On 6 March 1936, the Anson entered RAF service,
No. 48 Squadron was the first RAF unit to be equipped with the type. Upon the type's introduction, it represented a new level of capability for the service, serving not only in a general reconnaissance capacity but also being an effective general-purpose aircraft By the outbreak of the
Second World War, the RAF had received a total of 824 Ansons while there were 26 RAF squadrons that were then operating the Anson I: 10 of these were assigned to Coastal Command and the other 16 were with
Bomber Command. By 1939, all of the squadrons assigned to Bomber Command that had been equipped with the Anson I served as operational training squadrons which were used to prepare crews for frontline service. 12 of the squadrons were in
No. 6 (Operational Training) Group. Newly formed crews, having previously completed individual flying and technical training courses, were first trained as bomber crews in Ansons before advancing to the various frontline aircraft types, which were in the same squadrons with the Ansons. After training the crews would advance to the frontline bomber squadrons with aircraft such as the
Fairey Battle,
Bristol Blenheim,
Vickers Wellington,
Armstrong Whitworth Whitley or
Handley-Page Hampden. , Coastal Command, about to take off on a patrol mission, circa 1940–1941 Even before the start of the war, it had been realized that the Anson's limited capabilities would make it ineffective in its intended main role as a maritime patrol aircraft. In 1938, it had been decided to replace the Anson in this role with the American-built
Lockheed Hudson, which was 100 mph faster, had three times the range, carried a much heavier bomb load and had a superior defensive armament. The first squadron to be reequipped with the type was already training with them in September 1939. Meanwhile, the remaining Coastal Command Anson squadrons had to go to war with what they had. The Anson had an endurance of only four hours so it could only be employed in the
North Sea and other coastal areas; however, it lacked the range to reach the coast of Norway. Its weapons against German
U-boats were two small 100 lb bombs, which required a direct hit on the hull of a submarine to be effective, at least in theory. On 3 December 1939, an Anson mistakenly attacked a surfaced Royal Navy submarine, , and although the aircraft succeeded in hitting the
conning tower, the only damage was four broken light bulbs. In an earlier
friendly fire incident off the coast of Scotland in September, the bombs of an Anson of
No. 233 Squadron had bounced off the surface of the water and exploded in an
air burst, which holed the aircraft's fuel tanks causing it to ditch off
St Andrews. On 1 June 1940, a flight of three Ansons was attacked near Dunkirk by nine
Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109s. According to the unsubstantiated claims, one Anson destroyed two German aircraft and damaged a third, while no Ansons were lost. The aircraft achieved more success training pilots for flying multi-engined
bombers, such as the
Avro Lancaster. Ansons were first deployed to Flying Training Schools in November 1936, replacing the obsolete bombers then used for twin-engine training. The Anson was also used to train the other members of a bomber's aircrew, such as navigators, wireless operators,
bomb aimers and air gunners. Postwar, the Anson continued in the training and light transport roles. The last Ansons were withdrawn from RAF service with communications units on 28 June 1968. The
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) initially ordered 33 Ansons in November 1935 to fill the maritime reconnaissance role. The first were delivered in 1936 and 48 were in service before the start of the war. The RAAF eventually operated a total of 1,028 Ansons, the majority of these being Mk Is. These aircraft continued to be operated until 1955. The
Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) operated 23 Ansons as navigation trainers during the Second World War, (alongside the more numerous
Airspeed Oxford), and acquired more Ansons as communication aircraft immediately after the war. A preserved navigation trainer is in the
Air Force Museum of New Zealand at Wigram. The
Royal Indian Air Force operated several Ansons as part of the
No.1 Service Flying Training School (India) for Pilot and Navigation training. These Ansons continued this role
post-independence and were retired at an unknown date. The
Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and
Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) operated 4,413 Anson aircraft, 1,962 built in Britain and 2,451 built in Canada The RCN operated the aircraft until 1952. Although the Canadian Ansons were used throughout the training schools of the British Commonwealth Air Training plan for training aircrew, some aircraft were pressed into operational service with the RCAF's Eastern Air Command. A good example of the training schools' involvement in combat operations with the EAC during the emergency of the battle is illustrated in an article dated 1 March 2006 of the Royal Canadian Legion magazine entitled
Eastern Air Command: Air Force, Part 14; the author Hugh A. Haliday wrote: "The need for Atlantic patrols was undiminished, yet the Battle of the St. Lawrence stretched EAC resources. Based at Charlottetown, 31 General Reconnaissance School was mobilized to fly patrols using Avro Ansons, each carrying two 250-pound bombs. At the very outset of the war, the Anson and its ordnance had failed in RAF anti-submarine work. Now in Canada, it was remobilized as an aerial scarecrow. German views varied as to Canadian countermeasures. The captain of U-517 found his operations increasingly restricted by strengthened air patrols. In October 1942, U-69 reported "strong sea patrol and constant patrol by aircraft with radar." The
United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), employed 50 Canadian-built Ansons, which were designated the
AT-20. The
Egyptian Air Force (EAF) operated a fleet of Ansons in communications and VIP duties. A specially outfitted Anson was presented to the then King of Egypt by the RAF. The
Royal Afghan Air Force obtained 13 Anson 18 aircraft for various duties from 1948. These aircraft survived until 1972.
Postwar civil use at Blackbushe, Hants, in September 1955 After the war, Ansons continued in production with Avro at Woodford. At this time, large amounts of the type were being converted for civilian use, where they were operated as light transports by a range of small charter airlines and as executive aircraft by large
corporations. Countries that saw civilian operations with Ansons included the United Kingdom, Canada (Mk. V aircraft only), Australia and Mexico.
Railway Air Services operated Ansons on scheduled services from London's
Croydon Airport via Manchester to Belfast (
Nutts Corner) in 1946 and 1947. Sivewright Airways operated three Mk XIX aircraft from their
Manchester Airport base on local charter flights, flights to Jersey, and
Ronaldsway Airport in the
Isle of Man until 1951. Finglands Airways operated an ex-RAF Anson I on inclusive tour flights and on scheduled flights from Manchester Airport to
Newquay Airport between 1949 and 1952. Kemps Aerial Surveys operated several Anson XIXs on survey work within the UK until their retirement in 1973. In 1948,
India ordered 12 new Anson 18Cs for use by the
Directorate of Civil Aviation as trainers and communications aircraft; these were delivered from Yeadon in the spring of 1949. Ansons continued to be manufactured by Avro at Woodford for the RAF until March 1952; the type was used as trainers and served in the role of Station communications aircraft until 1968. The wooden wings of Ansons flying in Australia were found to fail at a high rate. The phenolic glue bonds would part, and it was speculated that the problem was due to the high humidity. In 1962, the Commonwealth Government decided to ground the majority of wooden-winged aircraft then in operation; amongst those aircraft affected, the Anson and
De Havilland Mosquito were included. Of the Ansons, no such aircraft were re-registered as the government had mandated a test that essentially destroyed the wings, thus requiring the fitting of new wings. Most owners decided to voluntarily scrap their aircraft well before this time. During the late 20th century, the vast majority of Ansons were retired, with three aircraft still appearing at flying displays, two in the UK, one in New Zealand. A fourth aircraft in Canada was being restored to airworthiness in 2016. ==Accidents and incidents==