Corgi 1/72 Vickers Wellington Mk1A Medium Bomber 9 Sqdn RAF 1939 (AA34801)

Corgi 1/72 Vickers Wellington Mk1A Medium Bomber 9 Sqdn RAF 1939 (AA34801) | Antics Online

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> Corgi Aviation Archive > World War II, Bombers & Logistics

Corgi 1/72 Vickers Wellington Mk1A Medium Bomber 9 Sqdn RAF 1939 (AA34801)
The first RAF unit to be equipped with the Wellington was No.99 Squadron based at Mildenhall which received its first aircraft on 10th October 1938. On 4th September 1939, 14 Wellingtons from Nos.9 and 149 Squadrons attacked enemy warships off Brunsbuttel in an abortive raid in which most aircraft failed to find their target. Those that did were to see that their bombs were mostly ineffective against the shipping they attacked. This Wellington was piloted by Sgt. Frank Petts and was decorated in the standard dark earth and dark green upper surfaces with the night undersides for the night time bombing missions they were largely involved in following a disasterous final day bombing mission on 18th December 1939 which saw 12 of 24 Wellingtons destroyed. No more unescorted daylight raids were undertook till the end of the war and night bombing techniques were developed in which the Wellington featured strongly. 1/72 scale Wellington features rotating gun turrets, clear canopies working bomb doors with authentic bomb load and fully detailed crew.

The first RAF bombing attack of the war was made by Wellingtons of No. 9 and No. 149 Squadrons, along with Bristol Blenheims, on German shipping at Brunsbüttel on 4 September 1939. During this raid, the two Wellingtons became the first aircraft shot down on the Western Front. Numbers 9, 37 and 149 Squadrons saw action on 18 December 1939 on a mission against the Schillig Roads and Wilhelmshaven. Luftwaffe fighters destroyed 10 of the bombers and badly damaged three others; thus highlighting the aircraft's vulnerability to attacking fighters, having neither self-sealing fuel tanks nor sufficient defensive armament. As a consequence, Wellingtons were switched to night operations and participated in the first night raid on Berlin on 25 August 1940. In the first 1000-aircraft raid on Cologne, on 30 May 1942, 599 out of 1046 aircraft were Wellingtons (101 of them were flown by Polish aircrew). With Bomber Command, Wellingtons flew 47,409 operations, dropped 41,823 tons of bombs and lost 1,332 aircraft in action. Coastal Command Wellingtons carried out anti-submarine duties and sank their first enemy vessel on 6 July 1942; and versions fitted with a 48 ft (14.63 m) diameter metal hoop were used for exploding enemy mines by generating a powerful magnetic field as it passed over them. In 1944, Wellingtons of Coastal Command were deployed to Greece, and performed various support duties during the RAF involvement in the Greek Civil War. A few Wellingtons were operated by the Hellenic Air Force. While the Wellington was superseded in the European Theatre, it remained in operational service for much of the war in the Middle East, and in 1942, Wellingtons based in India became the RAF's first long-range bomber operating in the Far East. It was particularly effective with the South African Air Force in North Africa

> Corgi Aviation Archive > World War II, Bombers & Logistics