While it was obsolete by the start of the Second World War and unsuited to the European air war, the Wellesley was operated in the desert theatres of East Africa, Egypt and the Middle East.
A pesar de estar obsoleto ao comezo da Segunda Guerra Mundial e non ser axeitado para a guerra aérea en Europa, foi usado con éxito nos teatros desérticos do leste de África, Exipto e Oriente Medio.