Handley Page's H.P.52 (later named Hampden) was to share with the Wellington and Armstrong Whitworth Whitley the major portion of Bomber Command's early raids over Germany in World War II.
Unorthodox in appearance because of its deep fuselage and slender tailboom, it was to earn the nicknames 'Flying Panhandle' and 'Tadpole'. Unorthodox or not, it was faster than both the Wellington and Whitley but, like a number of British bomber aircraft, suffered heavy losses when deployed against German targets by day, largely on account of inadequate defensive armament. Temporarily grounded while this deficiency was rectified, they returned to operational service with twin Vickers K-type machine-guns in dorsal and ventral turrets, armour protection and flame-dampers for the exhausts.
By early 1940 they were back in service again but, of course, operating by night. Of conventional all-metal stressed-skin construction, the Hampden's thick-section mid-set monoplane
wings tapered both in chord and thickness. Handley Page slots on the leading edge of the wing outer panels, plus trailing-edge flaps, made possible a low landing speed. Somewhat cramped accommodation was provided for a crew of four.
Hampdens notched up a number of 'firsts' for Bomber Command: the first mine-laying operations; together with Whitleys dropped the first bombs of World War II on the German mainland; took part in the first attack on Berlin; and added their numbers to the first 1,000-bomber raid on Cologne. By mid-September 1942 they were withdrawn from Bomber Command operations as new and more effective aircraft became available, but continued for some time to support Coastal Command's anti-shipping operations in the capacity of a torpedo bomber. One squadron operated the type until relieved by Bristol Beaufighters in late 1943.
