The Armstrong Whitworth Whitley was one of the three ‘strategic’ bomber types with which Britain went to war in September 1939. The Whitley was conceived as a night ‘heavy’ bomber and was RAF’s first monoplane bomber and the first one to penetrate in German airspace.

[An in-flight view of Whitley Mk.V T4131, ‘EY-W’ from No 78 RAF Squadron during 1941. Note row of bombs painted on the fuselage nose to indicate numbers of missions flown over the Third Reich.]

Photo: Wixey, K. Warpaint, p.11

A twin-engined cantilever monoplane born from the AW23 design in 1936, and manned by a crew of five, early versions were powered by Armstrong supercharged Tiger engines but the definitive and most widely produced Mk V version had two more capable Rolls-Royce Merlin X engines. The Whitley had a maximum speed of 230 mph (370 km/h) at 16,400 ft (5,000 m) and was bombed with up to 7,000 lb (3,175 kg) of bombs in the fuselage and 14 individual cells in the wings.

Following the outbreak of war in September 1939, the Whitley participated in the first RAF bombing raid upon Reich territory and remained an integral part of the early British bomber offensive until the introduction of four-engined RAF bombers namely the Short Stirling or the Lancaster. Already an outclassed design when the war started, in May 1942 it was retired from first-line bombing sorties and relegated to training units and used on paratrooper dropping and glider tug role also.

This bomber equipped Bomber Command’s 10, 51, 58, 78 and 102 Squadrons, all from No 4 Group. At the start of the war with Mussolini’s Italy in June 1940, its long range (1,500 miles) made this bomber the unique choice to reach those distant targets, Whitley squadrons being sent to bomb Milan, Genoa and Turin factories and ports on several nights.

First time over Berlin (and the first British aircraft too) was a leaflet-dropping night sortie (‘nickel’) on October 1, 1939, when four RAF 10 Squadron crews dropped hundreds of thousand propaganda leaflets over the capital and other cities. Months later it participated, time dropping bombs, along with Hampdens and Wellingtons in the first British-attack over Berlin on the night of 25/26 August 1940. And during the next 6 months, the Whitleys would be on first line delivering bombs by night to the Reich capital.

[Artist Paul Nash made this watercolour and chalk drawing of Berlin’s RAF first attack from a set of photographs that Air Ministry sent to him. It shows an aerial view of four Whitley bombers in flight over a target area of Berlin. It was made in January 1941.]

[Photo: Imperial War Museum © IWM (Art.IWM ART LD 827).]

With 1,814 Whitleys built, they flew a total of 9,169 operations with Bomber Command, with 9,845 tons of bombs dropped and 288 of them failed to return (3.10% of losses).

[An Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber being readied for another sortie over Germany. It belongs to No 58 Squadron and is seen at RAF Linton on Ouse dispersal.]

[The Nash and Thompson Type FN4 rear turret of an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber of No 102 Squadron RAF at Driffield, Yorkshire, 8 March 1940. It was armed with four ,303 in Browning machine-guns to protect the plane against night-fighters.]

[Photo: Imperial War Museum HU 107775.]

[Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mark V of No. 77 Squadron rests in the grass at Driffield, Yorkshire, April 1940. Notice how broad the wing was. The Whitley featured a large rectangular-shaped wing; its appearance led to the aircraft receiving the nickname “the flying barn door”.]

[Photo: Imperial War Museum HU 107776.]

[Luftwaffe crews and German civilians inspecting the wreckage of Whitley bomber T4170 ‘GE-T’ from No 58 RAF Squadron. This aircraft, flown by F/O Jack Champness crew, was shot down near Westerwede, Germany in their way to bomb Berlin on the night of 14/15 November 1940. The Whitley was hit by flak from the 3./Flak Regiment 26; all five crewmembers were killed and buried at Worpswede until 1947. That night, Bomber Command lost 10 aircraft -the worst night since the war began.]

[Photo: Aircrewremembered.]

[An American aircraft recognition poster showing the RAF Whitley bomber.]

[Photo: Air Ministry (AMDocuments).]

[Close portrait of an RAF Whitley bomb aimer in 1940.]

Photo: LIFE Magazine Archives - William Vandivert Photographer

[The pilot of a Whitley bomber gives the ‘thumbs up’, August 29, 1940.]

[Photo: Imperial War Museum HU 104667.]

[A crew of No 78 Squadron, Royal Air Force, watch as engine adjustments are made to an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber Z6743 before they take off for a raid from Middleton St George, Durham.]

Photo: © IWM (TR 105)

A 1940 film footage showing RAF Whitley crews preparing the flight for an incoming leaflet drop mission over Europe.

Video source: British Pathé.

_______________

Sources and Bibliography:

Barron Maps blog. Flying Visit Of Truth To Berlin [accessed October 2024.]
Bowman. Martin W. Voices in Flight: the heavy bomber offensive of WW2. Pen & Sword Aviation, 2014.
Bowman, Martin W. Voices in flight: RAF Night Operations. Pen & Sword Aviation. 2015.
Wixey, Ken. Warpaint Books - Armstrong Whitworth Whitley. 021.
https://barronmaps.com/flying-visit-of-truth-to-berlin-1939/

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