Research

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.

When war was declared in September 1939, the New Zealand government waived its claim to Wellington bombers, ordered but not yet delivered, and put them at the disposal of the Royal Air Force. The government requested that a squadron be formed from the New Zealand Flight, and so begins the story of 75 (NZ) Sq.

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.

When we think of the aircraft flown by crews of Bomber Command, thoughts typically turn to the ‘heavies’ - the Lancaster, Stirling and Halifax – and the nimble, multi-purpose Mosquito and perhaps the iconic Wellington. However, several other aircraft were used by Bomber Command through the course of WWII.

The Royal New Zealand Air Force was founded on 1 April 1937, just two years before the outbreak of WWII. Courtesy of the Air Force Museum of New Zealand, Michelle Sim tells the story of the formation of the RNZAF.