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Bristol Bolingbroke IVT bomber

Caption: Bristol Bolingbroke IVT bomber

The Bristol Bolingbroke was a Canadian version of the British light bomber known as the Bristol Blenheim. Bolingbroke was the name given to the Canadian-built version of the Blenheim Mk. IV. Over 600 were built by the Fairchild plant at Longueuil, Quebec, starting in 1939. The Bolingbroke was the first modern, all aluminium aircraft built in Canada, but it was also obsolete before the first example flew. Nevertheless, for lack of anything better, the design was widely used. In July 1942, a Bolingbroke helped sink a Japanese submarine off British Columbia. The photograph shows a surviving Bolingbroke Mk IVT from the collection of the Canadian Aviation Museum. 457 of the Mk IVT were built and used as navigation and gunnery trainers (DND, PCN-5234)