World War II Aircraft Bombers

World War II Aircraft Bombers Handbook

The Handbook of aircraft of WWII includes all the aircraft used by those countries which were at war during WWII from the period between their joining the conflict and the conflict ending for them.

A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, firing torpedoes at them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.

With engine power as a major limitation, combined with the desire for accuracy and other operational factors, bomber designs tended to be tailored to specific roles. By the start of the war this included:
dive - specially strengthened for vertical diving attacks for greater accuracy.
light, medium and heavy - subjective definitions based on size.
torpedo - specialized aircraft armed with torpedoes.
ground attack aircraft - used against targets on a battlefield such as troop or tank concentrations. A further specialized form was the anti-tank aircraft.
night - specially equipped to operate at night when opposing defences are limited.
maritime patrol - long range bombers that were used against enemy shipping, particularly submarines.
Bombers are not intended to attack other aircraft although most were fitted with defensive weapons. WWII saw the beginning of the widespread use of high speed bombers which dispensed with defensive weapons to be able to attain higher speed, such as with the de Havilland Mosquito..
Some smaller designs have been used as the basis for night fighters, and a number of fighters, such as the Hawker Hurricane were used as ground attack aircraft, replacing earlier conventional light bombers that proved unable to defend themselves while carrying a useful bombload.

Handbook including:
Avro Lancaster
Avro Manchester
Blohm & Voss BV 142
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
Boeing B-29 Superfortress
B-24 Liberator
B-32 Dominator
PB4Y-2 Privateer
Focke-Wulf Fw 200
Halifax
Heinkel He 177
Piaggio P.108
Stirling
A.W.38 Whitley
Avro Anson
B.26 Botha
Breda Ba.88 Lince
Bristol Beaufort
CANT Z.1007
Caproni Ca.135
A-18 Shrike II
DH.98 Mosquito
Do 17
Do 215
Do 217
A-20 Havoc
B-26 Invader
Douglas B-18 Bolo
B-23 Dragon
Fokker T.V
HP.52 Hampden
Heinkel He 111
Junkers Ju 86
Junkers Ju 88
Junkers Ju 188
Kawasaki Ki-48
Lockheed Hudson
Lockheed Ventura
Martin B-10
B-26 Marauder
Martin Baltimore
Martin Maryland
Mitsubishi G3M
Mitsubishi G4M
Mitsubishi Ki-21
Mitsubishi Ki-67
Nakajima Ki-49
North American B-25 Mitchell
Petlyakov Pe-2
Potez 540
Savoia-Marchetti SM.79
Savoia-Marchetti SM.81
Tupolev TB-1
Vickers Wellington
Yokosuka P1Y