The following are units which operated the Bristol Blenheim:

Operators Australia Royal Australian Air Force No. 454 Squadron RAAF No. 459 Squadron RAAF

Canada Royal Canadian Air Force Article XV squadrons serving under direct command and control of the RAF, with RAF owned aircraft. No. 404 Squadron RCAF used Blenheim IVF (Apr 41 - Jan 43) with Coastal Command.Kostenuk and Griffin, 1977, pp. 88-89 No. 406 Squadron RCAF used Blenheim I and IV (May 41 - Jun 41) as night fighters.Kostenuk and Griffin, 1977, pp. 91-92 No. 407 Squadron RCAF used Blenheim IV (May 41 - Jul 41) while working up to operational status with Coastal Command.Kostenuk and Griffin, 1977, pp. 92-93

Independent State of Croatia Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske Eight captured ex-Royal Yugoslav Air Force Mk I aircraft were acquired by the ZNDH from the Germans after the April invasion in 1941.Neulen, 2000, p. 171 Several survived to the end of the War, with one retreating to Klagenfurt Austria upon the collapse of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in May 1945.Likso and Canak 1998 p. 72.

Finland

Finnish Air Force Finland was the first export order for the Blenheim and 18 Mark Is were delivered between 29 July 1937 and 27 July 1938. A licence to local produce the aircraft was granted in April 1938 but none of the 15 ordered from State Aircraft Factory were delivered before the Russian invasion. Twelve new Mark IVs were diverted from RAF production and these were followed by 12 former RAF Mark Is. No. 41 SquadronStenman Air Enthusiast Summer 1994, p. 35. No. 42 SquadronStenman Air Enthusiast Summer 1994, p. 33. No. 43 Squadron No. 44 Squadron No. 45 Squadron No. 46 Squadron No. 48 Squadron

Free France Free French Air Force No. 342 Squadron RAF

Nazi Germany Luftwaffe One damaged Blenheim Mk IV was captured during Battle of France in 1940. It was later repaired and used as special training aircraft from 1940 until 1942.Bączkowski, 1995, pp. 27

Greece Hellenic Air Force The Hellenic Air Force in its campaigns against Italy and Germany in 1940 and 1941, operated 12 Mk IVs (delivered before WWII without sights, bomb racks, wireless radios and intercoms) and 6 Mk Is (delivered in February 1941).Shores, et al. 1987 In the Middle East, the Hellenic Air Force operated 19 Mk IVs (from January 1942 till January 1943) and 31 Mk Vs (from January 1943 till September 1943).

India Royal Indian Air Force

Indonesia Indonesian Air Force One Blenheim Mk IV was captured during the Indonesian National Revolution from the IJAAF. It was re-engined with Nakajima Sakae engines."Indonesian aviation 1945-1950." adf-serials.com. Retrieved: 10 January 2021.

Italy Regia Aeronautica Blenheim Mk.IV N3589 of No. 40 Squadron RAF landed in error at Pantelleria on 13 September 1940 and was evaluated at Guidonia airfield near Rome. One more was captured in Yugoslavia while two were seized in Italian East Africa but were recaptured when this territory fell into British hands. N3589 might be the Mk.IV appearing in a non-flying role in the movie Un Pilota Ritorna (1942) directed by Roberto Rossellini.

Japan Imperial Japanese Army Air Service At least one Blenheim Mk I and two Blenheim Mk IV wrecks were discovered in Semarang, Java in August 1947. It was either captured during the Malayan campaign or the Dutch East Indies campaign.

New Zealand Royal New Zealand Air Force No. 489 Squadron RNZAF

Poland Polish Air Forces in Great Britain No. 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron operated four aircraft of Mk Is and Mk IVs variants as trainers and hacks. One Blenheim IV rebuild to VIP transport variant was used as personal transport aircraft of the General Władysław Anders, commander of 2nd Polish Corps

Portugal Portuguese Air Force Portuguese Naval Aviation

Romania Royal Romanian Air Force In 1939, Romania bought 40 Blenheim Mk.Is from Britain, but only 37 aircraft arrived in the country. The first airplane was fitted with double controls.Antoniu 2014, p. 164 The first aircraft were assigned to the 1st Long Range Reconnaissance Squadron of the 2nd Guard Aviation Flotilla. A further three long range reconnaissance squadrons were equipped with Blenheims. The four squadrons carried out reconnaissance missions along the Hungarian, Bulgarian and Soviet borders. In January 1941, another 3 captured ex-Royal Yugoslav Air Force Blenheims were purchased from Germany.Savic and Ciglic 2002, p. 62.

At the start of Operation Barbarossa, some of the first missions were carried out by the long range reconnaissance squadrons. The first loss of the Royal Romanian Air Force during the war was also a Bristol Blenheim. By the end of the year, six aircraft were lost. In September of the same year, the aircraft were up-armoured by the Malaxa factory. After 1941, the remaining Blenheims were transferred to the 3rd Bomber Flotilla. By August 1942, only 27 airplanes remained in service. These further participated in the Battle of Stalingrad. Three aircraft were lost by the end of December 1942. The few serviceable Blenheims mostly flew missions over the Black Sea coast throughout 1943. At the beginning of 1945, the remaining aircraft were withdrawn from frontline use, but they were kept in service until 1948.

South Africa South African Air Force No. 15 Squadron SAAF

Turkey Turkish Air Force

United Kingdom Royal Air Force

Fleet Air Arm

Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment Royal Aircraft Establishment

Yugoslavia Royal Yugoslav Air Force The Royal Yugoslav Air Force acquired 24 Mk I aircraft from RAF stocks and subsequently undertook a licensed production run of some 36 aircraft. Tooling up for the production of the Mk IV was about to commence when interrupted by the Invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. Some 20 partly completed airframes, as well as production tools and spare parts were subsequently sold by Germany to Finland.

See also Bristol Blenheim

References Notes

Bibliography Antoniu, Dan. Illustrated History of Romanian Aeronautics. Bucharest: 2014. Bączkowski, W. Samolot bombowy Bristol Blenheim Mk.I-IV, Typy Broni I Uzbrojenia, No.171 (in Polish). Warsaw, Poland: Bellona SA, 1995. Boiten, T. Bristol Blenheim. London: The Crowood Press, 1998. . Bowyer, C. Bristol Blenheim. London: Ian Allan, 1984. . Jefford, C.G. RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988 (second edition 2001). . Keskinen, Kalevi et al. Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia 10, Bristol Blenheim (in Finnish). Loviisa, Finland: Painoyhtymä Oy, 2004. . Kostenuk, S. and J. Griffin. RCAF Squadron Histories and Aircraft: 1924–1968. Toronto: Samuel Stevens, Hakkert & Company, 1977. . Lake, Jon. Blenheim Squadrons of World War II. London: Osprey Publishing, 1998. . Likso, T. and D. Canak. Hrvatsko Ratno Zrakoplovstvo u Drugome Svjetskom Ratu (The Croatian Airforce in the Second World War). Zagreb, 1998. . Mackay, Ron. Bristol Blenheim in Action. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1998. . March, Daniel J., ed. British Warplanes of World War II. London: Aerospace, 1998. . Marttila, Jukka. Bristol Blenheim - Taitoa ja tekniikkaa (in Finnish). Vantaa, Finland: Blenimi-Publishing, 1989. . Mason, Francis K. The British Bomber Since 1914. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1994. . Neulen, H.W. In the Skies of Europe – Air Forces allied to the Luftwaffe 1939-1945. Wiltshire, UK: Crowood Press, 2000. . Savic, Dragan and Boris Ciglic. Croatian Aces of World War II (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces - 49). Oxford, Osprey, 2002. . Shores, C., B. Cull and N. Malizia. Air War for Yugoslavia, Greece & Crete – 1940-41. London: Grub Street, 1987. . Thomas, A. Bristol Blenheim (Warpaint No. 26). Denbigh East, Bletchley, UK: Hall Park Books, 2000. . Warner, G. The Bristol Blenheim: A Complete History. London: Crécy Publishing, 2nd edition 2005. .