List of Bristol Blenheim operators

The following are units which operated the Bristol Blenheim:

List of Bristol Blenheim operators

A Finnish Blenheim Mk IV

Operators edit

Australia edit

Royal Australian Air Force

Canada edit

Royal Canadian Air Force

Article XV squadrons serving under direct command and control of the RAF, with RAF owned aircraft.
- No. 404 Squadron RCAF used Blenheim IVF (Apr 41 - Jan 43) with Coastal Command.^[1]
- No. 406 Squadron RCAF used Blenheim I and IV (May 41 - Jun 41) as night fighters.^[2]
- No. 407 Squadron RCAF used Blenheim IV (May 41 - Jul 41) while working up to operational status with Coastal Command.^[3]

Independent State of Croatia edit

Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske

Eight captured ex-Royal Yugoslav Air Force Mk I aircraft were acquired by the ZNDH from the Germans after the April invasion in 1941.^[4] Several survived to the end of the War, with one retreating to Klagenfurt Austria upon the collapse of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in May 1945.^[5]

Finland edit

Bristol Blenheim of the Finnish Air Force. Photo taken in March, 1944.

Finnish Air Force

Finland was the first export order for the Blenheim and 18 Mark Is were delivered between 29 July 1937 and 27 July 1938. A licence to local produce the aircraft was granted in April 1938 but none of the 15 ordered from State Aircraft Factory were delivered before the Russian invasion. Twelve new Mark IVs were diverted from RAF production and these were followed by 12 former RAF Mark Is.

Free France edit

Free French Air Force

No. 342 Squadron RAF

Nazi Germany edit

Luftwaffe

One damaged Blenheim Mk IV was captured during Battle of France in 1940. It was later repaired and used as special training aircraft from 1940 until 1942.^[8]

Greece edit

Hellenic Air Force

The Hellenic Air Force in its campaigns against Italy and Germany in 1940 and 1941, operated 12 Mk IVs (delivered before WWII without sights, bomb racks, wireless radios and intercoms) and 6 Mk Is (delivered in February 1941).^[9] In the Middle East, the Hellenic Air Force operated 19 Mk IVs (from January 1942 till January 1943) and 31 Mk Vs (from January 1943 till September 1943).

India edit

Royal Indian Air Force

Indonesia edit

Indonesian Air Force

One Blenheim Mk IV was captured during the Indonesian National Revolution from the IJAAF. It was re-engined with Nakajima Sakae engines.^[10]

Italy edit

Regia Aeronautica

Blenheim Mk.IV N3589 of No. 40 Squadron RAF landed in error at Pantelleria on 13 September 1940 and was evaluated at Guidonia airfield near Rome.^[11] One more was captured in Yugoslavia while two were seized in Italian East Africa but were recaptured when this territory fell into British hands.^[12] N3589 might be the Mk.IV appearing in a non-flying role in the movie Un Pilota Ritorna (1942) directed by Roberto Rossellini.

Japan edit

Imperial Japanese Army Air Service

At least one Blenheim Mk I and two Blenheim Mk IV wrecks were discovered in Semarang, Java in August 1947. It was either captured during the Malayan campaign or the Dutch East Indies campaign.^[13]

New Zealand edit

Royal New Zealand Air Force

No. 489 Squadron RNZAF

Poland edit

Polish Air Forces in Great Britain

No. 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron operated four aircraft of Mk Is and Mk IVs variants as trainers and hacks.
One Blenheim IV rebuild to VIP transport variant was used as personal transport aircraft of the General Władysław Anders, commander of 2nd Polish Corps

Portugal edit

Portuguese Air Force
Portuguese Naval Aviation

Romania edit

Romanian Air Force

Germany provided 6 captured ex-Royal Yugoslav Air Force Mk I aircraft to Romania in 1941,^[14] where they joined 12 Mk Is previously purchased from Britain.

The Royal Yugoslav Air Force acquired 24 Mk I aircraft from RAF stocks and subsequently undertook a licensed production run of some 36 aircraft. Tooling up for the production of the Mk IV was about to commence when interrupted by the Invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. Some 20 partly completed airframes, as well as production tools and spare parts were subsequently sold by Germany to Finland.^[14]

References edit

Notes edit

^ Kostenuk and Griffin, 1977, pp. 88-89
^ Kostenuk and Griffin, 1977, pp. 91-92
^ Kostenuk and Griffin, 1977, pp. 92-93
^ Neulen, 2000, p. 171
^ Likso and Canak 1998 p. 72.
^ ^a ^b Stenman Air Enthusiast Summer 1994, p. 35.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Stenman Air Enthusiast Summer 1994, p. 33.
^ Bączkowski, 1995, pp. 27
^ Shores, et al. 1987
^ "Indonesian aviation 1945-1950." 14 December 2005 at the Wayback Machine adf-serials.com. Retrieved: 10 January 2021.
^ http://www.cmpr.it/Bristol%20Blenheim%20catturato/bristol_blenheim.htm
^ Garello, Giancarlo; Gueli Marco (2007). Ali straniere in Italia - War Prizes. Apostolo Editore.
^ "Japanese Blenheims at Semarang, Java". aviationofjapan.com. 20 June 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
^ ^a ^b Savic and Ciglic 2002, p. 62.

Bibliography edit

Bączkowski, W. Samolot bombowy Bristol Blenheim Mk.I-IV, Typy Broni I Uzbrojenia, No.171 (in Polish). Warsaw, Poland: Bellona SA, 1995. ISBN 83-11-08512-9
Boiten, T. Bristol Blenheim. London: The Crowood Press, 1998. ISBN 1-86126-115-2.
Bowyer, C. Bristol Blenheim. London: Ian Allan, 1984. ISBN 0-7110-1351-9.
Jefford, C.G. RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988 (second edition 2001). ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
Keskinen, Kalevi et al. Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia 10, Bristol Blenheim (in Finnish). Loviisa, Finland: Painoyhtymä Oy, 2004. ISBN 952-99432-1-0.
Kostenuk, S. and J. Griffin. RCAF Squadron Histories and Aircraft: 1924–1968. Toronto: Samuel Stevens, Hakkert & Company, 1977. ISBN 0-88866-577-6.
Lake, Jon. Blenheim Squadrons of World War II. London: Osprey Publishing, 1998. ISBN 1-85532-723-6.
Likso, T. and D. Canak. Hrvatsko Ratno Zrakoplovstvo u Drugome Svjetskom Ratu (The Croatian Airforce in the Second World War). Zagreb, 1998. ISBN 953-97698-0-9.
Mackay, Ron. Bristol Blenheim in Action. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1998. ISBN 0-89747-209-8.
March, Daniel J., ed. British Warplanes of World War II. London: Aerospace, 1998. ISBN 1-874023-92-1.
Marttila, Jukka. Bristol Blenheim - Taitoa ja tekniikkaa (in Finnish). Vantaa, Finland: Blenimi-Publishing, 1989. ISBN 952-90-0170-3.
Mason, Francis K. The British Bomber Since 1914. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1994. ISBN 0-85177-861-5.
Neulen, H.W. In the Skies of Europe – Air Forces allied to the Luftwaffe 1939-1945. Wiltshire, UK: Crowood Press, 2000. ISBN 978-1-86126-326-1.
Savic, Dragan and Boris Ciglic. Croatian Aces of World War II (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces - 49). Oxford, Osprey, 2002. ISBN 978-1-84176-435-1.
Shores, C., B. Cull and N. Malizia. Air War for Yugoslavia, Greece & Crete – 1940-41. London: Grub Street, 1987. ISBN 978-0-948817-07-6.
Thomas, A. Bristol Blenheim (Warpaint No. 26). Denbigh East, Bletchley, UK: Hall Park Books, 2000. ISBN 1-84176-289-X.
Warner, G. The Bristol Blenheim: A Complete History. London: Crécy Publishing, 2nd edition 2005. ISBN 0-85979-101-7.

[1] Kostenuk and Griffin, 1977, pp. 88-89

[2] Kostenuk and Griffin, 1977, pp. 91-92

[3] Kostenuk and Griffin, 1977, pp. 92-93

[4] Neulen, 2000, p. 171

[5] Likso and Canak 1998 p. 72.

[Sten_AE_p35-6] Stenman Air Enthusiast Summer 1994, p. 35.

[Sten_AE_p33-7] Stenman Air Enthusiast Summer 1994, p. 33.

[8] Bączkowski, 1995, pp. 27

[9] Shores, et al. 1987

[10] "Indonesian aviation 1945-1950." 14 December 2005 at the Wayback Machine adf-serials.com. Retrieved: 10 January 2021.

[11] ttp://www.cmpr.it/Bristol%20Blenheim%20catturato/bristol_blenheim.htm

[12] Garello, Giancarlo; Gueli Marco (2007). Ali straniere in Italia - War Prizes. Apostolo Editore.

[13] "Japanese Blenheims at Semarang, Java". aviationofjapan.com. 20 June 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2021.

[Savic_and_Ciglic_2002,_p._62-14] Savic and Ciglic 2002, p. 62.

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