RAF 2- engined bombers

[yulzari]

I thought the Bombay (and Harrow) were made as bomber/transports so had bomb racks and fittings?

Reviewing the original list I believe the Wellington continued to be used as a night bomber in the Mediterranean until the end of the war?

 

[pattle]

I thought the Bombay (and Harrow) were made as bomber/transports so had bomb racks and fittings?

Reviewing the original list I believe the Wellington continued to be used as a night bomber in the Mediterranean until the end of the war?

Yes the Bombay was designed as a bomber transport but I don't know if they were actually fitted with bomb racks in 1940-1, I'm pretty sure that the bomb racks had either been removed or were never fitted. I'm only going by old pictures, perhaps someone on here can tell us for sure?

 

[fastmongrel]

Pictures of the HP Sparrow the unoficial nickname of the Harrow with a streamlined nose used as a transport till May 45. Though streamlined and Harrow shouldnt really be in the same sentence.

 

[swampyankee]

I read somewhere or another one of the RAF's bomber pilots got five air-to-air kills using the fixed armament in his aircraft, which I think was in a Martin Maryland (addendum: his name was Adrian Warburton).

This probably says, simultaneously, good things about Warburton and the Maryland and bad things about the aircraft or aircraft pilots he shot down.

 

[michaelmaltby]

Adrian Warburton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[stug3]

Boston Mark III, Z2183 'E', of No. 24 Squadron SAAF, in flight on an air test shortly after the Squadron re-equipped with the type at Shandur, Egypt, 1942

The "Boston Shuttle": a squadron of Douglas Boston Mark IIIs of No. 3 Wing SAAF positioned for their famous simultaneous take-off manoeuvre on a landing ground in the Western Desert. This commenced with all aircraft turning into wind in line abreast. The leading aircraft, on the right-hand side, then commenced its take-off run with the remainder following in echelon port so that each aircraft avoided the dust of the one ahead.

A pattern of bombs explode on scattered enemy positions in the Western Desert, during an attack by Douglas Bostons of No. 3 Wing SAAF

 

[stug3]

Air and ground crew of No. 202 Squadron RAF check equipment and ordnance issued to Consolidated Catalina Mark I, AJ159 'AX-B', on the slipway at North Front, Gibraltar, in preparation for a patrol.

Catalina Mark I, Z2417 'AX-L', of No. 202 Squadron RAF flies by the North Front of the Rock as it leaves Gibraltar on a patrol.

Catalina Mark I, AH544 'AX-H', of No. 202 Squadron RAF sets course after taking off from Gibraltar on an anti-submarine patrol.

Catalina Mark I, Z2147 'AX-L', of No. 202 Squadron RAF based at Gibraltar, in flight approaching Europa Point on returning from an anti-submarine patrol. While serving with the Squadron, Z2147 was credited with nine successful attacks on enemy submarines.

 

[stug3]

The second pilot of a No 502 Squadron Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk.VII gives his skipper a helpful push as they climb aboard their aircraft, at the start of an anti-submarine patrol, August 1942. The camera just visable poking out of the hole in the fuselage was used to record the effectiveness of U-boat attacks – a standard F24 camera was mounted vertically and fitted with a mirror to give it a rear-facing view.

On board a Whitley VII of No 502 Squadron during an anti-submarine patrol, August 1942. In the cramped cockpit the skipper consults with his navigator while the second pilot flies the aircraft.

Photographs taken by the rear-facing camera of a No 77 Squadron Whitley during its attack on U-705 in the Bay of Biscay, 3 September 1942.

The third shot in the sequence shows the U-boat right where the splash subsides. It had been an accurate attack, the aiming point had been 50ft in front of the conning tower.

The Whitley came round again for a possible second attack but there was no need. The photograph confirmed that the U-boat was sinking, leaving a patch of oil and air bubbles.

Mk.VII

Designed for service with Coastal Command and carried a sixth crew member, capable of longer-range flights (2,300 mi/3,700 km compared to the early version's 1,250 mi/2,011 km)[1] having additional fuel tanks fitted in the bomb bay and fuselage, equipped with Air to Surface Vessel (ASV) radar for anti-shipping patrols with an additional four 'stickleback' dorsal radar masts and other antennae: 146 built.

 

[stug3]

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley

 

[stug3]

 

[stug3]

Scale comparison diagram of the trio of British twin-engined medium bombers at the outbreak of the Second World War; the Whitley (pink), the Vickers Wellington (blue) and the Handley Page Hampden (yellow)

 

[Wildcat]

Great set of pics Stug!

 

[Shortround6]

Thank you.
With all three having engines of between 900-1100hp it shows where the relative attributes of speed, range and payload came from. Hampden being the fastest and Whitley being the longest range/greatest payload.

 

[stug3]

Wellington Mark IIIs of No. 30 Operational Training Unit, lined up at Hixon, Staffordshire, for a leaflet dropping ("Nickelling")

 

[stug3]

Vickers Wellington Mark IV, Z1407 'BH-Z', "Zośka", of No. 300 Polish Bomber Squadron RAF on the ground at Ingham, Lincolnshire, having lost most of its rear fuselage fabric through battle damage sustained on 4/5 September 1942 when raiding Bremen, Germany. In spite of a damaged wireless set, a badly working rudder, damaged flaps and no navigational instruments, the pilot, Pilot Officer Stanislaw Machej, with the cooperation of his whole crew, brought the aircraft safely home.

The forward section of an Avro Manchester Mark I of No. 207 Squadron RAF, while running up the port Rolls-Royce Vulture II engine at Waddington, Lincolnshire, showing the nose with the bomb-aimer's window, the forward gun-turret and the pilot's cockpit.

 

[vikingBerserker]

That really says a lot about the construction used in the Wellington.