The first Warwicks for Air Sea Rescue service were delivered to 280 Squadron. They were then supplied to 276, 278, 281 and 282 Squadrons in time for D-Day.
The Warwick greatly improved the Air Sea Rescue capability. The Warwick was much better than the Hudson because it:
- carried more people and therefor more pairs of eyes to search for survivors
- could carry more survival equipment
- had much greater endurance and range, able to stay ‘on-station’ longer meant that they could stay on-station longer and fly from fewer airfields
- had greater ground clearance enabling the Mark II lifeboat