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Bombay Manufacturer : Bristol Aeroplane Company Number Built : 51 Production Began : 1939 Retired : 1944 Type : No. 216 Squadron RAF based in Egypt beginning in September that year received the first Bombay aircraft Although it was outclassed as a bomber for the European theatre, it saw some service with British-based 271 Squadron ferrying supplies to the British Expeditionary Force in France in 1940 In June 1940, French pilot Jean-Francois Demozay borrowed an abandoned Bombay to ferry himself and 15 troops from France to England, after which he became an ace with the RAF When the war with Italy began in June 1940, in the absence of more modern aircraft, 216 Squadron's Bombays were used as night bombers as well as in their principal role as transport aircraft The aircraft flew bombing sorties against targets in the Western Desert, including Benghazi and Tobruk, and against Italian Somaliland, until the buildup of Vickers Wellington bombers in Egypt allowed the Bombays to concentrate on transport operations Bombay's ferried supplies and evacuated the wounded during the Siege of Tobrukb while on 2 May 1941, Bombays of No. 216 Squadron RAF evacuated the Greek Royal Family from Crete to Egypt Later that month, Bombays played an important role in ferrying troops during the Anglo-Iraqi War Five Bombays were used by the fledgling SAS in their first official operation in the Middle East, a raid on five forward German aerodromes on 17 November 1941. Lieutenant General William Gott, the highest ranking British officer killed in the war, died when the Bombay in which he was being carried was shot down in the Western Desert on 7 August 1942. Bombays evacuated over 2,000 wounded during the Sicily campaign in 1943, and one crew was credited with carrying 6,000 casualties from Sicily and Italy before the type was finally withdrawn from use in 1944

Bombay