Armstrong Whitworth Whitley - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft

Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Company, or Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, was a British aircraft manufacturer.-History:Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft was established as the Aerial Department of the Sir W. G Armstrong Whitworth & Company engineering group in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1912, and...

A.W.38 Whitley was one of three British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

twin-engine, front line medium bomber

Medium bomber

A medium bomber is a bomber aircraft designed to operate with medium bombloads over medium distances; the name serves to distinguish them from the larger heavy bombers and smaller light bombers...

types in service with the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

at the outbreak of the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

(the others were the Vickers Wellington

Vickers Wellington

The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...

and the Handley Page Hampden

Handley Page Hampden

The Handley Page HP.52 Hampden was a British twin-engine medium bomber of the Royal Air Force serving in the Second World War. With the Whitley and Wellington, the Hampden bore the brunt of the early bombing war over Europe, taking part in the first night raid on Berlin and the first 1,000-plane...

). It took part in the first RAF bombing raid on German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

territory, and remained an integral part of the early British bomber offensive until the introduction of four-engined "heavies"

Heavy bomber

A heavy bomber is a bomber aircraft of the largest size and load carrying capacity, and usually the longest range.In New START, the term "heavy bomber" is used for two types of bombers:*one with a range greater than 8,000 kilometers...

. Its front line service included performing maritime reconnaissance

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....

duties with Coastal Command

RAF Coastal Command

RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force . Founded in 1936, it was the RAF's premier maritime arm, after the Royal Navy's secondment of the Fleet Air Arm in 1937. Naval aviation was neglected in the inter-war period, 1919–1939, and as a consequence the service did not receive...

, while also being employed in the second line roles of glider

Military glider

Military gliders have been used by the military of various countries for carrying troops and heavy equipment to a combat zone, mainly during the Second World War. These engineless aircraft were towed into the air and most of the way to their target by military transport planes, e.g...

-tug, trainer

Trainer (aircraft)

A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate in-flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristics and a simplified cockpit arrangement—allows...

and transport aircraft.

The aircraft was named after Whitley

Whitley, Coventry

Whitley is a suburb of southern Coventry in the West Midlands of England.-Industry and commerce:Whitley is the home of the Whitley plant, which is the Engineering Centre and Headquarters of Jaguar Cars Limited...

, a suburb of Coventry

Coventry

Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...

where one of Armstrong Whitworth's plants

Whitley plant

The Whitley plant, situated in Whitley, Coventry in the West Midlands of England, is one of the engineering centres of Jaguar Land Rover and the headquarters of Jaguar Cars...

was located.

Design and development

The Whitley was designed by John Lloyd, the Chief Designer of Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft

Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft

to meet Air Ministry

Air Ministry

The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...

Specification B.3/34 issued in 1934 for a heavy night bomber. The AW.38 design was a development of the Armstrong Whitworth AW.23

Armstrong Whitworth AW.23

-See also:-External links:*...

bomber-transport design that had lost out to the Bristol Bombay

Bristol Bombay

|-See also:...

for specification C.26/31 partly due to its Armstrong Siddeley Tiger

Armstrong Siddeley Tiger

-Bibliography:* Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9* Lumsden, Alec. British Piston Engines and their Aircraft. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-85310-294-6.-External links:*...

engines. The Whitley carried a crew of five and was the first aircraft serving with the RAF to have a (semi‑)monocoque

Monocoque

Monocoque is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin, as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin or coachwork...

fuselage

Fuselage

The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...

, utilizing a slab-sided structure and eased production. As Lloyd was unfamiliar with the use of flap

Flap (aircraft)

Flaps are normally hinged surfaces mounted on the trailing edges of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft to reduce the speed an aircraft can be safely flown at and to increase the angle of descent for landing without increasing air speed. They shorten takeoff and landing distances as well as...

s on a large heavy monoplane

Monoplane

A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...

, they were initially omitted. To compensate, the mid-set wings were set at a high angle of incidence

Angle of incidence

Angle of incidence is a measure of deviation of something from "straight on", for example:* in the approach of a ray to a surface, or* the angle at which the wing or horizontal tail of an airplane is installed on the fuselage, measured relative to the axis of the fuselage.-Optics:In geometric...

(8.5°) to confer good takeoff and landing performance. Although flaps were included late in the design stage, the wing remained unaltered. As a result, the Whitley flew with a pronounced nose-down attitude, resulting in considerable drag. This "nose down" attitude was also seen in the design of the Armstrong Whitworth Ensign

Armstrong Whitworth Ensign

|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Bridgman, Leonard. Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II. New York: Crescent Books, 1988. ISBN 0-517-67964-7.-External links:* *...

pre-war airliner.

The first prototype Whitley Mk I (K4586) flew from Baginton

Coventry Airport

Coventry Airport is located south southeast of Coventry city centre, in the village of Baginton, Warwickshire, England, and about outside Coventry boundaries...

airfield on 17 March 1936, piloted by Armstrong Whitworth's Chief Test Pilot Alan Campbell-Orde and was powered by two 795 hp Armstrong Siddeley Tiger

Armstrong Siddeley Tiger

IX radial engine

Radial engine

The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel...

s. The second prototype was powered by more powerful Tiger XI engines.

Owing to the urgent need to replace biplane

Biplane

A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...

heavy bombers still in service with the RAF, an order for 80 aircraft had been placed in 1935, "off the drawing board," before the Whitley had first flown. These had medium-supercharged engines and manual operated drum magazine single machine guns fore and aft. After the first 34 aircraft had been built, the engines were replaced with more reliable two-stage supercharged

Supercharger

A supercharger is an air compressor used for forced induction of an internal combustion engine.The greater mass flow-rate provides more oxygen to support combustion than would be available in a naturally aspirated engine, which allows more fuel to be burned and more work to be done per cycle,...

Tiger VIIIs, resulting in the Whitley Mk II, that completed the initial order. One Whitley Mk II, K7243, was used as a test bed for the 1,200 hp 21-cylinder radial Armstrong Siddeley Deerhound

Armstrong Siddeley Deerhound

|-See also:-Bibliography:*Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9...

engine, first flying with the Deerhound on 6 January 1939. The replacement of the manually operated nose turret with a powered Nash & Thomson

Nash & Thomson

Nash & Thompson was a British engineering firm that specialised in the production of hydraulically-operated gun turrets for aircraft. The company was also an important manufacturer of hydraulic powered radar scanners, used on radar systems such as H2S and AI Mark VIII.- History :Nash & Thompson was...

turret and a powered retractable two-gun ventral "dustbin" turret

Turret

In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...

resulted in the Whitley Mk III. The turret was hydraulically powered but it was hard to operate and added considerable drag.

While the Tiger VIIIs used in the Whitley Mks II and III were more reliable than those used in early aircraft, the Whitley was re-engined with Rolls-Royce Merlin

Rolls-Royce Merlin

The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled, V-12, piston aero engine, of 27-litre capacity. Rolls-Royce Limited designed and built the engine which was initially known as the PV-12: the PV-12 became known as the Merlin following the company convention of naming its piston aero engines after...

engines in 1938 giving rise to the Whitley Mk IV. These demonstrated greatly improved performance, and the decision was made to introduce a series of other minor upgrades to produce the Whitley Mk V. The modifications included modified fins, leading edge de-icing, manually operated tail and retractable ventral turrets replaced with a Nash & Thompson powered turret equipped with four .303 in (7.7 mm)

.303 British

.303 British, or 7.7x56mmR, is a .311 inch calibre rifle and machine gun cartridge first developed in Britain as a blackpowder round put into service in December 1888 for the Lee-Metford rifle, later adapted to use smokeless powders...

Browning machine guns, tail fuselage extended by 15 in (381 mm) to improve the field of fire. The Mk V would be the most-produced version of the Whitley, with 1,466 built until production finally ended in June 1943.

Early marks of the Whitley had bomb bay doors - the eight bays were in fuselage compartments and wing cells - that were kept closed by bungee cords and opened by the weight of the released bombs falling on them. Even the tiny random delay in time that it took for the doors to open led to highly inaccurate bombing performance. The Mk.III introduced hydraulically actuated doors which greatly improved bombing accuracy. To aim bombs, the bomb aimer

Bombardier (air force)

A bombardier , in the United States Army Air Forces and United States Air Force, or a bomb aimer, in the Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces, was the crewman of a bomber responsible for assisting the navigator in guiding the plane to a bombing target and releasing the aircraft's bomb...

opened a hatch in the nose of the aircraft which extended the bombsight out of the fuselage, but to everyone's comfort, the Mk IV replaced this hatch with a slightly extended transparency.

The bomb aimer position was in the nose with a gun turret above. The pilot and second pilot/navigator were sat by side by side in the pilot cockpit. The navigator rotated so they could use the chart table behind. Behind the pilots was the wireless operator. The fuselage aft of the wireless operator was divided horizontally by the bomb bay. Aft of the bomb bay was the main entrance and aft of that the rear turret.

Operational history

The Whitley first entered service with No. 10 Squadron

No. 10 Squadron RAF

No. 10 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron. The squadron served in a variety of roles over its 90 year history...

in March 1937, replacing Handley Page Heyford

Handley Page Heyford

The Handley Page Heyford was a twin-engine British biplane bomber of the 1930s. Although it had a short service life, it equipped several squadrons of the RAF as one of the most important British bombers of the mid-1930s, and was the last biplane heavy bomber to serve with the RAF.-Design and...

biplanes, and by the outbreak of the Second World War, seven squadrons were operational with the Whitley. The majority were flying Whitley IIIs or IVs as the Whitley V had only just been introduced.

Along with the Handley Page Hampden

Handley Page Hampden

and the Vickers Wellington

Vickers Wellington

, Whitleys bore the brunt of the early fighting, and saw action on the first night of the war when they dropped leaflets

Propaganda

Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....

over Germany

Germany

. Amongst the many aircrew who flew the Whitley in operations over Germany was the later to be famous Leonard Cheshire

Leonard Cheshire

Group Captain Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire, Baron Cheshire, VC, OM, DSO and Two Bars, DFC was a highly decorated British RAF pilot during the Second World War....

who spent most of his first three years at war flying Whitleys. However, unlike the Hampden and Wellington – which met specification B.9/32 for a day bomber – the Whitley was always intended for night operations, and so did not share the early heavy losses received in attempted daylight raids on German shipping early in the war. Along with Hampdens, the Whitley made the first bombing raid on German soil on the night of 19/20 March 1940, attacking the Hornum

Hörnum

Hörnum is a municipality in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is located on the southern headland of the island of Sylt...

seaplane

Seaplane

A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...

base on the Island of Sylt. Whitleys also carried out the first RAF raid on Italy

Operation Haddock

Operation Haddock was the codename for a 1940 British plan to support their French allies by bombing northern Italian cities, in the event of Italy joining the war...

on 11/12 June 1940.

As the oldest of the three bombers, the Whitley was obsolete by the start of the war, yet over 1,000 more were produced before a suitable replacement was found. A particular problem with the twin-engine aircraft was that it could not maintain altitude on one engine.
With Bomber Command

RAF Bomber Command

RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...

, Whitleys flew 8,996 operations, dropped 9,845 tons (8,931 tonnes) of bombs with 269 aircraft lost in action. The Whitley was retired from all front line service in late 1942 but it continued to operate as a transport for troops and freight, as well as for paratroop training and towing glider

Military glider

s. No. 100 Group RAF

No. 100 Group RAF

No. 100 Group was a special duties group within RAF Bomber Command.It was formed on 11 November 1943 to consolidate the increasingly complex business of electronic warfare and countermeasures within one organisation. The group was responsible for the development, operational trial and use of...

used Whitleys to carry airborne radar

Radar

Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

and electronic counter-measures.

The British Overseas Airways Corporation

British Overseas Airways Corporation

The British Overseas Airways Corporation was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 to 1974. The company started life with a merger between Imperial Airways Ltd. and British Airways Ltd...

operated 15 Whitley Mk Vs converted into freighters in 1942. Running night supply flights from Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

to Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

, they took seven hours to reach the island, often landing during air attacks. They used large quantities of fuel for a small payload and were replaced in August 1942 by the Lockheed Hudson

Lockheed Hudson

The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter...

, with the 14 surviving examples being returned to the Royal Air Force.

The long-range Coastal Command Mk VII variants were among the last to see front line service, with the first kill attributed to them being the sinking of the German U-boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

U-751
German submarine U-751
German submarine U-751 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for the German Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. Built as werk 134 of the Kriegsmarinewerft shipyard in Wilhelmshaven, she was commissioned on 31 January 1941, she served with 7th U-Boat Flotilla until 1 June as a training boat, and...

, on 17 July 1942 in combination with a Lancaster

Avro Lancaster

The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force . It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other...

heavy bomber. Having evaluated the Whitley in 1942, the Fleet Air Arm

Fleet Air Arm

The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King and Westland Lynx helicopters...

operated a number of modified ex-RAF Mk VIIs from 1944–46 to train aircrew in Merlin engine management and fuel transfer procedures.

Variants

Following the two prototypes (K4586
United Kingdom military aircraft serials
In the United Kingdom to identify individual aircraft, all military aircraft are allocated and display a unique serial number. A unified serial number system, maintained by the Air Ministry , and its successor the Ministry of Defence , is used for aircraft operated by the Royal Air Force , Fleet...

and K4587), at the outbreak of the war the RAF had 207 Whitleys in service ranging from Mk I to Mk IV types, with improved versions following:

Mk I

Armstrong Siddeley Tiger

IX air-cooled radial engine

Radial engine

The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel...

s: 34 built

Mk II

Supercharger

Tiger VIII engines: 46 built

Mk III

Powered by Tiger VIII engines, retractable "dustbin" ventral turret fitted aft of the wing root armed with two .303 in (7.7 mm)

.303 British

machine gun

Machine gun

A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....

s, hydraulically operated bomb bay doors and ability to carry larger bombs: 80 built

Mk IV

Rolls-Royce Merlin

IV inline

Inline engine (aviation)

In aviation, an inline engine means any reciprocating engine with banks rather than rows of cylinders, including straight engines, flat engines, V engines and H engines, but excluding radial engines and rotary engines....

liquid-cooled engines, increased fuel capacity, extended bomb-aimer's transparency, produced from 1938: 33 built

Mk IVA

Mk V

The main wartime production version based on the Mk IV, modified fins, leading edge de-icing, manually operated tail and retractable ventral turrets replaced with a Nash & Thompson powered turret equipped with four .303 in (7.7 mm) Browining machine guns, tail fuselage extended by 15 in (381 mm) to improve the field of fire. First flew in December 1938, production ceased in June 1943: 1,466 built

Mk VI

Proposed Pratt & Whitney

Pratt & Whitney

Pratt & Whitney is a U.S.-based aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation . Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation and military aviation. Its headquarters are in East Hartford, Connecticut, USA...

- or Merlin XX-powered version: none built

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) 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

Military operators

Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

- No. 7 Squadron RAF
  No. 7 Squadron RAF
  No. 7 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing Chinook HC.2 from RAF Odiham, Hampshire.-Formation and early years:No. 7 Squadron was formed at Farnborough Airfield on 1 May 1914 as the last squadron of the RFC to be formed before the First World War, but has been disbanded and reformed...
  
  between March 1938 and May 1939.
- No. 10 Squadron RAF
  No. 10 Squadron RAF
  No. 10 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron. The squadron served in a variety of roles over its 90 year history...
  
  between March 1937 and December 1941.
- No. 51 Squadron RAF
  No. 51 Squadron RAF
  No. 51 Squadron of the Royal Air Force most recently operated the Nimrod R1 from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire until June 2011. Crews from No. 51 Squadron are currently training alongside the US Air Force on the Boeing RC-135, which is planned to enter service with the RAF over the next seven years...
  
  between February 1938 and October 1942.
- No. 53 Squadron RAF
  No. 53 Squadron RAF
  -History:No. 53 squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed at Catterick on 15 May 1916. Originally intended to be a training squadron, it was sent to France to operate reconnaissance in December that year. The squadron was equipped with BE2Es—swapped for the RE8 in April 1917...
  
  between February 1943 and May 1943.
- No. 58 Squadron RAF
  No. 58 Squadron RAF
  No. 58 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force.- History :No. 58 Squadron was first formed at Cramlington, Northumberland, on 8 June 1916 as a squadron of the Royal Flying Corps....
  
  between October 1937 and January 1943.
- No. 76 Squadron RAF
  No. 76 Squadron RAF
  No. 76 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was formed during World War I as a home defence fighter squadron and in its second incarnation during World War II flew as a bomber squadron, first as an operational training unit and later as an active bomber squadron...
  
  between September 1939 and April 1940.
- No. 77 Squadron RAF
  No. 77 Squadron RAF
  No. 77 Squadron RAF was formed on 1 October 1916 at Edinburgh, and was equipped with B.E.2 and B.E.12 aircraft. The squadron disbanded at RAF Turnhouse on June 13, 1919....
  
  between November 1938 and October 1942.
- No. 78 Squadron RAF
  No. 78 Squadron RAF
  No. 78 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Merlin HC3/3A transport helicopter from RAF Benson.Until December 2007 it was the operator of two Westland Sea King HAR3s from RAF Mount Pleasant, Falkland Islands.-History:No...
  
  between July 1937 and March 1942.
- No. 97 Squadron RAF
  No. 97 Squadron RAF
  No. 97 Squadron, was a Royal Air Force squadron formed on December 1, 1917 at Waddington, Lincolnshire, first as a training unit, until moving to Netheravon in March 1918, and re-equipping with the Handley Page O/400 heavy bomber. The squadron served in France for the remainder of the war...
  
  between February 1939 and May 1940.
- No. 102 Squadron RAF
  No. 102 Squadron RAF
  No. 102 Squadron was a Royal Air Force night bomber squadron in World War I and a heavy bomber squadron in World War II. After the war it flew briefly as a transport squadron before being reformed a light bomber unit with the Second Tactical Air Force within RAF Germany. Its last existence was as a...
  
  between October 1938 and February 1942.
- No. 103 Squadron RAF
  No. 103 Squadron RAF
  No. 103 Squadron was a Royal Air Force bomber squadron during World War I, World War II and the Cold War, switching to helicopters in the late 1950s until it was disbanded for the last time in 1975.-Formation in World War I:...
  
  between October 1940 and June 1942.
- No. 109 Squadron RAF
  No. 109 Squadron RAF
  No. 109 Squadron RAF was an aircraft squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War II. It operated Wellington VIs.-History:The squadron first formed on 1 November 1917 as 109 Squadron Royal Flying Corps at South Carlton in 1917 operating the de Havilland DH.9 until it was disbanded on 19 August...
  
  operated only one aircraft (P5047).
- No. 115 Squadron RAF
  No. 115 Squadron RAF
  No. 115 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron during World War I. It was then equipped with Handley Page O/400 heavy bombers. During World War II the squadron served as a bomber squadron and after the war it flew in a similar role till 1958, when it was engaged as a radio calibration unit...
  
  during 1938
- No. 138 Squadron RAF
  No. 138 Squadron RAF
  No. 138 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force that served in a variety of roles during its career, last disbanded in 1962. It was the first 'V-bomber' squadron of the RAF, flying the Vickers Valiant between 1955 and 1962....
  
  between August 1941 and October 1942.
- No. 161 Squadron RAF
  No. 161 Squadron RAF
  No. 161 Squadron was a highly secretive unit of the Royal Air Force tasked with missions of the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War. Their primary role was to drop and collect secret agents and equipment into and from Nazi-occupied Europe...
  
  between February 1942 and December 1942.
- No. 166 Squadron RAF
  No. 166 Squadron RAF
  No. 166 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron that formed just after the end of World War I. It was the first and one of only three to be equipped with the Handley Page V/1500 heavy bomber.-History:...
  
  between July 1938 and April 1940.
- No. 295 Squadron RAF
  No. 295 Squadron RAF
  No 295 Squadron RAF was an airborne forces and transport squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War II. It was the first unit to be equipped with the Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle transport and glider tug aircraft.-With the Airborne Forces:...
  
  between August 1942 and November 1943.
- No. 296 Squadron RAF
  No. 296 Squadron RAF
  No. 296 Squadron RAF was an airborne forces squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War II. With sister squadrons 295 and 297 it formed 38 Wing, which later expanded to create No. 38 Group RAF.-With the Airborne Forces:No...
  
  between June 1943 and March 1943.
- No. 297 Squadron RAF
  No. 297 Squadron RAF
  No 297 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was notable for being the first airborne forces squadron formed. With sister No 296 Squadron it formed No 38 Wing RAF -soon to be expanded with sister No 295 Squadron, which expanded later to become No 38 Group RAF.-Formation and World War...
  
  between February 1942 and February 1944.
- No. 298 Squadron RAF
  No. 298 Squadron RAF
  No. 298 Squadron was a Royal Air Force special operations squadron during the second world war. Later in that war it changed to the transport role, disbanding after the end of the hostilities.-Formation:...
  
  between August 1942 and October 1942.
- No. 299 Squadron RAF
  No. 299 Squadron RAF
  -History:No. 299 Squadron was formed on 4 November 1943 form 'C' flight of 297 Squadron at RAF Stoney Cross, Hampshire as a special operations squadron. It became operational in April 1944 dropping SOE agents. During the Normandy landing the squadron first delivered paratroopers, and then returned...
  
  between November 1943 and January 1944.
- No. 502 Squadron RAF
  No. 502 Squadron RAF
  No. 502 Squadron was a Royal Auxiliary Air Force squadron that saw service in World War II.-Formation and early years:No. 502 squadron was originally formed on 15 May 1925 as No. 502 Squadron, a Special Reserve squadron at RAF Aldergrove, and it was composed of a mixture of regular and reserve...
  
  between October 1940 and February 1943.
- No. 612 Squadron RAF
  No. 612 Squadron RAF
  No. 612 Squadron RAF was originally formed in 1937 as an Army Co-operation unit, and flew during World War II in the General Reconnaissance role. After the war the squadron was reformed and flew in the Day Fighter role until disbanded in 1957. At present the squadron has a non-flying role as a...
  
  between November 1940 and June 1943.
- No. 619 Squadron RAF
  No. 619 Squadron RAF
  No. 619 Squadron RAF was a heavy bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, flying Lancaster bombers from bases in Lincolnshire.-History:...
  
  between April 1943 and January 1944.
- No. 1419 Flight RAF
  No. 1419 Flight RAF
  No. 1419 Flight a deployed element of No. 28 Squadron RAF and 78 Squadron RAFRoyal Air Force Benson is a unit stationed at Basra in southern Iraq. It was first formed in World War II and is currently in command of the Merlin MK3 helicopters based at Basra. It was reformed on 5 March 2005,...
- No. 1473 Flight RAF
- No. 1478 Flight RAF
- No. 1481 Flight RAF
- No. 1484 Flight RAF
- No. 1485 Flight RAF
- No. 1486 Flight RAF

Fleet Air Arm
Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King and Westland Lynx helicopters...
- 734 Naval Air Squadron operated Whitleys between February 1944 and February 1946.

Civil Operators

British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC)
British Overseas Airways Corporation
The British Overseas Airways Corporation was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 to 1974. The company started life with a merger between Imperial Airways Ltd. and British Airways Ltd...

Survivors

Of the 1,814 Whitleys produced, there are no surviving complete aircraft in existence; however, The Whitley Project are rebuilding an example from salvaged remains and a fuselage section is displayed at the Midland Air Museum

Midland Air Museum

The Midland Air Museum is situated just outside the village of Baginton in Warwickshire, England, and is adjacent to Coventry Airport. The museum includes the Sir Frank Whittle Jet Heritage Centre , where many exhibits are on display in a large hangar...

(MAM) whose site is located adjacent to the airfield from where the Whitley's maiden flight took place.

Specifications (Whitley Mk V)

External links

Whitley Bomber Crews and Their Experiences
Norwegian article about the Whitley bomber
The Whitley Project (Archived 2009-10-25)
Flight cutaway of Whitley
Machine Gun Skeet August 1940 Popular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics is an American magazine first published January 11, 1902 by H. H. Windsor, and has been owned since 1958 by the Hearst Corporation...

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