Hudson Bombers Cross the Atlantic. 10th November, 1940.

Aviation, before WW2 was coming of age. However there had been precious few flight crossings of the North Atlantic in the winter months. In fact there had only been 40 crossings of the North Atlantic by the winter of 1939. There was no weather service and no navigational aids, this was all about to change as WW2 progressed. Initially the Hudson bombers that were required for service with the RAF in the early days of WW2 made their Atlantic crossings on board shipping. As the German submarines made devastating attacks, sinking the shipping making these crossings, the RAF were in desperate need of Bombers, it became necessary to attempt to fly the Hudson bombers across the Atlantic in winter.

Led by Australian pilot D.C.T Bennett, one of the first deliveries was a formation of 7 aircraft which departed on the evening of November 10, 1940. Due to adverse weather conditions near the end of the journey, 3 of the aircraft became lost. The first four aircraft landed at Aldergrove, Ireland 11 hours after departure. The RAF were reportedly prepared to accept ferry losses as high as 50%, an hour later, the final three aircraft arrived to the great relief of all. These pilots were the pioneers of transatlantic flying, flying aircraft across the Atlantic with no modern navigational aids to a land that was blacked out, hoping the weather at their destination was as forecasted .

By the end of the war 9,027 Aircraft had been delivered across the Atlantic. Note on Lockheed Hudson below.

The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF. The Hudson served throughout the war, mainly with Coastal Command, but also in transport and training roles, as well as delivering agents into occupied France. They were also used extensively with the Royal Canadian Air Force’s (RCAF) anti-submarine squadrons. The first deliveries were a formation flight on November 10, 1940 led by Captain D.C.T. Bennett. The Hudson was used by the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Air Force, United States Air Force, as well as other Armed Forces serving as bombers, reconnaissance, torpedo, and trainer aircraft. Thanks to Bennett, the Australian who got the operation up and running they did far better then 50% losses. There is a remarkable story of how US and Canadian civilian pilots and pilots from all the Allied forces managed to fly the aircraft from Goose and Gander in Canada to the UK. Some of the aircraft had no icing equipment and all had extra fuel tanks installed making them a fire hazard.

Background image; Hudson Reconnaissance Bomber. Aviation Identification Book. Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin.