Machines - Whitley
It is one of the ironies of history that although the RAF started the Second World War believing that strategic bombing was the way to win, the RAF had no bomber in service that could fulfill the role expected of it. As late as 1936, the RAF's bombers were biplanes! They were characterized by short ranges, small bomb-loads and maximum speeds of 137 mph. The arrival a year later of the Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley, the first of three "medium" or twin-engined bombers, was the dawn of a new age -- sort of. The Whitley was designed as a combined night bomber and troop transport and it was initially expected to find service in the far-flung corners of the Empire where fighting against insurgencies or putting down tribal conflict often took place in remote locations poorly accessible by road. The Air Staff envisaged Whitleys flying in ground troops to these inaccessible places and then provided air support -- against forces without air defenses or opposing air forces....