44 RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION BOMBERS
VICKERS WELLINGTON
VICKERS
WELLINGTONWELLINGTONWELLINGTONWELLINGTON
Above
Wellington I L4274 of
9 Squadron, based at
Honington, 1939.
PETE WESTBelow
Newly delivered from
the Hawarden factory,
Wellington Ic N2778
of 214 Squadron at
Stradishall, spring
1940.1938 TO 1954
W
hile the Armstrong
Whitworth Whitley and the
Handley Page Hampden
played an important part in the early
stages of World War Two, the Vickers
Wellington’s contribution to Bomber
Command was crucial. The type
bore the brunt of the offensive until
the four-engined ‘heavies’ gained
momentum.
In the spring of 1941 the
Wellington’s generous bomb bay
enabled it to introduce the 4,000lb
(1,814kg) ‘Cookie’ – or blockbuster- bomb into the RAF’s arsenal. The
last frontline use of the ‘Wimpey’, as
the Wellington was fondly known,
with Bomber Command took place in
October 1943,
At that point, its career was far
from over, having already carved an
important niche with the operational
training units, as a bomber in the
Middle East and a vessel and sub-killer
with Coastal Command.
All of this was made possible because
far-sighted Vickers planned it to be
mass-produced from the outset. It was
not just a case of the ability to churn
them out through the factory doors;
Wellingtons were robust and repaired
relatively easily.
As experience of operations was
fed back to the company, alterations
were implemented relatively quickly,
particularly in defensive armament.
Wellingtons adopted by Coastal
Command meanwhile sprouted radar
aerials, searchlights and, later, radomes
with apparent ease.
The airframe was capable of
accepting different engines to increase
power as weights rose. Bomber
versions began with the 1,000hp
(746kW) Bristol Pegasus (Mk.I)
followed by the Rolls-Royce Merlin X
of 1,145hp on the Mk.II and even the
1,200hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp
on the Mk.IV.
The ubiquitous Bristol Hercules
III of 1,375hp was first used on the
Wellington III introduced in 1939.The first high-flying version, the
Mk.V, used supercharged Hercules
VIIIs, in late 1940. Rated initially
at 1,675hp, the Wellington X and
the most sophisticated Coastal
Command variants also used ‘Hercs’.
First appearing in July 1942, the
Mk.X reached the highest individual
production figure – 3,803.ONE-A-DAY
Having designed the R100 airship,
Barnes Neville Wallis knew how
to make structures that were light
yet strong. Sir Robert McLean, the
chairman of Vickers, was determined
to turn the designer’s talents to fixed-
wing aircraft: Wallis came up with
geodetics, a lightweight ‘basket-weave’
providing exceptional strength.
The technique formed a robust
outer structure that could adopt
considerable curvatures – internal
fittings etc were added as the airframe
progressed down the factory floor.
Tests at Farnborough found that the1918 2018