WELLINGTON BOMBER, WIDOW MAKER 1944 WW2

[fancythathat]

Wellington Bomber - Window breaker, aerial bombing does not win wars

[skintrade]

Someone would call the Wellington a 'poor mans lancaster' but its sure could take a lot of punishment

[signofthetimes0760]

My godfather flew in one of these in WWII in Burma and yes, he was a tail gunner. Now in his 80's he will not fly in a commercial aircraft, but given the opportunity he would get back in a Wellington in a heartbeat. He says he felt perfectly at ease in the tail section.

[TOPCAMERMAN]

Hi thanks for that the more information we can get the better

Regards T.C.

[whar29]

Wellington designed by RK Pierson Chief Designer Vickers Arsmstrong.

[CaptBubble]

@whar29 Barnes Wallis surely? Wallis certainly designed the geodetic structure for Wellingtons, and used them to test Bouncing Bombs

[TOPCAMERMAN]

Hi thank you for your comments and very interesting information.

Regards T.C.

[mmcceng77]

Wellington bombers made trips over Krautland for two years before Pearl Harbour..

Britain held the fort; the US made it safer.......eventually

[kikque]

My great uncle completed 33 missions (30 mission tour plus 3 special missions) on Wellingtons as a pilot. According to his logbook he was hit by flak on at least 3 missions, wounding his rear gunner on one occasion and losing an engine. He also photographed a German warship at low-level over Norway, sorry I can't remember which ship it was (I might post the photo). Unfortunately he died on a cross-country night flight in '43. Thanks for all these videos TOPCAMERAMAN, all the best.

[TOPCAMERMAN]

Thank you for you for your most interesting comments and I would love to see that photo please send it to JWW92BG@AOL.COM

Kind Regards John T.C.

[55bloke]

Didn't the early versions of the B 26 have a narrower wingspan? The later, wider span versions were less challenging to fly, I think, hence the reduction in the loss rates.

[TOPCAMERMAN]

@55bloke Hi thanks for for your comment, I am sorry but I dont no the answer to this maybe some one will pick up on this and give us the answer.

Regards T.C.

[moogug]

Great rare colour footage of this famous aircraft (Wellington). There should be one flying today.

[Tractorboy98an99]

My nans first husband was shot down in the south of France in a wellington bomber on the 11th feb 1944, i have all the flight log details , height of bombing runs and co ordinates to the planned bomb site they never made most of it is in coded letters so i dont understand it will have to get it translated for me. his first mission in the wellington was 1942 in december, He started out in a dominie aircarft

[SuperAncientmariner]

Why do people never mention that Barnes Wallace also designed the R 100 airship.

[MrTambopaxi]

How/why did the Wellington get its negative nickname, the Widowmaker?

[SuperAncientmariner]

@MrTambopaxi  Listen to the narrative.

[Stanthwaite]

@MrTambopaxi It didn't, he was referring to the B26 also on the film. The B26 was quite hard to fly and suffered heavy losses, hence the nickname.

[jers59]

@Stanthwaite Actually the B26 Marauder had the lowest casualty rate ofany bomber in WW2 true it was difficult aircraft to learn to fly and land but once the pilots mastered it the B26 was safe aircraft

[Stanthwaite]

@jers59 I'm not going to dispute your statistics, but it's a matter of record that it was known as the widow maker, and as you rightly point out it was a difficult aircraft to master. It improved as an aircraft as the war progressed, and while it may have ended the war with the lowest loss rate its early incarnations did suffer from a lot of problems in take off and landing, hence a high loss rate.

[hgwman]

@MrTambopaxi It wasn`t nick-named the widowmaker, or at least never by the British, it was always known afectionately as `Wimpey` after the character in Popeye.

[wimbles22]

my grandfather flew one of these, he was shot down and taken to stallagluft 3 though. he was like the cartographer for the great escape. shame i never met him.

[TOPCAMERMAN]

Thank you for your comment young man and yes your grandfather could have told you some stories.

J

[spitfireJEJ]

I take it this is where the so called Santa Pod raceway now is. Quite correct Sahbfan. Wallis designed (and calculated) the structure of the Wellington but not the shape and overall aerodynamic specification which was indeed the work of Rex Peirson. Geodetic structure became obsolete as aircraft speeds increased which led to problems with the fabric covering which began to balloon and flap. This was not entirely solved by substituting it for other materials.

[TOPCAMERMAN]

Thank you for your comments and yes this is now Santapod raceway,and thanks for the most interesting information on the aircraft.

[louiseme]

Wish the video was longer

[TOPCAMERMAN]

Hi thank you for your comment the DVD is 1hr 30 mins long

[whowantsabighug]

my grandad was a eletrician on these and spitfires in burma, north africa and italy

[SAHBfan]

The Wellington was NOT designed by Barnes Wallice... It was designed by Reginald ("Rex") Pierson. Barnes Wallice worked for Vickers as a structural designer and the Wellington used his 'Geodetic Construction' techniques, but no way did he design the aircraft.

[nelsonsilk]

cool!my gramp was a rear gunner in a wellington

[nolifemerc]

did he live cause nobody survived that job

[carroj9]

yet the B26 had an excellent record and a low casualty rate in reality

[TheCottonTop]

Nice editing!

[DavidMed58]

5 stars =D

[snufu]

well looking at the B-17G taxing out, with the 'Triangle B' on the tail. It represents the 92nd Bomb Group based at Podington.

[AntC1981]

What airfield was this taken at?

[ianlanc]

nice, thanks for sharing