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The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined,
multi-role aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force, Fleet Air Arm, Royal
Canadian Air Force and numerous other air forces before, during, and after the
Second World War. Developed from the Avro 652 airliner, the Anson, named after
British Admiral George Anson, was developed for maritime reconnaissance, but
found to be obsolete in this role. It was then found to be suitable as a
multi-engined aircrew trainer, becoming the mainstay of the British
Commonwealth Air Training Plan. By the end of production in 1952, a total of
8,138 had been built by Avro in nine variants, with a further 2,882 built by
Federal Aircraft Ltd in Canada from 1941.
In 1933, the
British Air Ministry proposed that the Royal Air Force (RAF) acquire a relatively
cheap landplane for coastal maritime reconnaissance duties, as a supplement to
the more capable, but expensive Flying boats that the RAF used for maritime
reconnaissance. The Air Ministry requested tenders for aircraft to meet this
requirement, with Avro responding with the Avro 652A, a modified version of the
Avro 652 twin-engined, six-seat monoplane airliner. The Air Ministry placed
orders with Avro and de Havilland for single examples of the Type 652A and the
de Havilland DH.89 for evaluation against this requirement late in 1934, with
evaluation and selection of a design for production to take place by May 1935.
The Avro 652A first flew on 24 March 1935 at Avro's Woodford factory, and was
evaluated against the DH.89M by the RAF Coastal Defence Development Unit at
Gosport from 11 to 17 May. The Avro aircraft proved superior, and was selected
as the winner of the competition on 25 May. Air Ministry Specification 18/35
was written around the Type 652A, and an initial order for 174 aircraft, to be called
"Anson", was placed in July 1935. The first production Anson made its
maiden flight on 31 December 1935, with changes from the prototype included an
enlarged horizonal tailplane and reduced elevator span to improve stability.
Deliveries to the RAF began on 6 March 1936.
The Anson Mk I was
a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a retractable undercarriage, the type with
this configuration to enter service with the RAF. It had a wooden wing, of
plywood and spruce construction, while the fuselage was constructed of steel
tubing, mainly clad in fabric, but with the aircraft's nose clad in magnesium
alloy. It was powered by two Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah IX seven-cylinder
air-cooled radial engines, rated at 350 horsepower (260 kW) each, driving
two-bladed metal propellers. The aircraft's retractable tailwheel undercarriage
was manually operated, requiring 144 turns of a crank handle situated by the
pilot's seat. To forgo this laborious process, early model aircraft often made
short flights with the landing gear extended at the expense of 30 mph
(50 km/h) of cruising speed.
Initially, the
Anson was flown with a three-man crew (pilot, navigator/bomb-aimer and
radio-operator/gunner) in the maritime reconnaissance role, but from 1938 it
operated with a four-man crew. Armament consisted of a single .303 in (7.7 mm)
Vickers machine gun fixed in the forward fuselage and aimed by the pilot, with
an Armstrong Whitworth manually operated dorsal gun turret fitted with a single
Lewis gun. Up to 360 pounds (160 kg) of bombs, consisting of two 100
pounds (45 kg) and eight 20 pounds (9 kg) bombs, could be carried in
the aircraft's wings. Ansons used for training were fitted with dual controls
and usually had the gun turret removed, although aircraft used for gunnery
training were fitted with a Bristol hydraulically-operated gun turret similar
to that used in the Bristol Blenheim.
A total of 11,020
Ansons were built by the end of production in 1952, making it the second most
numerous (after the Vickers Wellington), British multi-engined aircraft of the
war.
The Anson entered
service on 6 March 1936 with 48 Squadron equipped with the Anson. At the start
of the Second World War, the RAF had received 824 Ansons and there were 26 RAF
squadrons operating the Anson I: 10 with Coastal Command and 16 with Bomber
Command. All of the squadrons in Bomber Command in 1939 with Anson Is were
operational training squadrons that prepared crews for frontline service. 12 of
the squadrons were in No. 6 (Operational Training) Group. Newly formed crews
having completed individual flying and technical training were first trained as
bomber crews in Ansons and then advanced to the various frontline aircraft
types, which were also in the same squadrons with the Ansons. After training in
the frontline aircraft type, crews would advance to the frontline bomber
squadrons with those aircraft types (Fairey Battle, Bristol Blenheim, Vickers
Wellington, Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, and Handley-Page Hampden). At the
start of the war, the Lockheed Hudson was beginning to replace the Ansons in
Coastal Command with one squadron of Hudsons and one with both Ansons and
Hudsons.
Limited numbers of
Ansons continued to serve in operational roles such as coastal patrols and
air/sea rescue. Early in the war, an Anson scored a probable hit on a German
U-boat. In June 1940, a flight of three Ansons was attacked by nine Luftwaffe
Messerschmitt Bf 109s. Remarkably, before the dogfight ended, without losing
any of their own, one of the Ansons destroyed two German aircraft and damaged a
third.
The aircraft's
true role, however, was to train pilots for flying multi-engined bombers such
as the Avro Lancaster. The Anson was also used to train the other members of a
bomber's aircrew, such as navigators, wireless operators, bomb aimers and air
gunners. Postwar, the Anson continued in the training and light transport
roles. The last Ansons were withdrawn from RAF service with communications
units on 28 June 1968.
The Royal
Australian Air Force operated 1,028 Ansons, mainly Mk Is, until 1955.
The Royal Canadian
Air Force and Royal Canadian Navy operated the aircraft until 1952. Although
the Canadian Ansons were used throughout the training schools of the British
Commonwealth Air Training plan for training aircrew some were pressed into
operational service with the RCAF's Eastern Air Command. A good example of the
training schools involvement in combat operations with the EAC during the
emergency of the battle is illustrated in an article dated the 1st of March,
2006 of the Royal Canadian Legion magazine entitled Eastern Air Command: Air
Force, Part 14 the author Hugh A. Haliday wrote: "The need for Atlantic
patrols was undiminished, yet the Battle of the St. Lawrence stretched EAC
resources. Based at Charlottetown, 31 General Reconnaissance School was
mobilized to fly patrols using Avro Ansons, each carrying two, 250-pound bombs.
At the very outset of the war the Anson and its ordnance had failed in RAF
anti-submarine work. Now in Canada it was remobilized as an aerial scarecrow.
German views varied as to Canadian countermeasures. The captain of U-517 found
his operations increasingly restricted by strengthened air patrols. In October
1942, U-69 reported “strong sea patrol and constant patrol by aircraft with
radar.”
The Royal Indian
Air Force operated several Ansons as part of the No.1 Service Flying Training School (India) for Pilot and
Navigation training. These Ansons continued this role post independence and
were retired at an unknown date.
The Royal New
Zealand Air Force operated 23 Ansons as navigation trainers in the Second World
War, (alongside the more numerous Airspeed Oxford), and acquired more Ansons as
communication aircraft immediately after the war.
The United States
Army Air Forces (USAAF), employed 50 Canadian-built Ansons, designated the AT-20.
The Egyptian Air
Force operated Ansons in communications and VIP duties. A specially outfitted
Anson was given to the then King by the Royal Air Force.
The Royal Afghan
Air Force obtained 13 Anson 18 aircraft for various duties from 1948. These
aircraft survived until 1972.
During the 1939-45
war years the British Air Transport Auxiliary used the Avro Anson as its
standard taxi aircraft, carrying groups of ferry pilots to and from aircraft
collection points. There was no fatal mechanical failure of an Anson in ATA
service and it was very well regarded.