Eight captured ex-Royal Yugoslav Air Force Mk I aircraft were acquired by the ZNDH from the Germans after the April invasion in 1941.[4] Several survived to the end of the War, with one retreating to Klagenfurt Austria upon the collapse of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in May 1945.[5]
Finland
Bristol Blenheim of the Finnish Air Force. Photo taken in March, 1944.
Finland was the first export order for the Blenheim and 18 Mark Is were delivered between 29 July 1937 and 27 July 1938. A licence to local produce the aircraft was granted in April 1938 but none of the 15 ordered from State Aircraft Factory were delivered before the Russian invasion. Twelve new Mark IVs were diverted from RAF production and these were followed by 12 former RAF Mark Is.
One damaged Blenheim Mk IV was captured during Battle of France in 1940. It was later repaired and used as special training aircraft from 1940 until 1942.[8]
The Hellenic Air Force in its campaigns against Italy and Germany in 1940 and 1941, operated 12 Mk IVs (delivered before WWII without sights, bomb racks, wireless radios and intercoms) and 6 Mk Is (delivered in February 1941).[9] In the Middle East, the Hellenic Air Force operated 19 Mk IVs (from January 1942 till January 1943) and 31 Mk Vs (from January 1943 till September 1943).
Blenheim Mk.IV N3589 of No. 40 Squadron RAF landed in error at Pantelleria on 13 September 1940 and was evaluated at Guidonia airfield near Rome.[11] One more was captured in Yugoslavia while two were seized in Italian East Africa but were recaptured when this territory fell into British hands.[12] N3589 might be the Mk.IV appearing in a non-flying role in the movie Un Pilota Ritorna (1942) directed by Roberto Rossellini.
One Blenheim IV rebuild to VIP transport variant was used as personal transport aircraft of the General Władysław Anders, commander of 2nd Polish Corps
In 1939, Romania bought 40 Blenheim Mk.Is from Britain, but only 37 aircraft arrived in the country. The first airplane was fitted with double controls.[14] The first aircraft were assigned to the 1st Long Range Reconnaissance Squadron of the 2nd Guard Aviation Flotilla. A further three long range reconnaissance squadrons were equipped with Blenheims. The four squadrons carried out reconnaissance missions along the Hungarian, Bulgarian and Soviet borders. In January 1941, another 3 captured ex-Royal Yugoslav Air Force Blenheims were purchased from Germany.[14][15][16]
At the start of Operation Barbarossa, some of the first missions were carried out by the long range reconnaissance squadrons. The first loss of the Royal Romanian Air Force during the war was also a Bristol Blenheim. By the end of the year, six aircraft were lost.[16] In September of the same year, the aircraft were up-armoured by the Malaxa factory. After 1941, the remaining Blenheims were transferred to the 3rd Bomber Flotilla.[14] By August 1942, only 27 airplanes remained in service. These further participated in the Battle of Stalingrad. Three aircraft were lost by the end of December 1942. The few serviceable Blenheims mostly flew missions over the Black Sea coast throughout 1943.[16] At the beginning of 1945, the remaining aircraft were withdrawn from frontline use, but they were kept in service until 1948.[14]
The Royal Yugoslav Air Force acquired 24 Mk I aircraft from RAF stocks and subsequently undertook a licensed production run of some 36 aircraft. Tooling up for the production of the Mk IV was about to commence when interrupted by the Invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. Some 20 partly completed airframes, as well as production tools and spare parts were subsequently sold by Germany to Finland.[15]
Antoniu, Dan. Illustrated History of Romanian Aeronautics. Bucharest: 2014. ISBN978-973-0-17209-6
Bączkowski, W. Samolot bombowy Bristol Blenheim Mk.I-IV, Typy Broni I Uzbrojenia, No.171 (in Polish). Warsaw, Poland: Bellona SA, 1995. ISBN83-11-08512-9
Boiten, T. Bristol Blenheim. London: The Crowood Press, 1998. ISBN1-86126-115-2.
Bowyer, C. Bristol Blenheim. London: Ian Allan, 1984. ISBN0-7110-1351-9.
Jefford, C.G. RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988 (second edition 2001). ISBN1-85310-053-6.
Keskinen, Kalevi et al. Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia 10, Bristol Blenheim (in Finnish). Loviisa, Finland: Painoyhtymä Oy, 2004. ISBN952-99432-1-0.
Kostenuk, S. and J. Griffin. RCAF Squadron Histories and Aircraft: 1924–1968. Toronto: Samuel Stevens, Hakkert & Company, 1977. ISBN0-88866-577-6.
Lake, Jon. Blenheim Squadrons of World War II. London: Osprey Publishing, 1998. ISBN1-85532-723-6.
Likso, T. and D. Canak. Hrvatsko Ratno Zrakoplovstvo u Drugome Svjetskom Ratu (The Croatian Airforce in the Second World War). Zagreb, 1998. ISBN953-97698-0-9.
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