The Wellington Mk I bomber was produced by Vickers-Armstrong in 1937. Powered by two Bristol Pegasus engines, it had a maximum speed of 235 mph (378 km) and had a range of 2,200 miles (3,540 km). Armed with six machine-guns it could carry 4,500 lb (2,000 kg) of bombs. It was 64 ft 7 in (19.68 m) long with a wingspan of 86 ft 2 in (26.26 m) and carried a crew of six.

Over the next eight years a total of 11,461 Wellingtons were built. If carried out the first Royal Air Force bombing mission of the Second World War on 4th September, 1939. It was eventually replaced as a front-line bomber by Handley Page Halifax and Avro Lancaster and then served as a transport and reconnaissance aeroplane.