WELLINGTON: THE GEODETIC GIANT

Overshadowed in history by the Lancaster and Flying Fortress, the twin-engined Vickers Wellington was in fact one of the true war-winning aeroplanes. Its geodetic construction, designed by Barnes Wallis, conferred immense strength coupled with light weight, and it could haul a 4,000 lb 'cookie' to targets in the heart of Nazi territory. The aircraft was well liked by its crews, whose individual stories form the core of this book. It did not have a high ceiling or an exceptional range, but it could be dived at speeds well beyond its design specification without losing a wing, as more than one crew found in their endeavour to evade a prowling night fighter!

The 'Wimpy', as it was affectionately known, served as a tactical and strategic bomber by day and by night; as a maritime reconnaissance machine; as an anti-submarine aircraft; as a minelayer, as a torpedo-bomber, and as an aerial truck dropping supplies to partisan groups in occupied Europe. Drawing extensively on first-hand accounts from men who flew, or flew in, 'Wimpys', Martin Bowman here gives an unparalleled view of what the aeroplane was like whether dropping a torpedo at fifty feet or evading the searchlights and the flak over the Ruhr; whether minelaying by moonlight down the Danube or chasing a U-boat with searchlight and depth charges. Also included are exciting tales of escape and evasion, when aircraft were shot down and some of their crew survived to tell their stories afterwards.

Above all, though, this is the story of the Vickers Wellington as seen by the men who flew it operationally over deserts, oceans and mountains in virtually every theatre of war, often with failed engines or unserviceable electrics and navigation equipment. Without its rugged and inspired construction, many of those men would not have lived to tell their tales.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

The Author Martin Bowman is married with three children and lives in Norwich where he is a sales executive with a firm specialising in word processors. He has managed to turn his fascination with the activities of American and RAF bomber crews into a rewarding part-time career as an author of several books about wartime US Air Force operations in Europe, including Fields of Little America and the best-selling Castles in the Air.

His researches for these and Wellington have involved many years of painstaking fact-finding throughout the world, as well as detailed correspondence with RAF and Commonwealth aircrew. He continues to research the history of aviation and is currently working on two further projects about the US Air Forces and the RAF.