorations are underway.
Avro Lancaster
In his post-war Despatch on War Operations Sir Arthur Harris expressed his preference for the Lancaster: The Lancaster, however, coming into operation for the first time in March 1942 soon proved immensely superior to all other types in the Command. The advantages which it enjoyed in speed, height and range enabled it to attack with success targets which other types could attempt only with serious risk or even the certainty of heavy casualties.’ This was written in 1945 with the benefit of the C-in-C’s comprehensive knowledge of the aircraft that served with his squadrons.
The Avro Lancaster made its maiden flight (BT308) on 9 January 1941, a few months after the Halifax entered service as the last of the ‘heavies’. The type entered service with 44 Squadron in December and flew its first operational bombing sortie on 10/11 March 1942 to Essen, although minelaying ops had been flown earlier in the month. With its 14,000 lb bomb load (although special loads carried later in the war by the likes of 617 Squadron included the 22,000 lb Grand Slam bomb) and excellent all-round performance, speed of just under 300 mph and ceiling of 24,500 ft, the Lancaster was an immediate success. There were a number of teething troubles but with the Manchester as a predecessor these were of a minor nature and did not affect the overall introduction to service. Nevertheless, production remained slower than the bomber chiefs would have liked and even though by 1943 there was general agreement to switch bomber production to the Lancaster this process would take at least two years: ‘Hence the constant pressure brought by Bomber Command HQ for concentration on Lancaster production at the expense of other types and hence the policy to employ every available Lancaster in the front line, even at the expense of an uneconomical training set-up.’
Powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlins and with an excellent all-round performance the Avro Lancaster was the best strategic bomber of the Second World War.
Lancaster LM217 of IX Squadron at Bardney; the Squadron had been operating Lancasters since September 1942 and in the latter part of the war was a special squadron equipped with Tallboy bombs.
Whilst the Lancaster’s first year of operations had appeared relatively trouble free, despite some initial production problems, in March 1943 the ORS was reporting that Lancaster loss rates had increased to near the 4 per cent average of the other bombers. This change was put down to improvements in the Halifax but also an increased effectiveness of the German defences. In other words the decreasing vulnerability of the Halifax had increased the vulnerability of the Lancaster.
Although the Lancaster has generally acquired a reputation in the historical record of low loss rates the type was not always immune from heavy losses on particular raids; for example, an attack on Berlin on 2/3 December 1943 made by 458 aircraft, primarily Lancasters, suffered forty aircraft lost (a rate of 8.7 per cent). However, averaged across all the Groups for the period of ops with Bomber Command the loss rate was around 2 per cent. It could be argued that this figure is somewhat false because of very low loss rates in the final months of the war when the bulk of sorties were being flown by Lancasters – but it was ever thus with statistics!
In addition to the one special raid that everyone had heard off – Operation Chastise, the Dams Raid of May 1943, Lancaster squadrons carried out a number of other daring raids, such as the daylight attack on the MAN works at Augsburg for which John Nettleton received the Victoria Cross. It was, however, its work with Main Force and with the Pathfinder Force that the Lancaster was most involved and in which it made its greatest contribution to Bomber Command’s war. As the Order of Battle shows, by late 1944 the bulk of the Command’s front-line strength comprised Lancasters. The main variants were the Mk I and Mk III, including the Canadian-built Mk X, and the RAF eventually received around 7,500 Lancasters.
The Lancaster II was powered by four Bristol Hercules engines rather than the usual Merlins and entered service with 61 Squadron in October 1942.
The Lancaster made its final wartime attack on the night of 25/26 April, the target being an oil facility at Vallo in Norway, whilst other Lancasters dropped mines in the Oslo fjord. More fitting perhaps was the attack on 25 April that targeted Hitler’s Bavarian retreat at Berchtesgaden in which 359 Lancasters (and 16 Mosquitoes) took part; two of the Lancasters were lost. The final operational Lancaster loss occurred on the Vallo raid, an aircraft of 463 Squadron having to force-land in Sweden (with all crew safe).
With the war in Europe over a number of Bomber Command Lancaster squadrons were earmarked for Tiger Force and the Far East’s final campaign against the Japanese. The war ended before any significant movement took place and for the Lancaster the next few years presented the sad picture of squadron disbandments and scrapping of aircraft. The Lancaster remained in Bomber Command service for a number of years, some having been converted to PR.1 standard for photo reconnaissance.
A number of airframes have survived, most notably in Canada, but also including one of the Century aircraft (more than 100 ops) now in the RAF Museum, Hendon. There are two airworthy Lancasters, one in Canada flown in memory of Andrew Mynarski VC and the other operated by the RAF’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
Lockheed Ventura
In the summer of 1940 the British Purchasing Commission placed an order for 675 Lockheed Ventura bombers as part of the search for additional sources of aircraft, and with a view to replacing older types such as the Battle and Blenheim. Based on the successful Hudson design, although actually a militarised version of the Lodestar transport, the Ventura looked promising; however, in the crucible or war in daylight operations over Europe it was to prove almost as vulnerable as the types it was meant to replace.
Designed as a light bomber with a crew of five the Ventura had a bomb load of 2,500 lb, a speed of 260 mph and a range of 950 miles but for an aircraft of its size was well armed with 0.303 inch and 0.5 inch guns. Development of the aircraft was slower than planned and first deliveries were not made until May 1942, with 21 Squadron at Bodney being the first Bomber Command unit to re-equip. It was not until 3 November that the Squadron flew is first op with the Ventura, with three aircraft tasked to attack a factory at Hengelo; all had to bomb a secondary target having failed to locate the primary but all returned safely. From then on the Venturas of 21 Squadron, soon joined by two other squadrons in Bomber Command, undertook daylight raids on a variety of targets, including some of the most famous of daylight attacks such as the Philips factory at Eindhoven on 6 December.
The Lockheed Ventura was not a popular aircraft during its short career with No. 2 Group, although, despite one or two disastrous raids, its overall loss rate was only 3.6 per cent.
The most notable Ventura raid was the one that all but wiped out 487 Squadron on 3 May 1943. The Squadron despatched twelve aircraft to attack a power station near Amsterdam and of the eleven that crossed the enemy coast – with a Spitfire escort – nine were shot down by German fighters, one managed to limp back to England and one proceeded to the target. This lone Ventura, flown by Sqadron Leader L. H. Trent managed to release its bombs in the target area but was then shot down, only two of the crew, including Trent, surviving. It was not until after the war that the full story became clear, following which Leonard Trent was awarded the Victoria Cross.
By the time that No. 2 Group transferred to the Tactical Air Force there were four squadrons of Venturas in service, although most of these would re-equip in autumn that year having had a less than successful career with the aircraft. The initial order for 675 aircraft was stopped after 349 had been produced. The Ventura continued to serve with Coastal Command, Transport Command and in a number of overseas theatres but the career of the Pig, its RAF nickname, was not a memorable one.
North American B-25 Mitchell
The North American B-25 Mitchell was another of the American types acquired by the RAF during its search for a new medium bomber to equip No. 2 Group. The Mitchell was developed from the NA-40 and in its B-25 guise first flew on 19 August 1940, entering service with the USAAF the following year as the B-25B. The RAF had already expressed an interest and the first aircraft arrived in late summer 1942, going to 98 Squadron and 180 Squadron at West Raynham in September. After a short work-up period the Mitchells were declared operational and made their first sortie on 22 January 1943 when twelve aircraft from the two squadrons attacked the oil facilities at Terneuzen, near Ghent. It was not an auspicious start as three aircraft were lost, including that of the CO of 180 Squadron, Wing Commander C. Hodder.
The Mitchell had a crew of five and with its top speed of 292 mph and bomb load of 6,000 lb it was a good medium bomber, although the ceiling of only 20,000 ft made it vulnerable to flak. Self-defence was provided by 0.5 inch guns in nose, tail, dorsal (turret) and ventral positions and the aircraft was also reasonably manoeuvrable.
Two further squadrons formed whilst the Group was with Bomber Command but in May 1943 all the Mitchell units transferred with No. 2 Group to the Tactical Air Force. The aircraft went on to have a fine career with the TAF and established a reputation for highly accurate attacks. The final wartime mission was flown on 2 May 1945 and soon after the end of the war the Mitchells were replaced in RAF units by Mosquitoes. The RAF eventually acquired over 800 Mitchells, the majority being Mk II and Mk III variants, the latter did not enter service until May 1944 and so were never part of Bomber Command.
Of the American bomber types acquired for No.2 Group as Blenheim replacements, the Mitchell was the most effective and four squadrons were re-equipped.
The B-25 had a comprehensive career with the American military serving with distinction in most theatres of war as well as performing valuable training roles. Post-war use of the B-25 in a variety of military and civil roles meant that examples of the type survived long enough for the interest in aircraft preservation to ensure that their long-term preservation. Various museums around the world, but mainly the USA, have B-25s on display and airworthy aircraft make regular appearances at airshows in the USA and Europe.
The Cold War
With the war over the immediate interest of the politicians was in saving money and returning the country to a semblance of peace and prosperity. Disbandment of squadrons had started in early 1945 and although a number of new aircraft types had been under development in the latter years of the war there was suddenly no great urgency to bring them into service. For the next few years rationalisation was the name of the game; the Avro Lincoln entered service having narrowly missed the war and development of the first jet bombers continued, work on the English Electric Canberra having started in 1944.
However, by the late 1950s Europe had started to look less secure once more as relations with the Russians cooled to such an extent that the Cold War was ‘declared’. This, and the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, led to renewed interest in giving the RAF up to date equipment, which was one of the reasons for the acquisition of Boeing B-29 Washingtons on loan from the Americans. The piston types soon gave way to the jets – and the new bombers were unarmed, relying on speed and height to avoid the enemy. Offensive power took a leap forward with the introduction of nuclear bombs and Bomber Command became the focus of the British nuclear deterrent. With some pundits predicting that ballistic missiles were the future, the RAF acquired American Thor missiles. By the time Bomber Command was disbanded to become part of Strike Command it had virtually lost its strategic nuclear role but with its array of long-range bombers, supporting by air-refuelling, it remained a potent weapon.
Avro Lincoln
As the Lancaster was starting to prove its worth with Bomber Command in the middle years of the war, Avro’s designers were looking at the requirement of Specification B.14/43, which was essentially a replacement for the current range of four-engined heavies. The design they came up with showed its Lancaster origins, indeed it was originally known as the Lancaster IV and V and the prototype first flew at Ringway on 9 June 1944. Development was reasonably straightforward and the aircraft entered service as the Avro Lincoln I in August 1945, the first unit to re-equip being 57 Squadron at East Kirkby. Too late for active service in Europe, the first Lincoln units were designated as part of Tiger Force for the final operations against Japan, However, the end of the war overtook this plan and the Lincolns saw no active service in the Second World War. Bomber Command’s replacement programme was fairly rapid and twenty-four squadrons were re-equipped with the Lincoln in its Mk I and Mk II versions, the former being powered by the Merlin 85 and the latter by the Merlin 86. It was a typical heavy bomber of the period with a large bomb bay for a maximum load of 14,000 lb and with front, mid-upper and rear gun turrets, some with 20 mm and some with 0.5 inch guns. Maximum speed was 295 mph, ceiling 22,000 ft and range 1,470 miles with the maximum bomb load. The figures were average for the period but as air forces starting looking towards jet options with speed and operational ceiling as the main considerations the Lincoln was to be the last of its breed.
Avro Lincoln of 100 Squadron: the Lincoln was the RAF’s main bomber in the immediate post-war period and remained in service to the mid 1950s.
Although it missed operational service in the Second World War, the Lincoln did go into ‘action’ during the Mau Mau operations in Kenya and in Malaya, with the RAF and RAAF. The Lincoln’s active period was short-lived for a peacetime aircraft and Bomber Command had given them up in favour of B-29 Washingtons and Canberras by the mid 1950s, although the type remained in service with Signals Command to 1963.
Boeing B-29 Washington
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress had seen operational service in the Far East theatre with the bombing campaign against Japan and had made its name at the end of the war as the aircraft that dropped the Atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was in the conventional heavy bomber role that Bomber Command acquired its fleet of B-29s, duly named the Washington B.1 in a political gesture, in the early 1950s. The reason for the acquisition was the Command’s shortage of effective bombers at a time when the Cold War was starting to acquire sinister overtones; the formation of NATO and then the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact had created two monolithic power blocks facing each other in Europe.
The Americans offered refurbished B-29s and the RAF accepted, the first unit, 115 Squadron at Marham, re-equipping from Lincolns in August 1950 (the first aircraft had arrived at Marham in March for the Washington Conversion Unit). With its higher performance and better armament the Washington was superior to the Lincoln and was liked by its crews, the pressurised and comfortable cockpit environment being a massive improvement over the cold and noisy Lincoln. The aircraft could carry up to 6,000 lb of bombs (a typically low American bomber load), although for long-range operations (3,000 nm) this reduced to a mere 1,000 lb, which was acceptable if the bomb was a nuclear one but of no value otherwise. The crew of ten was larger than anything the RAF had employed to that time and caused some problems with training and constitution, but the heavy radar-controlled armament was seen as a bonus. Further squadrons formed at Marham and a second Wing formed at Coningsby.
The B-29 Washington was stop-gap loan bomber from the Americans to give Bomber Command an enhanced capability in the early 1950s; trio of B-29s of 115 Squadron.
The RAF eventually acquired some eighty-eight B-29s but it was only a short-term arrangement pending the introduction of the RAF’s first jet bombers, Canberras, in the early 1950s.
English Electric Canberra
Design work commenced in 1944 for the RAF’s first jet bomber, the intention being to produce a high-speed, high-flying bomber equipped with a radar bombing system. Over the next four years ‘Teddy’ Petter and his team refined the design, settling on a circular fuselage and straight, tapering wing, power being provided by two Rolls-Royce Avon engines set in the mid-wing position. In its bright blue finish, prototype English Electric A.1 VN799 took to the air, flown by Roland Beamont, on 13 May 1949, for a very successful first flight. However, problems with the radar bombing system led to a redesign of the front end with the incorporation of a glazed nose with optical panel – the Bomb Aimer would have to lie down in the nose to use a traditional visual bombsight. The official naming ceremony took place on 19 January 1951 when Mr R. Menzies, the Prime Minister of Australia, gave the aircraft the name ‘Canberra’. The average cost of a Canberra was £80,000 to £100,000 depending on the number ordered. That same year the first production variant, the B.2 entered RAF service, 101 Squadron at Binbrook receiving its first aircraft on 25 May. The overall plan for Canberra re-equipment within Bomber Command was for twenty-four squadrons, each with ten aircraft, organised in Wings of four squadrons at six bases.
With its 6,000 lb bomb load, 45,000 ft operational ceiling, crew of three, and high-speed, the Canberra was a great improvement on Bomber Command’s existing types (Lincoln, B-29 Washington and Mosquito), albeit its range was somewhat less. This latter aspect was not important as the Command was due to take delivery of its long-range strategic jet bombers (the V-bombers) in the mid 1950s. A trainer version, the T.4, was given side-by-side seating, in a somewhat crowded cockpit, and proved invaluable over the years for pilot conversion.
Such was the success of the basic airframe that a photo reconnaissance variant was built; the Canberra PR.3 was in essence a lengthened B.2 equipped with a variety of cameras: the first PR.3s were delivered to 540 Squadron in December 1952. Although to many senior officers in the Air Staff the Canberra was seen as an ‘interim’ aircraft, it proved so effective and so adaptable that over the next forty years it was to serve with over sixty RAF squadrons, become an export success, and be one of very few British types licence-built by the Americans (as the Martin B-57).
Intended as a interim bomber prior to introduction of the V-bomber force, Canberras equipped a number of bomber Wings for much of the 1950s. This Warton line-up illustrates both bomber and reconnaissance variants.
The original plan for Bomber Command Wings underwent a number of changes but by 1954 the main Wings had formed at Binbrook, Coningsby, Honington, Scampton and Marham, and with two target-marker squadrons at Hemswell. Canberras were soon in the news for record-breaking flights and overseas tours of a ‘show the flag’ nature; the RAF was justly proud of its new aircraft, although from an operational perspective of putting bombs on target its capability was no better than that of previous types as the promised bombing aids failed to materialise. The B.2 version was followed in June 1954, with 101 Squadron being first to re-equip with the more powerful (bigger engines) variant. This still had a crew of three as, once again, the blind-bombing system was not available. The basic bombing technique was for medium to high level bombing (20,000 ft to 40,000 ft) using either visual aiming or Gee-H and crew spent most of their time practising these arts. If bombing accuracy was little improved, survivability was better and many an RAF fighter squadron was frustrated at being unable to intercept the bombers. The PR squadrons also received a new variant, the PR.7 entering service with 82 Squadron in June 1953. By this time the Canberra was also trying out its hand at low-level tactics, for which 101 Squadron formed an ‘Intruder Flight’ to evaluate the tactics. In part this was in response to changing requirements, one of which was the introduction of the Low Altitude Bombing System (LABS), although this did not enter service, with 9 Squadron, until 1957.
From 1956 the Bomber Command Canberra force entered a decline as the first of the V-bombers entered service, the first full Wing disbanding in early 1957. However, this mid 1950s period was also when the Canberra went to war, at first in Malaya and then during the Suez crisis.
It was the early 1960s before the bomber force had finally gone, although the PR Canberras remained in service. This was far from being the end of the Canberra as the type served in all the main RAF theatres, RAF Germany, the Middle/Near East and the Far East, as well as adopting a variety of support roles, most notably target facilities. No less than sixty-three RAF squadrons used Canberras and in what is a record for the RAF the type is still in front-line service – the PR.9s of 39 (1 PRU) Squadron remaining operational at Marham, and with an out-of-service date predicted as 2006/7.
Formation of Canberra B.6s of 9 Squadron (or IX Squadron – the preferred designation). The Canberra provided an interim jet bomber for Bomber Command but did see operational service in the mid 1950s.
Vickers Valiant
The Vickers Valiant will only be remembered for one thing – the dramatic and sudden end to its flying career at the end of 1964 following the discovery of critical structural fatigue. In many ways this is as sad epitaph as the aircraft was one of the most attractive of its era and up until the fatigue problem it had played a major role in the development of Bomber Command’s Cold War capability.
As the first of the V-bombers to enter service, the Valiant joined 138 Squadron at Gaydon in January 1955, for which purpose the Squadron had re-formed. Designed to Specification B.9/48 the prototype Valiant flew in May 1951 but development was slowed down when this aircraft (WB210) was destroyed early the following year. The aircraft was designed to carry up to 21,000 lb of conventional bombs or an unspecified nuclear load and with its speed of 414 mph and ceiling of 54,000 ft it was intended to operate above enemy defences and as such was unarmed. A reconnaissance variant of the B.1, as the B(PR).l, joined 543 Squadron in July 1955 for strategic reconnaissance and aerial survey. The sole operational use of the Valiant occurred in 1956 when four squadrons detached aircraft to Malta to take part in the Suez campaign, although it was not an inspiring debut as bombing was reported as poor.
Another claim to a place in the history books came with the Valiant’s participation in nuclear bomb trials; aircraft from 49 Squadron dropping the first British atomic bomb (11 October 1956) and the first British hydrogen bomb (15 May 1957). The final bomber squadron formed in May 1957, shortly before the last of 104 Valiants left the production line. A final squadron formed the following year when 18 Squadron acquired a number of Valiants for its ECM role.
Valiant WP223 of 90 Squadron dropping a 10,000 lb bomb on the range at Jurby.
Valiants of 214 Squadron on air-to-air refuelling training; the aircraft’s involvement in the development of the AAR capability was vital to Bomber Command and its successor, Strike Command.
The tanker role had arrived in 1956 when a number of aircraft became B(PR)K.1s, the ‘K’ being the designation for a tanker. The squadron in effect became the RAF’s trials and evaluation unit for air refuelling and over the next few years worked hard to develop the techniques and tactics of what was to become a key role for strategic air power. It also meant that the Squadron, and the Valiant, could notch up a number of record-breaking flights; for example, four distance/time records were claimed in 1959. On 7 March 1960 a Valiant remained airborne for 18 hours and 5 minutes having flown around the UK a number of times on its 8,500 mile ‘journey’.
The major rationale for the Command’s Valiants remained that of nuclear QRA and stations such as Marham kept aircraft at the required readiness states during this Cold War period. However, for the Valiant it was all about to end, as recorded in one of the squadron diaries: ‘Inspection of WP217 after landing at Gaydon showed only too plainly that the aircraft had suffered major damage. The fuselage below the starboard inner plane had buckled, popping the rivets; the engine door had cracked on the top surface of the mainplane between the engines, the rivets had been pulled and the skin buckled. The primary cause of the damage was a broken rear spar on the starboard side. All Valiants of a similar age and life pattern were grounded forthwith.’ By the time the manufacturer’s working party had assessed all the aircraft twelve had been give Cat. A (fit to fly), nineteen Cat. B (flyable only in an emergency) and five Cat. C (grounded). Further examination of two Cat. B aircraft that were broken up showed that the problem was worse than expected and all aircraft were grounded, although non-flying QRA was maintained until January. The squadrons disbanded and Marham became a scrapyard for Valiants, although one was preserved on the base and many years later (1982) was moved to the RAF Museum where it was put into 49 Squadron markings in commemoration of the atom bomb trials.
Handley Page Victor
Although the Victor was an impressive bomber it was its second career as an air-to-air refuelling aircraft that assured its place in RAF history. The first part of this tanker story fell within the Bomber Command period but the operational employments in this role took place long after Bomber Command had become Strike Command.
Developed to the same Specification as the other V-bombers, the Victor was superior to its two counterparts in that its conventional bomb load was 35,000 lb, the greatest of any RAF bomber and an impressive sight when it carried out a full drop of thirty-five 1,000 lb bombs. The prototype flew in December 1952 and the Victor B.1 entered Bomber Command squadron service at Cottesmore in April 1958 with 10 Squadron, although the training unit, 232 OCU at Gaydon had been operating Victors since the previous November. The initial plan was for two Wings, each with two squadrons, to be based at Cottesmore and Honington and both were operational by summer 1960.
The B.1 had a top speed of Mach 0.9 and a ceiling of 55,000 ft, although like a number of aircraft at this period its ceiling was limited by the performance of crew equipment such as oxygen systems. This performance was slightly improved on by the B.2 variant that entered service in February 1962 with 139 Squadron, the OCU once again having been flying them since the previous year. The conventional bomb load was unchanged but the B.2 was also able to carry the Blue Steel nuclear missile. The final Victor, of 83 built, was delivered in May 1963 and as the bomber role started come to an end the Victor found new roles as a strategic reconnaissance aircraft, 543 Squadron with the B/SR.2 and its incredible endurance and range capability courtesy of no bombs and with extra fuel tanks, and as an air refueller.
The Victors of 543 Squadron at Wyton were used in the Strategic Reconnaissance role with Bomber Command.
Two ex bomber units, 55 and 57 Squadrons, came to specialise in the tanker role, the first tanker conversions having entered service in June 1965. This role was to keep the Victor in front-line service for another twenty-eight years during which time it continued the development work started by the Valiant and flew countless ‘trails’ with fighter-type ‘chicks’ in tow on a world-wide commitment. After a fine career, including a number of operational deployments, the Victor’s long and distinguished career as a tanker came to an end in October 1993 with the disbandment at Marham of 55 Squadron.
It was sad to see the aircraft being scrapped at Marham but a number were preserved; Marham keeps one as ‘gate guard’ but the most impressive is at Bruntingthorpe where it is kept ‘live’, taking part in fast taxi runs.
Avro Vulcan
Of all the aircraft associated with Bomber Command and the Cold War the Vulcan is probably the best known, even though from a historical perspective it was by no means the most significant – but it did look ‘the business!’ As one of the trio of V-bombers the Avro Vulcan had its origins in the same late 1940s requirement and as such had to meet the 45,000 ft and 21,000 lb bomb load criteria, which it did easily. Avro’s design was unique in that it used a massive delta wing, this distinctive feature giving rise to the aircraft’s nickname of ‘tin triangle’. The prototype flew in August 1952 but it was not until January 1957 that the Vulcan finally entered service, when No. 230 OCU at Waddington received its first two aircraft (XA895 and XA898), with training of students commencing in late February. No. 1 Course graduated on 21 May and became ‘A Flight’ of 83 Squadron, the designation for the first operational unit; the Lincoln-equipped 83 Squadron had disbanded in January. The Squadron received its first Vulcan (XA905) on 11 July, having previously borrowed OCU aircraft, and also received the graduates of No. 2 Course. Finningley was chosen as the base for the second unit and 101 Squadron started to form in October, with four aircraft being on strength with the unit by the end of the year. The crews on both squadrons got down to the business of settling the new aircraft down and evaluating performance and tactics; however, as with any new type there was also a fair amount of politics – although the overseas ‘flag waving’ tours were both valuable and popular. Bomber Command had a global commitment so the capability of deploying to and operating from various RAF and Allied bases was vital.
The delta-wing of the Vulcan – the ‘tin triangle’; by no means the most effective of the V-bombers but the one that survived in operational bomber service into the 1980s.
The introduction to service of the Vulcan B.1 was relatively trouble-free, except for the loss of XA908 and most of its crew on 24 October 1958 when the aircraft went out of control following loss of electrical power – a critical failure for an aircraft with powered flying controls. Prototype VX770 had crashed four weeks before but the structural failure in this case was put down to the aircraft being operated outside its performance clearance during an air display.
The primary role for the all-white Vulcans was part of the strategic deterrent and as such the main weapon was a free-fall nuclear bomb, although in a conventional role the Vulcan could drop twenty-one 1,000 lb bombs. Cruising at high subsonic speed and, in theory, above the defences (45,000 ft), and with long range, the bombers would be able to attack their targets with impunity. With the early Olympus engines the B.1s were underpowered and even the 13,500 lb thrust of the Olympus 104, which became standard for the B.1, was not ideal. Avro was working on a new Vulcan variant to take advantage of the promised higher thrust Olympus under development, but this also required a redesign of the wing for the high-speed/high-altitude environment. There were numerous other changes throughout the aircraft but the most obvious was the engine and wing. Vulcan VX777 first flew as a B.2 on 31 August 1957, although this was an airframe test as it was not flying with the 16,000 lb Olympus 200 series engines. A number of aircraft took part in the development work, which included a new rear fuselage to accommodate Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) equipment. The first production B.2, XV533, flew on 19 August 1958, although the first aircraft with operational engines (Olympus 201s of 17,000 lb thrust) and an ECM fit did not fly until January. The aircraft showed great promise with an all-round improvement in performance, including up to 30 per cent increase in range – bringing more targets within the coverage of Bomber Command’s nuclear weapons.
The first B.2 was delivered to No. 230 OCU in July 1960 and once more 83 Squadron became the lead squadron, converting to B.2s later in the year and handing its B.ls to one of the newly-forming squadrons. In October 1960 the Squadron had moved to Scampton and by September 1962 two more Vulcan units (27 and 617) had equipped with B.2s at the Lincolnshire base, completing the planned Wing of three squadrons. The Waddington Wing, equipped with B.1As, comprised 44, 50 and 101 Squadrons and a second B.2 Wing was established at Coningsby in 1962, comprising 9, 12, 35 Squadrons. With a strength of nine Vulcan squadrons Bomber Command had a very potent strike force by the early 1960s and it remained the cutting edge of the Command throughout the decade. The free-fall nuclear weapons were joined in late 1962 by the stand-off missile Blue Steel and with this weapon the Vulcan’s capability was given a major boost. A planned follow-on version was abandoned in favour of ballistic missiles but when this decision was reversed the acquisition of a new American stand-off missile, Skybolt was initiated. Vulcan trials showed that a standard B.2 could carry one missile under each wing but Avro put forward a proposal for the Vulcan Phase Six, which would have become the B.3, capable of carrying up to six missiles. However, with the cancellation of Skybolt the ‘next generation’ Vulcan also vanished, even though it was also being promoted as a conventional bomber with thirty-eight 1,000 lb bombs.
The Vulcan in two of its guises: the original all white anti-flash scheme of the nuclear era and the later camouflaged scheme for low-level operations.
These events tied in with a tactical change for the Vulcan with the decision to move from high-level, which was now too vulnerable in the face of the increased air defence capability of SAMs and fighters, to low-level. So for the remaining years of its front-line service with Bomber Command the Vulcan, changing from its white anti-flash paint scheme, to a green-grey camouflage became a low-level bomber. This tactic was used for both nuclear and conventional roles, although in the former it usually involved a pop-up technique to deliver the weapon and then a dart back down to low-level to run away from the target area. The main addition in terms of equipment was a terrain-following radar and additional ECM, as evidenced by the fairing on top of the fin.
The run-down of the force commenced in 1967 when 12 Squadron disbanded, although the following year all squadrons had equipped with B.2s. The subsequent development of the Vulcan force is outside the scope of this book as the disbandment of Bomber Command in 1968 took place whilst the Vulcan was still a major part of the Order of Battle. The table shows the UK deployment of the aircraft and ignores the move of some squadrons to Cyprus.
Douglas Thor IRBM
The 1950s were the decade in which nuclear weapons came to dominate strategic thinking and by the mid 1950s that thinking including ground-launched ballistic missiles. The British Air Estimates for 1958 stated that: ‘Ballistic missiles will gradually come to play an increasingly important part in the offensive deterrent. Agreement in principle has been reached with the United States Government to make a number of American IRBMs available to this country.’ This statement took the RAF into the ballistic missile era and in September that year the first Douglas Thor missiles arrived, the first unit to equip being 77 (Strategic Missile) Squadron at Feltwell. The deployment concept was for four Wings, each with five launch Stations and with three missiles at each Station. By the time deployment was complete in late 1950 Bomber Command’s missile Order of Battle was:
1.Driffield (HQ and 98 Sqn): Stations at Carnaby (150 Sqn), Catfoss (226 Sqn), Breighton (240 Sqn), Full Sutton (102 Sqn).
2.Hemswell (HQ and 97 Sqn): Stations at Caistor (269 Sqn), Ludford Magna (104 Sqn), Bardney (106 Sqn), Coleby Grange (142 Sqn).
3.North Luffenham (HQ and 144 Sqn): Stations at Folkingham (223 Sqn), Melton Mowbray (254 Sqn), Polebrook (130 Sqn), Harrington (218 Sqn).
4.Feltwell (HQ and 77 Sqn): Stations at North Pickenham (220 Sqn), Mepal (113 Sqn), Tuddenham (107 Sqn), Shepherds Grove (82 Sqn).
Thor sites were very distinctive as massive concrete walls were needed at each of the launch platforms for blast protection, along with the triple barbed wire fence and constant Military Police patrols. The warheads were controlled by the Americans and so every site had a number of American personnel. Thor had been developed in a very short space of time, thirty months from drawing board to first deliveries; the first trial launch had taken place in January 1957. Deployment in the UK was part of a NATO chain of missiles, although this was the only Thor location in Europe and the missiles were capable of reaching targets in Russia. This was very much Cold War stuff and Britain was planning its own follow-on system, Blue Streak. Personnel posted to the missile force were told that this was the future and that they were at the cutting edge of Bomber Command.
The missile was protected by a sliding hangar – this was a weather protection and not designed to withstand attack.
Thor site of 77 Squadron at Feltwell; the three launch pads (one just off picture to the right) comprised massive concrete foundations and blast walls.
The daily routine was one of maintaining alert status and practising procedures. From time to time a missile was withdrawn and sent to Vandenburg for live firing. The first RAF crew to fire a missile was from 98 Squadron under Operation Lion’s Roar in April 1959. The Squadron diarist recorded the launch process: ‘Attention all stations. This is the Launch Control Officer. On my mark the terminal launch countdown will begin … 5-4-3-3-1-Mark. On the executive word the sequence key is turned and the auto sequence starts. The guidance system is aligned and checked, the missile shelter is moved back and the missile rises to the vertical launch position. The propellants are fed into the missile. The amber light comes on indicating engines about to start and 5 seconds later off it goes.’ A successful launch was made on 16 April to the delight of the 98 Squadron crew. The twenty-first, and last, RAF firing was made on 19 June 1962 and of those twenty-one launches only two were unsuccessful.
That last launch took place a month after the US Secretary of Defense announced that the Americans would cease to provide technical support for Thor after 31 October 1964, the missile having been replaced in the USAF inventory. With the cancellation of Blue Streak this spelled the end of Bomber Command’s missile era and in August 1962 it was announced that the RAF would disband its Thor organisation the following year. The run-down commenced in December 1962 with a trial dismantling of facilities at Breighton; the last Thor missile left the UK on 27 September 1963.