When war began again in September 1939, the Vickers-Armstrongs and Hawker aircraft companies had exclusive use of the Brooklands site for military aircraft production. The Wellington was one of the world’s most advanced bomber aircraft at the start of World War Two and bore the brunt of the Allied bomber offensive in the early 1940s.
Of 11,461 Wellingtons built by Vickers by 1943, 2,515 were built at Brooklands – one fifth of the total number. All 18 variants were developed and test flown here too. Throughout the war Wellingtons performed an extraordinary variety of roles and the type was Britain’s most numerous and successful twin-engined bomber of that conflict serving throughout the RAF. In September 1985 Wellington ‘R for Robert’ was recovered from Loch Ness, having ditched there during a training flight in 1940, and returned to Brooklands where it has since been meticulously restored.
Britain’s most successful fighter aircraft of this era was the Hawker Hurricane designed by Sydney Camm at nearby Kingston. It was assembled and first flown in prototype form at Brooklands in November 1935. Altogether, 3,012 Hurricanes were produced at Brooklands – one fifth of the total built. When the Battle of Britain was fought in the summer of 1940 it was due to the tremendous production and test flying effort at Brooklands and other factories and to the skills of the RAF pilots that the Hurricane became the chief victor of this decisive engagement. At the time, Hurricanes equipped no less than two-thirds of RAF single fighter squadrons. A Brooklands-built Hurricane was recovered from Russia in 1997 and is now on display in the Aircraft Hangar.
Barnes Wallis – Research and Development
Renowned engineer, designer and inventor, Sir Barnes Wallis spent almost four decades working at Brooklands - most notably on the Wellington bomber and the ‘bouncing’ bomb. He also successfully developed the Tallboy and Grand Slam ‘earthquake’ bombs, the largest conventional bombs used in the war.