jolihokistix (#10571),
...Sorry to keep slamming this thread sideways, and in due course I hope it settles back to the conversation into which I butted earlier...
No problem, jhsx, this Thread revels in being "Butted sideways": it is this which has made it the most popular "normal" Thread on "Military Aviation". Keep on "Butting" to your heart's content !
...bombers 'Donryu' Helens were used on Darwin for the first and last time...
Might've done better with the Type 99 "Betty" or the Ki-21 "Sally".
The "Betty" was the torpedo bomber (although the size of our "Wellington") which saw off our "Prince of Wales" and "Repulse" off Malaya on 10/11/41, and so sealed the fate of Singapore, Malaya, Siam, and Burma (and it was "touch and go" for India as well).
9 "Bettys" bombed us (110 and 45 Sqns) at Khumbirgram (Assam) on 11/11/43. Score: three airmen (110) killed, one of 110's Vengeance Cat 5,, a number damaged, one of 45's VVs up a tree (in haste to get away), aircraft OK, but tree a write-off, and our Flight truck burned out. Oh, and a Works 'n Bricks working elephant went AWOL and was never seen again (this generated more paper than all the rest put together).
Second thought: might've beem 9 "Sallys", but think "Bettys". They sailed off unharmed, as we had nothing to hit them with.
Danny.