Written by
Steve "Pips" Travell

A Special Duties Lysander prepares to land and collect two American airmen from a field in Occupied France. It will also deliver arms and ammunition for the French Resistance fighters that have arranged the escape of the B-17 crew members.

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Overview

The Lysander was one of the first British aircraft to be designed expressly for the army co-operation role. Army co-operation had become an important part of RAF operations during the 1920’s and 30’s. During the early 1930’s, the army co-operation role was being carried out by variants of Hawker’s ubiquitous Hart light bomber biplanes – the Hawker Hector, and also the Hawker Audax and Hardy. In 1934, the Air Ministry issued Specification A39/34 for a replacement for the Hawker Hector biplane. Three companies, Hawker, Bristol, and Avro, were on the short list. Bristol submitted the Type 148 low wing monoplane; Hawker yet another Hart variant, and Alliott Roe showed his Avro 670. Westland was eventually included after some argument at the Air Ministry and submitted a high-wing monoplane design from “Teddy” Petter. The Bristol and Westland designs were selected as the most promising, and each company was given an order for two prototypes.

The Bristol Type 148 was a low wing monoplane based loosely on their Type 146 single-seat fighter design. It was similar in layout to the later North American Texan / Harvard trainer, but with higher performance, and proved to be an outstanding design. The Westland P.8 was Petter’s second design (his first was reportedly rejected because the Air Ministry considered him to be too inexperienced), and he had spent much time and effort finding out from the squadrons themselves what their main requirements were. His findings led him to believe that good forward view, easy flying characteristics, good low speed control, and ability to operate from small spaces would be the desired characteristics of the new aircraft. The high wing with full slots and flaps was a direct result of this study. In October, 1936, the Air Ministry selected the Westland aircraft, and allocated the name Lysander (all RAF army co-operation aircraft used classical names).

The first prototype (K6127) made its maiden flight on June 15, 1936 at Boscombe Down. After further handling trials at Martlesham Heath (where its short take-off and landing capabilities became obvious), it returned to Westland’s Yeovil airfield where much effort was spent on sorting out excessive trim changes during acceleration and deceleration.

In June, 1938, the Lysander Mk.I entered service with No 16 Squadron at Old Sarum, where it was used for message dropping and artillery spotting exercises. It was a very pleasant aircraft to fly and was well liked by the crews. During 1938 and 1939, seven RAF squadrons received Lysanders (mostly replacing Hawker Hectors), and by the time that WWII broke out, the new Mk.II (with Bristol Perseus engines) had replaced most of the older Mk.I’s. Many of the older Lizzies were sent to the Middle East.

When the Second World War began, four Lysander squadrons were sent to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). There they waited through the Phoney War until the hammer of the Blitzkrieg fell upon France and the Low Countries in May 1940. Lysanders were quickly in action performing spotting and bombing tasks, and suffered serious losses against the well-organised Luftwaffe forces. The crews fought bravely, but the Lysander squadrons were decimated. Despite the odds, some crews pulled off astounding successes. In one sortie, Flight Officer Doidge shot down a Henschel Hs 126 while his rear-gunner settled a Stuka on May 22. Pilot Officer Dexter and his gunner, AC Webb, each scored against Messerschmitt Bf 109’s on May 21 in a half hour running battle over Arras. More typical were the supply dropping missions to the defenders of Calais. In one particular mission, 16 Lysanders and Hectors sortied. Only two returned. On another, the Lysanders were attacked by over-eager Spitfire pilots.

The survivors carried out a massive amount of bombing sorties against German motor columns, losing many of their number to the murderous German Flak. Many Lysanders were lost on the ground to Luftwaffe strikes - damaged ones were set alight by their own crews as they retreated towards the coast. About 174 Lysanders went to France in seven squadrons. Eighty-eight were destroyed in air combat, about 30 were destroyed on the ground, and around 120 crew members were lost.

After the Armistice, Lysanders were assigned more pedestrian duties to perform, such as anti-aircraft calibration, balloon spotting, and more importantly, air-sea rescue, a task that they performed well. Curtiss Tomahawks began to replace Lysanders in the army co-operation role from early 1941.

One year after leaving France, tail between legs, the Lysander returned with menace. A clandestine organisation, Special Operations Executive (SOE) had a requirement to transport “packages” and passengers into and out of occupied France. In August 1941, No. 138 (and later 161) (SD) Squadron was formed to fly night time missions into France. Leaving from Newmarket or the secret Tempsford Aerodrome in the late afternoon, the matt black Lysanders would refuel at Tangmere, Lympne, or Hawkinge, and leave for the Continent as night fell. When it became apparent that the Lizzie needed to fly longer missions into France, the Mk.III (SD) and Mk.IIIa (SD) were modified from the Mk.III and Mk.IIIa by adding an under-fuselage fuel tank. A ladder was also fitted for easy access to the rear cockpit for the SOE operatives. It is simply astounding how the pilots navigated to small fields marked by three torches held by the fighting men and women of la résistance. At least one pilot found that the torches were held by Germans. Wounded in the neck, Sqdn Ldr Conroy made a hurried takeoff under machinegun fire, and flew back to Tempsford.

Around four hundred sorties were carried out up until the end of 1944. Two hundred ninety three “passengers” were delivered, and around 500 brought back.

Lysanders served with distinction in other theatres of battle. The first Lysander squadron in the Mediterranean theatre (No. 208 (AC) Squadron) arrived in mid-1939. They spent much of 1939 and 1940 flying artillery spotting and reconnaissance missions over the North African desert. When the Italians, and then the Germans, attacked Greece, nine Lysanders were hurriedly dispatched via Crete. They were unable to do much more than withdraw in the face of the Axis advance. Three were lost to Bf 109’s before they escaped from Greece. No. 6 Squadron used its Lizzies for policing duties in Palestine, before moving to the Western Desert for somewhat more difficult action over Cyrenaica, providing support for the besieged fortress of Tobruk. Both squadrons gave up their Lizzies for Hurricanes - No. 208 in June ’41, and “Shiny Six” in early ’42.

Lysanders of two squadrons (No. 28 Sqdn (AC) and No. 20 Sqdn (AC)) served in the China-Burma-India (CBI) theatre. They were involved in the retreat through Burma, and carried out close-support missions. Several were lost due to losing their own bombs during takeoffs on the very rough landing strips. No. 20 were the last Lysander squadron to use their aircraft in anger, and only changed to Hurricane IID “tankbusters” in mid-1943. They were part of the relief of Imphal where the Japanese advance on India was finally halted.

Lysanders served with some foreign air forces. The Canadians were the keenest adopters of the type, and after taking delivery of R2047 as a pattern aircraft in January 1940, built 75 Mk.II’s and 150 Mk.III’s. The Canadian Lysanders had improved cockpit heating systems due to the colder weather in Canada. Most served in Canada as target tugs and as communications aircraft. Some were sent to the UK for use by the Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons. A single Lysander was purchased by France (according to anecdotal reports as some recompense for a French test pilot breaking one of the undercarriage legs on a prototype). In 1939, 36 Lysanders went to the Türk Hava Kuvvetleri (Turkish Air Force), and six more to the Aer Chór na hÉireann (Irish Air Corps). The Royal Egyptian Air Force took 20; 18 new Mk.II’s, an ex-RAF Mk.I, and a Mk.III for their No. 1 (AC) Squadron.

Finland’s Ilmavoimat ordered seventeen Lysanders, but only twelve were delivered (during 1940). One was lost during the ferry flight. They were used during the Continuation War for reconnaissance, photographic survey, pamphlet and message drops, and ground attack. Most of them served in Lentolaivue 16. The Aviátion Militar Portuguesa (Portuguese Air Corps) received eight Lysanders by ship in September 1943. Some were reportedly supplied to the South African Air Force, but this is almost certainly incorrect. The author has found no evidence that supports this claim. Lastly, three went to the United States Army Air Force, probably for evaluation.

The last of the breed was delivered from Westlands in January 1942 and production ceased in Canada in late 1942. By the end of the war, Lysanders were only in large-scale use in Canada, and were fairly rare birds elsewhere. All RAF Lysanders were assembled for scrapping in January, 1946. Some examples operated as crop sprayers post-war. The last operational use of Lysanders was by No. 3 Squadron Royal Egyptian Air Force against the Israeli Air Force in the 1948 war with Israel.

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Variants

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Experimental Variants

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Specifications

* Only 12 bombs were carried on the Mk.IIIA. The fuselage carrier was not used.

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