The Mighty Wimpy

Wellington LN 323 of 150 Squadron gets airborne at Kairouan in the Fall of 1943 (Photo IWM)

So much has been written on the Wellington (see Bibliography on History page) that it would be redundant to repeat much of it here. As well, there are several excellent sites devoted to the Wellington on the Web to which you can link by clicking the link buttons below. What is significant, is to understand how the Wellington became the main RAF night bomber in the Mediterranean Theatre and why it was such an effective aircraft in that role.

During the time period - Summer 1943 - Fall 1944 - the Wellington X was the the aircraft to be used on squadron. Most experts agree that the Mark X represented the ultimate development of Barnes Wallace's geodetic airplane. It had started the war designated as a heavy bomber, but by 1943 was considered a medium. Powered by two Bristol Hercules VI or XVI radial engines and constructed of new light aluminum alloy covered with doped canvas, the Wellington was, in many ways, becoming obsolescent by 1943. But consider this - a fully loaded and crewed B-17 or B-24 could carry only about 4500 lbs of war load on a daylight operation. The Wellington, a much smaller and cheaper aircraft, regularly flew with this same load - a standard bomb load for short to medium distances being 9 x 500 lb. MC bombs or 810 x 4 lb incendiaries. In later raids in the summer of 1944 records show bomb loads of 6,500 lb. being carried over short distances in the tactical role. The Wimpy could, with a specially modified bomb bay, carry the 4000 lb HC "cookie" or "blockbuster" bomb and most squadrons had at least two "cookie kites" modified to carry this weapon partly inside and partly outside the aircraft.

A 4000 lb. "Cookie" is prepared for loading into a Wimpy at Kairouan (photo:Ray Sedger)

The Wimpy also could carry two 1000 lb. magnetic or acoustic naval mines, with which the crews of 150 mined the Danube River at night from less than 150 feet. It was also able to carry two naval torpedoes as an anti-shipping night torpedo bomber or 4 Torpex depth charges and a Leigh Light for antisubmarine patrol. For longer trips, overload tanks were required, with a resultant loss in war load capacity. Few aircraft of the Second World War can claim the versatility of the Wellington - it is an aircraft that is in the same company as The Mosquito, the JU 88, and the Lancaster for overall mission capability.

 One of only two complete Wellingtons still on display (photo: J.A. Long)

The Wellington in the Middle East was normally crewed by 5 airmen - a pilot, who was also the captain (or "skipper") of the airplane, regardless of his rank; a navigator whose job it was to plot the course of the aircraft to and from the target, using a minimum of aids - in fact he navigated much as Columbus had; a wireless operator who was in charge of "listening out" for signals from base and for sending signals in an emergency by Morse code; a bombaimer whose job it was to accurately place the bombs on the selected target as well as help with the navigation and piloting; and a rear gunner in a powered rear turret armed with 4 .303 cal machine guns whose main job was to watch for fighters and give the pilot commands for evasive maneuvers or to fire on the enemy aircraft. A front turret was fitted but seldom used. In an emergency, the bombaimer would man the front guns. When an attacking aircraft was spotted the Rear Gunner's command "Corkscrew port ... Go!" would take precedence over any other commands on the intercom and the pilot would immediately throw the aircraft into the "dipsy doodle" of this maneuver without question. Trust and teamwork were thus absolutely critical for a crew to survive in the hostile air over the Balkans and Italy. Similarly on the "run up" to the target the pilot would head the aircraft in the general direction of the target, while the bomb bombaimer, lying flat on the bombing couch covering the escape hatch, would give commands to the pilot after the bomb doors had been opened for the bombing run. After selecting the type and sequence of bomb drop on his "mickey mouse", the bombaimer would watch through his bombsight as the target came into his view along the drift wires. To keep the target between the wires, he had set the compass direction, airspeed and wind drift into the sight and then he steered the aircraft by calling out directions to the pilot to keep the target on line. To avoid confusion the command "Left " was always said twice - and the pilot tried to as much as possible make a flat turn, Again teamwork was essential as the pilot had to instantly make the corrections called up from the bombaimer lying under his feet. A typical run up might sound like this:" Steady ... left-left.. riiigght...steady.. hold it there skip...left left...steady...bombs gone" as he pushed the bomb release button that released the bombs from their carriers in the bomb bay. After the photoflash had ignited and allowed the on board camera to take the target photo, the pilot was free to take evasive action. This was the most dangerous part of the operation - the aircraft flying straight and level at the same height and course - a perfect target for fighters , searchlights or radar directed guns.

A somewhat atmospheric period photo of 150 Wimpies lining up for takeoff from Kairouan (photo: Stu Dyson)

Operationally, the Wellington was well suited to its role in the dust and heat of the North African Desert and Southern Italy. Although the first Wellington was taken on strength by the RAF in 1938, they were still rolling off the assembly line at Vickers in 1944 for use in the Far East, The Med and on OTU's in the UK. Over 11,000 Wellingtons of all Marks were built, making it the most numerous bomber in the RAF. Her more famous comrade - the Lancaster, only saw over 7,000 built. The Wellington was obsolete for Main Force duties with Bomber Command by mid 1943 and AVM Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris was loath to see any squadrons, aircrew or aircraft diverted to the Middle East. The Wellington, however was still effective and since it was no longer wanted by Harris it was diverted to the Middle and Far East Theatres. The Wellington was quite well suited to the "night precision" and "close-in army cooperation" targets of 205 Group, but did not have the defensive firepower or bombload and range capacity to continue to serve in the saturation raids that Harris conceived after mid 1944. No Lancasters served in the MTO - they were too precious to AVM Harris.

The Wellington was beloved of its crews. The fabric covering the incredibly strong, yet flexible "geodetic" construction allowed "flak" and cannon shells to pass through without doing serious structural damage unless they hit something vital. Unlike an aircraft with a monocoque construction, the covering of the Wellington served only to streamline it and to keep out the draughts! Since each section of the geodetic construction, distributed weight and stress in many directions, great chunks could be shot away and the aircraft could still be flown home. There are stories of aircraft coming back with no fabric at all on parts of the tail or wings. The Wimpy, so called after Popeye's hamburger eating chum J. Wellington Wimpy, was always a mystery to USAAF crews. They called it "the rag bomber" and "the paper covered kite" or , less charitably "canvas covered coffins". They just could not understand the genius of Barnes Wallis - a flexible and incredibly strong aircraft for the minimum required weight. Flying at night did not require an aircraft to lift the huge defensive armament of the B-17 or B-24. Thus, the actual war load could be increased.

150's Wellington X MF 244 showing the geodetic framework and battle damage after a raid. (photo: Frank "Nobby" Clarke)

The Wellingtons would not have been the force that they became without the skill and dedication of the ground crew (fitters, riggers and armourers) who serviced them. Working in conditions of extreme heat, dust and very poor living conditions and food, they kept the Wellington fleet at an incredible serviceability level, considering that every spare tire, every nut and bolt and every bomb and round of ammunition had to come from the U.K. or from North America.

One of the reasons that the Wellington was well suited to this theatre of war was its twin Bristol Hercules engines. Equipped with sand filters in the carburetor intakes, they were able to take the heat and dust better than a liquid-cooled engine like the Merlin. In fact, the Mark II Wellington, which was powered by twin Merlin engines, did serve for a time with 205 Group, but problems with overheating were a problem, so they were traded for the Mark III and X with the air cooled Hercules. In earlier Marks, equipped with Bristol Pegasus engines, single engined performance was described by one pilot as "a long controlled dive". While not stellar, one engined performance with the Wellington Mark X was much better and many aircraft were able to return to base with an engine out and feathered.

All in all, the Wellington did yeoman service with 150 Squadron. Some crews would have liked a larger bomb load, especially when long distances required overload tanks, and some gunners would have preferred .50 cal. guns to their .303's, but amongst veterans there are very few who are not proud to say that they flew a tour in Wellingtons and that they owe their lives to her rugged construction.

For more information on this interesting aircraft check the bibliography on the History Page of this site.

Click to go to "The Vickers Wellington Tribute Page"

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(photo: Harold Tudthorpe)

 The Queen of the Skies - A Mk. X Wellington in her natural environment

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