Vickers Wellington Bomber

The Vickers Wellington, affectionately known as the "Wimpy," was armed with twin .330 machine guns in the nose and tail turrets. It also had 2 manually-operated .303 guns in the beam positions and could carry a 4,500 lb bomb load. Slow speed, limited ceiling, and a small bomb load soon made the Wellington obsolete, although one significant design advantage was Barnes-Wallace's geodetic lattice-work fuselage construction. This made the Wimpy extremely tough, and it often survived battle damage which would have destroyed other Aircraft.

"The Flying Cigar" was an occasional nickname for the Vickers Wellington Bomber, more commonly known as the "Wimpy". The term "Flying Cigar" alludes to the shape of the fuselage as seen from the profile perspective.

After having early-on proved the inadequacy of the turret fire-power in fending off attacking fighters during daylight attacks, the Wellington went on to build up a great reputation for reliability and ruggedness in night bombing operations. In April 1941, they were the first to drop the deadly "block-buster" bomb, during a raid on Emden, and they helped to initiate the Pathfinder target-indicating tactics. In service, the Wellington was known as "The Wimpy", after J. Wellington Wimpy, Popeye's friend.

428 Ghost Squadron

The motto of 428 (Bomber) Squadron, or "Ghost" Squadron as they were known, was USQUE AD FINEM - "To the very end."

The Badge of 428 Ghost Squadron is, in a shroud, a death's head. The badge refers to the Squadron "Ghost" designation earned through many hours of night bombing operations, and also the death and destruction which it carried to the enemy.

Squadron History

During the war years No. 428 Ghost Squadron was a Heavy-Bomber Squadron. It was formed at Dalton, Yorkshire, on 7th November 1942, as a bomber unit of No. 4 Group. On 1st January 1943, it transferred to No. 6 (RCAF) Group, with which it operated against enemy targets until 25th April 1945 - about a fortnight before VE Day. Early in June 1943, the squadron moved to Middleton St. George, its base for the remainder of its period in the United Kingdom.

During The Cold War it was re-formed as a night-fighter squadron at Uplands on 21 June 1954 and flew the CF-100. No. 428 AW(F) Squadron was disbanded on 31 May 1961.

Operational History

First Operational Mission in WWII: 26th/27th January 1943 - 5 Wellingtons bombed Lorient.

Last Operational Mission in WWII: 25th April 1945 - 15 Lancasters bombed gun batteries on island of Wangerooge.

Battle Honours

English Channel and North Sea 1943-44, Baltic 1944, Fortress Europe 1943-1944, France and Germany 1944-45, Biscay Ports 1943-44, Ruhr 1943-45, Berlin 1943-1944, Normandy 1944, German Ports 1943-45, Biscay 1943-44 Rhine