Wellington Bomber
Early in World War II, British workers broke a world record for building a bomber from scratch. This programme traces six of the workers, one of whom was only 14 years old.
One autumn weekend, early in WWII at an aircraft factory at Broughton in North Wales, a group of British workers, men and women, set out to smash a world record for building a bomber from scratch. They managed to build a Wellington Bomber in 23 hours and 50 minutes. They worked so quickly that the test pilot had to be turfed out of bed to take it into the air, 24 hours and 48 minutes after the first part of the airframe had been laid.
So who were the men and women who made this record-breaking Wellington? Britain's propaganda machine made a 12-minute film about the attempt and Peter Williams Television has traced six of them, one of whom, Bill Anderson, was only 14 years old. Their story of the excitement of the attempt is the heart of this documentary.
The Wellington was a special aircraft, as historian Sir Max Hastings says. It was held in great affection by those who flew it, mostly because its geodetic construction enabled it to survive enormous damage, as Flt Lt 'Tiny' Cooling remembers. He flew 67 missions in Wellingtons.
More Wellingtons were built during WWII than any other British aircraft, except the Spitfire and the Hurricane, the stars of the Battle of Britain. And, unwittingly, the Wellington, Britain's main strike bomber, played an important role in the Battle of Britain, as this documentary reveals.
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Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Producer | Peter Williams |
Director | Peter Williams |
Broadcasts
- Tue 14 Sep 2010 20:00
- Wed 15 Sep 2010 01:20
- Thu 16 Sep 2010 01:15
- Sat 18 Sep 2010 22:00
- Sun 19 Sep 2010 19:30
- Wed 29 Dec 2010 21:00
- Sun 2 Jan 2011 23:50
- Tue 14 Jun 2011 23:00
- Tue 25 Oct 2011 23:20麻豆官网首页入口 Two Wales & England only
- Wed 26 Oct 2011 00:20麻豆官网首页入口 Two Northern Ireland & Scotland only
- Sat 12 Nov 2011 20:00
- Sun 13 Nov 2011 00:25
- Tue 12 Jun 2012 21:00
- Wed 13 Jun 2012 02:45
- Thu 14 Jun 2012 23:55
- Sat 12 Oct 2013 22:55
- Sat 9 May 2015 10:00