Great British Bombers of WW2, Handley Page Hampden.

Handley Page Hampden was one of Britain's best bombers at the early stages of the Second World War.

[jimspackman]

You missed the RNZAF from the list of operators. My grandfather flew in them with 489 Squadron between May and November 1943 when they were replaced with Beaufighters.

[KevTheImpaler]

An underrated aircraft I think. Guy Gibson flew one as a dive bomber.

[stephensmith]

Those casualty numbers are very sobering.

[paulcazza]

Bruce Lewis on page 27 of "Aircrew" (1991) suggests that the actual operational load for the Hampden was less than half the quoted 4, 000lbs by 1941 and that the speed - cruising and top speed would have been less than the figures quoted here. He suggests these sort of figures were Air Ministry propaganda. Specifically he writes, "Powered by two Bristol Pegasus XVIII engines of 980 hp each, it is surprising how wildly, as with other aircraft of the day, the performance and bomb-carrying capacity were exaggreated in the press and popular pblications." I am absolutely not an expert capable of knowing for certain if Lewis was correct but I am highly respectful of his book.

[mikereger]

I suppose you can see a few elements preceding the Halifax. The nose and wings look similar.

[patrickrobinson]

It also had a gun in right side of the nose