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Although fairly modern by its looks, technologically the Wellington was very much a product of an era past. By 1942 slow speed, limited ceiling, and a small bomb load made the Wellington obsolete in the European theatre of operations. It flew its last offensive sorties against Hannover on October 8, 1943. Although once it had been supplanted from the European theatre Lancasters and Halifaxes it flew until the war's end in other roles and in other theatres. In particular, it had been used by RAF. as trainer until 1953.

The Wellington was designed, to meet specification B.9/32 for what was then called a "heavy" bomber. It used the geodetic construction method, developed by Barnes Wallis, in which the airframe was constructed as a metal network, and covered with fabric. This method had proven its value in the earlier Wellesley long-range bomber. The prototype made its first flight on 15 June 1936. Without nose and tail gun turrets, and with a different tailfin, the prototype looked very different from the production aircraft.

In October 1938 the first Wellingtons were delivered to No.9 Squadron. They had 1050hp Bristol Pegasus XVIII engines, Vickers gun turrets in the nose and tail, and a retractable Nash & Thompson belly turret. In 1939 deliveries of the Mk.IA began, which had powered Nash & Thompson turrets instead of the Vickers units. In the Mk.IC the belly turret was deleted, and two beam guns were installed. The Mk.II had 1145hp Rolls-Royce Merlin X engines, in anticipation of a shortage of Pegasus engines; but in reality there was a shortage of Merlins. The Mk.III had 1370hp Bristol Hercules III or XI engines, and had an usefully improved performance. The Mk.IV had Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S3C4G Twin Wasp engines.

The Mk.V and Mk.VI were high-altitude versions, equipped with a primitive pressure cabin, but their performance was disappointing, and they did not enter combat. The Mk.VII was cancelled, and the final bomber version was the Mk.X, with Hercules VI or XVI engines. The Mk.X also had a light alloy instead of a mild steel construction, so that the structure was stronger and lighter. The first Mk.X was delivered in July 1942.

Typically, the Wellington had a crew of five or six, including pilot, radio operator, navigator, and gunners. The wing had a single spar and two auxiliary spars, and was constructed in three sections. The upper and lower surfaces were geodetic panels. The fuselage was built up from panels with a geodetic construction, attached each other and to six main frames. The geodetic construction was very resistent to combat damage. The six fuel tanks held 750 imperial gallons; an extra 250 gallon tank could be carried in the bomb bay.

The RAF began the war with eight squadrons of Wellingtons. They participated in the first attacks of the war, including a disastous one on Wilhelmshaven, where 10 of the 24 Wellingtons were shot down and three damaged. The lesson was clear: The bombers were too vulnerable in daylight attacks, and Bomber Command switched to night operations. The Wellington, a better bomber than the Hampden and Blenheim, became the backbone of a continuously expanding bomber force. Of the 1034 aircraft that took off for operation Millenium, the 1000-aircraft attack on Cologne, more than half were Wellingtons. But the new four-engined heavy bombers gradually replaced them, and after the autumn of 1943 the Wellington was no longer used for the bombardments of Germany.

In the autumn of 1940 Wellingtons arrived in the Middle East, and in the spring of 1942 two squadrons were sent to the Far East. In the Mediterranean the Wellington was used as a bomber until the end of 1944. When the war ended, Wellingtons had flown 346,440 operational hours in Europe, and 525,769 hours in the Middle and Far East.

Initially the maritime roles of the Wellington were limited. Aside from attacks on Germany, Bomber Command undertook "gardening" operations: Minelaying off of the European coasts. As a rection to German minelaying efforts, the British created the Wellington DWI Mk.I, a very unusual modification of the Mk.I bomber. It was fitted with a ring 4.16m in diameter, and a generator to generate an electric current. The ring created a magnetic field, which made magnetic mines explode if the aircraft flew low over them.

2,317 of the 11,461 Wellington bombers built were of the five types developed for Coastal Command. Radar equipped Wellingtons served as torpedo bombers and anti-Submarine warfare aircraft, both from Britain and in the Mediterranean.
Coastal Command often had a lower priority that it deserved. It did not receive its first Wellingtons until November 1940, when No. 221 Squadron was formed using Mk ICs with anti surface vessel (ASV) radar. These early Mk ICs were followed by the Mk VIII, based on the same airframe. This aircraft came in both torpedo bomber and anti-Submarine warfare versions.
The Mk VIII Torpedo bomber was most often found in the Mediterranean. It flew from Malta from December 1940 to March 1941, and again from the end of 1941. From there the Wellingtons were able to play a crucial part in denying supplies to the Axis forces in North Africa. Two more daylight anti-shipping versions of the Wellington would follow - the Mk XI and the MK XIII, of which over 800 were built.
A Wellington Mk VIII of No. 172 Squadron made the first successful attack using the Leigh Light on 4 June 1942, off the north coast of Spain. The target of this attack was an Italian submarine, the Luigi Torelli. Caught by surprise, and unaware of the true nature of the sudden light, the Italian boat remained surfaced for long enough for the Wellington to drop its depth charges, scoring a near miss, and forcing the submarine to abandon its mission and return to port.
The first confirmed U-boat kill came on 5 July 1942 when U-502 was sunk while crossing the Bay of Biscay.
The Leigh Light removed the cover of night from the U-boats. This had been a safe period, when the submarines could surface to refresh their oxygen and recharge their batteries, almost entirely safe from British attack.
Although the Wellington’s relatively short range limited the areas it could patrol with the Leigh Light, it was so successful in the crucial Bay of Biscay area that in 1943 Admiral Doenitz was forced to order the U-Boats to submerge if they had to cross the bay at night, and only surface during the day, when they had a better chance of spotting any approaching aircraft at a safe distance.
The Leigh Light equipped Wellington remained important to the end of the war. In the summer of 1944 GR MK XIVs flew patrols over the English Channel, helping to prevent the U-boats from interfering with the invasion fleets. By the end of 1944 Coastal Command still had 119 Leigh Light equipped Wellingtons. The Wellington, and its stable mate, the Vickers Warwick, played an important role in the victory over the U-boat.

The Wellington was thrust into action almost from the first day of the war, flying missions to attack German ports and shipping in the North Sea. Losses during these missions helped to convince the RAF that night bombing was safer, and soon the Wellington was raiding Berlin, Cologne and other German cities. Coastal Command received large numbers of Wellingtons and used them to hunt U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic, fitted with a variety of submarine-detecting gadgets.

Although the bomber was largely withdrawn from service in Europe during 1942, replaced by the superlative Lancaster and its stablemate Halifax, it was considered adequate for service abroad. Many squadrons were sent to the Western Desert and India. 215 Squadron arrived in Burma in April 1942, with 99 Squadron following in October. Both continued to fly the Wellington during missions over Burma until 1944, when the type was replaced by American Lend-Lease B-24 Liberators.