World War 2 In Review: Westland Lysander

Four Westland Lysander Mark IIs (N1294 'LX-T' nearest) of No. 225 Squadron RAF based at Tilshead, Wiltshire, flying in stepped starboard echelon formation during a training flight, 1940.

The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War.

After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft's short-field performance enabled clandestine missions using small, improvised airstrips behind enemy lines to place or recover agents, particularly in occupied France with the help of the French Resistance. Royal Air Force army co-operation aircraft were named after mythical or historical military leaders; in this case the Spartan admiral Lysander was chosen.

Design and Development

In 1934 the Air Ministry issued Specification A.39/34 for an army co-operation aircraft to replace the Hawker Hector. Initially Hawker Aircraft, Avro and Bristol were invited to submit designs, but after some debate within the ministry, a submission from Westland was invited as well. The Westland design, internally designated P. 8, was the work of Arthur Davenport under the direction of "Teddy" Petter. It was Petter's second aircraft design and he spent considerable time interviewing Royal Air Force pilots to find out what they wanted from such an aircraft. The army wanted a tactical and artillery reconnaissance aircraft to provide photographic reconnaissance and observation of artillery fire in daylight – up to about 15,000 yards (14 km) behind the enemy front. The result of Petter's pilot inquiries suggested that field of view, low-speed handling characteristics and STOL performance were the important requirements.

Davenport and Petter designed an aircraft to incorporate these features. The Lysander was to be powered by a Bristol Mercury air-cooled radial engine and had high wings and a fixed conventional landing gear mounted on an innovative inverted U square-section tube that supported wing struts at the apex, and contained internal springs for the faired wheels. The large streamlined spats also contained a mounting for a Browning machine gun and fittings for removable stub wings that could carry light bombs or supply canisters. The wings had a reverse taper towards the root, which gave the impression of a bent gull wing from some angles, although the spars were straight. It had a girder type construction faired with a light wood stringers to give the aerodynamic shape. The forward fuselage was duralumin tube joined with brackets and plates, and the after part was welded stainless steel tubes. Plates and brackets were cut from channel extrusions rather than being formed from sheet steel. The front spar and lift struts were extrusions. The wing itself was fabric covered and its thickness was greatest at the strut anchorage, similar to that of later marks of the Stinson Reliant high-winged transport monoplane.

Despite its appearance, the Lysander was aerodynamically advanced; being equipped with fully automatic wing slats and slotted flaps and a variable incidence tailplane. These refinements gave the Lysander a stalling speed of only 65 mph (56 kn; 105 km/h). The tube that supported the wings and wheels was the largest Elektron alloy extrusion made at the time. Due to the difficulties involved in manufacturing such a large extrusion Canadian-built machines had a conventionally fabricated assembly. The Air Ministry requested two prototypes of the P.8 and the competing Bristol Type 148, quickly selecting the Westland aircraft for production and issuing a contract in September 1936.

The high-lift devices gave the Lysander a short take off and landing (STOL) performance much appreciated by the Special Duties pilots such as Squadron Leader Hugh Verity. The wings were equipped with automatic slats which lifted away from the leading edge as the airspeed decreased towards stalling speed. These slats controlled automatic flaps. Slow speed flight was therefore greatly simplified, "and it was possible to bring a Lysander down to land, if not like a lift, at least like an escalator". The inboard slats were connected to the flaps and to an air damper in the port wing which governed the speed at which the slats operated. The outboard slats operated independently and were not connected and each was fitted with an air damper. On a normal approach, the inboard slats and the flaps would begin to open when the airspeed has dropped to about 85 mph (74 kn; 137 km/h) and be approximately half down at 80 mph (70 kn; 130 km/h). The only control that the pilot has is a locking lever which he can set to lock the flaps down once they have been lowered automatically.

Type: Army co-operation and liaison aircraft

National origin: United Kingdom

Manufacturer: Westland Aircraft

Primary users:

Royal Air Force

Indian Air Force

Royal Canadian Air Force

Egyptian Air Force

Number built: 1,786

Introduction date: June 1938

First flight: 15 June 1936

Retired: 1946 (UK)

Operational History

United Kingdom

The first Lysanders entered service in June 1938, equipping squadrons for army co-operation and were initially used for message-dropping and artillery spotting. When war broke out in Europe, the earlier Mk.Is had been largely replaced by Mk.IIs, the older machines heading for the Middle East. Some of these aircraft, now designated type L.1, operated with the Chindits of the British Indian Army in the Burma Campaign of the Second World War.

Four regular squadrons equipped with Lysanders accompanied the British Expeditionary Force to France in October 1939, and were joined by a further squadron early in 1940. Following the German invasion of France and the low countries on 10 May 1940, Lysanders were put into action as spotters and light bombers. In spite of occasional victories against German aircraft, they made very easy targets for the Luftwaffe even when escorted by Hurricanes. Withdrawn from France during the Dunkirk evacuation, they continued to fly supply-dropping missions to Allied forces from bases in England; on one mission to drop supplies to troops trapped at Calais, 14 of 16 Lysanders and Hectors that set out were lost. 118 Lysanders were lost in or over France and Belgium in May and June 1940, of a total of 175 deployed.

With the fall of France, it was clear that the type was unsuitable for the coastal patrol and army co-operation role, being described by Air Marshal Arthur Barratt, commander-in-chief of the British Air Forces in France as "quite unsuited to the task; a faster, less vulnerable aircraft was required." The view of army AOP pilots was that the Lysander was too fast for artillery spotting purposes, too slow and un-maneuverable to avoid fighters, too big to conceal quickly on a landing field, too heavy to use on soft ground and had been developed by the RAF without ever asking the army what was needed. Nevertheless, throughout the remainder of 1940, Lysanders flew dawn and dusk patrols off the coast and in the event of an invasion of Britain, they were tasked with attacking the landing beaches with light bombs and machine guns. They were replaced in the home-based army co-operation role from 1941 by camera-equipped fighters such as the Curtiss Tomahawk and North American Mustang carrying out reconnaissance operations, while light aircraft such as the Taylorcraft Auster were used to direct artillery. Some UK-based Lysanders went to work operating air-sea rescue, dropping dinghies to downed RAF aircrew in the English Channel. Fourteen squadrons and flights were formed for this role in 1940 and 1941.

In India, Nos 20 and 28 Squadrons flying Westland Lysanders were listed as non-operational, but part of No. 221 Group RAF in the army co-operation role from Jamshedpur and Ranchi, respectively, on 1 July 1942.

Special Duties

In August 1941 a new squadron, No. 138 (Special Duties), was formed to undertake missions for the Special Operations Executive to maintain clandestine contact with the French Resistance. Among its aircraft were Lysander Mk.IIIs, which flew over and landed in occupied France. While general supply drops could be left to the rest of No. 138's aircraft, the Lysander could insert and remove agents from the continent or retrieve Allied aircrew who had been shot down over occupied territory and had evaded capture. For this role the Mk.IIIs were fitted with a fixed ladder over the port side to hasten access to the rear cockpit and a large drop tank under the belly. In order to slip in unobtrusively Lysanders were painted matte black overall (some early examples had brown/green camouflaged upper surfaces and later examples had grey/green upper surfaces). Operations almost always took place within a week of a full moon, as moonlight was essential for navigation. The aircraft undertook such duties until the liberation of France in 1944.

Lysanders were based at airfields at Newmarket in Suffolk and later Tempsford in Bedfordshire, but used regular RAF stations to fuel-up for the actual crossing, particularly RAF Tangmere. Flying without any navigation equipment other than a map and compass, Lysanders would land on short strips of land, such as fields, marked out by four or five torches or to avoid having to land, the agent, wearing a special padded suit, stepped off at very low altitude and rolled to a stop on the field. They were originally designed to carry one passenger in the rear cockpit, but for SOE use the rear cockpit of the Mk III (SD) version was modified to carry up to three passengers in case of urgent necessity as they were fitted with a rearward facing bench for two passengers (with a locker underneath) and a shelf at the rear of the compartment which could also serve as a seat for a third passenger.

The pilots of No. 138, and from early 1942 No. 161 Squadron, transported 101 agents to and recovered 128 agents from German-occupied Europe. The Germans knew little about the British aircraft and wished to study one. Soldiers captured an intact Lysander in March 1942 when its pilot was unable to destroy it after a crash, but a train hit the truck carrying the Lysander, destroying the cargo.

In the Far East, from 1944 No. 357 Squadron RAF operated six SD Lysanders as C Flight for dropping agents in support of Fourteenth Army in Burma.

Lysanders were also used as target-towing and communication aircraft. Two aircraft (T1443 and T1739) were transferred to the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) for training and 18 were used by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. All British Lysanders were withdrawn from service in 1946.

Free French

Lysander also joined the ranks of the Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres (Free French Air Force, FAFL) when Groupe Mixte de Combat (GMC) 1, formed at RAF Odiham on 29 August 1940, was sent to French North-West Africa in order to persuade the authorities in countries such as Gabon, Cameroon and Chad, which were still loyal to Vichy France, to join the Gaullist cause against the Axis powers, and to attack Italian ground forces in Libya. As with all FAFL aircraft, Lysanders sported the Cross of Lorraine insignia on the fuselage and the wings instead of the French tricolor roundel first used in 1914, to distinguish their aircraft from those flying for the Vichy French Air Force. Lysanders were mostly employed on reconnaissance missions, but were also used to carry out occasional attacks. In all, 24 Lysanders were used by the FAFL.

Canada

One hundred and four British-built Lysanders were delivered to Canada supplementing 225 that were built under license by National Steel Car at Malton, Ontario (near Toronto) with production starting in October 1938 and the first aircraft flying in August 1939. The RCAF primarily operated Lysanders in the Army Co-operation role, where they represented a major improvement over the antiquated Westland Wapiti which could trace its origins back to 1916. Initial training was conducted at RCAF Station Rockcliffe (near Ottawa, Ontario) with No. 123 Squadron running an army co-operation school there. Units that operated the Lysander for training in this role in Canada include 2 Squadron, 110 Squadron (which became 400 Squadron overseas) and No. 112 Squadron RCAF.

414 squadron formed overseas and joined 110 Squadron and 112 Squadron with Lysanders. Prior to going overseas 2 Squadron was disbanded and its airmen reassigned to 110 and 112 Squadrons to bring them up to war establishment (2 Squadron would later reform in England as a Hurricane unit and eventually be renumbered as 402 Squadron). In all there were three squadrons ready to begin operations against the Axis Powers. Although Operation Sea Lion – the planned German invasion of Great Britain – was averted by the British victory in the Battle of Britain in 1940, the high losses suffered by RAF Lysanders in the Battle of France resulted in any plans for cross-channel offensive operations by Lysanders stopped, although the Canadian squadrons continued training with the Lysanders until suitable replacements were available.

No. 118 Squadron and No. 122 Squadron RCAF were the only Canadian units to use their Lysanders on active-duty operations – 118 in Saint John, New Brunswick, and 122 at various locations on Vancouver Island, where they performed anti-submarine patrols and conducted search-and-rescue operations. During the same period, No. 121 Squadron RCAF and several Operational Training Units (OTUs) used Lysanders – painted in a high-visibility yellow-and-black-striped scheme – for target towing duties.

For a brief period in 1940 when every available Hurricane fighter had been sent overseas to fight in the Battle of Britain, leaving the RCAF without a modern fighter aircraft at home in Canada, two RCAF Lysander-equipped squadrons which were supposed to convert to fighter aircraft but had none to convert to were re-designated as operational fighter squadrons. 111 Squadron, a coastal artillery squadron which earlier had replaced its Avro trainers with Lysanders and been reclassified as an army co-operation unit, was again reclassified as a fighter squadron – the only one on the Canadian west coast – in June 1940. Lysander-equipped 118 Squadron was also converted to a fighter squadron. The Lysander completely lacked the capability to operate in a fighter role, and neither squadron saw action as a fighter unit while equipped with Lysanders, but their designation as fighter squadrons did allow RCAF fighter pilots to work up at a critical time without having to wait for the arrival of true fighter aircraft. No. 118 Squadron was disbanded in September 1940, and when it reformed in December 1940, still as a fighter squadron, it was equipped with 15 old, otherwise unwanted Grumman Goblin fighters produced by Canadian Car and Foundry. Both 111 and 118 Squadrons soon re-equipped with the Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk, bringing the brief service of Lysanders in fighter squadrons to an end. By late 1944 all Canadian Lysanders had been withdrawn from flying duties.

Other Countries

Other export customers for the Lysander included the Finnish Air Force (which received four Mk.I and nine Mk.III aircraft), the Irish Air Corps (which took delivery of six Mk.II aircraft), the Turkish Air Force (which received 36 Mk.IIs), the Portuguese Air Force (which took delivery of eight Mk.IIIA aircraft), the United States Army Air Forces (which received 25), the Indian Air Force (which took delivery of 22) and No. 1 Squadron of the Royal Egyptian Air Force. The REAF received 20 aircraft. Egyptian Lysanders were the last to see active service, against Israel in the 1947–1949 Palestine war.

Civilian Use

After the war a number of surplus ex-Royal Canadian Air Force Lysanders were employed as aerial applicators with Westland Dusting Service, operating in Alberta and western Canada. Two of these were saved for inclusion in Lynn Garrison's collection for display in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Production

A total of 1,786 Lysanders were built, including 225 manufactured under license by National Steel Car in Malton near Toronto, Ontario, Canada during 1938 and 1939.

Variants

Lysander Mk.I: Powered by a 890 hp (660 kW) Bristol Mercury XII radial piston engine. Two forward-firing 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns in wheel fairings and one pintle-mounted 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis or Vickers K machine gun in rear cockpit. Optional spat-mounted stub wings carried 500 lb (230 kg) of bombs. Four 20 lb (9.1 kg) bombs could be carried under rear fuselage.

Lysander TT Mk.I: Lysander Mk.Is converted into target tugs.

Lysander Mk.II: Powered by one 905 hp (675 kW) Bristol Perseus XII sleeve valve radial piston engine.

Lysander TT Mk.II: Target tug conversion of the Lysander Mk.II.

Lysander Mk.III: Powered by a 870 hp (650 kW) Bristol Mercury XX or 30 radial piston engine, 350 delivered from July 1940. Twin 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning guns in rear cockpit.

Lysander Mk.IIIA: As Lysander Mk.I, with Mercury 20 engine. Twin 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis guns in rear cockpit.

Lysander Mk.III SCW (Special Contract Westland): Special version for clandestine operations. No armament, long-range 150 gallon fuel tank, fixed external ladder.

Lysander TT Mk.III: Lysander Mk.Is, Mk.IIs and Mk.IIIs converted into target tugs.

Lysander TT Mk.IIIA: 100 purpose-built target tugs.

P.12 Delanne Lysander: The P.12, also sometimes referred to as the Lysander Mk.V or Wendover, was a rebuild of the prototype Lysander K6127 with a Delanne configuration tandem rear wing to carry a four-gun power-operated tail gun turret. The design was intended for "beach strafing" in case of invasion of the UK. The installation of a dorsal (Boulton Paul) gun turret had been mocked up but the movement of the centre of gravity aft was a concern which led to the investigation of the use of a Delanne tailplane which would provide 50% of the lift and allow for wide C-of-G range. Petter and Harald Penrose consulted Maurice Delanne, and Penrose flew the Delanne 20T in spring 1940 after which Petter drew up a design. The rear fuselage was altered into a wider one of constant cross section. Mounted low on the fuselage was the tail surface with twin tail fins replacing the central fin. This left room for a gun turret just aft of the rear wing. Both Frazer Nash and Boulton-Paul turrets were considered but only a ballasted dummy with no power system was installed. The main wing and forward fuselage remained unchanged. Trials did not start until July 1941 and by the time A&AEE evaluation was complete the need for a breach-strafer had disappeared.

"Pregnant Perch": L6473 adapted with a ventral gun position, resulting in a bulged fuselage belly, again for beach strafing. During testing in June 1940 an engine failure led to a force landing and the aircraft ended up "with its nose in a ditch". In 1940 K6127 was tested with a pair of 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon cannon mounted on top of the wheel fairings and the stub wings removed; the intention was to use the aircraft against invasion barges in Operation Sealion.

Operators

Australia

British India

Canada

Egypt

Finland

Free France

Ireland

Poland

Portugal

South Africa

Turkey

United States

Surviving Aircraft

A number of Lysanders are preserved in museums in Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Belgium, and elsewhere.

Lysander IIIA on static display at the Indian Air Force Museum in Palam, Delhi. Formerly RCAF 1589, it is painted in spurious colors. It is possible that this is the one that Canada traded for a B-24 Liberator bomber in the late 1960s.

RCAF 2349 – Lysander III on display at the Canadian Museum of Flight in Langley, British Columbia. It is displayed without most of its fabric covering. This one was restored for Expo 86 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The wings came from Cliff Douglas in Coutenay, B.C. The fuselage was found in the Prairies. The first fuselage was destroyed en route to British Columbia in a vehicle accident and another one was obtained.

RCAF 2363 – Lysander IIIA under restoration to airworthy condition at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario. It flew for the first time following its restoration a few weeks before the museum's Flyfest on 20–21 June 2009. It is finished in a yellow & black 'bumblebee' target tug scheme.

RCAF 2365 – Lysander IIIA airworthy at the Vintage Wings of Canada in Gatineau, Quebec. It is painted in No. 400 "City of Toronto" RCAF Squadron markings, and is doped silver overall with RCAF serial number 416. After a full restoration, it first flew 18 June 2010 in Gatineau, QC.

RCAF 2442 – Lysander IIIA purchased by The Fighter Collection, Duxford, UK in December 2024.

RCAF 2445 – Lysander IIIA in storage at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin, Alberta.

T1562 or V9562 – Lysander TT III on static display at the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History in Brussels. Previously registered as OO-SOP, it was restored from 1983 to 1988, and again by December 2010 following a forced landing.

R9125 – Lysander III on static display at the Royal Air Force Museum London. It is painted in the early war brown and green temperate land scheme marked JR-M R9125 of No. 225 Squadron RAF.

V9552 – Airworthy as of 2019 as part of The Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden, Bedfordshire in the UK. It is currently painted in the all black scheme of the clandestine Special Duties aircraft of No.161 Squadron RAF, bearing the serial V9367 (flown by Pilot Officer Peter Vaughan-Fowler, DSO, DFC and bar, AFC.)

V9312 – Airworthy as of 2019 following restoration to flight by the Aircraft Restoration Company at Imperial War Museum Duxford. Flew in August 2018 for the first time since 1944. A Westland-built example, manufactured in 1940. Currently painted in the livery of No. 225 squadron RAF, with whom the plane served in wartime. Apparently now in the process of being certified to carry paying passengers.

Lysander III on static display at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa, Ontario. This example was a composite, restored from three aircraft by the RCAF as a centennial project in 1967 and is painted in the early war temperate land scheme (dark earth and dark green over sky).

RCAF 2346 – Lysander IIIA on static display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia. It is painted in a night finish with grey and green topsides, and marked as AC-B N7791, a No. 138 Squadron RAF aircraft famous for spy-dropping missions in wartime Europe.

Lysander IIIA on static display at the Imperial War Museum Duxford in Duxford, Cambridgeshire. It is painted as MA-J V9673 flown by Hugh Verity also of No. 161 Squadron RAF.

Lysander IIIA on display at the Florida Air Museum in Lakeland, Florida. On loan from the Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida. It is painted in a temperate sea scheme (extra dark sea grey and dark slate grey over sky) and marked as BA-C serial V9545. It was previously owned by Wessex Aviation and Transport.

In Popular Culture

In 1963, BBC TV transmitted a series of dramas called Moonstrike about the insertion of clandestine SOE operatives into occupied France. The first episode featured a reconstruction of a typical Lysander operation.

Specifications (Lysander Mk.III)

Crew: 2 (1 pilot, 1 pass.)

Length: 30 ft 6 in (9.30 m)

Wingspan: 50 ft 0 in (15.24 m)

Height: 14 ft 6 in (4.42 m)

Wing area: 260 sq ft (24 m2)

Airfoil: RAF 34 modified

Empty weight: 4,365 lb (1,980 kg)

Maximum takeoff weight: 6,330 lb (2,871 kg)

Powerplant: 1 × Bristol Mercury XX 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 870 hp (650 kW)

Propellers: 3-bladed

Maximum speed: 212 mph (341 km/h, 184 kn) at 5,000 ft (1,524 m)

Stall speed: 65 mph (105 km/h, 56 kn)

Range: 600 mi (970 km, 520 nmi)

Service ceiling: 21,500 ft (6,600 m)

Time to altitude: 10,000 ft (3,048 m) in 8 minutes

Take-off distance to 50 ft (15 m): 915 ft (279 m)

Guns: 2 × forward-firing .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns in wheel fairings and two more for the observer.

Bombs: 4 × 20 lb (9 kg) HE bombs on a Light Series carrier or 1 × 150 imp gal tank (on MK IIIA SD) under rear fuselage and/or 500 lb (227 kg) of bombs on undercarriage stub wing hardpoints (if fitted)

Bibliography

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Breuer, William B. Top Secret Tales of World War II. New York: Wiley, 2000.

Donald, David and Jon Lake, eds. Encyclopedia of World Military Aircraft. London: AIRtime Publishing, 1996.

"For Army Co-operation". Flight. 9 June 1938. pp. 569–576.

Griffiths, Frank. Winged Hours. London: William Kimber, 1981.

Hall, Alan W. Westland Lysander, Warpaint Series No. 48. Luton, Bedfordshire, UK: Warpaint Books Ltd., 2005.

James, Derek N. Westland Aircraft since 1915. London: Putnam, 1991.

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Kightly, James. Westland Lysander. Redbourn, UK: Mushroom Model Publications, 2006.

Kostenuk, Samuel and John Griffin. RCAF Squadron Histories and Aircraft: 1924–1968. Toronto, Ontario: Samuel Stevens Hakkert & Company, 1977.

March, Daniel J. British Warplanes of World War II. London: Aerospace Publishing, 1998.

Mason, Francis K. (1967). The Westland Lysander. Aircraft in Profile Number 159. Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications.

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Ovčáčík, Michal and Karel Susa. Westland Lysander Mks.I, II, III/IIIA, III(SD)/IIIA(SD), TT Mks. I, II, III. Prague, Czech Republic: Mark 1 Ltd., 1999.

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Wake-Walker, Edward. Westland Lysander: Owners' Workshop Manual. Yeovil: Haynes Publishing, 2014.

Westland Lysander (L4674).

Westland Lysander rear gunner with twin Brownings.

Westland Lysander rear gunner with Early Vickers K.

RAF Gunner training with twin Brownings.

Experimental Westland Lysander with mocked up quad enclosed turret. A flying prototype was never built as it was deter-mined that the field of fire for the turret was too limited to be effective.

P.12 Delanne Lysander, also sometimes referred to as the Wendover, was a modified version of the prototype Lysander K6127 with a Delanne configuration rear wing to carry a 4-gun power-operated tail gun turret. The design was intended for "beach strafing" in case of invasion of the UK. The rear fuselage was replaced by a wider one of constant cross section. Mounted low on it was a much larger tail surface, making it a Delanne-type tandem wing. Twin tail fins replaced the central fin, making room for the gun turret which was fitted just aft of the rear wing. Both Frazer Nash and Boulton-Paul turrets were considered but only a dummy with no power system was installed. The main wing and forward fuselage remained un-changed. Although it flew well, trials were still underway when the threat of invasion disappeared and it did not proceed past flight trials, which were carried out with the dummy turret.

Four Royal Air Force Westland Lysander Mark IIIA of No. 1433 Flight RAF, based at Ivato, Madagascar, in flight over Madagascar, December 1942.

Westland Lysander I (K6127).

Westland Lysander (L4801), Far East.

Loading machine gun on wing stub of Westland Lysander, Far East.

Lysander Mark II (R1992) of the Communications Flight, Air Headquarters Western Desert, based at Maaten Bagush, Egypt, taxiing at Heliopolis with the Maharajah of Nabha on board.

Lysander Mark III (T1532) KO-D of No. 2 Squadron RAF based at Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, in flight while making a practice attack on a road convoy at Odiham, Hampshire.

Lysander TT Mark III (T1444) G-5 of No. 5 Air Observers School based at Jurby, Isle of Man, in flight off the Manx coast.

Three Lysander Mark Is (L4721, L4728 and L4715) of No. 208 Squadron RAF, based at Heliopolis, Egypt, entering a star-board turn after flying over the Suez Canal.

Ground crew installing camera equipment into a Westland Lysander Mark II of No. 225 Squadron at RAF Tilshead, Wilt-shire. The airman on the right loads a Type F.24 aerial camera into its position in the aircraft, while the airman on the left holds the camera motor unit.

Westland Lysander III (V9673) MA-J 'Jiminy' Cricket of No 161 Specials Duties Squadron, Squadron Leader Hugh Verity, RAF Tangmere, 1943. Left to right: Flying Officer J A McCairns, Squadron Leader Hugh Verity, Group Captain Percy Charles “Pick” Pickard (Squadron Commander), Flight Lieutenant Peter Vaughan-Fowler and Flying Officer Frank “Bunny” Rymills. In front of Pickard sits his Old English Sheepdog Ming, and to the right, Rymill’s Spaniel Henry. Note Verity’s in-signia below the cockpit, around which are stars, denoting the number of successful clandestine missions to and from occu-pied France he had so far undertaken. F/O McCairns went on to complete 25 sorties during his tour of duty. For SD work, Westland was awarded the contract to modify Lysander Mk IIIs into dedicated ‘Special Duties’ aircraft. All armament was removed and the normal variable pitch propeller was replaced by a constant speed three bladed version. A 150 gallon, permanently fixed, fuel tank was added under the fuselage which increased the aircraft’s range from 600 miles to about 1000 miles with an endurance of 10 hours flying. The normal gunner’s compartment was modified considerably for the SD task. The canopy was replaced with a one-piece unit that slid rearwards on rails to allow quick entry and exit. A ladder was permanently fitted to the port side to allow ease of access and the floor was lengthened and strengthened. The bluky radio was replaced with a much smaller one and a rearward facing bench for two passengers was installed with a locker underneath. A shelf was also built at the rear of the compartment which could also serve as a seat.

High oblique aerial view of RAF Hendon, Middlesex, from the North. At this time, No. 1 Camouflage Unit, No. 24 Squadron RAF, and No. 116 Squadron RAF (whose Westland Lysanders can be identified parked on the perimeter in the foreground), were based there. Further attempts to effectively camouflage the airfield have been made from those in 1941. Circa 1942.

Westland Lysander prepared for gas spraying trials, 1940.

Westland Lysanders KJ-L -M and -O (serial numbers appear to have been removed by wartime censors).

Smoke floats being loaded onto the fuselage bomb carrier of Westland Lysander Mark IIIA (V9547) BA-E, an air-sea rescue aircraft of No. 277 Squadron RAF, at Hawkinge, Kent.

A ground crew member loads bags of DDT into smoke dispensing equipment, adapted for use as an anti-mosquito spray under the fuselage of a Westland Lysander in Sicily, as the pilots look on. The high incidence of malaria among allied servicemen in the theatre led to extensive spraying of the swamps and areas of water on the island where the malaria-carrying mosquitoes bred.

Three RAF Westland Lysanders over Suez canal, circa 1940.

Westland Lysander (K6127), 15 June 1938.

Loading bombs on Westland Lysanders.

Westland Lysander II (L4767) OO-E of No. 13 Squadron RAF, on the ground at Mons-en-Chaussee, France, as ground crew investigate a deflated tire on the port undercarriage. The serial number has been painted over for security purposes.

A Westland Lysander of No. 13 Squadron RAF taxies to its dispersal point in the snow at Mons-en-Chaussee, 1939/40.

Westland Lysander Mark II (R2007) LX-U of No. 225 Squadron RAF deploys its ventral message hook for an in-flight pick-up during a training flight at Tilshead, Wiltshire, 1940. R2007 subsequently flew with a number of units, including Nos. 13 and 2 Squadrons RAF, No. 7 Anti-aircraft Cooperation Unit, No. 239 Squadron RAF, and in the Far East with both Nos. 1 and 2 Squadrons of the Indian Air Force. The aircraft was finally written off after a heavy landing at Risalpur on 16 March 1943, while serving with No, 151 (Fighter) Operational Training Unit.

Four Westland Lysander Mark IIs (N1294 'LX-T' and L6865 'LX-E' nearest) of No. 225 Squadron RAF based at Tilshead, Wiltshire, flying in loose formation on a training flight, 1940.

Westland Lysander Mark II (N1256) LX-M of No. 225 Squadron RAF based at Tilshead, Wiltshire, in flight, 1940.

Westland Lysander Mark III 'LJ-P' of No. 614 Squadron RAF based at Macmerry, East Lothian, airborne on a photographic-reconnaissance flight.

Four Westland Lysander Mark IIIAs of No. 1433 Flight RAF, based at Ivato, Madagascar, in flight in starboard echelon formation over typical Madagascar countryside.

Four Westland Lysander Mark IIIAs of No. 1433 Flight RAF, based at Ivato, Madagascar, peeling off to port while in flight.

A Westland Lysander, working with the RAF Anti-Malaria Control Unit in Sicily, sprays DDT powder over swamp land in an effort to eradicate malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

Westland Lysander Mark II (R1999) LX-P of No. 225 Squadron RAF, undergoing maintenance at Tilshead, Wiltshire. Note the single Lewis Mark III machine gun on its Fairey mounting in the rear cockpit, 1940.

Ground crew pack a parachute into a supply dropper before fitting it to the stub winglets of a Westland Lysander Mark II of No. 225 Squadron RAF at Tilshead, Wiltshire, 1940.

Five Westland Lysander Mark IIs of No. 225 Squadron RAF based at Tilshead, Wiltshire, flying in formation near Westdown Camp.

Westland Lysander Mark IIIA (V9547) BA-E, an air-sea rescue aircraft of No. 277 Squadron RAF, airborne from Hawkinge, Kent, with a couple of M-Type dinghy containers slung under the stub-wings just above the spatted landing wheels, and four smoke floats fitted to the small bomb carrier on the rear fuselage.

Ground crew remove a Type F.24 camera from Westland Lysander Mark IIIA, V9437 'AR-V', of No. 309 Polish Fighter-Reconnaissance Squadron (part of the RAF Army Cooperation Command), at Dunino, Fife, following a photo reconnaissance sortie.

Finnish Westland Lysander, Viiksjärvi, 17 February 1942.

RCAF Lysander, RCAF Station Scoudouc, N.B. Painted yellow with diagonal black bands for high visibility the Westland Lysander performed various duties, including observation, utility, training, among others. 329 of the type served with the RCAF, most Lysanders served on the homefront but some also served with 400 squadron RCAF in the UK.

Lysander, probably at Sydney, Nova Scotia.

North American Harvard Mk.IIB, with Santa Claus, and Westland Lysander. This Harvard brought Santa to No.1 Coastal Artillery Co-operation (CAC) Flight, Saint John, New Brunswick, December 1942.

Unit crest of No. 1 Squadron, Indian Air Force, whose lineage dates to the Lysander unit which fought alongside the American Volunteer Group over Burma in 1942.

RAF ground crews and American medical orderlies remove a stretcher bearing Lieutenant John Giannaris, US Army, from the rear cockpit of a Westland Lysander Mark III(SD) of No. 148 (Special Duties) Squadron RAF, at an airfield in Italy following his evacuation from German-occupied Greece. Giannaris, an American OSS officer leading a Greek guerilla group, was badly wounded while attempting to sabotage part of the Athens-Salonika railway line north of Lamia in central Greece and required urgent evacuation for treatment at an Allied hospital. Flying Officer N H Attenborrow flew the Lysander, largely unescorted, over 500 miles from Southern Italy to pick up the wounded officer on a landing strip prepared by the guerillas in the Pindus mountains. (Imperial War Museum CNA3132)

Lysander II no. 418 of 110 (AC) Squadron RCAF, in silver delivery scheme at RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario, 21 January 1940.(Library and Archives Canada PA-063626)

Groundcrew refuelling Westland Lysander IIT target tug aircraft 1557 of No.3 Operational Training Unit (Royal Canadian Airforce Schools and Training Units), Royal Canadian Air Force (R.C.A.F.), Patricia Bay, British Columbia, Canada, 14 February 1944. (Library and Archives Canada PA-197486)

Lysander Mk.I drawing, with additional side view of Mk.III (SD) covert operations aircraft.

Westland Lysander Mark III, 'OO-E' of No. 13 Squadron RAF based at Hooton Park, Cheshire, provides aiming practice on low-flying aircraft for members of the Home Guard, at the Western Command Weapons Training School at Altcar, near Formby, Lancashire. (Imperial War Museum H4209)

Lysander K6127, RAF.

An RAF Lysander flies over a convoy of lorries during the retreat into Egypt, 26 June 1942. (Imperial War Museum E13767)

An RAF Lysander aircraft from Army Co-operation Command flies low over Valentine tanks during an exercise, 18 November 1941. The tanks are marked with crosses to indicate 'enemy' vehicles. (Imperial War Museum H15604)

Flight Lieutenant Prithipal Singh, commander of 'A' Flight, No. 1 Squadron IAF, looks down from the cockpit of his Westland Lysander at Magwe, Burma, during operations in support of Allied forces retreating from the Burma. Note the "Tiger of Konkan" Squadron badge painted on the fuselage side. (Imperial War Museum CF24)

Lysander Mark II, L4767 ‘OO-E’, of No. 13 Squadron RAF, on the ground at Mons-en-Chaussee, France, as ground crew investigate a deflated tire on the port undercarriage. The serial number has been painted over for security purposes. (Imperial War Museum C519)

A Westland Lysander of No. 13 Squadron RAF taxies to its dispersal point in the snow at Mons-en-Chaussee. (Imperial War Museum C719)

A Westland Lysander, working with the RAF Anti-Malaria Control Unit in Sicily, sprays DDT powder over swamp land in an effort to eradicate malaria-carrying mosquitos. (Imperial War Museum CNA1265)

Westland Lysander Mark I, R2636, of No. 5 Group Communications Flight, parked outside a hangar at Spitalgate, Lincolnshire. (Imperial War Museum HU42449)

Lysander K6127, RAF.

RCAF Westland Lysander II no. 473 in camouflage. (Library and Archives Canada PA-064032)

Westland Lysander II aircraft of No. 2 (AC) Squadron, RCAF at Rockcliffe. (Library and Archives Canada 3203502)

Westland Lysander. (Classic World War II Aircraft Cutaways)

Lysander airframe.

Lysander no. 419, RCAF.

Westland Lysander III.

Lysander TT Mark IIIA target tug, V9905, on the ground at Westlands Ltd, Yeovil, Somerset, before delivery to No. 58 Operational Training Unit at Grangemouth, Stirlingshire. (Imperial War Museum ATP10716B)

Lysander K6127, RAF.

Lysander L4712, RCAF, on a supply drop during training.

A group of Women's Auxillary Air Force flight riggers and flight mechanics at work on a Westland Lysander army co-operation and liaison aircraft on 20 August 1941 at a Royal Air force station somewhere in England.

Lysander no. L4710 over the Egyptian desert swoops to collect a message from the lorry below.

Westland Lysander II no. 424 STOL army utility aircraft at Irons in Vancouver, Canada in December of 1939.

The prototype Lysander, serial K6127, 1940.

Grounds men fitting a Westland Lysander with a canister for supply dropping, 1943.

A formation of Westland Lysander 'Army Co-operation' Monoplanes flying over Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire.

Paratroopers drop from a Whitley aircraft whilst training at an RAF station in Britain during World War II, 24th October 1941. The aircraft in front is a Westland Lysander.

WAAF and RAF ground crew seen here roller skating at their station a Westland Lysander communication aircraft can be seen in the background. June 1942.

Westland Lysander II, an Army Co-operation monoplane, during World War Two, circa 1943.

Three Westland Lysander II aircraft (N1254, L4753 and N1250) of 225 Squadron Royal Air Force in flight, April 1940.

Westland Lysander aircraft pilots learning to fly over desert wastes.

Mechanics, ground staff and pilots work to re-arm and re-fuel a Royal Air Force Westland Lysander army co-operation aircraft from No 4 Squadron RAF at a RAF base in England (probably RAF Clifton near York) during World War II in September 1941. Aircraft from the RAF Army co-operation squadron are used for reconnaissance missions over occupied Europe.

A Royal Air Force rear gunner gives a V sign salute from the rear cockpit of a Westland Lysander aircraft at a RAF air base in England during World War II on 26 August 1941.

Lysander, N1256, LX-M, RAF.

Army co-operation work is one form of that specialization towards which later parts of the training may tend. The aircraft here seen picking up a message is a Westland Lysander. Lysander Mk.I L4710 crashed and was written off while attempting to land near Cairo, Egypt, 6 July 1942.

Westland Lysander Mark II, R2007 'LX-U', of No. 225 Squadron RAF deploys its ventral message hook for an in-flight pick-up during a training flight at Tilshead, Wiltshire. R2007 subsequently flew with a number of units, including Nos. 13 and 2 Squadrons RAF, No. 7 Anti-aircraft Cooperation Unit, No. 239 Squadron RAF, and in the Far East with both Nos. 1 and 2 Squadrons of the Indian Air Force. The aircraft was finally written off after a heavy landing at Risalpur on 16 March 1943, while serving with No, 151 (Fighter) Operational Training Unit. (Imperial War Museum CH1183)

Lysander Mark III, T1532 ‘KO-D’, of No. 2 Squadron RAF based at Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, in flight while making a practice attack on a road convoy at Odiham, Hampshire. (Imperial War Museum CH2639)

Lysander no. 1589, RCAF. In the 1960s, 1589 was partially restored in Canada then gifted to the Indian Air Force in the early 1970s. The aircraft today can be seen at the Indian Air Force Museum.

In an exercise of army cooperation at RAF Odiham, Lysander pilots of No. 400 Squadron RCAF rush to climb into the cockpits of their Lysanders, having just received their operational orders from an Army Liaison Officer standing at the desk at left.

The Lysander’s failure to protect itself from the enemy in the Spring of 1940 led to the development of a prototype called the Delanne Tandem Wing or Lysander P12. Westland designers worked with Frenchman Maurice Henri Delanne to develop more lift at the back of the aircraft to allow for a heavy defensive machine gun turret at the rear. Only one prototype was constructed—from test bed K6127. The large yellow P in a circle roundel on K6127 denoted a prototype.

Perhaps one of the most unsung roles that the Lysander was well suited to was that of Air Sea Rescue (ASR) operations over the English Channel, North Sea and waters surrounding Great Britain. Lysander crews would respond to an emergency call from airmen about to ditch or take to a parachute over the Channel. Their mission was to find the airmen in the sea and drop them a life raft, then vector a fast RAF patrol boat to pick them up. Fourteen squadrons and special flights were formed in England to the ASR role. Here an ASR Lysander drops a life raft from a pod slung from its wheel pant bomb rack winglet. As it falls, the raft begins to inflate. Note the defensive twin machine guns to fend off attacking fighters.

Canadian-built Lysanders at a Bombing Gunnery School in Canada wear the distinctive “Oxydol” paint scheme of yellow and black diagonal stripes.

A National Steel Car–built “Oxydol” Lysander, employed as a gunnery target-towing aircraft in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.

Westland Lysander Mk II P9191 at El Kabrit, Egypt, on February 10, 1943. This aircraft flew with 267 Sqn and was stricken off RAF charge in June 1945.

Copy negative created from material lent to the museum. Subject covers: Lysander Mark IIIA (SD), V9673 'MA-J', of No.161 (Special Duties) Squadron RAF on the ground at Tempsford, Bedfordshire. This aircraft was flown by Squadron Leader Hugh Verity on twenty missions to occupied France in 1943 to drop and pick up SOE and Resistance personnel. (Imperial War Museum HU59359)

The Westland Lysander equipped three of the four IAF Squadrons in its heyday – Indian pilots flew it into battle in the jungles of Burma to the hostile lands of the North Western Frontier. Seen here is a Lysander II of No.4 Squadron in late 1942, sporting bomb carriers under the stub wings, twin .303 inch Brownings in the rear cockpit. Not clearly visible in the picture are two forward firing Brownings installed in the main wheel spats, just above the main landing lights. (Bruce Robertson Collection via 4+ Publications)

The cockpit and instrument panel of the Lysander. Next photo is an explanation of the numbers.

Lysander R1999 LX-P, RAF.

Lysander Mk II LY-125 of 2/LeLv 16th Squadron (Finland), July 1941.

Westland Lysander I.

Westland Lysander armed with two wheel mounted 20mm cannon. Intended for use in an anti-barge role in the event of a German invasion of England, at least one Westland Lysander was fitted with 20mm Oerlikon cannon in place of the original wheel mounted .303 machine guns.