The Wellington was Bomber Command's first heavy bomber. Extremely robust, if a little underpowered, and armed with two twin-gun turrets, it was originally believed that the Wellington could, if flown in tight formation, fight its way through enemy fighters in daytime. That notion was quickly dispelled when formations of Wellingtons attempting daylight attacks in the Heligoland Bight in December of 1939 were decimated by Luftwaffe fighters. Additional daylight raids proved equally costly and Bomber Command was eventually forced to adopt a strategy of night bombing for which the Wellington proved an excellent aircraft. Wellingtons occasionally participated as bait during daylight "circus" operations in 1941 but that job fell more often to the venerable Blenheim.
DEFENSIVE GUNS: The Wellington has front and rear gun turrets with two .303 machineguns each, giving it reasonably good defensive firepower for its time. The IC model widens the turrets' fields of fire and adds a single gun each to the left and right sides of the airplane.
