"Blenheims Over Norfolk"
Ref: SWA-SB16
by Stephen Brown
Overall size 33" x 23"
Edition size: 350
Blenheim pilots built an enviable reputation for their ability to fly at ultra low level. Skimming across fields or the sea at heights of less than 50 feet required great skill and concentration but significantly reduced the chances of being seen by enemy aircraft or anti-aircraft gunners.
Bristol Blenheim IVs of 105 squadron returning at low level over Norfolk, after one of many anti-shipping sorties carried out over the North Sea in 1941.
At the outbreak of the Second World War the Bristol Blenheim was Bomber Commands fastest and most effective aircraft and formed the mainstay of its offensive operations. Pressed into numerous different roles the Blenheim had many successes, including pioneering the first airborne interception radar for night fighting. Even so, compared with the powerful machines of the Luftwaffe, it was highly vulnerable and only achieved what it did as a result of the extraordinary bravery and determination of its aircrews.