Bristol Blenheim Mk IV

A press baron’s fast aircraft

Lord Rothermere, owner of the Daily Mail, ordered a private aircraft from Bristol to show how fast an aircraft Britain could build. The Type 142, designed by Frank Barnwell and named “Britain First”, was faster than the RAF’s fighters of the day when it flew in 1935. Rothermere gave it to the nation, and the Air Ministry ordered a bomber derived from it: the Blenheim.

The Mk IV’s nose was lengthened to make room for the navigator and bomb aimer, with its upper left side scalloped to keep the pilot’s view ahead clear.

The first days of the war

On 3 September 1939, the day Britain declared war, a Blenheim Mk IV flew to photograph the German fleet at Wilhelmshaven and became the first RAF aircraft over Germany. The next day Blenheims made the RAF’s first bombing attack of the war against German warships in the same port, and suffered losses.

By the time the war began, the Blenheim was no longer fast enough to escape German fighters, and its defensive guns were weak. In France in 1940 and in daylight raids its squadrons suffered very heavy losses.

Other roles

The Blenheim was also used as a night fighter and was one of the first night fighters to carry airborne radar. It fought with Coastal Command, over Malta, in North Africa, Greece and the Far East, and was later replaced by types such as the Boston and the Mosquito. Finland and Yugoslavia built it under licence, and the Turkish Air Force was among its users.