The Bristol Blenheim is a British
light bomber aircraft designed and built by the
Bristol Aeroplane Company (Bristol) which was used extensively in the first two years of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, with examples still being used as trainers until the end of the war. Development began with the ''Type 142'', a civil airliner, in response to a challenge from
Lord Rothermere
Viscount Rothermere, of Hemsted in the county of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1919 for the press lord Harold Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth. He had already been created a baronet, of Horsey in th ...
to produce the fastest commercial aircraft in Europe. The ''Type 142'' first flew in April 1935, and the
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...
, impressed by its performance, ordered a modified design as the ''Type 142M'' for the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
(RAF) as a bomber. Deliveries of the newly named Blenheim to RAF squadrons commenced on 10 March 1937. In service the Type 142M became the Blenheim Mk.I which would be developed into the longer Type 149, designated the Blenheim Mk.IV, except in Canada where Fairchild Canada built the Type 149 under licence as the Bolingbroke. The Type 160 Bisley was also developed from the Blenheim, but was already obsolete when it entered service.
In addition to operating as medium bombers, both versions were converted into heavy fighters by the addition of a gun pack with four Browning machine guns mounted under the fuselage. The Mk.IV was also used as a maritime patrol aircraft and both aircraft were also used as bombing and gunnery trainers once they had become obsolete as combat aircraft.
The Blenheim was one of the first British aircraft with an all-metal
stressed-skin construction, retractable
landing gear
Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...
,
flaps, a powered
gun turret
A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...
and
variable-pitch propellers. The Mk.I was faster than most of the RAF's biplane fighters in the late 1930s but advances soon left it vulnerable if flown in daylight, though it proved successful as a night fighter. The Blenheim was effective as a bomber but many were shot down. Both Blenheim types were used by foreign operators, and examples were licence built in Yugoslavia and Finland, in addition to Canada.
Development
Origins
In 1933
Frank Barnwell, Bristol's chief designer, went to the United States to collect first-hand information on their latest twin-engined, low-wing monoplane airliners. When he returned home he discussed one of them, the Lockheed Electra 12A, with
Roy Fedden
Sir Alfred Hubert Roy Fedden MBE, FRAeS (6 June 1885 – 21 November 1973) was an engineer who designed most of Bristol Engine Company's successful piston aircraft engine designs.
Early life
Fedden was born in the Bristol area to fairly weal ...
and prepared a design to match it using Fedden's
Bristol Aquila
The Aquila was a nine-cylinder single-row radial aircraft engine designed by the Bristol Engine Company starting in 1934. A sleeve valve engine, its basic design was developed from the Bristol Perseus. The Aquila was never used in production, ...
engine which produced 500 hp, the same power as the engine used in the Electra.
Sir Archibald Russell
Sir Archibald Russell, CBE, FRS (30 May 1904 – 29 May 1995) was a British aerospace engineer who worked most of his career at the Bristol Aeroplane Company, before becoming managing director of the Filton Division when Bristol merged into Brit ...
described Barnwell's design as "close to being a replica of the Electra". It was designated ''Type 135''.
In early 1934,
Lord Rothermere
Viscount Rothermere, of Hemsted in the county of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1919 for the press lord Harold Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth. He had already been created a baronet, of Horsey in th ...
, owner of the ''
Daily Mail'' newspaper, challenged the British aviation industry to build a high-speed aircraft capable of carrying six passengers and two crew members – he referred to the ambition as seeking "the fastest commercial aeroplane in Europe, if not the world".
At the time, German firms were producing a variety of record-breaking high-speed designs, such as the single-engined
Heinkel He 70
The Heinkel He 70 ''Blitz'' ("lightning") was a German mail plane and fast passenger monoplane aircraft of the 1930s designed by Heinkel Flugzeugwerke, which was later used as a bomber and for aerial reconnaissance. It had a brief commercial car ...
, and Rothermere wanted the prestige of being able to claim to have the fastest civilian aircraft, as well as to purchase such an aircraft himself. Rothermere also intended to encourage businesses and key figures to make greater use of civil aviation, and to demonstrate to the British
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...
how their fighter aircraft may not be able to match modern transport aircraft, which may be easily converted to, or used as the basis for, a bomber aircraft.
[Moyes 1966, p. 3.]
Rothermere became aware of Bristol's ''Type 135'' proposal and, in response to his inquiry, on 3 March 1934, Barnwell issued him with a quote of the specification and performance statistics of the design, including an estimated top speed of at .
By this point, proposed use of the Aquila engine had been shelved in favour of the
supercharger-equipped, poppet-valve
Bristol Mercury engine. Deeming it suitable for the issued challenge, the design of Type 135 was further adapted to produce the
''Type 142'' in order to meet the requirements outlined by Rothermere.
In late March 1934, Rothermere placed an order for a single ''Type 142'' aircraft, under which he paid for half of the estimated £18,500 cost up front and the remainder upon the aircraft's first flight in the following year.
![Bristol blenheim 1 ExCC](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Bristol_blenheim_1_ExCC.jpg)
On 12 April 1935, the ''Type 142'', which had been given the name ''Britain First'', conducted its
maiden flight
The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets.
The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alw ...
from
Filton Aerodrome
Filton Airport or Filton Aerodrome was a private airport in Filton and Patchway, within South Gloucestershire, north of Bristol, England.
Description
The airfield was bounded by the A38 road to the east, and the former London to Avonmouth ...
,
South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming ...
.
[Barnes 1964, p.258.] Flight tests soon proved that the aircraft was in fact faster than any fighter in service with the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
(RAF) at the time, having demonstrated a top speed of .
[Barnes 1964, p. 259.][Moyes 1966, pp. 3–4.] Rothermere presented the aircraft to the nation for a formal evaluation as a potential bomber.
[Moyes 1966, p. 4.] By June 1935, the
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...
had become interested in the project due to its high performance. On 9 July 1935, a design conference was held by Bristol at the ministry's request into the question of converting the ''Type 142'' into a suitable medium bomber.
Based upon talks from the conference, the Air Ministry quickly formalised
Specification B.28/35 for prototypes of a bomber version; the ''Type 142M'' (M for military).
One principal change between the ''Type 142M'' bomber and its ''Type 142'' predecessor was the repositioning of the wing from a low-wing to a mid-wing position, which allowed for more internal space within the fuselage underneath the
main spar to accommodate a sizable bomb bay. Other modifications included the addition of a bomb-aimer's position and a
Browning machine gun Browning machine guns are a family of machine gun designs by John Browning, a prolific weapon designer.
These include:
*M1895 Colt–Browning machine gun, based on a design dating to 1889, was the first successful gas-operated machine gun to ent ...
in the nose along with provisions for a semi-retractable gun turret in the
dorsal
Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to:
* Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism
* Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage
* Dorsal c ...
position.
Production
![Duxford Blenheim](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Duxford_Blenheim.jpg)
In September 1935, an initial contract for 150 aircraft was placed. The Air Ministry had chosen to order the type directly from the drawing board, having been urgently sought as one piece of a wider and rapid expansion of the RAF.
The first aircraft built of this production model, ''K7033'', served as the only prototype; on 25 June 1936, ''K7033'' conducted its first flight from Filton.
[Mason 1994, p. 269.] The service name for the aircraft became ''Blenheim Mk I'' after
the famous battle during the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
. On 10 March 1937, production deliveries to the RAF formally started;
114 Squadron became the first squadron to receive the Blenheim.
On 13 January 1938, the Blenheim entered service with
No. 30 Squadron, the first overseas squadron to receive the type; in early 1939, the first Blenheims arrived in India.
[Moyes 1966, p. 6.]
From July 1936 onwards, various additional orders were placed for the ''Blenheim Mk I'', including multiple orders for the export market.
By the end of 1936, 1,568 aircraft were on order.
[Oughton 1971, p. 159.] In order to meet the demand, secondary assembly lines were established at
Chadderton
Chadderton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk and Rochdale Canal. It is located in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Oldham, south of Rochdale and north-east of Manchester.
...
by
Avro and at
Speke
Speke () is a suburb of Liverpool. It is southeast of the city centre. Located near the widest part of the River Mersey, it is bordered by the suburbs of Garston and Hunts Cross, and nearby to Halewood, Hale Village, and Widnes. The rural are ...
by
Rootes Securities.
The aircraft was built under licence by foreign countries, including
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, who completed a total of 55 aircraft, and
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, which completed 16 aircraft with a further 24 in advanced stages of completion when
Germany invaded Yugoslavia.
[Moyes 1966, p. 11.] Other countries also procured the Blenheim, including
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
and
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
.
[Moyes 1966, pp. 11–12.] By September 1939, orders for the Blenheim had risen to 2,088 aircraft.
Total production of the ''Blenheim Mk I'' in England was 1,351 aircraft prior to the end of the production run in 1939; production had been terminated in favour of more advanced variants.
The Blenheim production programme saw several shifts in requirements and in capacity.
A modified Blenheim design, given the name ''
Bolingbroke'', was manufactured under licence in Canada by
Fairchild Aircraft.
[Oughton 1971, pp. 157, 176.] The Bolingbroke, which had been developed in response to Air Ministry Specification G.24/35 to procure a coastal reconnaissance/light bomber as a replacement for the
Avro Anson
The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCA ...
, had substantial improvements that would serve as the basis for improved variants of the Blenheim.
[Oughton 1971, p. 157.] Both the navigator's station and range limitations of the Blenheim Mk.I had been subject to considerable criticism, prompting the development of an improved model to rectify the shortcomings.
On 24 September 1937, an experimental Blenheim Mk.I, modified with an extended forward fuselage beyond its original
stepless cockpit, smooth-fronted nose enclosure, made its first flight from Filton.
Further development
Formal work on an extended-range
reconnaissance
In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities.
Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...
version started as the Blenheim Mk II, which increased tankage from . Only one Blenheim Mk II was completed, as flight tests revealed the increase in speed to be marginal and not warranting further development.
Another modification resulted in the Blenheim Mk III, which lengthened the nose, dispensing with the "stepless cockpit" format of the Mk.I, introducing a true windscreen in front of the pilot, to provide more room for the bomb aimer. This required the nose to be "scooped out" in front of the pilot to maintain visibility during takeoff and landing. Both modifications were combined, along with a newer version of the Mercury engine with . The turret acquired a pair of Brownings in place of the original single Vickers K gun, creating the Blenheim Mk IV.
[Oughton 1971, pp. 157–158.]
![Blenheim Mk](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Blenheim_Mk.I_%26_Spitfire_Ia_%2821444871928%29.jpg)
In early 1939, the first batch of Blenheim Mk IVs were accepted into service; these lacked outer fuel tanks but were accepted due to the urgent demand for the type. Early Blenheim Mk IVs were also equipped with the Mercury VIII engine, most were fitted with the more powerful Mercury XV or Mercury 25 models.
[Oughton 1971, pp. 158–159.] Further aircraft deliveries were made to the production standard and were primarily manufactured by Avro and Rootes.
[Oughton 1971, p. 158.] Production of the Blenheim IV continued until June 1943, when newcomers such as the
Beaufort-derived
Beaufighter had succeeded the type.
A total of 3,307 were produced.
A long-range fighter version, the Blenheim Mk IF, was also developed. For this role, about 200 Blenheims were fitted with a gun pack under the fuselage for four Brownings.
Later, the Airborne Intercept (AI) Mk III or IV
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...
was fitted to some aircraft in use as night fighters; these were the first British fighters to be equipped with radar. The Blenheim had been selected as the first aircraft to be adapted for this role as its fuselage was sufficiently roomy to accommodate the additional crew member and radar apparatus.
Their performance was marginal as a fighter but they served as an interim type pending availability of the more capable Beaufighter derivative. About 60 Mk IVs were also equipped with the gun pack as the Mk IVF and were used by
Coastal Command
RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...
to protect convoys from German long-range bombers.
The last bomber variant was conceived as an armoured
ground attack aircraft
An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pres ...
, with a solid nose containing four more Browning machine guns. Originally known as the Bisley, (after the
shooting competitions held at
Bisley Ranges
The National Shooting Centre is the UK's largest shooting sports complex, comprising several shooting ranges as well as the large "Bisley Camp" complex of accommodation, clubhouses and support services. The centre is located near the village o ...
), the production aircraft were renamed Blenheim Mk V and featured a strengthened structure, pilot armour, interchangeable nose gun pack or bomb-aimer position and another Mercury variant with . The Mk V was ordered for conventional bombing operations, with the removal of armour and most of the glazed nose section. The Mk V (Type 160) was used primarily in the Middle East and Far East. The Blenheim served as the basis for the Beaufort
torpedo bomber
A torpedo bomber is a military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes. Torpedo bombers came into existence just before the First World War almost as soon as aircraft were built that were capable of carrying the weight ...
, which led to the Beaufighter, with the lineage performing two evolutions of bomber-to-fighter.
Design
![BristolBlenheimRAFMuseumJan2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/BristolBlenheimRAFMuseumJan2007.jpg)
The Bristol Blenheim was a twin-engine high performance all-metal medium bomber aircraft, powered by a pair of
Bristol Mercury VIII air-cooled
radial engine
The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ...
s, each capable of .
Each engine drove a three-bladed
controllable-pitch propeller, and were equipped with both hand-based and electric engine starters.
To ease maintenance, the engine mountings were designed with a split-segment to facilitate rapid engine removal without disturbing the
carburettors. A pair of fuel tanks, each containing up to 140 gallons, were housed within the centre-section of the fuselage.
The fuselage of the Blenheim employed a light-
alloy
An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductilit ...
monocoque
Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell".
First used for boats, ...
structure using open-section
stringers, and was constructed in three sections.
The wing is also built in three sections, the centre-section of which is bolted and
rivet
A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite to the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the rivet is placed in a punched ...
ted to the fuselage. The outer wing sections are
taper
Taper may refer to:
* Part of an object in the shape of a cone (conical)
* Taper (transmission line), a transmission line gradually increasing or decreasing in size
* Fishing rod taper, a measure of the flexibility of a fishing rod
* Conically t ...
ed in
chord and thickness.
Extensive use of
Alclad
Alclad is a corrosion-resistant aluminium sheet formed from high-purity aluminium surface layers metallurgically bonded (rolled onto) to high-strength aluminium alloy core material. It has a melting point of about 500 degrees celsius, or 932 degree ...
sheeting is made in elements such as the
ribs
The rib cage, as an enclosure that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum in the thorax of most vertebrates, protects vital organs such as the heart, lungs and great vessels.
The sternum, together known as the thoracic cage, is a semi- ...
, skin,
flaps, and web reinforcement of the
spar
SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...
s. The tail unit is of a cantilever monoplane style, using an all-metal tailplane and
fin
A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...
while the aerodynamically-balanced
rudder
A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...
and
elevator
An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They a ...
s use a metal frame covered with fabric.
The
undercarriage was
hydraulically
Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...
-retracted, with an auxiliary hand-pump for emergency actuation; medium-pressure
tyres were used, complete with
pneumatically-actuated differentially-control brakes.
[Oughton 1971, p. 177.]
The Blenheim typically carried a crew of three – pilot, navigator/bombardier and
wireless (radio) operator/air gunner.
[Barnes 1964, pp. 266–267.] The pilot's quarters on the left side of the nose were so cramped that the
control yoke
A yoke, alternatively known as a control wheel or a control column, is a device used for piloting some fixed-wing aircraft.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 563. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. ...
obscured all flight instruments while engine instruments eliminated the forward view on landings. Most secondary instruments were arranged along the left side of the cockpit, essential items such as the propeller pitch control were actually placed behind the pilot where they had to be operated by feel alone.
[Gunston, Bill. ''Classic World War II Aircraft Cutaways''. London: Osprey, 1995. .][Moyes 1966, pp. 12–13.] The navigator/bombardier was seated alongside the pilot, and made use of a sliding/folding seat whilst performing the bomb aiming role. Dual flight controls could be installed.
The wireless operator/air gunner was housed aft of the wing alongside the aircraft's dorsal gun turret.
![Bristol Blenheim Mk](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Bristol_Blenheim_Mk.IV_%28BL-200%29_K-SIM_02.jpg)
Armament comprised a single forward-firing
Browning machine gun Browning machine guns are a family of machine gun designs by John Browning, a prolific weapon designer.
These include:
*M1895 Colt–Browning machine gun, based on a design dating to 1889, was the first successful gas-operated machine gun to ent ...
outboard of the port engine and a
Lewis Gun in a semi-retracting Bristol Type B Mk I dorsal turret firing to the rear. From 1939 onwards, the Lewis gun was replaced by the more modern
Vickers VGO machine gun. A bomb load could be carried in the internal bomb bay set into the centre section of the fuselage.
Like most contemporary British aircraft, the bomb bay doors were kept closed with
bungee cord Bungee cords equipped with metal hooks
A bungee cord (sometimes spelled bungle; also known as a shock cord) is an elastic cord composed of one or more elastic strands forming a core, usually covered in a woven cotton or polypropylene sheath. The ...
s and opened under the weight of the released bombs. Because there was no way to predict how long it would take for the bombs to force the doors open, bombing accuracy was consequently poor.
The bomb bay could be loaded using a hand-operated
winch
A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the tension of a rope or wire rope (also called "cable" or "wire cable").
In its simplest form, it consists of a spool (or drum) attache ...
incorporated into the fuselage.
To achieve its relatively high speed, the Blenheim used a very small fuselage cross-section, with its upper front glazing all at one angle in the form of a "stepless cockpit" that used no separate
windscreen
The windshield (North American English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from the elements. Mo ...
panels for the pilot, a notable feature of a substantial majority of German bomber designs, first conceived during the war years.
Both fixed and sliding window panels were present, along with a transparent sliding roof.
Other onboard equipment included a
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
,
camera
A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...
s, navigation systems,
electric light
An electric light, lamp, or light bulb is an electrical component that produces light. It is the most common form of artificial lighting. Lamps usually have a base made of ceramic, metal, glass, or plastic, which secures the lamp in the soc ...
ing,
oxygen
Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...
apparatus, and stowage for
parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...
s and clothing.
Operational history
Outbreak of war
![BristolBlenheimCockpitIWMDuxford](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/BristolBlenheimCockpitIWMDuxford.jpg)
In September 1939, the month in which the Second World War broke out, the Blenheim Mk I equipped two home-based squadrons and 11 overseas squadrons in locations such as
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
,
Aden
Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
,
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, and
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
. Further RAF squadrons had received, or were in the process of converting to, the more capable Blenheim Mk IV; 168 Blenheim Mk IV aircraft had entered RAF operational strength by the outbreak of war.
[Moyes 1966, pp. 6–7.]
On the day that war was declared on Germany, a Blenheim Mk IV, ''N6215'', piloted by
Flying Officer Andrew McPherson was the first British aircraft to cross the German coast to perform a high altitude reconnaissance mission upon the German Navy in the vicinity of
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...
,
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
.
The following morning, 15 Blenheims from three squadrons set off on one of the first bombing missions to attack the ships spotted on the previous day.
[Falconer 1998, p. 212.][Oughton 1971, pp. 159, 161.] The raid was a failure, only nine aircraft attacked, and only superficial damage was done to the
cruiser ''Emden'', when one of
No. 107 Squadron's Blenheims crashed into the cruiser, killing 11 crewmen.
RAF Coastal Command
RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...
were soon using the Blenheim with the stated mission of protecting British shipping convoys off the east coast.
Shortly after the conflict's start, the
RAF Advanced Air Striking Force
The RAF Advanced Air Striking Force (AASF) comprised the light bombers of No. 1 Group RAF, 1 Group RAF Bomber Command, which took part in the Battle of France during the Second World War. Before hostilities began, it had been agreed between the ...
(AASF) was deployed to numerous airfields in France, allowing for shorter range bombing missions against German targets, including industries.
[Oughton 1971, p. 161.] Several squadrons of Blenheim IVs were assigned to the AASF, being frequently used against targets in France and the
Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
once the Battle of France had begun.
[Oughton 1971, pp. 161–162.] Blenheims were also assigned to the air component of the
British Expeditionary Force of the
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
.
In May 1940, AASF and BEF Blenheims participated in the
Battle of France
The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...
, being sent against German forces moving towards
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, resulting in many aircraft quickly sustaining heavy damage or being lost to enemy fire.
[Oughton 1971, p. 162.] German attacks upon the French airfields also damaged a considerable number of Blenheims on the ground. On 14 May, a combined force of
Fairey Battle
The Fairey Battle is a British single-engine light bomber that was designed and manufactured by the Fairey Aviation Company. It was developed during the mid-1930s for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a monoplane successor to the Hawker Hart and Hi ...
s and Blenheims was dispatched on a counter-attack upon German forces as they broke through defensive lines: 40 out of 71 aircraft were lost in this sortie. This is claimed to be the highest ever losses known to the RAF.
Further action by Blenheims of Bomber Command that day sustained a 25% aircraft loss despite a high level of British fighter cover.
Shortly thereafter, the mostly-depleted squadrons were withdrawn to Britain.
[Oughton 1971, pp. 162, 164.] Around 50 Blenheims supported the
Dunkirk evacuation
The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...
by harassing enemy forces.
[Oughton 1971, p. 164.]
Rapid advances in technology which had taken place in the late 1930s had rendered the Blenheim mostly obsolete by the outbreak of the war. In particular, it had become heavier as extra service equipment was installed; much of this was found to be necessary through operational experience. This, coupled with the rapid performance increases of the fighters that would oppose it, had eclipsed the Blenheim's speed advantage. In January 1941, the
Air Staff classified the Blenheim as inadequate in terms of performance and armament for current operations.
The light armament was seldom able to deter fighter opposition. Squadrons were forced to use several different improvisations in an attempt to provide better defensive armament, until officially sanctioned modifications were able to be introduced in early 1940.
The Blenheim also proved to be vulnerable to
anti-aircraft artillery
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
, especially around the rear fuselage. Flexible,
self-sealing liners had been fitted to the fuel tanks but they were still not fully protected against the
MG FF cannon
The MG FF was a drum-fed, blowback-operated, 20 mm aircraft autocannon, developed in 1936 by Ikaria Werke Berlin of Germany. It was a derivative of the Swiss Oerlikon FF F cannon (its ''FF'' suffix indicating ''Flügel Fest'', for a fixed ...
carried by the ''Luftwaffe''s
Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...
and
Bf 110
The Messerschmitt Bf 110, often known unofficially as the Me 110,Because it was built before ''Bayerische Flugzeugwerke'' became Messerschmitt AG in July 1938, the Bf 110 was never officially given the designation Me 110. is a twin-engine (Des ...
fighters.
Home front
Blenheim squadrons were still in immediate and high demand after their withdrawal from France as part of the British action during the
Norwegian campaign.
[Oughton 1971, pp. 164, 166.] Typically operating from bases in the northern areas of the British mainland, such as
RAF Lossiemouth
Royal Air Force Lossiemouth or more commonly RAF Lossiemouth is a military airfield located on the western edge of the town of Lossiemouth in Moray, north-east Scotland.
Lossiemouth is one of the largest and busiest fast-jet stations in the ...
, flying for extended periods over the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
led to the weather posing almost as much of a risk as enemy combatants, particularly as most of the Blenheim IVs lacked any heating or
deicing
Deicing is the process of removing snow, ice or frost from a surface. Anti-icing is the application of chemicals that not only deice but also remain on a surface and continue to delay the reformation of ice for a certain period of time, or preve ...
systems; in response, some aircraft were later equipped with boilers fixed onto the starboard engine exhaust.
[Oughton 1971, p. 166.] A sizeable number of losses occurred, caused by both enemy action and mid-air engine failures due to
icing.
After the
fall of France
The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...
in June 1940, the
Free French Air Force
The Free French Air Forces (french: Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres, FAFL) were the air arm of the Free French Forces in the Second World War, created by Charles de Gaulle in 1940. The designation ceased to exist in 1943 when the Free Frenc ...
was formed at
RAF Odiham
RAF Odiham is a Royal Air Force station situated a little to the south of the village of Odiham in Hampshire, England. It is the home of the Royal Air Force's heavy lift helicopter, the Chinook, and of the King’s Helicopter Flight (TKHF) . I ...
,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
, in the form of ''Groupe Mixte de Combat'' (GMC) 1, consisting of a mixed bag of Blenheims and
Westland Lysander
The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War.
After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft's ...
liaison/observation aircraft, which were later dispatched to North Africa and saw action against Italian and German forces.
[Moyes 1966, p. 7.]
![Bristol Blenheim ExCC](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Bristol_Blenheim_ExCC.jpg)
Blenheim units operated throughout the
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
, often taking heavy casualties, although they were never accorded the publicity of the fighter squadrons. From July to December 1940, Blenheims raided German-occupied airfields both in daylight and at night. Although most of these raids were unproductive, there were some successes; on 1 August five out of twelve Blenheims sent to attack
Haamstede
Haamstede is a village in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland. The village is known for Haamstede Castle.
History
The village was first mentioned in 1229 as Haemstede, and means "place with a ho ...
and
Evere
Evere (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region (Belgium). On 1 January 2006, the municipality had a total population of 33,462. The total area is which gives a population density of . In common with all of Brussels' mu ...
(
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
) were able to bomb, destroying or heavily damaging three Bf 109s of II./JG 27 and apparently killing a ''Staffelkapitän'' identified as ''
Hauptmann
is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian, and Swiss armies. While in contemporary German means 'main', it also has and originally had the meaning of 'head', i.e. ' literally ...
'' Albrecht von Ankum-Frank. Two other 109s were claimed by Blenheim gunners. Another successful raid on Haamstede was made by a single Blenheim on 7 August which destroyed one 109 of 4./JG 54, heavily damaged another, and caused lighter damage to four more.
There were also some missions which produced an almost 100% casualty rate amongst the Blenheims. One such operation was mounted on 13 August 1940 against a ''Luftwaffe'' airfield near
Aalborg
Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of Aalb ...
in north-western
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
by twelve aircraft of
82 Squadron. One Blenheim returned early (the pilot was later charged but was killed on another operation before a
court martial
A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...
was held); the other eleven, which reached Denmark, were shot down, five by flak and six by Bf 109s. Blenheim units had also been formed to carry out long-range strategic reconnaissance missions over Germany and German-occupied territories. In this role, the Blenheims once again proved to be too slow and vulnerable against ''Luftwaffe'' fighters and they took constant casualties.
On 12 August 1941, an action described by ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'' in 2006 as being the "RAF's most audacious and dangerous low-level bombing raid, a large-scale attack against power stations near Cologne" took place.
["Obituary of Wing Commander Tom Baker."]
''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'', 10 April 2006. The raid was a low-level daylight raid by 54 Blenheims under the command of Wing Commander Nichol of
No. 114 Squadron RAF. They hit their targets (Fortuna Power Station in
Oberaußem-Fortuna and the Goldenberg Power Station in
Hürth-Knapsack
Knapsack is a locality of Hürth, Rhine-Erft district, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
On Wednesday 17 October 2007, King Harald of Norway opened Statkraft's first gas power plant at Knapsack in Germany. The plant will have an installed capac ...
), but twelve of the Blenheims were lost during the raid, 22% of those that took part, which was far above the sustainable loss rate of less than 5%. The England cricketer
Squadron leader
Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...
Bill Edrich
William John Edrich (26 March 1916 – 24 April 1986) was a first-class cricketer who played for Middlesex County Cricket Club, Middlesex, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), Norfolk County Cricket Club, Norfolk and England cricket team, England.
Ed ...
was awarded the
DFC for his part in the raid.
[
From 5 September 1940 Blenheims of Bomber Command began a bombing campaign targeting German-occupied ports along the ]English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
, alongside heavier bomber types.[Oughton 1971, pp. 166–167.] Bomber Command Blenheims also performed anti-shipping patrols due to Coastal Command's own strike squadrons being heavily depleted throughout the latter half of 1940.[Oughton 1971, p. 167.] On 11 March 1940, a Blenheim IV, ''P4852'', became the first RAF aircraft to sink a U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
, having scored two direct hits on U-31 in the Schillig Roads
Schillig is a village in the Friesland district of Lower Saxony in Germany. It is situated on the west coast of Jade Bay and is north of the town of Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') ...
.[Oughton 1971, p. 170.] In April 1941, a campaign aiming to completely close off the Channel to enemy shipping was launched using an initial flight of Blenheims stationed at RAF Manston
Royal Air Force Manston or more simply RAF Manston is a former Royal Air Force station located in the north-east of Kent, at on the Isle of Thanet from 1916 until 1996. The site was split between a commercial airport Kent International Airpor ...
. Between April and June that year, a total of 297 Blenheims of No 2. Group attacked German shipping at sea, losing 36 aircraft, while Coastal Command launched 143 attacks in the same period, losing 52 aircraft; by the end of the year, 698 ships had been attacked and 41 of these sunk for the loss of 123 aircraft.
Fighter operations
The Bristol Blenheim was used by both Bomber and Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War. It earned near-immortal fame during the Battle of Britai ...
s. About two hundred Mk I bombers were modified into Mk IF long-range fighters with 600 (Auxiliary Air Force) Squadron, based at Hendon
Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...
, the first squadron to take delivery in September 1938. By 1939, at least seven squadrons were operating them as fighters, increasing to about 60 squadrons within a few months. The Mk IF proved to be slower and less manoeuvrable than expected, and by June 1940 daylight Blenheim losses caused concern for Fighter Command. The Mk IF was relegated mainly to night fighter
A night fighter (also known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor for a period of time after the Second World War) is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility. Night fighters began to be used i ...
duties where No. 23 Squadron RAF
("Always on the attack")
, colors =
, colors_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, equipment =
, equipment_label =
, b ...
, which had already operated them at night, soon relegated them to night intruder operations as they were not effective as night fighters.
In the German night-bombing raid on London on 18 June 1940, Blenheims accounted for five German bombers, thus proving that they were better-suited for night fighting. In July, No. 600 Squadron, by then based at RAF Manston
Royal Air Force Manston or more simply RAF Manston is a former Royal Air Force station located in the north-east of Kent, at on the Isle of Thanet from 1916 until 1996. The site was split between a commercial airport Kent International Airpor ...
, had some of its Mk IFs equipped with AI Mk III radar. With this radar equipment, a Blenheim from the Fighter Interception Unit
The Fighter Interception Development Unit RAF was a special interceptor aircraft unit of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. It was part of Air Defence of Great Britain and was previously the Fighter Interception Unit (FIU). ...
(FIU) at RAF Ford
HM Prison Ford (informally known as Ford Open Prison) is a Category D men's prison, located at Ford, in West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire di ...
achieved the first success on the night of 2–3 July 1940, accounting for a Dornier Do 17
The Dornier Do 17 is a twin-engined light bomber produced by Dornier Flugzeugwerke for the German Luftwaffe during World War II. Designed in the early 1930s as a ''Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") intended to be fast enough to outrun opposing a ...
bomber. The Blenheim was replaced by the faster and more heavily-armed Bristol Beaufighter
The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort ...
in 1940–1941.
Mediterranean and Middle East
On 11 June 1940, only hours after Italy's entry into the war on Germany's side, several Blenheim IVs bombed Italian positions. In mid-1940, reinforcement ferry routes were established throughout Africa, starting in Takoradi
Sekondi-Takoradi is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi – Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city and an indus ...
on the Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
. By the end of 1940, a total of three RAF squadrons equipped with Blenheim IV aircraft were performing anti-shipping, bombing, and reconnaissance missions in support of Allied ground forces in North Africa.
By July 1941, it had been recognised that, in response to the increasing intensity of combat in North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
and in the Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
theatres, additional squadrons were urgently required. In the latter half of 1941, several Blenheim squadrons were flown out to Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
, many being stationed there into early 1942 before mainly being absorbed in the Western Desert air operations. As Bomber Command gradually took Blenheims out of the Northern Europe theatre, they were often dispatched to other areas such as North Africa.[Oughton 1971, p. 175.] Upon the outbreak of the Pacific War
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
in December 1941, some Blenheim squadrons in the Middle East were relocated from the theatre to the Far East in response to the new threat from Japanese forces.[Oughton 1971, pp. 170, 173.]
South East Asia
Blenheims continued to operate widely in many combat roles until about 1943, equipping RAF squadrons in the UK and at British bases in Aden
Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
, India, British Malaya
The term "British Malaya" (; ms, Tanah Melayu British) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. U ...
, Singapore, and the Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
. Many Blenheims were lost to Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
fighters during the Malayan Campaign
The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the , was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by land battles between ...
and the battles for Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
and Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
. By that point, the traditional daylight light bomber role was more effectively carried out by suitable fighter-bombers, and the surviving examples were relegated to training duties. Nonetheless, the Blenheim played a role in preventing India from falling and in recapturing Burma, destroying over 60 aircraft on the ground in raids on Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
early in the campaign.[Lake 1998, pp. 89–90.]
One Blenheim pilot, Squadron Leader Arthur Scarf
Squadron Leader Arthur Stewart King Scarf, VC (14 June 1913 – 9 December 1941) was a Royal Air Force pilot and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Comm ...
, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
for an attack on Singora
Songkhla ( th, สงขลา, ), also known as Singgora or Singora (Pattani Malay: ซิงกอรอ), is a city (''thesaban nakhon'') in Songkhla Province of southern Thailand, near the border with Malaysia. Songkhla lies south of Ba ...
, Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
, on 9 December 1941. Another bomber of No. 60 Squadron RAF
No. 60 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed in 1916 at Gosport. It is currently part of No. 1 Flying Training School RAF, No. 1 Flying Training School based at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire flying the Eurocopter EC135, Airbus H135 Juno HT1.
...
was credited with shooting down Lt Col Tateo Katō
was a Japanese ace army aviator, credited with at least 18 aerial victories and who was honored posthumously by an award of the Order of the Golden Kite.
Biography
Katō was born and raised in present-day Asahikawa, Hokkaidō. His father Sergeant ...
's Nakajima Ki-43
The Nakajima Ki-43 ''Hayabusa'' (, "Peregrine falcon", "Army Type 1 Fighter" ) is a single-engine land-based tactical fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in World War II.
The Allied reporting name was "Oscar", but it was o ...
fighter and badly damaging two others in a single engagement on 22 May 1942, over the Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...
. Katō's death was a severe blow to the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force
The Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF; ja, 大日本帝國陸軍航空部隊, Dainippon Teikoku Rikugun Kōkūbutai, lit=Greater Japan Empire Army Air Corps) was the aviation force of the Im ...
.[Sakaida 1997, p. 27.]
The Air Ministry's replacement for the Blenheim as a daylight bomber, another Bristol design, the Buckingham
Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...
, was overtaken by events and changes in requirements, and considered inferior to the de Havilland Mosquito
The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or ...
, and as such did not see combat. The final ground-attack version – the Blenheim Mk V – first equipped 139 Squadron in June 1942. Eventually thirteen squadrons – mainly in the Middle East and Far East – received this variant but operated them generally only for a few months.
First attack on the Japanese carrier force in the Pacific War
On 9 April 1942, nine Blenheims from the 11 Squadron RAF attacked Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's ''Kidō Butai''; the Imperial Japanese
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...
main carrier battle group
A carrier battle group (CVBG) is a naval fleet consisting of an aircraft carrier capital ship and its large number of escorts, together defining the group. The ''CV'' in ''CVBG'' is the United States Navy hull classification code for an airc ...
. The Blenheims approached undetected by the A6M2 ''Zero'' combat air patrol
Combat air patrol (CAP) is a type of flying mission for fighter aircraft. A combat air patrol is an aircraft patrol provided over an objective area, over the force protected, over the critical area of a combat zone, or over an air defense area, ...
(CAP) fighters, resulting in a total surprise-attack upon the Japanese carrier battle group.[Parshall, p. 145] While the bombers were able to drop bombs on fleet carrier '' Akagi'' from an altitude of ,[Shores 1993, p. 426–427] they fell off-target without scoring any hits. Four of the Blenheims were shot down over the carriers by CAP ''Zeroes'' (two of which were claimed by ace-fighter pilot Kaname Harada
was a Japanese flying ace of World War II. He was credited with shooting down as many as 19 Allied aircraft between late 1941 and when he was himself downed in October 1942. After recovering from the injuries sustained in this incident, Harada s ...
from the '' Soryu''), and by other Japanese aircraft returning from the earlier-strike on HMS ''Hermes''. This was the first time a Japanese carrier force had faced a concerted air attack in the Pacific War
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
.
Finland
In 1936, the Finnish Air Force became the first export customer for the Blenheim, ordering 18 Blenheim Mk Is, which were delivered from Britain between June 1937 and July 1938. Two years later, Finland obtained a manufacturing licence for the Blenheim. Before any aircraft could be manufactured at the ''Valtion lentokonetehdas
''Valtion lentokonetehdas'' (State aircraft factory) was a Finnish aircraft manufacturing company that was founded on 23 February 1928 from the IVL or I.V.L. factory (Ilmailuvoimien lentokonetehdas, Finnish Air Force Aircraft Factory), founded in ...
'' (State Aeroplane Factory) in Finland, the Winter War
The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...
broke out, forcing the Finns to order more aircraft from the UK. A further 24 British-manufactured Blenheims were ordered during the Winter War and were delivered from the RAF's own stocks.
In the aftermath of the Winter War, 55 Blenheims were constructed in Finland, the final aircraft being completed in September 1944; this brought the total number of Blenheims in Finnish service to 97 (75 Mk Is and 22 Mk IVs).[Perttula, Pentti.(1999]
''Bristol Blenheim."
''Backwoods Landing Strip: Finnish Air Force Aircraft'', ''FAF in Colour''. Retrieved: 27 June 2009. The Finns also received 20 half-completed ex-Yugoslavian Mk IV Blenheims captured by Germany, together with manufacturing tools, production equipment, and a huge variety of spare parts, although some of these had been damaged or otherwise destroyed through sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...
. Yugoslavia had ceased production of the Mk I and commenced a production run of Mk IVs just prior to the April 1941 invasion. The British-made Blenheims had RAF green interiors, RAF seat belts and instruments on imperial units, while Finnish-made Blenheims had medium grey interiors, Finnish-style seat belts and metric instruments.[Raunio, Jukka: Lentäjän näkökulma IV, Forssan Kirjapaino OY, 1998]
The Finnish Blenheims flew 423 missions during the Winter War, and close to 3,000 missions during the Continuation War
The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...
and Lapland War
During World War II, the Lapland War ( fi , Lapin sota; sv, Lapplandskriget; german: Lapplandkrieg) saw fighting between Finland and Nazi Germany – effectively from September to November 1944 – in Finland's northernmost region, Lapland. ...
. Blenheim machine-gunners also shot down eight Soviet aircraft. Thirty-seven Blenheims were lost in combat during the wars.
The Finnish Blenheims were divided on six series (''sarja''):
:Series I (BL-104..BL-121): 18 British-made Blenheim I bombers with doorless bomb bays. Arrived in 1938
:Series II (BL-146..BL-160): 15 Finnish-made Blenheim I bombers with deepened bomb bay doors. In service by 1941.
:Series III (BL-122..BL-133): 12 British-made Blenheim IV bombers ("long-noses"). Arrived in January 1940.
:Series IV (BL-134..BL-145): 12 British-made Blenheim I bombers. Arrived in February 1940.
:Series V (BL-161..BL-190): 30 Finnish-made Blenheim I bombers. In service by 1943.
:Series VI (BL-196..BL-205): 10 Finnish-made Blenheim IV bombers. In service by 1944.
:Series VII (BL-191..BL-195): six Finnish-made Blenheim I bombers, was cancelled in 1944.
Series I with doorless bomb bays could carry bomb load in the bomb bay and up to in wing cells. Series II, V and VI could carry load on bomb bay and on wing cells and fuselage racks. Series III and IV had the original RAF bomb bays and racks and could carry only load on bomb bay and on wing cells. The bomb bays, bomb bay doors and bomb racks of various series were modified on major overhauls to host bigger bombs.,
After the war, Finland was prohibited from flying bomber aircraft by the Paris Peace Treaty
The Paris Peace Treaties (french: Traités de Paris) were signed on 10 February 1947 following the end of World War II in 1945.
The Paris Peace Conference lasted from 29 July until 15 October 1946. The victorious wartime Allied powers (princi ...
, with Finland's Blenheims being placed into storage in 1948. However, in 1951, five Blenheims were re-activated for use as target tug
A target tug is an aircraft which tows an unmanned drone, a fabric drogue or other kind of target, for the purposes of gun or missile target practice. Target tugs are often conversions of transport and utility aircraft, as well as obsolescent comb ...
s, with the last flight of a Finnish Blenheim taking place on 20 May 1958.[Stenman ''Air Enthusiast'' Summer 1994, p. 35.]
The usual nickname of Blenheim in the Finnish Air Force was ''Pelti-Heikki'' ("Tin Henry").
Variants
;Blenheim Mk.I : Three-seat twin-engined light bomber, powered by two Bristol Mercury VIII radial piston engines, armed with a machine gun in the port wing, plus a Vickers K gun in the dorsal turret, maximum bombload . 1,552 built. Company designation Type 142M.
;Blenheim Mk.IF : Night fighter version, equipped with an AI Mk III or Mk IV airborne interceptor radar, armed with four machine guns in a special gun pack under the fuselage. About 200 Blenheim Mk Is were converted into Mk IF night fighters.
;Blenheim Mk.II : Long-range reconnaissance version with extra fuel tankage. One built.
;Blenheim Mk.III : Prototype for Mk.IV with lengthened nose.
;Blenheim Mk.IV/Bolingbroke I: Improved version, fitted with protective armour and extended nose, powered by two Bristol Mercury XV radial piston engines, armed with a machine gun in the port wing, plus two machine-guns in a powered operated dorsal turret, and two remotely controlled rearward-firing machine guns mounted beneath the nose, maximum bombload internally and externally. 3,307 built. Company designation Type 149
;Blenheim Mk.IVF : Long-range fighter version, armed with four machine guns in special gun pack under the fuselage. About 60 Blenheim Mk IVs were converted into Mk IVF fighters.
;Blenheim Mk.V/Bisley Mk.I: High-altitude bomber, powered by two Bristol Mercury XV or XXV radial piston engines. Company designation Type 160
Operators
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Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
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Surviving aircraft
In Finland, the sole surviving original Blenheim in the world, a Mk IV registered as BL-200 of the Finnish Air Force, has been completely restored and is now on display at the Aviation Museum of Central Finland
The Finnish Air Force Museum ( fi, Suomen Ilmavoimamuseo), formerly the Aviation Museum of Central Finland ( fi, Keski-Suomen ilmailumuseo), is an aviation museum located near Jyväskylä Airport in Tikkakoski, Jyväskylä, Finland. The museum ...
at Tikkakoski.
An airworthy Blenheim was rebuilt from a scrapped Bolingbroke over a 12-year period, only to crash at an airshow at Denham within a month of completion in 1987.
A replacement Bolingbroke Mk IVT was rebuilt to flying status over five years and painted to represent a Blenheim Mk IV in RAF wartime service. It began flying at air shows and exhibitions in the UK in May 1993, and was used in the 1995 film version of Shakespeare's
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
''Richard III
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...
''. This aircraft crashed on landing at Duxford on 18 August 2003, but after extensive repair and conversion to the Mark I "Short nose" version by The Aircraft Restoration Company (ARC) at Duxford
Duxford is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, about south of Cambridge. It is part of the Hundred Parishes area.
History
The village formed on the banks of the River Cam, a little below its emergence from the hills of north Essex. One of t ...
, was displayed to the public on 30 May 2014, and flew again, for 29 minutes, on 20 November 2014, following restoration at the Imperial War Museum Duxford
Imperial War Museum Duxford is a branch of the Imperial War Museum near Duxford in Cambridgeshire, England. Britain's largest aviation museum, Duxford houses the museum's large exhibits, including nearly 200 aircraft, military vehicles, artill ...
, Cambridgeshire, England. The aircraft appeared in the 2017 Christopher Nolan
Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British-American filmmaker. Known for his lucrative Cinema of the United States, Hollywood blockbusters with complex storytelling, Nolan is considered a leading filmmaker of the 21st century. ...
film ''Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.[Rethymnon
Rethymno ( el, Ρέθυμνο, , also ''Rethimno'', ''Rethymnon'', ''Réthymnon'', and ''Rhíthymnos'') is a city in Greece on the island of Crete. It is the capital of Rethymno regional unit, and has a population of more than 30,000 inhabitants ( ...]
, Crete. The aircraft belonged to No. 203 Squadron RAF and was downed by friendly fire on 28 April 1941. The Blenheim was moved to the Hellenic Air Force Museum
The Hellenic Air Force Museum was founded in 1986 and since 1992 has been located on Dekelia Air Base in Acharnes north of Athens. In opposition to the War Museum of Athens it displays air force history and is active in restoring and presenting o ...
for restoration.
The Kent Battle of Britain Museum in Hawkinge
Hawkinge ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Folkestone and Hythe district of Kent, England. The original village of Hawkinge is actually just less than a mile (c. 1.3 km) due east of the present village centre; the village of Hawkinge wa ...
has begun a project to build a Blenheim IVF using the remains of four Bristol Bolingbrokes. The Aircraft Restoration Company (ARC) provided the left-over parts from its own Blenheim restoration.
The Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History
The Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History (french: Musée Royal de l'Armée et d'Histoire Militaire, often abbreviated to MRA, nl, Koninklijk Museum van het Leger en de Krijgsgeschiedenis, KLM) is a military museum that occupi ...
in Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
exhibits a Bolingbroke painted as a No. 139 Squadron RAF Blenheim XD-A that crash landed in May 1940 in Belgium
Specifications (Blenheim Mk IV)
See also
References
Citations
Articles
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Bibliography
* ''Air Ministry Pilot's Notes: Blenheim''. London: OHMS/Air Data Publications, 1939.
* ''Air Ministry Pilot's Notes: Blenheim V''. London: OHMS/Air Data Publications, 1942.
*
* Barnes, C.H. ''Bristol Aircraft Since 1910''. London: Putnam, 1970. .
* Boiten, T. ''Bristol Blenheim''. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK: The Crowood Press, 1998. .
* Bowyer, C. ''Bristol Blenheim''. London: Ian Allan, 1984. .
* Chorley, W.R. ''RAF Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War: 1939–40 v. 1.'' Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing, 1998. .
* Ciglić, Boris and Dragan Savić. ''Croatian Aces of World War II'' (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces – 49). London: Oxford, 2002. .
* Donald, David. ''The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft''. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1997. .
* Falconer, Jonathon. ''The Bomber Command Handbook 1939–1945.'' Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing Limited, 1998. .
* Frith, David. ''Pageant of Cricket.'' Melbourne: The Macmillan Company of Australia, 1987. .
*
* Keskinen, Kalevi et al. ''Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia 10, Bristol Blenheim'' (in Finnish). Loviisa, Finland: Painoyhtymä Oy, 2004. .
* Jefford, C.G. ''RAF Squadrons: A Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of All RAF Squadrons and Their Antecedents Since 1912''. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing, 2nd edition, 2001. .
* Lake, Jon
''Blenheim Squadrons of World War 2''.
Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 1998. .
*
* Mackay, Ron. ''Bristol Blenheim in Action''. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1998. .
* March, Daniel J., ed. ''British Warplanes of World War II''. London: Aerospace, 1998. .
* Marttila, Jukka. ''Bristol Blenheim – Taitoa ja tekniikkaa'' (in Finnish). Vantaa, Finland: Blenimi-Publishing, 1989. .
* Mason, Francis K. ''The British Bomber Since 1914''. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1994. .
* Mondey, David. ''The Hamlyn Concise Guide to American Aircraft of World War II''. London: Aerospace Publishing Ltd, 1996. .
* Moyes, Philip J.R. ''The Bristol Blenheim I (Aircraft in Profile 93)''. Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications, 1966.
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* Oughton, James D. ''Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV (Aircraft in Profile 218)''. Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1971.
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* Sakaida, Henry
''Japanese Army Air Force Aces 1937–45.''
Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 1997. .
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* Stenman, Kari. "Staying Power: The Bristol Blenheim in Finnish Service". ''Air Enthusiast
''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to '' Air International'' maga ...
'', No. 54, Summer 1994. pp. 26–35.
* Thomas, A. ''Bristol Blenheim (Warpaint No. 26).'' London: Hall Park Books, 2000. .
* Warner, Graham. ''The Bristol Blenheim: A Complete History''. London: Crécy Publishing, 2nd edition 2005. .
* Warner, Graham. "Spirit of Britain First: A Pictorial Tribute to Britain's Airworthy Blenheim". ''Air Enthusiast
''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to '' Air International'' maga ...
'', No. 65, September–October 1996, pp. 68–69. .
* Wheeler, Barry C. ''The Hamlyn Guide to Military Aircraft Markings.'' London: Chancellor Press, 1992. .
External links
RAF Bristol Blenheim history
No. 211 Squadron RAF
Blenheim Society
Aircraft Restoration Company
Finnish Mk IV Blenheim restoration
* ttp://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1938/1938%20-%201413.html "How the Bristol Blenheims are erected"; ''Aircraft Engineer'' (supplement to ''Flight''), 19 May 1938
"In the air IV – Flying the Blenheim"; ''Flight'', 15 November 1945
{{Authority control
Blenheim
1930s British bomber aircraft
1930s British fighter aircraft
World War II British bombers
World War II British night fighter aircraft
Mid-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1935
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World War II aircraft of Finland