Bristol Bombay

The Bristol Bombay was a British troop transport aircraft adaptable for use as a medium bomber flown by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War.

The first production Bombay flew in March 1939, with deliveries to No. 216 Squadron RAF based in Egypt beginning in September that year. Although it was outclassed as a bomber for the European theatre, it saw some service with British-based 271 Squadron ferrying supplies to the British Expeditionary Force in France in 1940. In June 1940, French pilot Jean-Francois Demozay borrowed an abandoned Bombay to ferry himself and 15 troops from France to England, after which he became an ace with the RAF.

The Bombay’s main service was in the Middle East, particularly with 216 Squadron, which operated most of the Bombays built at some stage. When the war with Italy began in June 1940, in the absence of more modern aircraft, 216 Squadron’s Bombays were used as night bombers as well as in their principal role as transport aircraft. The design bomb load of 250 lb bombs under the fuselage was supplemented by improvised bombs thrown out of the cargo door by hand. The aircraft flew bombing sorties against targets in the Western Desert, including Benghazi and Tobruk, and against Italian Somaliland, until the buildup of Vickers Wellington bombers in Egypt allowed the Bombays to concentrate on transport operations.

In the transport role, they ferried supplies and evacuated the wounded during the Siege of Tobruk, while on 2 May 1941, Bombays of No. 216 Squadron RAF evacuated the Greek Royal Family from Crete to Egypt. Later that month, Bombays played an important role in ferrying troops during the Anglo-Iraqi War. Five Bombays were used by the fledgling SAS in their first official operation in the Middle East, a raid on five forward German aerodromes on 17 November 1941.

Lieutenant General William Gott, the highest ranking British officer killed in the war, died when the Bombay in which he was being carried was shot down in the Western Desert on 7 August 1942. He was about to assume command from General Claude Auchinleck. His death opened the way for General Bernard Montgomery to take over.

Bombays evacuated over 2,000 wounded during the Sicily campaign in 1943, and one crew was credited with carrying 6,000 casualties from Sicily and Italy before the type was finally withdrawn from use in 1944

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•