Canadian Warplanes 1: Vickers Wellesley

Vickers Wellesley

(IWM Photo, ME RAF 845)

Vickers Wellesley Mk. I (Serial No. L2673), coded KU-C, of No. 47 Squadron RAF based at Agordat, Eritrea, in flight over the rugged landscape of Eritrea, 1 March 1941.

The Vickers Wellesley was a medium bomber that was designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Vickers-Armstrongs at Brooklands near Weybridge, Surrey. It was one of two aircraft to be named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, the other being the Vickers Wellington.

Two Canadians serving in the RAF were KIA flying Wellesley (Serial No. K7731) in 1940, and (Serial No. L2659) in 1941, during the Second World War.

26 Aug 1940.  RAF No. 223 Squadron Pilot Officer Joseph Colin Smitheram, from Calgary, Alberta, was killed in action with the loss of his Vickers Wellesley (Serial No. K7731).

14 Nov 1941. RAF No. 14 Squadron S/L David Milledge Illsley, DFC, from Nictaux Falls, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia was killed when his Vickers Wellesley (Serial No. L2659) was lost during operations. Two of the crew, not Canadians, were also missing, believed killed.

The Wellesley was developed during the early 1930s in response to Specification G.4/31. The biplane Vickers Type 253 was effectively an early incarnation of the aircraft, sharing its radical geodesic airframe and many other features. The Type 253 was determined to be the best submission received by the Air Ministry, thus an order for 150 production aircraft was issued. The vast majority of the Wellesley's production run were supplied to the Royal Air Force (RAF), a total of six squadrons under RAF Bomber Command operated the type at its peak. While the type was considered to be obsolete by the start of the Second World War and thus unsuited to the European air war, the Wellesley was operated overseas in the desert theatres of East Africa, Egypt and the Middle East. The final Wellesley-equipped unit, 47 Squadron, ended its use of the type as a maritime reconnaissance aircraft, during September 1942.

The Wellesley was a single-engine monoplane with a very high 8.83 aspect ratio wing and a manually operated, retractable undercarriage. As it was not known how the geodetic structure could cope with being disrupted by a bomb bay, the Wellesley's bomb load was instead carried in a pair of streamlined panniers underneath the wings. The Wellesley Mk I had two cockpits but this was slightly changed in what was unofficially dubbed the Wellesley Mk II, whose pilot's canopy was extended to cover the navigator/bomb aimer's position that had been buried in the fuselage. The gunner retained a separate canopy. Only the pilot was provided with flight controls. The aircraft was furnished with a three-axis autopilot. (Wikipedia)

(BAE Systems Photo)

Vickers Wellesley (Serial No. L2654) showing the underwing bomb brackets.

(RAF Photo)

Vickers Wellesley (Serial No. K7718).

(SDA&SM Photo)

Vickers Wellesley (Serial No. K7721), RAF.

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(IWM Photo, H (AM) 379)

The pilot of a Vickers Wellesley of No. 14 Squadron, RAF, is assisted with his harness prior to take off from RAF Amman in Transjordan, c1940.

(RAF Photo)

Vickers Wellesley in flight.

(RAF Photo)

Vickers Wellesleys of No. 45 Squadron RAF, in flight over Egypt's fertile Nile delta.

(RAF Photo)

Vickers Wellesleys.

(IWM Photo. CM 645)

Vickers Wellesley Mk. I (Serial No. K7775), coded KU-N of No. 47 Squadron RAF based at Agordat, Italian Eritrea, cFeb-Mar 1941.

(RAF Photo)

Vickers Wellesley (Serial No. K7717), coded 148, test-bed for the Pegasus XXII LR engine. It has a full "NACA" engine cowl (rather than the simple Townend ring fitted on standard Wellesleys) mated to the fuselage with a streamlined fairing. Despite being an early production Wellesley the modifications seem to have included fitting the later-type flattened rudder and removing the tailwheel spat, although it retains the early-style gunner's canopy without a "notch". K7717 did not itself take part in any record-breaking flights. It was at first issued to 148 Squadron (hence the number on the side of the fuselage).

(RAF photo)

The long-range capabilities of the Wellesley were astonishing. To demonstrate the startlingly effective work the RAF Long Range Development Unit (LRDU) had carried out on the Wellesley, a widely publicised long-range flight took place in November 1938. The flight was to use three of the five LRDU Wellesleys. These aircraft differed from standard Wellesleys in several ways each designed to maximise range, the most immediately obvious being the replacement of the characterful Townend ring with a slick NACA-style low-drag engine cowling housing a more powerful Pegasus XII engine. Less visible, but as important, was the addition of a slew of cutting-edge technologies that included a constant speed propeller, three-axis autopilot and automatic mixture and engine boost controls. The aircraft was also given plentiful additional extra fuel capacity, bringing the total load to 1,290 gallons. The three aircraft set off on a daunting adventure to fly non-stop from Ismailia, Egypt to Darwin, Australia, a distance of 7,162 miles (11,526 km) on the Fireworks Night 1938. Two days later two of the three aircraft arrived at Darwin (one landed to refuel at Koepang 500 miles short of Darwin, Australia). The result was a world distance record that smashed the previous Soviet-held record by a decisive 1500 kilometres. The record would stand for over seven years when it was beaten by a B-29.