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DH4 - Aircraft Details - Aviation Directory

DH4


Name : DH4
Production Began : 1916
Retired : 1927
Number Built : 6295

The DH.4 entered service with the RFC in January 1917, first being used by No. 55 Squadron. More squadrons were equipped with the type to increase the bombing capacity of the RFC, with two squadrons re-equipping in May, and a total of six squadrons by the end of the year. As well as the RFC, the RNAS also used the DH.4, both over France and over Italy and the Aegean front. The DH.4 was also used for coastal patrols by the RNAS. One, crewed by the pilot Major Egbert Cadbury and Captain Robert Leckie (later Air Vice-Marshal) as gunner, shot down Zeppelin L70 on 5 August 1918. Four RNAS DH.4s were credited with sinking the German U-boat UB 12 on 19 August 1918. The DH.4 proved a huge success and was often considered the best single-engined bomber of World War I. Even when fully loaded with bombs, with its reliability and impressive performance, the type proved highly popular with its crews. The Airco DH.4 was easy to fly, and especially when fitted with the Rolls-Royce Eagle engine, its speed and altitude performance gave it a good deal of invulnerability to German fighter interception, so that the DH.4 often did not require a fighter escort on missions, a concept furthered by de Havilland in the later Mosquito in World War II. A drawback of the design was the distance between pilot and observer, as they were separated by the large main fuel tank. This made communication between the crew members difficult, especially in combat with enemy fighters. There was also some controversy (especially in American service) that this placement of the fuel tank was inherently unsafe. In fact, most contemporary aircraft were prone to catching fire in the air. The fire hazard was reduced, however, when the pressurised fuel system was replaced by one using wind-driven fuel pumps late in 1917,[11] although this was not initially adopted by American-built aircraft.[14] The otherwise inferior DH.9 brought the pilot and observer closer together by placing the fuel tank in the usual place, between the pilot and the engine. Despite its success, numbers in service with the RFC actually started to decline from spring 1918, mainly due to a shortage of engines, and production switched to the DH.9, which turned out to be disappointing, being inferior to the DH.4 in most respects. It was left to the further developed DH.9A, with the American Liberty engine, to satisfactorily replace the DH.4. When the Independent Air Force was set up in June 1918 to carry out strategic bombing of targets in Germany, the DH.4s of 55 Squadron formed part of it, being used for daylight attacks. 55 Squadron developed tactics of flying in wedge formations, bombing on the leader's command and with the massed defensive fire of the formation deterring attacks by enemy fighters.[15] Despite heavy losses, 55 Squadron continued in operation, the only one of the day bombing squadrons in the Independent Force which did not have to temporarily stand down owing to aircrew losses. After the Armistice, the RAF formed No. 2 Communication Squadron, equipped with DH.4s to carry important passengers to and from the Paris Peace Conference. Several of the DH.4s used for this purpose were modified with an enclosed cabin for two passengers at the request of Andrew Bonar Law. These aircraft were designated DH.4A, with at least seven being converted for the RAF, and a further nine for civil use

Pilots and Aircrew for : DH4
A list of all aircrew from our database who are associated with this aircraft. A profile page is available by clicking their name.
NameInfo
Campbell, Charles Bruce
Click the name above to see a profile of Campbell, Charles Bruce

   Died : 29 / 11 / 1917
Campbell, Charles Bruce

Shot down in Aircraft DH 4 serial A7704 on 29/11/17 at Thun St Martin. Pilot Lt C.B. Campbell (Aus) and the Observer, Private First Class W.A.E. Samways were both killed. They were the first 49 Sqn operational casualties.
SAMWAYS, William Alfred
Click the name above to see a profile of SAMWAYS, William Alfred

   Died : 29 / 11 / 1917
SAMWAYS, William Alfred

Shot down in Aircraft DH 4 serial A7704 on 29/11/17 at Thun St Martin. Pilot Lt C.B. Campbell (Aus) and the Observer, Private First Class W.A.E. Samways were both killed. They were the first 49 Sqn operational casualties.



Squadrons :
No.49 Sqn RAF
Historical Notes :
29-11-1917 - Shot down on 29/11/17 at Thun St Martin. Pilot Lt C.B. Campbell (Aus) and the Observer, Private First Class W.A.E. Samways were both killed. They were the first 49 Sqn operational casualties.

Known Individual Aircraft : DH4 :

Type

Serial

Codes

First Flew

Squadron History

Aircrew History

History Notes

Engine

Factory

DH4

A7704

-

details

details

details

DH4

F5833

-

no information

no information

no information

DH4

F5837

-

no information

no information

no information

DH4

F5840

-

no information

no information

no information




Squadrons for : DH4
A list of all squadrons known to have flown the DH4. A profile page is available by clicking the squadron name.
SquadronInfo

2 Sqd RNAS

Country : UK
Fate : Became 202 Sqd RAF on 1st April 1918

Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of 2 Sqd RNAS
2 Sqd RNAS

No 2 Sqn RNAS had been equipped with de Havilland (Airco) D.H.4's, and at the time of the transition these were transferred to 202 Squadron's inventory

No.205 Sqn RAF

Country : UK
Founded : 1st April 1918
Fate : Disbanded 31st October 1971

Pertama di Malaya - First in Malaya

Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of No.205 Sqn RAF

No.205 Sqn RAF

Full profile not yet available.

No.49 Sqn RAF

Country : UK
Founded : 15th April 1916
Fate : Disbanded 1st May 1965

Cave canem - Beware of the dog

Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of No.49 Sqn RAF

No.49 Sqn RAF

49 Squadron was formed on 15th April 1916, during the First World War. In the course of the war, it flew DH4 and DH9 aircraft before disbanding in July 1919. Reformed in 1936, they flew Hind and Hampdens before war broke out in 1939. It was in a Hampden of 49 Sqn that Roderick Learoyd won the first Victoria Cross awarded to Bomber Command, when on the night of 12th August 1940, he and four other aircraft attempted to breach the heavily defended Dortmund-Ems canal. The squadron transferred to Manchesters and Lancasters, and after the war to Lincolns, before being disbanded once again on 1st August 1955. Less than a year later, on 1st May 1956, the squadron were reformed, equipped with Valiant V-Bombers of Britain's nuclear deterrent programme, but exactly nine years later, with the aircraft grounded, the squadron disbanded for the last time.

No.55 Sqn RAF

Country : UK
Founded : 8th June 1916
Fate : With the end of the Victors, No 55 was disbanded,

Nil nos tremefacit - Nothing shakes us

Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of No.55 Sqn RAF

No.55 Sqn RAF

No. 55 Squadron was formed at Castle Bromwich on 27 April 1916. It initially operated as a training unit, flying a mixture of types, including the Avro 504, Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 and the Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8, but in January 1917 it changed its role to a day-bomber squadron and re-equipped with the Airco DH.4, being the first squadron to receive the new light bomber. It took these to France on 6 March that year as part of 9th Wing, flying its first bombing mission against Valenciennes railway station on 23 April 1917 in support of the Battle of Arras. It became part of the Independent Air Force as part of No 41 Wing based at Azelot, carrying out daylight strategic bombing missions against targets in Germany. 55 Squadron developed tactics of flying in wedge formations, bombing on the leader's command and with the massed defensive fire of the formation deterring attacks by enemy fighters. Despite heavy losses, 55 Squadron continued in operation, the only one of the day bombing squadrons in the Independent Force which did not have to temporarily stand down owing to aircrew losses. The squadron flew 221 bombing missions during the war, dropping approximately 141 long tons (143,000 kg) of bombs during the war. Following the Armistice on 11 November 1918, 55 Squadron was briefly used to run airmail services to British forces, before returning to the United Kingdom and losing its aircraft in January 1919, formally disbanding on 22 January 1920 On 1 February 1920, the unit was reformed at Suez with the renumbering of No 142 Squadron, and the unit embarked its DH9s on board HMS Ark Royal for transport to Turkey as part of 'Q' Force, assisting the Army in the defence of Constantinople and the Dardenelles. Two months later in August, the Squadron took up 'air policing' duties in Iraq, a task that was to last for the next 19 years. Wapitis (1930) and Vincents (1937) subsequently replaced the DH9s and the Squadron's first monoplane, the Blenheim, arrived in March 1939. Between September 1939 and June 1940, the Squadron patrolled the Suez region until Italy joined the War and bombing raids over Libya began. In March 1942, Baltimores replaced the Blenheims, and the unit supported the Eighth Army as it advanced through the Eastern Desert and into Italy. After re-equipping with Bostons in October 1944, No 55 remained in Italy, transferring to Hassani, Greece in September 1945 and receiving Mosquitos. The Squadron was disbanded in November 1946 and remained absent from the RAF's Order of Battle until 1 September 1960, when it reformed at Honington with Victors as part of Bomber Command's famous 'V' Force. May 1965 saw No 55 begin air-to-air refuelling duties, a role it continued until the retirement of the very last Victors in 1993. During this time, the Squadron took part in Operation Corporate, alongside its fellow Victor squadron, No 57, 55 Squadron provided tanker support during the Falklands War in 1982, including for the Operation Black Buck raids, where they refuelled Avro Vulcan bombers to allow them to reach the Falklands from Ascension Island. 55 Squadron's Victors went to war again in 1991, when it was deployed to the Gulf as part of Operation Granby, Britain's response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, refuelling coalition aircraft during Operation Desert Storm. It disbanded on 15 October 1993, the last Squadron to operate the Victor. With the end of the Victors, No 55 was disbanded,




Last edited : 14:04, February 8, 2017
Last editor : HMS

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