HP.81/3WZ839Hermes Mk.4f/f 24/09/1949, ex G-ALDB, to WZ839 for trooping flights 1952, w/o 23/07/1952
according to
http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=WZ
That surprised me as I expected to find it had been civilianised from a Hastings.
Not directly related but I found it odd that we've nearly exhausted the Z series of Serial in such a short time; bearing in mind how few aircraft the Air Force acquires these days. Apart from "real aircraft" Serials being allocated to UAVs, every foreign export machine seems to acquire a UK Serial. Presumably manufacturers don't have their own civil series of registrations anymore.