Saturday, June 7, 2014

Bombay donated war planes to ruling British 1940-1945 2nd world war

- Spitfire VB BM 252 “Bombay City” while serving with No 132 Bombay Gift Squadron RAF in 1942
The presentation of aircraft as a means of supplementing public monies with private funds became commonplace in the first world war when hundreds were “presented”. In fact it was a purely public relations exercise, for the money went into the general funding of aircraft and a random production aircraft was chosen to bear the name of the donor. It was only in the second war when England stood alone and the gallant defense of the RAF inspired the world to give tangible aid. The Spitfire by its very name had caught the imagination of many during the second half of 1940 and hundreds of Spitfire funds were set up by public bodies, firms and clubs to raise money for more. There were door to door collections, boxes at displays of captured and shot down German aircraft. As public fervor rose, the PRO of the Ministry of Aircraft production (MAP) was made responsible for arranging public recognition for the donors. Undivided India was by far, the greatest supporter of aircraft and subsequently whole squadrons of the RAF during both the great wars, after all it was the “jewel in the crown” (the American ‘lend-lease’ system of the second war was off course the main contributor to the British war effort as a whole).
There was a precedent to follow of the earlier war in which by Aug 1917, funds for 437 aircraft had been presented. In that war a guide scale had been drawn up; £1,500 for a BE2c (70hp Renault), £2,250 for a Vickers Gunbus and £3,500 for a Short Floatplane. 



 


UH_AC_Bristol_Bombay_1935-thm.jpg Bristol Bombay
This night bomber entered service in 1935. Source: The Heyford Observer, May 13, 1967.








Caractéristiques du Bristol BombayMk.I


Mission : Transport









Équipage : 4 hommes





Motorisation : 2 Bristol Pegasus XXII à 9 cylindres en étoile refroidis par air de 1 010 CV





Dimensions : Envergure :
29.00 m



Longueur :
21.00 m



Hauteur :
5.00 m



Surface alaire :






Masse : À vide :
kg


En charge :
9060 kg






Performance : Vitesse de pointe :
309 km/h



Plafond :
7600 m



Taux de monté :
m/min



Rayon d'action :
1415 km






Armement ou charges utiles :
2 mitrailleuses de 7,7 mm
910 kg de bombes
24 passagers ou du fret













The above picture is of the Royal Ulster Rifles unloading from a Bombay on Salisbury Plain in August 1939.

216 Squadron RAF Bristol Bombay at Crete 1941 IWM CM 172.jpg

From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository