World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe A.W.38 Whitley medium bombers were designed by John Lloyd of Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft in response of Air Ministry Specification B.3/34 for a heavy night bomber. 207 of these mid-wing, twin-engined bombers entered service with seven squadrons between 1937 and the start of the European War and saw action (dropped leaflets over Germany) on the very first night that Britain declared war on Germany. They also participated on the very first bombing missions on Germany on the night of 19 Mar 1940 and on Italy in Jun 1940. Unlike their contemporaries that were used heavily in daylight raids, A.W.38 bombers were used mostly at night, therefore the casualty rate was relatively low for these bombers. After flying 8,996 missions and dropping 9,845 tons of bombs, they were made obsolete in late 1942, though they remained in service as transports until the end of the war. 269 aircraft were lost in action. During the model's lifetime, 1,737 were built.

A.W.38 Whitley Timeline

SPECIFICATIONS

Mk. V

Machinery	Two Rolls-Royce Merlin X liquid-cooled V12 engines rated at 1,145hp each
Armament	1x7.7mm forward Vickers machine gun, 4x7.7mm rear Browning machine guns, up to 3,200kg of bombs
Crew	5
Span	25.60 m
Length	21.49 m
Height	4.57 m
Wing Area	106.00 m²
Weight, Empty	8,768 kg
Weight, Maximum	15,196 kg
Speed, Maximum	370 km/h
Rate of Climb	4.10 m/s
Service Ceiling	7,900 m
Range, Normal	2,650 km
Range, Maximum	3,900 km

Photographs