FR0057 Bloch MB 210 Late

History:

Construction of the Bloch 210 prototype began in 1933, when it was a float-mounted aircraft, powered by Gnome & Rhône star engine, to meet a demand from Naval Aeronautics. The first flight took place on November 23, 1934.

The aircraft is accepted by the Air Force with some modifications, including the adoption of the incoming train. Two orders, in 1934 and 1935, were for 130 units in the Bn4 version (4-person night bomber), with 900 hp Gnome & Rhône 14 Kirs / jrs engines. The seed aircraft made its first flight on December 12, 1935. No. 2 and all subsequent devices have a larger dihedron, and from No. 3 the vertical tail is shorter.

Additional orders were placed at a later date, for a total of 257 MB 210 products for the Air Force. Ten aircraft were exported to Romania in 1937, others were shipped to Republican Spain.

The first French aircraft were assigned to GB I/12 and II/12 of Reims and II/19 and II/21 of Bordeaux. However, a series of accidents prompted the General Staff to ban the MB 210s from flying between September 1937 and March 1938. These accidents stem from two main causes: on the one hand, the G&R 14K engines are too low, and on the other hand, the technical innovations benefited from the Bloch MB 210 (retract train and variable pitch propellers) can surprise crews accustomed to older aircraft. Improved training and engine replacement with slightly more powerful G&R 14N (910 hp on takeoff) allow bombing group conversions to resume

At the declaration of war, the MB 210 was the most common bomber in the Air Force, there were 180 aircraft, divided into 12 bombing groups, as follows (only units still equipped with Bloch 210 at the end of August 1939):

The peacetime-based GB I/11 moved to Vergières (Istres) in late August, then Mas de Rus (Arles) in December 1939, its Bloch 210s were replaced by LeO 451s from March 1940.

The GB II/11 also based in Toulouse-Francazal before the war joined Istres, it was partially transferred to LeO 45 from December 1939. As LeO's crews were not trained in night flight, it was Bloch 210 who bombed northern Italy at night on the nights of 13, 15, and 17 June 1940.

GB I/12, usually in Reims, moves to Auzainvilliers (Vosges), upon declaration of war, and then to Caen on 8 September, where it begins transformation on LeO 45, transformation completed in October.

The peacetime Reims-Courcy-based GB II/12 moved successively to Damblain, then Caen and finally Orange, where it was fully converted to LeO 45 at the end of the year.

The GB I/19 was in Sétif (Algeria), where it converted to DB-7 from April 1940, it returned to metropolitan France where it participated in the fighting, but on DB-7.

Bordeaux’s GB I/21 passed to Chambry (Aisne) then to La-Ferté-Gaucher (Seine-et-Marne), finally to Avignon-Châteaublanc in January 1940, where an experimental squadron on Amiot 354 was set up. The band moved to Connantre (Marne) on May 18. He performed numerous night missions with his Bloch 210s and sometimes Amiot, until his retreat to North Africa on June 19.

GB II/21 is in Bordeaux Mérignac and passes in late August 1939 at Athies-sous-Laon (Aisne), then at Nangis on 18 September. He moved to Avignon-Châteaublanc on December 21, and touched a few Amiot 354s. On May 16, 1940, the unit, equipped with two Amiot and 10 Bloch 210s, went into combat, on night missions, successively based at La-Ferté-Gaucher, Nangis, St Florentin and Avord. As of June 15, the Group retreated to North Africa.

GB I/23 passed from Toulouse-Francazal to Istres in September 1939, and began retrofitting it into LeO 45 in February 1940. The Group does not seem to be a priority, it is taking its LeO 45 which have already been assigned to it by other Groups. Worse, given the urgency of the situation, the Group went up to the front on 23 May and was assigned Bloch 210s from other units and themselves out of breath. The GB I/23 operates from Pont-Sur-Yonne and Chaumont-Semoutiers, the condition of the equipment leads to serious accidents with loss of aircraft and personnel, to such an extent that the Group is prohibited from operations on MB 210.

The GB II/23 switched from the Bloch MB 200 to the Bloch MB 210 between April and August 1938, at its base in Toulouse-Francazal. It was transferred to Istres at the declaration of war and then to Vallon from 8 December. Some LeO 45s were delivered in February 1940, the Group was sent to Orange-Plan de Dieu on 27 May, and to the Etampes region from 2 June. As of June 6, the Group no longer uses its Bloch 210s for war missions, it switched to LeO.

GB I/51, ordinarily based in Tours, was transferred to La Perthe (Aube) terrain on 27 August and carried out its first war mission on 9 September 1939. Between September 16 and November 22, 23 night reconnaissance missions were recorded. On December 4, the unit left for Luke's terrain, where it was converted to Assault's Breguet 691.

The GB II/51, also in Tours, was converted to Bloch 210 in January 1938. He was transferred to Troyes where he carried out 20 reconnaissance and leaflet-dropping missions between 2 September and 6 December 1930, then sent to Le Luc where he was transformed into an assault unit on Breguet 690.

The General Staff is well aware that the aircraft is outdated and is undertaking the conversion of the units still equipped with Bloch 210 to more modern types (LeO 450, Amiot 350, DB-7) but insufficient production by French industry does not allow this program to be carried out.

At the end of the French Campaign, there would remain about a hundred Bloch 210s in metropolitan France and about twenty in Algiers White House. In July 1940, the Bloch 210 was removed from the front line. However, during the invasion of the Free Zone, the Germans recovered 37 Bloch 210s which were used in schools or as transport devices.

The ten Romanian aircraft came in 1937, in two batches. The engines are equipped with annular exhausts, and they are camouflaged like the French Bloch 210 of the time, all green with Romanian cockades and drift flag. At least one aircraft was camouflaged, and of course the cockades were replaced by Michael's Crosses shortly before Germany's attack on the USSR on 22 June 1941, which the Romanians joined. The Bloch 210 were grouped in 82 Squadron, which mainly intervened in Bessarabia from its base at Erculesti, south of Focsani, with the first mission taking place on 8 July 1941. The Bloch 210s participated in the attack on Odessa later in August, but were removed from the front line later this month. The No. 5 and No. 6 are used as transport aircraft by the Flotila 2 bombing, the other surviving Bloch 210 switch to the Flotila 3 Aerotransport.

It appears that few aircraft were sent to Republican Spain by France at the start of the Civil War. The first standard MB 210 was delivered by Lionel de Marmier to Barcelona in late August 1936, the aircraft was then immobilized in Albacete for two months. Three more Bloch 210s built by Hanriot were delivered in crates in late October 1936. One was briefly part of Malraux Squadron, then Bloch 210s were grouped into a short-lived "Bloch Squadron", after which two passed, on 1 March 1937, to the Lerida-based Grupo 11, a bombing unit. A Bloch 210 marked with a large white M on the drift belongs to the 2nd Squadron of Grupo 12, it carried out night bombing until June 1938. Two Blochs pass to Totana's multi-engine school.

Specifications: Four (Bn4) or five (Bn5) crew twin-engine night bomber, Gnome & Rhône GR 14 N10/11 14-cylinder double star engines, 910 hp on takeoff and 950 to 3,500 m. 320 km/h to 3,500 m, ceiling 9,900 m, 22.81 m, length 18.9 m. Offensive Weapon: 1600kg of Charges, Defensive Weapon: A 7.5mm MAC 34 machine gun in each turret.

Attention, this model contains both types of exhausts (ring or GAL), with corresponding engine covers, but only the first type of drift/rudder, sharper. The second type, rounded, is only found in the FR0056 box. If you wish to mount a particular device, beware of the box you choose...

FR0057 Bloch MB 210 Late:

Romanian Bloch MB 210 No. 8, Squadron 82, Erculesti, Romania, July / August 1941. This aircraft won a victory on an I-16 in early August, it was destroyed on takeoff on August 29, 1941 - it then had a small rudder flag.

Bloch MB 210 No. 136, E980, GB II/31, Lézignan, July 20, 1940

Bloch MB 210 n°233, "Ile de France", Toulouse, November 1942. Captured by the Germans during the invasion of the South Zone. It was being painted. Bonus: License plate (not applied on this date)