By 1946 BOAC had done over 57 million miles of wartime flying

Posted in Aviation, Historical articles, History, War, World War 2 on Tuesday, 27 August 2013

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This edited article about civil aviation originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 383 published on 17 May 1969.

Britain's first Mosquito, picture, image, illustration

Britain's first “Mosquito” was converted from a 'Mosquito MK IV', but later ones were from the MK VI, by Wilf Hardy

In August, 1939, one month before the start of World War II, Cabot and Caribou, strengthened versions of the Empire Flying Boat, were used by Imperial Airways on a series of eight regular transatlantic flights carrying airmail.

With the introduction of these huge flying boats came a remarkable innovation – they were refuelled while in flight.

These aircraft had completed 50,000 miles of flying when war was declared. It was planned that Cabot and Caribou should inaugurate the first British passenger service to America, but with the war they were transferred to R.A.F. Coastal Command for long-range reconnaissance work. Later, they were sent on special missions to Norway where they were destroyed by enemy action.

With the loss of these two planes went any hope of establishing a regular passenger service to the United States, at least for the duration of the war. In fact it was going to be nearly 20 years before we were able to fly an all-British commercial airliner from London to New York.

For the second time in 25 years, the aeroplane had become mainly a weapon of war. During the early days of hostilities, Imperial Airways continued operations on a small scale, but with the fall of France in June 1940 and the entry of Italy into the war, most British civil air communications were disrupted.

Ever since the company was formed, Imperial Airways had had to fight for survival against strong competition, not only from foreign airlines, but also from an aggressive home-based operator, British Airways. The Government felt that British companies should not compete on the same routes and it was decided that Imperial Airways and British Airways should be merged. On April 1st 1940 the State-owned British Overseas Airways Corporation officially took over the operations of these two airlines.

BOAC now had the tremendous task of running an airline in wartime. At the start, many of their routes were closed, but it was essential to keep air communications open, and gradually the airline expanded.

Throughout the war, BOAC carried out many difficult and dangerous missions – 83 members of their staff were lost on flying duties. They flew food and ammunition to France for surrounded troops, and began a regular London-Lisbon service to connect with Pan American Lisbon-New York services. Flying boats were used to carry Government-sponsored personnel from Lisbon to West Africa.

In May, 1941, BOAC bought three long-range Boeing 314 Flying boats at a cost of £259,000 each, to maintain the vital United Kingdom-West Africa link. They were also used on a series of North Atlantic services. Wellingtons flew the weekly Cairo-Karachi route. The airlink to the heavily bombarded Mediterranean outposts of Gibraltar and Malta was kept open. When the route through Malaya and Singapore was cut by Japanese invasion, BOAC, in association with Qantas, ran a 3,512-mile non-stop service between Ceylon and Perth, Western Australia.

Of all BOAC’s wartime operations, the most dangerous was its “ball-bearing” run to Sweden; and the most significant for its future was the transatlantic Return Ferry Service.

On the ball-bearing run, BOAC used a variety of unarmed aircraft in civil markings, from Whitleys to Mosquitos. They flew the 800 miles between Leuchars in Scotland, and Stockholm, the Swedish capital, carrying important Allied personnel over hostile territory in both directions. From Sweden they brought back sets of ball-bearings which could not be obtained anywhere else.

Norwegian refugees who had escaped to Sweden, as well as cargoes of diplomatic mail, were also carried on this perilous run, and altogether more than 1,200 such flights were made. This was, also, about the only route in the world where the BOAC pilots prayed for bad weather! Enemy fighters were always on the look-out for these unarmed aircraft. Their only chance was to hide in the clouds.

BOAC pioneered the North Atlantic by its transatlantic Return Ferry Service. R.A.F. Ferry Command had been ferrying pilots and crews across the Atlantic to bring back American and Canadian-built bombers for the Allies. In September, 1941, BOAC took over, using a fleet of 10 Liberators.

In the early days, these planes were not equipped for ocean flying at great heights in winter. Their worst enemy was freezing temperatures and ice. There were no seats in the aircraft, so the passengers had to “bed down” on mattresses on the floor. There was a serious risk of frostbite, and on one westbound journey a passenger who had taken off his gloves lost all the fingers of both hands. Before World War II, the Atlantic had never been flown in either direction in winter.

The service continued after the war, and on February 10th, 1946, the 2,000th crossing was completed.

By the end of the war, BOAC had completed over 57 million miles of wartime flying. Now, once again, bombers had to be converted for peacetime operations. It was a period of making do while new passenger aircraft were designed and built.

Now came the years of reconstruction for British civil aviation.

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