Bristol Blenheim. Part fifteen. *FINAL POST*. The Blenheim during late war.

 

Production of the Bisley commenced at some Rootes plant in October 1941 and in November the Air Ministry changed its denomination to Blenheim Mk V on the basis that a different name for an aircraft with the same basic outline could lead to misleads. The original contract numbers ordered 1.195 total aircraft, though its number was eventually reduced to 942. The final production aircraft was delivered to from the Rootes Ltd. factory at Blyth Bridge, Staffordshire in June 1943.

The Mk V saw service for the first time in North Africa when, in the context of Operation Torch (the Allied invasion of French North Africa), four Royal Air Force (RAF) squadrons of No 236 Wing (Nos 13,18,114 and 614 to be more precise) were selected to transition to the Mk V. This change did not seem to please the crews of those squadrons as other RAF bombing squadrons were in the process to convert from Mk IV to the Douglas Boston or the De Havilland Mosquito which had better reputation. In November 1942 the four aforementioned squadrons were deployed to Camrobert airfield, in Algeria, at around 200 miles from Bizerte, their main target. 

In order to cut the risks of unescorted missions, the squadrons soon moved to forward airfields. On 17th November No 18 Squadron was completely destroyed, as an effective unit, during a ground attack mission when the twelve aircraft formation was attacked by Bf.109 belonging to JG 2. The whole attack took just five minutes. 

Blenheim Mk V units in North Africa overtook the Ground Support role by bombing enemy troop concentrations, supply lines and airfields for the next five months until the Axis surrendered in May 1943. By the end of the Tunisian Campaign, Nos 13 and 614 squadrons still operated the Mk V, but Nos 18 (reformed) and 114 were converted to the Douglas Boston. No 13 kept the Mk V for coastal patrols over Tunisian shores until late 1943, when they were converted to the Lockheed Ventura. No 614 squadron, on the other hand, was rebased to Sicily, where they flew the Mk V until February 1944 when the squadron was disbanded.

In the Middle East, two more RAF squadrons saw service with the Mk V. Nos 8 and 244 were based in Aden, tasked with the surveillance of the Red Sea between 1942 and 1944. In the Far East Theatre (FET), the four squadrons of No 221 Group, based in India, and later in Burma, operated the Mk V for attacks against Japanese targets. However, by the fall of 1943 they all were converted to more modern aircraft. 

In the United Kingdom, some Mk V remained active with Meteorological Flights and Operational Training Units until as late as July 1945, though most of the Blenheims were retired from the active inventory in mid-1944, ending its career with the RAF.

Sources:

1.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Blenheim

2. Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 88 - Bristol Blenheim in Action

3. Hall Park Books - Warpaint 26 - Bristol Blenheim

4.Osprey Publishing - Combat Aircraft 5 - Blenheim Squadrons of World War 2