Just too late to fight in World War 1, the Vimy bomber gained immortal fame when Alcock and Brown succeeded in flying the Atlantic nonstop for the first time. The Vimy gave long service with the Royal Air Force and made several outstanding long-range flights to distant destinations in the British Empire.

Bearing in mind that 'strategic' bombing operations had been in progress since 1915, particularly on the Italian and the Russian front, it was perhaps extraordinary that the British Air Board took no action to sponsor development of a heavy bomber until 1917, the more so as German airships had been paying fairly frequent visits over the UK throughout the war. Even more astonishing was the board's announcement on 23rd July of that year cancelling all heavy bombers on order for the Royal Flying Corps, just two months after 30 Gotha G.IV bombers had raided London in daylight, killing 162 and injuring 432 people. In the face of outraged protest, the decision was reversed and an order for 100 Handley Page O/400s was reinstated, and prototypes of new aircraft ordered from Handley Page Ltd and Vickers Ltd.

Designed by Reginald Kirshaw Pierson, the Vickers F.B.27 project, of which three prototypes were ordered, was intended to feature two 200hp RAF 4d air-cooled V-12 engines, but these were not ready in time and when first flown at Joyce Green by Captain Gordon Bell on 30th November 1917 the first aircraft (B9952) was powered by a pair of 200hp Hispano-Suiza engines.

With a crew of three (pilot, nose gunner/bomb-aimer and mid-ships gunner) the Vimy (named after the famous battlefield of World War 1) was a three-bay biplane with upper and lower wings of equal span, the engines being strut-mounted between the wings, and had a twin-finned biplane tail unit and four-wheel landing gear with central nose-mounted skid. The internal bombload comprised twelve 112lb bombs stowed vertically in the centre fuselage; this was later increased to eight 250lb and four 112lb bombs, plus two 250lb bombs under the fuselage and four 230lb bombs under the wing centre sections. Indeed the Vimy astonished spectators at Martlesham Heath when it lifted a greater load than the 0/400 on half the power. Fuel capacity was 92 Imp gal and armament was four 0.303in Lewis Mk III machine-guns with twelve 97-round ammunition drums.

After trials at Martlesham Heath in 1918, during which the Hispano-Suiza engines gave persistent trouble as a result of over-heating, B9952 returned to Joyce Green to be re-engined with two 260hp Saimson water-cooled radials; the wing dihedral was also increased from 1° to 2°. The second prototype was flown in February 1918 and featured plain elevators and ailerons in place of the first aircraft's horn-balanced surfaces; it was powered by 260hp Sunbeam Maori engines driving four-blade propellers, each engine nacelle featuring its own instruments on the inboard side, where they were visible from the cockpit. This aircraft also introduced a ventral gun position.

The second Vimy (B9953) crashed in May following engine failure, and was followed in June by B9954 with 300hp Fiat A-12bis engines in octagonal-section nacelles similar to those adopted in production aircraft. The rear upper gun mounting was a twin-Lewis Scarf ring, and the fuel capacity was increased to 226 Imp gal. This aircraft also crashed, at Martlesham on 11th September after the pilot stalled after take-off with a full load of bombs, which exploded. A fourth prototype, which appeared somewhat later, was powered by two 360hp Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII V-12 engines.

Production was widely subcontracted by Vickers, but the end of the war brought cancellation of most orders. However, Vickers built 12 aircraft at Crayford and 132 at Weybridge (production continuing until about 1924); Morgan & Co, Leighton Buzzard, produced about 40 aircraft, and Westland Aircraft, Yeovil, a further 25. The Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough also completed 10 aircraft.

At the end of October 1918 the RAF had taken delivery of only three aircraft, of which one was on charge with the Independent (Bombing) Force, and none are known to have taken part in war operations. The Vimy only reached full service status in July 1919 when it replaced Handley Page O/400s with No.58 (Bomber) Squadron at Heliopolis, Egypt, followed by No.70 (Bomber) Squadron, also at Heliopolis, in February the following year.

Subsequent service with the RAF continued with deliveries to No.45 (Bomber) Squadron at Almaza, Egypt, in November 1921; to 'D' Flight, No.100 (Bomber) Squadron at Spitalgate, Lincolnshire, in March 1922; to No.216 Squadron (a general bomber transport unit) at Heliopolis in June 1922; to No.7 (Bomber) Squadron at Bircham Newton in June 1923; to No.9 (Bomber) Squadron at Upavon (and later Manston) in March 1924; and to No.99 (Bomber) Squadron at Netheravon in April 1924. Also in April 1924 No.58 Squadron, which had been renumbered No.70 Squadron in February 1920 and had then given up its Vimys, was re-formed with Vimy Mk IVs at Worthy Down under the command of Wing Commander A. T. (later Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur) Harris, perhaps the greatest advocate of strategic bombing in the history of the RAF. Finally, No.502 (Ulster) Squadron, first of the Special Reserve Units to be incorporated in the new Auxiliary Air Force, received Vimys as initial equipment in June 1925 at Aldergrove in Northern Ireland.

Production versions of the Vimy included the Vimy Mk II with 280hp Sunbeam Maori engines, the Vimy Mk III with 310hp Fiat A-12bis V-12 engines and the Vimy Mk IV with 360hp Rolls-Royce Eagle VIIIs. Post-war trainers were fitted with 420hp Bristol Jupiter IV radials, 450hp Jupiter VIs or 420hp Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar IV radials. Three ambulance aircraft were also produced for service with No.216 Squadron in the Middle East.

RAF Vimys gave long and sterling service. The standard aircraft of No.216 Squadron operated the air mail service between Cairo and Baghdad from 1923 until August 1926, reducing the service time from 16 days to 2, while at home the Vimys of No.7 Squadron constituted the RAF's entire home-based heavy bomber force from June 1923 until March 1924.

Three Vimys also served with the Night-Flying Flight at Biggin Hill from 1923 onwards for co-operation with searchlight and gun defences, and during the General Strike of 1926 they were employed to distribute the government's emergency news sheet, the British Gazette. The Jupiter- and Jaguar-powered versions were aircraft re-engined for use by flying training schools and as parachute trainers at Henlow. The Vimys with No.502 Squadron remained in service until 1929, when they were replaced by Handley Page Hvderabads; those with FTS at home remained in service until 1931, and the last aircraft (H657) continued with No.4 FTS at Abu Sueir, Egypt, until 1933 and its pilots averred that it still was as robust and reliable as ever.

Designation of Vimy versions was complicated indeed, despite attempts to rationalize it in 1923, and by 1925 semi-official designations had again proliferated, being further complicated by such appellations as the Vimy Reconditioned Mk I, Vimy Reconditioned Mk II, Vimy Reconditioned Mk III School, and Vimy Production School.

Finally among the proposed versions there was the Liberty-powered Vimy, an aircraft re-engined with 400hp Liberty 12 V-12 engines at the request in 1918 of the United States government in preparation for possible production in the USA (Liberty engines had also been specified for some RAF aircraft); however, when being prepared for flight at Joyce Green the aircraft caught fire and was destroyed, and the proposal was abandoned in 1919.