It was a design that, for the time, was very big, specially for a single-seater. It was a two bay equal span staggered biplane that was designed by A.A. Fletcher and manufactured by the Martinsyde Company. The first prototype made it to the skies in autumn 1915 powered by a 120hp Austro-Daimler engine.
The initial production version, however, was powered by a 120hp six-cylinder Beardmore engine and was armed with a single Lewis 0.303in mounted on the upper wings. Later an additional Lewis was added mounted in brackets to the port side of the fuselage in order to keep the tail of the airplane defended.
It was gradually replaced by the G.102 that was similar in design but it was powered by a 160hp Beardmore engine.
Initially it was intended to serve as a single-seat escort fighter, but due to its size it was reclassified as a day bomber. It was delivered to the Royal Flying Corps in mid 1916 with a total of 270 machines serving there. They served in France and the Middle East, however only one squadron, the No. 27 RFC was fully equipped with the G.100.
It wasn't very successful as a fighter due to its poor maneouvrability, however, it proved to be useful in the bomber role as it could carry a load of 260lb (120kg) of bombs under the main fuselage. It successfully performed that role from the mid 1916 until late 1917, specially in the Middle East Campaign where it also was used as a reconnaissance airplane given its stability and endurance (it could perform flights of five-and-a-half-hours)
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martinsyde_G.100
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
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