Aircraft

The Bristol Blenheim, which was used both as a medium bomber and a fighter in the first two years of the war. RNZAF 489 Sq. also flew Blenheims in Coastal Command, and they were still being used as training aircraft until the end of the war.

The Handley Page Hampden was one of the three main bombers of RAF Bomber Command at the start of World War II. Nicknamed the "Flying Suitcase" for its cramped crew quarters, the Hampden had a distinctive appearance with twin tail fins and a slender fuselage.

Perhaps the most iconic of the bombers in service with RAF Bomber Command at the outbreak of war, when hostilities broke out, thirty Vickers-Armstrong Wellingtons, intended for the fledgling RNZAF in New Zealand were offered back to Britain and used to equip the newly formed No. 75 (NZ) Squadron RAF.

Beginning our series on the aircraft flown by Bomber Command, the Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley was one of the three primary bombers in service with the RAF at the outbreak of World War II.