Two Vickers Wellington ICs
of No.149 Squadron
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Aircraft - Locations - Group and Duty - Books
No.149 "East India" Squadron was a mainstay of Bomber Command, taking part on the Strategic Bombing campaign from its beginnings in May 1940 until the very end of the war.
Like many Bomber Command squadrons, No.149 began the war with an attack on the German fleet in September 1939, before the Phoney War set in. Once the night bombing campaign began the squadron's only breaks came when it converted from the Wellington to the Stirling, and then from the Stirling to the Lancaster.
Aircraft
January 1939-December 1941: Vickers Wellington I, IA, IC
November 1941-June 1943: Short Stirling I
February 1943-September 1944: Short Stirling III
August 1944-November 1949: Avro Lancaster I and III
Location
12 April 1937-6 April 1942: Mildenhall
6 April 1942-15 May 1944: Lakenheath
15 May 1944-29 April 1946: Methwold
Squadron Codes: OJ
Group and Duty
1939-1945: Bomber squadron with No. 3 Group
Bomber Offensive, Sir Arthur Harris.
The autobiography of Bomber Harris, giving his view of the strategic bombing campaign in its immediate aftermath. Invaluable for the insights it provides into Harris’s approach to the war, what he was trying to achieve and the problems he faced. Harris perhaps overstates his case, not entirely surprisingly given how soon after the end of the war this book was written (Read Full Review)
Wellington in Action, Ron Mackay. A well illustrated guide to the development and service career of this classic British bomber. Mackay looks at the early development of the Wellington and the unusual geodetic frame that gave it great strength, the period when the Wellington was the mainstay of Bomber Command and the many uses found for the aircraft after it was replaced in the main bomber stream.
Lancaster Squadrons 1944-45, Jon Lake. A well balanced look at the career of the Avro Lancaster in 1944-45, the period most famous for the systematic night bombardment of German cities. This was also the period that saw the Lancaster used to support the invasion of France, and the period that saw 617 Squadron drop Barnes Wallis's huge streamlined bombs with great precision. [see more]
