20 September, 1938: Entry into front-line service by the Hampden and Wellington was almost simultaneous, with the Hampden making it a few weeks ahead of the Wellington, when Hampden L4034 arrived on 49 Squadron; 20 September, 1938.
AN AIRMAN REMEMBERS
Posted to 49 Squadron in January 1938 as an Armourer, Mr J. Wilkinson, remembers this period of the squadron's history:
"The squadron was still at Worthy Down near Winchester when I joined them. We shared Worthy Down with two other squadrons:, one flying Handley Page Heyfords and the other Westland Wellesleys and of course 49 with their Hawker Hinds. The Royal Navy took the station over in March, and 49 moved to RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.
Scampton was a new station and not quite finished when we arrived so for the first two months we lived in wooden huts, until the barrack blocks were ready. The hangars and servicing facilities were much better than we had been used to and the grass airfield was large and flat (no runways in those days).
About the beginning of August 1938, we got news that 49 Squadron was to be the first unit to get the new Handley Page Hampdens and very shortly the first one arrived.
At the time of the September 1938 Crisis, the squadron had half Hinds and half Hampdens, but within a month or so we were fully equipped with Hampdens. The next few months saw the squadron personnel almost double in numbers and a lot of training on the new aeroplanes for aircrew and groundcrew was carried out.
In April 1939, the squadron went to RAF Evanton near Invergordon in Scotland for the first practice camp with Hampdens. It was a new experience using the new automatic bomb sight but everything went well apart from the odd practice bomb being dropped before reaching the range. The stay at Evanton was enjoyed by everyone.
When the war started in 1939 it was hard work for the Armourers, who spent a lot of time bombing up, then taking them off and bombing up again with a different load of bombs."
By November, 49 Squadron, now a part of No.5 (Bomber) Group, could boast a full complement of 12 Hampdens; the first squadron to receive the Hampden and the first all-Hampden unit in the Royal Air Force.
No 83 Squadron was also resident at Scampton and received its first Hampden on 31 October, 1938, being fully equipped by 9 January, 1939.
The bulk of the bomber crews were junior officers, on short-term service engagements. A minority of airmen were 'regulars' from such RAF backgrounds as Halton's Apprentice School. Most squadrons had a small number of pilots and observers from the countries of the Empire, who had come to England to join the Royal Air Force.
As the war clouds once again gathered over Europe, both Scampton squadrons were destined to go to war in Hampdens. The last peacetime air exercises were held only two weeks prior to the outbreak of war with Germany... very few of the young aircrew had ever fired a shot 'in anger'.
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