Page 17 - August 2019

Vickers Wellington MK. I
Ian Bazalgette VC Commemoration
75th Anniverary
Engine Day Run*
Lancaster Merlin Engine Run-ups* at 10:30 a.m.
Ian Willoughby Bazalgette, VC, DFC (19 October 1918 –
4 August 1944) was a Canadian-British pilot in the
Royal Air Force who was a member of RAF Bomber
Command in World War II. On 4 August 1944, piloting
an Avro Lancaster in a pathfinder role, Bazalgette and
crew flew to Trossy St. Maximin in France to mark a V-1
flying bomb storage cave. Bazalgette’s Lancaster was
severely damaged by flak prior to arrival at the target
and quickly set on fire. Despite the condition of his
aircraft, Bazalgette continued to the target and
accurately dropped his markers. After completing their
task Bazalgette ordered his crew to bail out, however,
two members of the crew were injured and unable to
jump.
Rather than saving himself and leaving the two men to
die, Bazalgette attempted to land the burning plane to
save his two crew members. Bazalgette landed the
plane, but it exploded almost immediately upon
alighting, killing all three airmen.
For his actions, on 14 August 1945, he was
posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
* Engine run-ups are subject to the aircraft being
serviceable and other factors. Times are subject to
change.
SCALE & KIT: 1/72 Airfix MODELER: Jaroslav Pomajzl
HISTORY: The Vickers Wellington is a British twin-engined,
long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-
1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, led by Vickers-
Armstrongs’ chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the
aircraft is its geodetic airframe fuselage structure, which was
principally designed by Barnes Wallis. Development had been
started in response to Air Ministry Specification B.9/32, which
was issued in the middle of 1932. This specification called for a
twin-engined day bomber capable of delivering higher
performance than any previous design. Other aircraft
developed to the same specification include the Armstrong
Whitworth Whitley and the Handley Page Hampden. During
the development process, performance requirements such as
for the tare weight changed substantially, and the engine used
was not the one originally intended.
The Wellington was used as a night bomber in the early years
of the Second World War, performing as one of the principal
bombers used by Bomber Command. During 1943, it started
to be superseded as a bomber by the larger four-engined
“heavies” such as the Avro Lancaster. The Wellington
continued to serve throughout the war in other duties,
particularly as an anti-submarine aircraft. It holds the
distinction of having been the only British bomber that was
produced for the duration of the war, and of having been
produced in a greater quantity than any other British-built
bomber. The Wellington remained as first-line equipment
when the war ended, although it had been increasingly
relegated to secondary roles. The Wellington was one of two
bombers named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of
Wellington, the other being the Vickers Wellesley.