MReyn24050 Thank you VERY much, yes that seems to line up with the report of a (now deceased) radio op. He was in from the start, having signed up in 1937/8.
If the first deployments of this machine were to Yorkshire (Dishforth), were most of them there? He reported two occasions of having to ditch when returning on one. One such occasion was in Herne Bay and the second also on that North Kent coast, looking as if they got back due East and put down as soon as they could. The man spoke of the Whitley in the most unfavourable of terms, I am told!! Some sites state that the machine was robustly built, this man said that they were built of cardboard! Of course, perception of the occupants may well vary from fact!