At 1100 on 3 September 1939 the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, announced over BBC radio that Great Britain was at war with Nazi Germany. A half hour prior to this broadcast a single aircraft of No 139 (Jamaica) Squadron had taken off from Wyton in Southeast England to carry out a photographic reconnaissance mission against the German Fleet at Wilhelmshaven. This first operational mission flown by the Royal Air Force in World War II was undertaken by Flight Officer McPherson along with his air-gunner and a Naval observer in a Bristol Blenheim Mk IV. The next day Blenheims of Nos 107, 110 and 139 Squadrons launched a bombing raid against Wilhelmshaven, the first of thousands of operations that would take place over the next six years. The success of this mission against the Kriegsmarine at Wilhelmshaven was limited, however, the high losses suffered by the Blenheim squadrons was all too real. This experience was to recur with depressing frequency for Blenheim units over the next two to three years. Whether used in high level bombing or low level anti-shipping strikes, both from the United Kingdom and Mediterranean bases, success was gained only at the cost of heavy losses in both aircraft and crews. The harsh truth learned from these operations was that the Blenheim had been surpassed by events and a rapidly advancing technology.
Bristol Blenheim in Action (Aircraft 88)
Автор: Ron Mackay
Publisher: Squadron/Signal Publications Inc.
Год издания: 1988
Страниц: 50 Pages
Язык: English
ISBN: 0897472098
Формат: PDF
Размер: 16 MB