Written by
Jonathan Charles

Hampdens of No. 44 Squadron RAF take evasive action after completing their bombing runs over a city in the industrial Ruhr region of Germany during early Bomber Command attacks in the winter of 1940.

[ Top of Page | Feedback ]

Overview

The Handley Page Hampden was one of a pair of medium bombers developed for the RAF to the 1932 specification B.9/32. The G.V. Lachmann designed H.P.52 prototype first flew on June 21, 1936, a little later than its contemporary, the Vickers Wellington. It was some 20% smaller than its rival, faster and far more manoeuvrable, and yet could carry a similar payload almost as far. Although one engine handling proved tricky, it was quickly ordered into mass production with only minor changes.

The Hampden’s fuselage was very narrow and had a deep profile that tapered sharply into a slim boom aft of the mid mounted wing. This gave it a sometimes fatal resemblance to the Dornier Do 17, and earned it the nickname “the flying suitcase”. A gun position was sited in the nose for the bomb aimer/navigator with two more just behind the rear wing, one facing above and one below the rear tail boom. With no room for turrets, each gunner had only a hand-held Vickers K gun for defence, although a fixed Browning .303 in (7.7 mm) gun was also provided for the pilot. Below the wing, the bomb bay was able to handle a 4,000 lb (1,814 kg) bomb load, although half this was the normal load. Stressed skin aluminium construction was used throughout the design and to aid mass production both the fuselage and wings were built in three sections that were assembled late into the build process.

The wing featured a sharply tapering plan form, with hydraulic trailing edge flaps and leading edge slats to improve low speed handling. It housed six non self-sealing fuel tanks totalling 654 gallons (2,965 l) capacity and the undercarriage, which retracted hydraulically into the rear of the engine pods. An external bomb rack able to carry a 250lb (114 kg) bomb could be fitted outboard of each engine pod. Power was supplied by two 1,000 hp (746 kW) Bristol Pegasus nine-cylinder radial engines driving three bladed constant speed propellers. Napier Dagger engines were used on a version of the Hampden called the Hereford, but were so unreliable that production ended after only 150 had been built.

By September 1939 the RAF had received 212 Hampdens, which were initially employed in a series of costly and ineffective daylight raids on the German fleet near Wilhelmshaven. The Hampden was found to be highly vulnerable to enemy fighters, since like all British aircraft of the time it was lacking in armour protection, and had no self-sealing fuel tanks. The Hampden crews suffered particularly badly as the narrowness of the fuselage made it difficult to offer first aid or replace a wounded crewmember. Defensive firepower was also found to be woefully inadequate, particularly from beam attacks. The handheld drum-fed Vickers guns proved to be no match for cannon armed Messerschmitts. Heavy losses caused these daylight raids to be abandoned in late December, so over the winter of 1940, Hampden squadrons bombed German coastal targets or dropped leaflets by night.

In April, the Norwegian campaign saw them employed as the RAF’s first mine laying aircraft, with a single 1,500 lb (680 kg) magnetic mine housed snugly in the bomb bay. An attempt on April 12 to bomb German warships off the coast of Norway in daylight proved a disaster however. A Hampden formation of twelve aircraft lost six of their number to enemy fighters. Following this raid, Hampdens had their rear armament doubled; with two Vickers fitted to improved mounts in each rear position.

Hampdens were active throughout the summer of 1940 bombing channel invasion ports by night. On August 12/13 a Hampden pilot, Flt. Lt. Roderick Learoyd, earned Bomber Command’s first Victoria Cross (VC) for a daring low-level raid on an aqueduct that was being used to carry invasion barges to the coast. A second VC was won a month later by Hampden radio operator Sergeant John Hannah, who risked his life to put out a fire after his aircraft was hit by flak in the bomb bay.

For the next two years, the Hampdens were used to bomb occupied Europe by night. They were poorly suited to such work, since their cramped and poorly heated fuselage made them highly tiring aircraft to fly for the long and freezing cold night missions. They were used just once more by day, when on July 24, 1942 they formed part of a large daylight raid on the German warships Gneisnau and Prinz Eugen in Brest harbour. By September 1942 however, they had been completely phased out of Bomber Command.

During 1942, four squadrons of Hampdens were transferred to Coastal Command to begin a new career as torpedo bombers. Armed with a single 1,610 lb (730 kg) torpedo they operated successfully against German shipping in the North Sea. Two of these squadrons flew from Russian bases during the summer of 1942, after which the Red Air Force took over their aircraft. By December 1943, with the Beaufighter having taken over the torpedo role, the Hampden was finally withdrawn from the front line and restricted to training duties.

[ Top of Page | Feedback ]

Variants

* Converted from existing airframes.

[ Top of Page | Feedback ]

Specifications

[ Top of Page | Feedback ]