Avro Anson Mk.I

Avro Anson Mk.I

When it entered service with No.84 Squadron at RAF Manston in March
1936, the Avro Anson became the first monoplane type to achieve squadron
service status and was also the first RAF aircraft to feature a retractable
undercarriage.

The RAF Anson Mk.I was equipped with a fixed forward firing .303 machine
gun operated by the pilot and a single Lewis gun mounted in the manually
traversed dorsal turret. It could also be equipped with a modest bomb load,
something which was required by submarine hunting aircraft operated by
Coastal Command.

Despite the fact that the RAF entered the Second World War with 26
squadrons equipped with Avro Ansons, they were basically obsolete as a
fighting machine and were quickly withdrawn to secondary training roles, a
task for which the ‘Faithfull Annie’ was particularly well suited. As part of the
Empire Air Training Scheme, many thousands of aircrew destined for service
with Bomber Command were trained both in the UK and overseas.

Hellenic Air Force
N61, 13th Squadron Naval Cooperation, Hellenic Air Force. (Aircraft escaped
to Egypt and subsequently served with the 13th Light Bomber Squadron).