Forgotten Bombers of the RAF (2003)

Today, the Avro Lancaster is undoubtedly the most famous bomber employed by the RAF during the Second World War - but there were many other bombers which deserved to be remembered.

This programme tells the story of those wartime British bombers that have been largely Œforgotten¹ either because they have been overlooked in favour of the Lancaster and other four-engine ŒHeavies¹ or because there has been very little film footage found (until now) of their service careers.

Aircraft such as the Avro Anson, Fairey Battle, Handley Page Harrow, Bristol Bombay, Vickers Wellesley, Handley Page Hampden, Vickers Wellington, Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, Handley Page Halifax, Short Stirling, Bristol Blenheim, Martin Maryland, Martin Baltimore, Vultee Vengeance, Lockheed Hudson and Ventura, Consolidated Liberator and Boeing Flying Fortress are all featured in RAF service on this unique DVD.

Rare film footage, some of which has never been made available on DVD before, shows these Œforgotten¹ bombers in action over Europe, the Western Desert and the Far East. Manufacturer¹s footage, RAF operational material and historic reports from the Movietone archive combine with extensive air-to-air film to provide an excellent visual reference library. The capabilities, strengths and weaknesses of each aircraft type are appraised, while veteran pilots and aircrews reveal what it was really like to fly and fight in them.

Expert commentary is provided by leading aviation historian Robin Neillands, author of ŒThe Bomber War¹, and coverage is also provided of the very first RAF Œ1,000 bomber raid¹ on Cologne, in which a very diverse range of bombers took part...