Armstrong Whitworth Whitley

Heavy bomber · Armstrong Whitworth · United Kingdom

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley
ⓘ licence & creditRAF (via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
Typical crew5
Engines2 × Rolls-Royce Merlin
First flight1936
Number built1,814

Photographs

Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Armstrong Whitworth Aw.38 Whitley. Whitley Mark III, K8994 ‘E’, of No. 10 Operational Training Unit, taxying at Abingdon, Berkshire.
ⓘ licence & creditStanley Devon / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Armstrong_Whitworth_Aw.38_Whitley._CH1218.jpgView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Armstrong Whitworth Aw.38 Whitley. Whitley Mark III, K8994 ‘E’, of No. 10 Operational Training Unit, taxying at Abingdon, Berkshire.
ⓘ licence & creditStanley Devon / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Armstrong_Whitworth_Aw.38_Whitley._CH1216.jpgView source & full licence →
A Royal Air Force Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber (serial K7218). This was probably a Mk.II used as a glider tug or transport later during the Second World War.
ⓘ licence & creditRAF / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Armstrong_Whitworth_III_tug_on_ground.jpgView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945-armstrong Whitworth Aw.38 Whitley Two Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mark Vs, N1373 'KN-J' and N1347 'KN-E', of No. 77 Squadron RAF, overfly Driffield, Yorkshire, on return from a night-reconnaissance sortie.
ⓘ licence & creditDaventry B J (Flying Officer), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-armstrong_Whitworth_Aw.38_Whitley_C928.jpgView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Armstrong Whitworth Whitley. Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mark V, Z9266 'ZA-K' of No. 10 Squadron RAF based at Leeming, Yorkshire, in flight. Z9266 was soon to be transferred to No. 77 Squadron RAF, with whom it went missing while on a raid to Dusseldorf on 28 December 1941.
ⓘ licence & creditHensser H (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Armstrong_Whitworth_Whitley._CH4450.jpgView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Armstrong Whitworth Aw.38 Whitley. Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mark V, BD496 'QA-E', of No. 297 Squadron RAF, base at Hurn, Hampshire, standing ready to emplane paratroops at Ringway, Cheshire, for a Combined Operations exercise..
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Armstrong_Whitworth_Aw.38_Whitley._CH6055.jpgView source & full licence →
Air Ministry Second World War Official Collection Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Bomber
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Air_Ministry_Second_World_War_Official_Collection_CH401.jpgView source & full licence →
A parachute soldier demonstrates the exit point from the tail of a Whitley bomber converted to parachute-dropping, RAF Ringway, January 1941. A parachute soldier demonstrates the exit point from the tail of a Whitley bomber converted to parachute-dropping, RAF Ringway, January 1941. The Whitley's rear turret was removed to create an exit platform, but this method of jumping proved laborious. The introduction of a circular hole cut into the floor of the fuselage enabled a 'stick' of ten men to jump in rapid succession.
ⓘ licence & creditTaylor (Mr), War Office official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_parachute_soldier_demonstrates_the_exit_point_from_the_tail_of_a_Whitley_bomber_converted_to_parachute-dropping,_RAF_Ringway,_January_1941._H6531.jpgView source & full licence →
Paratroops from the 6th Royal Welch Parachute Battalion parade at the end of their training.
ⓘ licence & creditMalindine E G (Lt) Puttnam L (Lt) Taylor (Lt) War Office official photographer. / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:6th_Parachute_Battalion.jpgView source & full licence →
Paratroopers from the 6th Royal Welch Parachute Battalion undergoing physical training at Ringway, UK. In the foreground a Whitley III is serviced.
ⓘ licence & creditMalindine E G (Lt) Puttnam L (Lt) Spender H (Lt) War Office official photographer. / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:6th_(Royal_Welch)_Parachute_Battalion_training.jpgView source & full licence →
IWM caption : Armourers prepare 500-lb GP bombs on tractor-drawn trolleys, for loading into an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mark V of No. 58 Squadron RAF at Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire.
ⓘ licence & creditDaventry B J (Mr) : Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:58_Squadron_Whitley_at_RAF_Linton-on-Ouse_WWII_IWM_CH_226.jpgView source & full licence →
AWM caption : ENGLAND. C. 1942. A HAMPDEN AIRCRAFT OF NO. 455 SQUADRON RAAF AT RAF STATION WIGSLEY STANDING IN FRONT OF A WELLINGTON BOMBER AT A BOMBER COMMAND BASE EARLY IN 1942. PORTION OF A WHITLEY BOMBER AIRCRAFT MAY BE SEEN BEHIND THE WELLINGTON'S STARBOARD WING. THESE THREE TYPES FORMED THE BACKBONE OF BOMBER COMMAND 1939-42. See also : * :File:455 Squadron RAAF Hampdens at RAF Wigsley WWII AWM SUK10371.jpg
ⓘ licence & creditnot stated / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:455_Squadron_RAAF_Hampden_at_RAF_Wigsley_circa_1942_AWM_SUK10370.jpgView source & full licence →
IWM caption : Whitley Mark V, T4162 'DY-S' "Ceylon", of No. 102 Squadron RAF, on the ground at Topcliffe, Yorkshire. It failed to return from a bombing raid on Cologne on the night of 1/2 March 1941.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:102_Squadron_Whitley_at_RAF_Topcliffe_WWII_IWM_CH_2052.jpgView source & full licence →
Scale comparison drawing of British WW2 medium bombers
ⓘ licence & creditEmoscopes 20:59, 7 April 2008 (UTC) / CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:British_WW2_medium_bombers_comparison.pngView source & full licence →
Orthographic projections of w:Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber
ⓘ licence & creditEmoscopes / CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Armstrong_Whitworth_Whitley.pngView source & full licence →

About

The Armstrong Whitworth Whitley was conceived from the start as a night bomber, and that decision shaped its war. Built to a 1934 requirement, the prototype flew from Baginton in March 1936, and No. 10 Squadron began converting to the type in 1937. Unlike the day-bomber Hampden and Wellington, the Whitley avoided the heavy daylight losses of the war’s opening months because it operated under cover of darkness.

Early marks used Armstrong Siddeley Tiger radials; the definitive Mk V adopted Rolls-Royce Merlins. A distinctive high wing incidence left it flying markedly nose-down in the cruise. The Whitley chalked up a string of firsts — the first British bombs on German soil in May 1940, the first raid on Berlin that August, and the first attack on Italy. Withdrawn from front-line bombing in 1942, it carried on as a glider tug, paratroop trainer and Coastal Command patroller.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley — historyofwar.org and Armstrong Whitworth Whitley — Wikipedia. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.

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