# British Bomber Command



## Maestro (Apr 29, 2005)

Greetings ladies and gentlemen.

I was wondering, how many types of bombers were used by the British Bomber Command ?

I know they used Lancasters, Mosquitos, B-25s and a few B-17s. But did they used any other ?


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## mosquitoman (Apr 29, 2005)

Hallies, Stirlings, Whitleys, Hampdens, Wellingtons, Blenheims, Battles, B-24s, Venturas and Bostons


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## Nonskimmer (Apr 29, 2005)

By "Hallies" you mean Halifax's, right?


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## cheddar cheese (Apr 29, 2005)

What about the Wellesley?


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## mosquitoman (Apr 29, 2005)

That was used in the desert until early 1940 I think


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## Medvedya (Apr 29, 2005)

Not forgetting that rip roaring success the Manchester!


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## Maestro (Apr 29, 2005)

Wow !  I didn't know they used so much bombers.

Thanks a lot.


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## Nonskimmer (Apr 29, 2005)

Medvedya said:


> Not forgetting that rip roaring success the Manchester!


But from the ashes rose the phoenix of the Lancaster, so all was not lost.


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## mosquitoman (Apr 29, 2005)

Medvedya said:


> Not forgetting that rip roaring success the Manchester!


Forgot about that one!


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Apr 30, 2005)

right here's the bulk of them with a little bit of info, in no particular order......

Battle

The single-engine Fairey Battle was an obsolete aircraft even before it flew its first operational mission for the RAF. Slow, with just one defensive gun, Battles were easy prey for fast German single-seat fighters like the Messerschmitt 109. However RAF Bomber Command crews fought courageously to try to halt the German advance through the Low Countries of Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg, winning two Victoria Crosses but suffering heavy casualties.

Blenheim

The twin-engine Bristol Blenheim entered RAF service in 1937, replacing obsolete aircraft such as the Hawker Hind biplane. But the Blenheim itself quickly became obsolete, having only one moveable gun and being unable to outpace the fast enemy fighters. Blenheim crews carried out many daring daylight attacks on shipping and land targets but suffered very heavy losses.

Boston

The American built Boston was a useful twin-engine light bomber which replaced the Blenheim and was itself eventually replaced by the Mosquito.

Ventura

The Lockheed Ventura was not a successful aircraft for Bomber Command. The American built twin-engine light bomber was outdated by the time it joined the RAF in 1942 at a time when the hugely successful Mosquito was becoming operational.

Mosquito

The De Havilland Mosquito was a completely radical design idea: A light-weight wooden bomber with no defensive guns, relying on outright speed from its two Rolls-Royce Merlin engines to escape enemy fighters. The result was the highly successful ‘Wooden Wonder’. With just a two-man crew it was able to carry a 4,000 lb bomb to Berlin - yet because of its wooden construction it could be partially assembled by carpenters and joiners and not use valuable factory space and metal supplies needed for conventional aircraft production.

Whitley

The twin-engine Whitley entered RAF service in 1936 and was the RAF’s first ‘heavy bomber’. It was capable of carrying up to 7,000 lbs of bombs and had a range of up to 1650 miles. However it was slow and notoriously cold and uncomfortable for its crews and became known as the ‘Flying Coffin’.

Hampden

The Hampden was an early design that first flew in 1936. Twin-engined and with a crew of four, it was popular with pilots because it handled well, but like other bombers of its time was vulnerable to enemy fighters and transferred from daylight to night operations. The Hampden was particularly suited for the valuable role of mine-laying at sea and many enemy ships were sunk as a result.

Wellington

The Wellington was popular with its five man crews particularly because of it’s ability to absorb considerable damage and continue flying, thanks to an unusual ‘honey-comb’ metal construction which was immensely strong but light-weight. A largely successful twin-engine bomber it flew early daylight raids at the beginning of the war but proved easy prey for German fighters. The RAF learnt the hard way that no bomber could defend itself in daylight against modern fighters and the Wellington was transferred to night bombing.

Mitchell

The North American Mitchell was flown operationally by the RAF from January 1943. Manufactured in the USA, it had two engines and a crew of five. Known as the B-25 by the USAAF, the Mitchell was a useful bomber for the RAF. Mitchells flew extensive daylight missions in support of Allied troops around D-Day (June 1944).

Stirling

The Stirling, designed prior to the Lancaster and Halifax, was an enormous aircraft, with four engines and a crew of seven. Throughout its service its design limitations (chiefly its wings being too short for the large size of the aircraft) resulted in poor performance and a high loss rate.

Manchester

The twin-engine Manchester was not a successful aircraft, being under-powered by two very unreliable engines. But in re-developed form with the addition of two further improved engines and a longer wingspan it evolved into the famous Lancaster bomber.

Lancaster

The Avro Lancaster became the most effective heavy bomber of WW2 and formed the back-bone of the Bomber Offensive against German industrial cities. It was well-liked by pilots, having four powerful and reliable Rolls-Royce Merlin engines (the same as fitted to the Spitfire fighter) and excellent handling characteristics. It had a crew of seven (Pilot, Navigator, Flight Engineer, Wireless Operator, Bomb Aimer/Front Gunner, Mid-Upper Gunner and Rear Gunner). Specially adapted Lancasters took part in the famous ‘Dambusters’ raid. Lancasters also dropped five ton ‘Tallboy’ bombs to sink the much-feared German battleship ‘Tirpitz’ and by the end of the war were able to drop the 10 ton ‘Grand Slam’ bomb on precision targets such as bridges and viaducts.

Halifax

The four-engine Halifax was an important bomber which played a major role in the Bomber Offensive, though it was never as successful as the Lancaster. The Halifax was repeatedly updated to try and improve handling problems and poor engine performance which made it more vulnerable to flak and fighters and thus caused an increased loss rate. Later versions were much improved.

Boeing Fortress

The Boeing B-17 Fortress (The ‘Flying Fortress’) was supplied in limited numbers to the RAF early in the war and used for electronic counter-measures. It later played a major role in the success of the USAAF’s daylight bombing operations.

Liberator

The Consolidated Vultee Liberator was an American four-engined heavy bomber (known by the USAAF as the B-24) first supplied in small numbers to the RAF in 1940/41 and soon found to be unsuitable for bombing operations in Europe. Subsequently used mainly by RAF Coastal Command for long-range reconnaissance missions and as a transport aircraft (a Liberator was used by Winston Churchill as his personal transport).


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## Wildcat (Apr 30, 2005)

What about the Beaufort?


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## mosquitoman (Apr 30, 2005)

That was used by Coastal Command mainly as a torpedo bomber and minelayer


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## Wildcat (Apr 30, 2005)

I figured as much, I wasn't sure if Bomber Command used them though.


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## Maestro (Apr 30, 2005)

Woah ! Thanks Lanc. I'll know a little more about bombers now.

Honestly, the only bombers that I knew something about where the B-25 Mitchell, B-17 and Mosquito.


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## Nonskimmer (Apr 30, 2005)

Nothing about the Lancaster?! 
And you call yourself Canadian.


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## BombTaxi (Apr 30, 2005)

Heres a few others Bomber Command used:







The HP Hereford was a re-engined Hampden, and saw little service due to the arrival of the first four-engined heavies (Photo from www.jaapteeuwen.com)








The Bristol Bombay served mainly in the Far East and MTO. It was a transport, but was designed with bombing as it's secondary role. (Piccy from 1000aircraftphotos.com)


These two didnt see action, but it is surprising they were still on the books when the war started.






Believe it or not, the Handley Page Heyford was only retired from service with 166 Squadron in September 1939. The type never saw combat. (Piccy from the RAF website)








The Handley Page Harrow was with four squadrons at the outbreak of war, but was reassigned to transport duties in December 1939. None of them ever served as bombers.


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## Maestro (Apr 30, 2005)

Nonskimmer said:


> Nothing about the Lancaster?!
> And you call yourself Canadian.



I know, I know ! I'm a bad Canadian.  But I was always more interrested in fighters than in bombers.

Before I joined this site, all bombers were the same to me. In fact, the lone bombers that I knew before joining in were the B-25 and B-17. I started to be interrested by the Mosquito/Lancaster when I joined and to the B-24 very recently.


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## Nonskimmer (Apr 30, 2005)

Yeah, I love the fighters too. I'm interested in all of the bombers, but the Lanc and Wellington were the mounts of my grandad. There's a Lanc on static display over at CFB Greenwood, in the Annapolis Valley. It's one of the modified post-war Maritime Air Command variants, but what the hell. A Lancaster is still a Lancaster.


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Apr 30, 2005)

yeah i know more about bombers, especailly british ones, than allot of people on this site, i'm one of the very few, if not only one, who prefers the bombers to fighters...........


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## mosquitoman (Apr 30, 2005)

I'm another bomber person but my real preference is RAF Coastal Command aircraft


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## cheddar cheese (Apr 30, 2005)

My preference is towards fighters, namely heavy fighters.


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## mosquitoman (Apr 30, 2005)

In other words, Mossies and Beaus?


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## cheddar cheese (Apr 30, 2005)

Well mot really the Mossie, I have never really liked it. I do however like the P-38, Beau, Me-410 etc...I also like planes such as B-25, B-26, A-20, A-26 etc...Also like Fw-190 a hell of a lot 8)


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Apr 30, 2005)

well MM, looks like it's just us two holding up the bombers, i'll take the heavies, you take everything else.........


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## cheddar cheese (Apr 30, 2005)

With my current siggy im holding up for bombers... 8)


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## mosquitoman (Apr 30, 2005)

Yes, but thet're Italian bombers


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## cheddar cheese (Apr 30, 2005)

And damn great they are too 8)


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Apr 30, 2005)

well, no, nothing prefixed by "Italian" can be great........


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## cheddar cheese (Apr 30, 2005)

These are great bombers. These are Italian.

There we go, the only thing there that is prefixed by Italian is the full stop. Ha! I made you look stupid


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## mosquitoman (Apr 30, 2005)

What- the Piaggio.108 had a massive bulge for a nose how can that be good


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## cheddar cheese (Apr 30, 2005)

Only the B model did. The A, C and T had more conventional noses 8)

The Z.1007 was a great bomber, and the SM.79 was one of the very best torpedo bombers. Ok the BR.20 was a little pooey but damn it looks good 8)


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## mosquitoman (Apr 30, 2005)

The Hally was a better bomber than the Z.1007 and the Beau was a better torpedo bomber than the SM.79


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Apr 30, 2005)

well, CC, how many dedicated torpedo bombers did the SM.79 have to go up against??


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## cheddar cheese (Apr 30, 2005)

I dont know, how many other dedicated torpedo bombers have to go up against? 

MM, the Z.1007 was not in the same league as the Halifax, but more of a rival for the Wellington. It was a medium bomber.


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Apr 30, 2005)

well CC, it's a very low number.........


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## cheddar cheese (Apr 30, 2005)

Exactly. It doesnt change the validity of my statement.


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## mosquitoman (Apr 30, 2005)

I'm holding the flag for Coastal Command- the most underrated part of ANY air force during WWII


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## the lancaster kicks ass (May 1, 2005)

hey what about transport command??


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## mosquitoman (May 1, 2005)

I was only going on combat aircraft, not transports


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## evangilder (May 1, 2005)

But transports often flew into combat zones for airdrops and paratrooper jumps. Those guys had it real bad. Slow and unarmed. They really took it during Varsity. Not to take away from Coastal Command though.


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## Medvedya (May 1, 2005)

Not to mention all their efforts during the Berlin airlift - carring sacks of coal in an Avro York is never going to win awards for glamour, but to a West Berliner it looked pretty darn good.


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## evangilder (May 1, 2005)

That's also true, Med.


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## BombTaxi (May 1, 2005)

Im more of a bombers and transports kinda guy...Ive always prefered big multi-engined a/c anyway. My FS2004 collection includes the Manchester and Whitley, and a Wellesley too 8) I actually prefer flying those to flying the fighters in PF and Strike Fighters:Gold


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## the lancaster kicks ass (May 2, 2005)

good man, you should get the wings of power extention for FS2004, you get the lanc, grand slam lanc, a couple of B-17s, a B-29, he-177 i think, he-162 an one or two others, looks good but you obviously can't drop bombs, you can open the bomb bay doors though.........


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## BombTaxi (May 2, 2005)

Ive just d/l'ed Dave Garwoods Lanc B.III, by all accounts its far better than the WoP version and it's FREE!  All my a/c are freeware, and thier brilliant. For those interested, heres some links to good FS2004 freeware - mainly British, 1940s - 1960s 8)

http://www.cbfsim.co.uk/ - For BAC 1-11, VC10 (including the C1K tanker), Trident, Hunter, Anson and Comet 4

http://www.pavaservices.com/cfs/ - For Wellesley, Skua, Battle, Defiant and a range of CFS2 add-ons.

http://www.avsim.com/ - Put 'Ted Cook' into the search engine and you should get a range of this chaps Bomber Command Classics - Stirling, Manchester, Whitley and Brigand are particularly good, he does a Lincoln as well. Also on this site are the AW.27 ensign, a BOAC airliner adopted by the RAF as a transport, and several V-bomber packages. The Ensign is brilliant, I havent installed the V-bombers yet but they are reportedly pretty good!


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## the lancaster kicks ass (May 2, 2005)

hey thanks for the link i aint got FS2004 but i'll see what they've got for CFS2.........


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