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Armstrong Whitworth. AVRo.

Photos and Drawings

Photo Description
Whitley MK.V Drawing Armstrong Whitworth. Whitley MK.V Drawing
AW 41 Albemarle Armstrong Whitworth. AW 41 Albemarle
AVRo. Manchester Mk. IA AVRo. Manchester Mk. IA
AVRo. Lancaster B1 AVRo. Lancaster B1
Whitley MK.V in flight Armstrong Whitworth. Whitley MK.V in flight
Whitleys of No 58 Squadron at Linton-on-Ouse under threatening clouds, summer 1940 Whitleys of No 58 Squadron at Linton-on-Ouse under threatening clouds, summer 1940. P5028/GE:R outlasted most of her kind to be broken up in 1945. N1469/GE:H, usually flown by Flt Lt O'Neill's crew while at Linton, was later transferred to 19 OTU and flew into high ground near Arckiestown, Morayshire, during bad weather on 3 January 1943.

No 58 had spent the winter of 1939-40 on detachment to assist Coastal Command in oceanic patrols before participating in Bomber Command's night bombing operations. As one of the last Whitley-equipped squadrons in No 4 Group, it did not convert to Halifaxes within the Command as did the others, for it was permanently transferred to Coastal Command in April 1942.

The steel ringlet in the foreground is for tying down aircraft in high winds. (IWM CH222)

Installing the guns in the rear turret of a No 58 Squadron Whitley at Linton-on-Ouse Installing the guns in the rear turret of a No 58 Squadron Whitley at Linton-on-Ouse. The four .303 calibre Browning machine guns delivered 80-plus bullets a second but the effective range was around 700yds and of little use against armour. Although numbers of enemy aircraft were shot down by these turret weapons, standard on all the main heavy bombers of the Command, the .303 machine gun was quickly rendered outclassed by the advances in German gun technology. (IWM CH246)
A.W.38 Whitley  Mk V of No 102 Squadron, Yorkshire 7, March 1940

A.W.38 Whitley Mk V of No 102 Squadron being prepared for a leaflet-dropping sortie at Driffield. Yorkshire 7, March 1940. (IWM C 921)

The first operation in which the Avro Manchester participated was the night raid of 24/25 February 1941 The first operation in which the Avro Manchester participated was the night raid of 24/25 February 1941, to bomb a Hipper class cruiser reported in Brest. Six aircraft of No 207 Squadron were involved, including L7284/EM:D with Fg Off P. R. Burton-Gyles and crew. One aircraft had undercarriage failure and crashed on landing back at Waddington. The Manchester had the highest combat loss-to-sorties ratio and the highest accident rate of all

Bomber Command bomber types. This was due primarily to the persistent overheating and failure of the Vulture engines, troubles that were never satisfactorily overcome. With the loss of one engine the power from the other usually proved insufficient for flight to be maintained for long. With much-troubled engines, L7284 was removed from operational use in April 1941 and scrapped two years later. (IWM CHI7297)

The Manchester L7246 The Manchester L7246.
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