Defiant and Roc

Alec Brew

I~~clThe Crowood Press

p

First published in 2002 byThe Crowood Press LtdRamsbury, MarlboroughWiltshire N82HR

© Alec Brew 2002

All rights reserved. 0 part of this publicationmay be reproduced or transmitted in any formor by any means, electronic or mechani ai,including photocopy, recording, or any infor­mation storage and retrieval system, withoutpermission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing-in-PublicationDataA catalogue record for this book i availablefrom the British Library.

ISB I 61264976

Typeset by Naomi Lunn

Printed and bound in Great Britain byBookcraft Ltd

Acknowledgements

As archivist for th Boulton Paul As ociation's West Midlands Aviation Archive, whichcontains the surviving Boulton Paul archives, I have been lucky to have the survivingcompany records and photographs at my disposal. I have also to thank the many mem­bers of the association who have h.elped me over the years, but in particular fonner Defi­ant quadron personn I: Wg Cdr Eric Barwell, Wg Cdr hristopher Deanesley, Fg OffFred Barker, Fg Off Fred Ga h, Fit Lt John Lauder, Fit Lt Fred Pelham, FIt Lt Frank Lan­ning, FIt Lt Bryan Wild, qn Ldr Edward Wolfe, gt Le Allen, pi Phil Dimsdale and

gt id Walker.Other former Boulton Paul employees who have been an immense help include Jack

Chamber, Cyril Plimmer, Brian and Jack Holmes, Denis Bolderstone, Harry Law andBill Pauling.

Les Whitehouse has always been helpful in providing information and illustrationsfrom his own extensive and unique archive of Boulton Paul Aircraft, particularly withregard to the unbuilt turret fighters.

As historian for his former squadron, No. 141, Don Aris has been a continual help,allowing me to borrow many photographs from hi very detailed personal history of o.141, and answering my many questions. Geoff Faulkner has performed the same role assecretary of the o. 264 quadron Association. Stephen King and Betty Clementallowed me the fruits of their researches into o. 307 quadron. Rus ell Brown of theLancashire Aircraft Investigation Team provided much information about Defiant oper­ations at Blackpool by o. 307 and o. 256 squadrons, and loaned me many pho­tographs. Hywell Evans loaned me the photograph of the 0.456 quadron Defiant at

RAF Valley, which he had used in his own history of aviation on Anglesey.Ray turtivant has provided much information and many photographs of the Roc and

of naval Defiants. Del Holyland of Martin Baker Aircraft provided prompt replies to myqueries and requests for photographs. Jan Jolie provided much information, and pho­tographs of Defiant operations over the Netherland. Geoff Hill, restorer of one of thefew surviving type A gun turrets, loaned me several photographs, some of which he hadacquired from Frank Lanning.

Jenny Woodall loaned me the logbooks of her father, Robin Lind ay eale, BoultonPaul test pilot, which turned up several previously un uspected fact.

In the ten years or more that I have pent researching the history of the Defiant andthe Roc, there have been many people who have upplied information or photographs,and I am sure I must have missed some from the e acknowledgements. Even if, regret­fully, I have not included their name, they do also have my thanks.

Contents

Introduction 4

THE TURRET FIGHTER CONCEPT 5

2 SPECIFI ATIO F.9/35 21

3 THE BLA KBURN RO IN SERVICE 49

4 THE DEFIA T DAY FIGHTER 55

5 NIGHT FIGHTING 73

6 NEW TURRET FIGHTER 91

7 FURTHER NIGHT FIGHTING 108

8 RADAR COUNTERMEASURES 121

9 AIR- EA RE CUE DEFIANTS 127

to TRAI I GO DEFIANT 130

II DEFIA T TARGET TUG 135

12 EXPERIME TAL DEFIANT 142

13 LATE URVIVING DEFIANTS AND ROCS 145

14 CO CLUSIONS 151

Appendix Defiant Construction 153

Appendix II Defiants Lost in Aerial Combat 156

Appendix III Defiant Victories in Aerial Combat 157

Index 158

Introduction

CHAPTER ONE

The Turret Fighter Concept

The Grahame-White Type 6 gun carrier designed by J.D. North in 1913. armed with a Colt-Browningmachine gun on a movable mount in the gunner's forward cockpit.

The Boulton Paul Defiant and the Black­burn Roc represent the only operationalaircraft to be produced to a novel form offighting aircraft concept, the turret fight­er. The Roc was only used briefly by oper­ational quadrons, and saw very littleaction, and the much longer career of theDefiant has been surrounded by manymyths almost since it first fired its guns inanger. Many of the stories about how theDefiant came about, and how it performedin action, are spurious, but the aircraftundoubtedly carved its own novel niche inBritish aviation history.

The turret fighter was rather more thanjust a fighter with a gun turret: it sprangfrom a fairly simple concept relating to thedivision of responsibilities in a fightingaeroplane. To put it in simple terms, thepilot should point the aircraft, and a gun­ner should point the guns. On the face ofit there was a great deal of commonsensein this idea, since a pilot could really notbe expected to fly his aircraft and aim hisguns at the same time, unless the gunswere fixed to fire in the direction he waflying. This meant that he could only firewhen the target was directly ahead, and italso meant that against a ground target ora slow-moving aircraft he could only firefor a few seconds, and would himself pre­sent a no-deflection target for return fire.

If, on the other hand, the guns were fittedto a movable mounting, to be aimed by aseparate gunner, they could be brought tobear on the target for a far greater period oftime. A gunner would also find it easier toclear stoppages and to reload the guns.

This was the thinking when guns werefirst attached to aircraft before World War1, and every gun-carrying aircraft that wasproduced until just after the tart of thewar featured a two-man crew, pilot andgunner. The main two to enter service inan offensive role with the Royal FlyingCorps were the FE 2 and the Vickers Cun­bus; these were single-engined pushers inwhich the pilot sat just behind a gunner ina nose 'turret', the gunner being armedwith one or more machine guns that hecould aim through the whole of the fowardhemisphere.

This first flowering of the turret fighterconcept was superseded by the single- eat,fixed-gun fighter. These single-seat'scouts' were faster and more manoeu­vrable, ami made 'hort work of the lum­bering two-'eaters. Only at night, wherespeed and agility were not so important,were the two-seaters just as useful as thesingle-seaters.

After the end of the war there was stilla feeling in certain quarters that the sin­gle-seat fighter had not proved itself

again t the threat of a large close forma­tion of heavy bombers. Many influentialpeople were convinced that the concen­trated defensive fire from the manymachine guns in such a formation wouldprove too much for single-seaters attack­ing one by one, and presenting a no­deflection target as they aimed their ownpuny armament of two machine guns. Theonly answer would be for the fighters toattack in formation, and as the fighterpilots could not be expected to maintainformation and aim their guns at the sametime, these responsibilities would have tobe divided.

Fourteen years were then to elapse, fromthe time when the idea of dividing respon­sibility fir t emerged, until its realization,when first orders were received for theBoulton Paul Defiant and the BlackburnRoc 'turret fighters' (these were in fact theonly ones to go into production). Duringthat time many specifications were issued,several featuring novel armament arrange­ments, and some prototypes were built,before the definitive turret fighter specifi­cation was decided upon.

New generations of turret fighter wereplanned to follow on the Defiant and Roc,but none wa' ever built, and the conceptdied more quickly than the period of timeit took to come to fruition.

During the 1930s, aircraft constructionunderwent a radical change. The fabric­covered biplane finally gave way to the all­metal monoplane, incorporating innova­tions such as flaps, variable-pitchpropellers and retractable undercarriages.It was the airliner that led the way, in thesearch for increased speed, first with theBoeing 247 and then with the DouglasDC-2; but newall-metal bombers werealso soon to emerge, such as the Martin B­10 and the Tupolev A T-4.

It was clear that the traditional fighterarmament of just two rifle-calibre machineguns would be insufficient to destroy thesenew bombers as firing passes became short­er, and there ensued intense debate as tohow a new generation offighters should bearmed. This led to two basic line orthought: to some it was simply a case ofincreasing the number of guns from two tofour, ix or eight so that the weight of fireon each firing pass would be correspond­ingly increased; others proposed addingcannon to the fighter's arsenal.

Yet other experts believed that a singlefighter attacking a formation of bomberswould be unlikely to survive their com­bined defensive firepower, and fighterswould therefore have to attack in forma­tion. However, since from the pilot's pointof view aiming and keeping formationwere not compatible, fighters would haveto be equipped with guns on movablemountings, and these would have to beoperated by a second crew member.

Early Gun Carriers

In the early day of arming military air­craft, movable mountings and separategunners were the only system considered.The first time a machine gun was firedfrom an aircraft was on 7 June 1912, theaircraft being a Wright Model B of theUnited States Army; the gunner was Cap­tain Charles de F. Chamdler, and he sat,llongside the pilot cradling the Lewis gunon his lap.

The Lewis gun wa promoted in CreatBritain by the Belgian F company, andHoratio Barber, formerly of the Aeronau­tical yndicate, Hendon, was assigned todesign a movable mounting for it. The taskof fitting it to a Crahame-White Boxkitefor trials was given to twenty-one-year-oldJohn Dudley North, newly employed ~ yCrahame-White Aircraft on the recom­mendation of Barber, for whom he hadformerly worked. North devi ed a gunner'sseat beneath the lower wing, and the air­craft was demonstrated to the BritishArmy at Bisley, with Marcus Manton aspilot, and a Belgian officer, Lt tilling­worth, firing the gun at a 25sq ft (2.3sq m)ground target. Despite 280 hits from 470rounds fired from an altitude of 400-500ft(12 -150m), the Army decided that theLewis gun was a waste of time.

The first military aircraft that Northdesigned for Crahame-White also featureda machine gun on a movable mounting,but a Colt-Browning in the nose of a two­seat pusher, the Crahame-White Type 6.

The design of this was in response to anAdmiralty requirement for an aircraft car­rying a gun for offensive purposes, possiblythe first such official requirement. Severalmanufacturers were interested in the pos-

sible order that would re ult, and all thedesigns they produced featured the samebasic layout, namely a single-enginedpusher, with a pilot and a gunner in thenacelle in front of the wing, with the gun­ner operating a machine gun on a movablemounting. The pusher arrangementseemed the only one that could give thegunner a free field of fire in the forwardhemisphere.

orth's Crahame-White Type 6 was norlike the others: it had the engine in theforward nacelle, in front of the wings, withthe gunner and pilot in tandem behind it,and the 90hp Austro-Daimler engine'sdrive shaft ran under the cockpits, anddrove the reduction gear to turn the pro­peller that revolved on the upper longeronof the triangular girder structure holdingthe tail. A Colt machine gun was sitedabove the fully enclosed engine on amounting that allowed it to be moved 180degrees horizontally and 5 degrees in ele­vation. The Type 6 appeared at the 1913Olympia Aero Show, and drew much com­ment because of the gun; but the aircraftproved to be seriou'!y underpowered. Onits only attempt at flight it took severalmen, who had been holding the aircraftback while Louis oel ran up the engine,

4 5

Technical Information for Early Gun Carriers

Grahame-White RAF Avro Sopwith VickersType 6 FE2a 508 Gunbus EF81

Engine A-Daimler Green Gnome Sunbeam Wolseley90hp 100hp 80hp 150hp 80hp

Gun Colt Lewis Lewis Lewis Maxim

Span 42ft 6in 47ft lOin 44ft 50ft 40ft(12.95m) (14.57ml (13.41m) (1524m) (12.19m)

Length 33ft 9in 32ft 3.5in 26ft 9in 32ft 6in 27.5ft(1029m) (9.83m) (8.15m) (9.91m) (l1.4m)

Top weight 2.9501b 2.6801b 1.6801b 2.6601b(1.338kgl (1.216kg) (762kg) (1.207kg)

Top speed 70mph 80.3mph 65mph 80mph 70mph1113kph) (129kph) (105kph) 1129kph) (113kph)

Climb 340ft/min 450ft/min(104m/min) (137m/min)

to 3.000ft 8min 10sec(914m)

to reverse their effort into pushing, to getthe aircraft moving. It accelerated veryslowly, and Louis Noel nearly ran out ofairfield; he just managed to haul it into theair a the boundary hedge approached, butthe Type 6 flopped into the next field, andflight was never attempted again.

Later the same year A.v. Roc built hisType 508 to the same requirement, butwith a more conventional engine arrange­ment. The Ohp Gnome rotary was placedat the rear of the fu elage nacelle, with thetwo crewmen in the nose. The aircraft wadisplayed on the Avro tand at the 1914Olympia how, but it was also clearlyunderpowered and there is no evidencethat it ever flew, or had a machine gun fit­ted.

J. D. North' second attempt to fulfil therequirement was the Grahame-WhiteType 11 warplane; it u ed the same layout,and was also on display at the 1914Olympia Aero Show, where it drew muchpraise for its excellent workmanship. Itwas fitted with a 100hp Gnome at the rearof the nacelle, like the Avro 50 . Howev­er, once again it i doubtful that a gun waever actually fitted, and when flight wasattempted the Type II was shown to bevery unstable, probably due to the shorttail moment, and it was abandoned.

Slightly more successful was the Sop­with Gunbus, evolved from a seaplaneordered by Greece. It appearance resulted

THE T RRET FIGHTER COl CEPT

in a follow-up order for ix landplane ver­sions powered by a IOOhp nomeMonosoupape and fitted with a singleLewis gun for the gunner in the nose of thenacelle; however, these had not beendelivered when World War I brake out.The six aircraft were taken over by theRoyal aval Air Service, and a furtherthirty were ordered to be fitted with the150hp Sunbeam Crusader engine; but onlyseventeen were completed, and few ofthese ever had their engine fitted. A few

saw service briefly at Dunkirk.An alternative layout to the single­

engined pusher was thought to be atwin-engined aircraft, in which the nosewould be free to carry the gunner. Thidesign had the added advantage of dou­bling the power, an important considera­tion for lifting a gun and its ammunition aswell as two crew-members, and it alsomade possible the fitment of a heavierweapon than a single machine gun. Vick­ers began the construction of thei r FB.7

after the war began, an unr markabltwin-engined biplane, except for the fa tthat the gunner in the nose was armedwith a Vicker quick-firing one-pounder.A dozen were ordered immediat Iy afterthe fl igh t of the prototype inAugu t 1915,to be built by Darracq; but the 100hpGnome Monosoupape engines were inshort supply, and no others were availablewith sufficient power. The two 80hpRenault fitted to the first aircraft weremadequate, and the aircraft could notmeet its pecification. Vicker asked forthe remainder to be cancelled, and thiswas agreed by the War Office.

The next Vickers twin-engined fighterwas far more compact, though powered bythe ame 100hp Gnome Monosoupapeengines as the first FB. 7. Furthermore theFB. was armed, not with the one-poundercannon, but with only a single Lewis gunin the nose, and the appearance of single­cngined fighters with interrupter gear per­mitting forward fire, rather superseded thedesign. At around the same time, Bristolbuilt their ITA, a much larger twin withtwo 120hp Beardmore engines and a muchheavier armament. The nose gunner hadtwo Lewi guns, and there was a secondgunner with a single gun in the dorsal posi­tion for rear defence.

World War I Turret Fighters

THE TURRET FIGHTER CO CEPT

the 120hp Beardmore. The aircraft was re­designated the FE.2a, and twelve wereordered at the outbreak of war, the fir t fly­ing in January 1915. They all saw servicein France, and were amongst the few effec­tive gun-carrying aircraft that the RFhad. When it became clear to the militarymind that a gun-carrying aeroplane was anessential ingredient of mod rn warfare, theFE.2 was ordered in large numbers. lightchange were made to the design as a resultof experiences with the FE.2a, and also toease manufacture; the new version becamethe FE.2b.

On 4 October 1915 the first FE.2b,520 I , flew for the first time at MouseholdAirfield, Norwich, where it had been builtby Boulton & Paul Ltd. The FE.2b was thefirst effe tive 'turret fighter', and in fact fora while, official instructions were that itshould be referred to a the 'Fighter Mark1'; but this wa rarely done, and it wasmore widely known, and with some affec­tion, as the 'Fee'. 5201 joined o. 16Squadron in France on 30 October 1915.The first squadron to be fully equippedwith FE.2bs was 0.20, and many units ofthe new fighter were to operate over theWestern Front, providing protection forreconnaissance machines, and partiallyredressing the imbalance created by theappearance of the Fokker E.lll mono­plane. The gunner in the nose was usuallyequipped with two Lewis machine gun

that could be fitted on a variety ofmountings, ometimes being moved fromone to another, to face the immediatethreat.

The main disadvantage was that theFE.2b was defenceless to the rear, andinevitably the Germans quickly found thisout; to counter this threat, a pillar mountwas devised so that th gunner could fireback over the top wing. But to do this hehad to tand on the box containing spareammunition drum, and was totallyexposed to the slipstream; because of theprecariousne s of this position he was laterprovided with a safety cable, one endattached to the floor of h is 'turret' and theother to his stout leather belt. More thanone wounded gunner is known to havefallen out of his cockpit during combatmanoeuvre: for instance, on one ortiethe o. 1 quadran FE.2b flown by LtFrank Barnar I had been attacked by anumber of German fighters, and his gun­ner, Lt ES. Rankin, had been hit and hadfallen from his cockpit. Barnard hadclimbed into the forward cockpit, leavingthe Fee to fly itself, and had somehowhauled Rankin back on board; he had thenclimbed back into his own cockpit andflown back to base. He tore his arm mus­cle hauling his gunner ba k on board, andhad to be admitted to hospital; but unfor­tunately his efforts were in vain, as Rankinlater died of hi wound.

The Grahame­White Type 11Warplanedesigned by J.D.North in 1914with the samelayout as hisType 6. butinitially the pilotoccupied thefront seat. A gunwas never fittedbecause of theaircraft'sunsatisfactoryflyingcharacteristics.

6

Only two of the early gun carriers can beconsidered a success, namely the RoyalAircraft Factory FE.2 and the VickersGunbus, and both had long gestation peri­ods.

The Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2

At the Factory the chief designer, Geoffreyde Havilland, did not design a brand-newaircraft as a gun carrier, but instead adapt­ed the FE.2 that had been around in vari­ous forms since 1911. It was fitted with a70hp Renault engine, its undercarriagewas strengthened, and it wa fitted with amovable mounting on the nose of thenacelle so it could carry a belt-fed Maximmachine gun. By 1914 a new version of theFE.2 was produced with a much more sub­stantial structure, with a redesignednacelle in which the gunner had a Lewisgun, and the pilot sat I in (45cm) higherbehind him. The aircraft was intended tobe powered by the 100hp Green engine, The first production FE.2b, serial 5201, built by Boulton & Paul Ltd at Norwich, and flown for the first timebut this heavy unit was later replaced by on 4 October 1915.

7

THE TURRET FIGHTER CONCEPT THE T RRET FIGHTER CO CEPT

A production Vickers FB.5 Gunbus with a spigot mounting in the gunner's cockpit to take the lewis gun.

A production FE.2d. assembled by Boulton & Paul with nacelles made by Garrett &Sons at leiston. ThisRolls-Royce Eagle-powered version was mostly used as a night bomber.

name 'Gunbus' officially bestowed upon it.It had become clear that the belt-fed

Vickers machine gun, that the companyhad naturally chosen, was not suitable forsuch applications, and so they undertook arede ign to accommodate a Lewi gun on aspigot-mounting in front of the gunner'scockpit. Other changes were also made tothe aircraft so that it was more suitahle forproduction, and in this form it was re-des­ignated the EFBA. It then underwent fur­ther progressive modifications, to emergeas the FB.5 Gunbus, and was pia ed intoproduction by Vickers even before an offi­cal order was received, in the full expecta­tion that gun-carrying aircraft would beneeded in what would obviously be animminent war.

The fifty aircraft laid down were indeedordered by the War Office, followed byover 150 more. The Vickers Gunbus wasissued to a number of squadrons early inthe war, within the system then prevailingof each quad ron having a variety of air­craft in order to fulfil diver e functions.The first three FB.5s had been del ivered to

etheravon late in 19 J4, and two of thesewere then assigned to Joyce Green - there­by repre enting the entire aerial defencefor London. It was one of these thatattempted the first-ever interception of anenemy aircraft over Great Britain, whenon hri tma Day 1914 a German sea­plane wa spotted approaching London upthe Thames estuary: Lt M. R. hids n,with Cpl Martin as gunner, duly took off inthe Gunbus, but engine trouble preventedcontact being made.

Mo t of the gun mountings for the Vick­ers FB.5 were simple pillar or pylon mount­ings, though four were equipped with thefirst-ever rotating ring mount - the Vick­ers hallenger, designed by G. H. hal­lenger - 0 that the Lewis gun wouldrevolve as the gunner turned. Thi mount­ing pre-dated the more famous carff ring,and therefore in some senses must beregarded a the first 'gun turret'.

Once the modern system of squadronsspecializing in particular function hadbeen adopted, No. II Squadron waentirely equipped with the Vickers Gun­bu , and arrived in France as the first truefighter quadron of any nation. Despite itsv ry modest performance, the Gunbugave a brave account of it elf until sup­planted by fa ter fighters during 1916.

One pilot was awarded the Victoriaro while flying a Vickers Gunbus. In

November 1915, Lt G. S. Insall attacked a

was the main rival; but like the Type 6, itmade only one attempt at flight, when itcrashed.

Even before this, Vickers was workingon a new ver ion with a 100hp Gnomeengine, the EFB.2. In this, the Vickersmachine gun was fitted to a trunnionmounting in the actual nose of the nacelle,but the arcs of movement were limited,and it wasn't ea y for the gunner to aim. Athird version of the aircraft - which wasnow widely referred to by the unofficialname of Gunbus - the EFB.3, was preparedfor the 1914 Olympia Aero Show, andtwelve producti n aircraft were ordered bythe Admiralty, though the order was even­tually taken over by the War Office. Asub tantial redesign was undertakenwhich emerged as the EFB.5, with the

Royce Eagle engine, made it very effective111 the role of night bomber, carrying thewar to Germany.

The Vickers Gunbus

The other effective gun-carrying pusherwa the Vickers Gunbus, which wentthrough many changes from its firstappearance early in 1913 as the VickersEFB.l Destroyer (Experimental FightingBiplane). A two-seat pusher like the oth­ers, it was powered initially by an 80hpWolseley engine, and the gunner wasarmed with a Vickers-Maxim machine gun.Ible to traverse through 60 degrees bothhorizontally and in elevation. The EFB.1was displayed at the 1913 Olympia AeroShow, where the Grahame-White Type 6

to our own lines. hould a Hun dive to attack,

the observer of one machine in the circle would

fire his top gun, and the observer of the next

machine would use his front gun, so that at any

given time the attacker would have two guns f,r­

ing at him.

He went on to de cribe the clo e co-oper­ation required between pilot and gunner,and the difficulties experienced when thiclose co-operation was absent. On oneoccasion he was flying with a good pilot,but one not experienced in air-to-air fight­ing. They were attacked from the rear, andhe stood to fire over the upper wing, giv­ing instructions to his pilot to take evasiveaction - and was surprised when the pilotdid only a gentle turn. On the econdattack he managed to hit the German,who fell away out of control - but again,the pilot had made only a gentle turn.When asked about this on the ground, hesaid by way of explanation: 'I wa afraid I'dchuck you out!' Cambray replied that itwas his job to stay in, and that in future,evasive turns were to be rather steeper.

The Germans described the FE.2b'sdefen ive circle as a 'Merry-go-round'. Itwa during just such a battle betweenRichtofen's squadron and a squadron ofFee that the 'Red Baron' was hit in thehead. The FE.2b quadron circled for fullyfifteen minutes as the Germans made dart­ing attacks, and then aptain Wood­bridge's gunner fired an accurate burst andgrazed Richtofen's head. The German'sAlbatross went diving to earth, its pilotunable to see; only near to the ground didhe regain a hazy vision, enabling him topull off a shaky landing.

By mid-1916 the Royal Flying Corpswas receiving effective single-seat fighterswith fixed forward-firing machine gunsthat were fired through the propeller disc;but the Fee soldiered on as a fighter, as theBritish were convinced of the effective­ness of a fighter with a movable gun. How­ever, on 6 April 1917 their faith may havebeen hattered when five crew of No. 57

quadron, equipped with the FE.2d withthe more powerful Rolls-Royce Eagleengine, lost the day against a formation ofGerman two-seaters: the whole FE.2d for­mation wa hot down, the effectiveness oftheir movable front gun neutraliz d by themovable rear guns of the German aircraft.

oon afterwards the FE.2b was convert­d to a bomber. The substantial lifting

properties of its large wing, augmentedlater with the increased power of th Rolls

Victory No. Date FE.2 serial FE.2 Squadron

1 12.6.16 7018 113 30.9.16 6973 117 3.11.16 7010 ?14 20.12.16 A5446 1815 27.12.16 6996 2518 24.1.17 6937 2527 27.3.17 A5439 2534 3.4.17 A6382 2546 22.4.17 7020 11

Boulton & Paul and the Red Baron

The enemy usually collected a formation of six,

then perhap an additional eight, and when

there were twenty of their to five of ours, they

would come close in to attack. I would there­

upon fire a red Very light, which told our for­

mation we were going to fight. We would then

go round and round in a big circle, each follow­

ing the rail of the man in (rant, and always mak­

ing the whole circle approach gradually closer

The FE.2b's Defensive Merry-Go­Round

One tactic adopted by the FE.2b squadronswas also to be adopted by Defiants inWorld War 1I: when attacked by single­seaters they went into a tight defensive cir­cle, each covering the tail of the on infront and, with some gunners firing for­wards and some standing and firing to therear, any attacking German was faced withdefensive fire from several gun. W.e.Cambray, the e.O. of o. 20 Squadron,described how su h actions took place:

At least nine of the FE.2s shot down by Manfredvon Richtofen were built by Boulton & Paul Ltd inNorwich. an interesting first round in the contestbetween Boulton &Paul-built 'turret fighters' andsingle-seat German fighter pilots. a contest thatwas to be resumed with Defiants over Holland andDunkirk in May 1940.

and attack from underneath, a blind spotfor any fighter, with a gunner or not: heopened fire, and the FE.2b jerked and itspropeller stopped. Richtofen followed itdown to a bumpy landing behind Germanlines; he landed alongside, and found theBritish gunner dead, and the pilot dying.

Richtofen was to shoot down a total oftwelve of the two-seaters during his career- although the Fee almost took its revenge,because in one combat the Baron was hitin the head by an FE.2b gunner.

By the middle of 1916 the FE.2b hadbecome outdated as a fighter, though theFees were neverthele s till able to holdtheir own. For example, on 18 June 1916three of them were attacked by the famousMax lmmelmann leading seven FokkerMonoplane; one of the FE.2b was shotdown, but 0 were two of the attacker, andthe rest fled. And on the evening of thesame day, Lt McCubbin was flying anFE.2b with a corporal fitter as gunner,when they saw three Fokkers flying belowthem, and dived to the attack. ThFokkers were engaging another FE.2b, andfor a brief time the five aircraft twisted andturned in the sky. But then the pi lot of theother FE.2b was wounded, and he spiralleddown to make a forced landing behindGerman lines; and one of the FokkerMonoplanes, flown by Lt Mulzer, landednearby, out of fuel. The remaining threeaircraft continue to battle it out abovethem.

One of the Fokkers climbed to get aboveMcCubbin, whose gunner opened firefrom below with a long bur t: the Fokkerreared up, rolled onto one wing, and flut­tered down like a leaf in autumn, breakingup in the air - first the tail came off, thenas the remaining fuselage gained momen­tum, the wings folded back and broke off.The forward fuselage containing the heavyengine, gun and pilot then inevitablygathered speed and plummeted into theground, dropping 6,000ft (2,000m) in justa few seconds. This loss was significantbecause the pilot was none other than thegreat Max Immel mann, one of the firstgreat fighter pilots.

The FE.2b was to have less successagainst another of Germany's most famousfighter pilots, Manfred von Richtofen,known as the 'Red Baron' - indeed whenImm Imann fell, the 'Red Baron' hadalready accounted for his first FE.2b. On12 June he had been one of six pilots ofJagdstaffel 2, led by Oswald Boelke, on aortie flying the new Albatros D.l. They

saw eight BE.2c of No. 12 quad rone corted by six FE.2bs of o. II 4uadron:as they dived to attack, Richtofen choseone of the Fee a his target and openedfire. He mi sed, a did the r turn fire fromthe FE.2b gunner, and they twisted andturned as the FE.2b pilot tried to preventthe German from getting behind, wherehe was vulnerable. But he mu t have lostight of the Albatross, becau e h levelled

out for a moment, and this gave Richtofenthe chance he was waiting for, to limb

8 9

THE TURRET FIGHTER CONCEPT THE TURRET FIGHTER CONCEPT

World War I 'Turret Fighters': Technical Information

It was binerly cold sining there, huddled ur and

entirely passive, with scarcely more prorection

from the wind of our own making than that

Its main rival from Westland Westburywas a more conventional two-bay biplane,powered by the same Jupiter VI engines asthe Bagshot. Two examples of this wereordered, and the COW guns were actuallytested in flight. The rear gun was sited in astation behind the wings and was designedto fire mainly forward and upward over avery narrow arc; however, air tests of theweapon I' suited in damage to the aircraft'supper wing surface, which required the fit­ment of a protectiv shield. The nose­mounted COW gun was fitted to a muchmore complicated mounting that allowedit to be fired in any direction.

The Westland Westbury

that it be built. But Barnwell was provedright, because once flight trials began, itwas discovered that insufficient torsionalstiffness in the wings caused aileron rever­sal, and the aircraft was relegated to inves­tigations of this effect.

The Westland Westbury, a more successful competitor to the Bagshot for Spec. 4/24, in that it did carryand fire the COW guns, but its performance was not superior enough to the bombers it was designed tointercept.

This was a monoplane powered by two450hp Bristol Jupiter VI engines; thoughwhen the designer, Frank Barnwell,learned that it was supposed to carry twoCOW guns, he realized that it would betoo heavy and recommended abandoningthe design - but the Air Ministry insisted

for a three-seat, twin-engined fighter witha top speed of at least 125mph (200kph),and a landing speed of 50mph (80kph). Itwas the intention of the Air Ministry thatthe aircraft would be equipped with two37mm Coventry Ordnance Works cannon(COW guns), and one defensive Lewisgun in a ventral position, though this wasnot initially divulged to the two compa­nies that received prototype orders fortheir proposals. This was to have unfortu­nate consequence for Bristol Aircraft,who had received an order for one exam­ple of their design, the Type 95 Bagshot.

The Type 95 Bagshot

attack. This concept seemed to have more111 common with naval battles, won by thegreater weight of broadside, than with aer­Ial combat, and was hotly disputed in cer­tain quarters of the RAF, not least amongsome members of the wartime Indepen­dent Air Force who had seen formations oftheir own bombers broken up by conven­tional attacking fighters. Air Cdr Pophamof the RAF Staff College also pointed outthat Higgin's sketches were two-dimen­sional, and that a bomber formation wouldprobably be stepped up at different levelsso that all their gunners could fire to eitherside.

Nevertheless Higgins secured the sup­port of the chief of the Air Staff, Sir HughTrenchard, a firm believer in the ability ofa bomber force to defend itself. The resultwas the issue of Spec. 4/24, which called

The sole Bristol Type 95 Bagshot undergoing engine runs. The specified COW guns were never fitted in the nose and dorsal positions of this 'bomber destroyer'.

Designs for Effective Fighters

Iliggins concluded that what was wantedwas a fighter that could manoeuvre in for­mation next to a bomber formation, andl'ngage it broadside on with heavierweapons than the bomb-laden attackerswuld carry. He envisaged an interceptingftghter squadron turning in line astern par­.1l1e! to a bomber formation, so that alltheir free-mounted guns could fire at once,whereas the bomber formation would onlyhe defended by the guns on the side of the

UlI1ventional single-seat fighters. It wasthe RAE's belief at the time that ahomber's defensive free guns were twice asdfective as the fixed guns that armedIighters, and Higgins considered that the.Iltacking fighters would have failed inI heir attacks because of the bombers' abil­Ity to concentrate their fire on each indi­Vidual attack.

Post-War Thinking

use deflector plates fitted to the propellerblades of a Morane monoplane. Finally, on1 April 1915, Roland Garros became thefirst pilot to use this idea successfully toshoot down another aircraft, a feat he wasto repeat three more times.

As i well known, Garros eventuallyforce-landed behind German linesbecause of engine failure, thus presentingthe Germans with the secret of his success.The direct result was the Fokk I' Mono­plane, equipped with a machine gun withsynchronization gear so that it would firebetween the propeller blade. This was thefirst true single-seat fighter, and all the bel­ligerents were soon developing their ownequivalents.

By the end of the war, the standardarmament for a fighter was two fixedmachine guns, sited near enough to thecockpit for the pilot to clear stoppages; thefighter with movable guns had faded fromthe scene. The exception was the two-seatBristol F.2b fighter with a fixed, forward­firing Vickers machine gun and a Lewisgun mounted on a Scarff ring for reardefence. Thi aircraft became an outstand­ing succes once it was flown as if it were asingle-seater, with the addition of a reargun to protect its tail.

The one problem that was not solvedbefore the end of the war was how to stopformations of heavy bombers. The Gotharaids on London had often not even beenintercepted, and even when they were,had proved difficult to stop. The Royal AirForce came to believe that' ... the bomberwould always get through', and decidedthat the only effective answer was thedeterrent effect of having a superior forceof heavy bombers of its own. This doctrineof counter-offensive meant that the RAE'sheavy bomber force became the mostimportant element in its armoury, almostthe very reason for its existence.

After the Great War, ways of counteringattacking forces of heavy bombers werestill being considered. In 1923 Air Cdr T.C. R. Higgins, director of training and staffduties, examined the problems caused bythe Gotha raid on London on 7 July 1917:this raid seemed an ideal example foranalysis, though it had not been intercept­ed at the time. Higgins assessed whatwould have happened if the Gotha forma­tion had been attacked by a squadron of

18min 20sec

7min 10sec

17,500ft(5,334m)15hr

39min 40sec

l1,OOOft(3,353m)

afforded to a ship's figurehead facing an arctic

gale, and my hands and my feet had some time

ago lost all sense of feel, while my knees were

just solid areas of bent leg.

The first 'turret fighters', as epitomized bythe FE.2b and the Vickers Gunbus - thatis, fighters in which a pilot flew the air­craft, and a gunner operated the armamenton movable mountings - came aboutbecause ther was nothing else. The ideaof a fixed aircraft gun, aimed by the pilotaiming the entire aircraft, was slow todevelop, largely hindered by the fact thatthe propeller was in the way. Devices toallow a machine gun to fire through a pro­peller without damaging it were devisedbefore the war by Lt Patlavko in Russiaand Franz Schneider in Switzerland,although the French were the first to usesuch a system operationally.

Raymond Saulnier devised such aninterrupter gear in the early months of thewar, but because it depended on the relia­bility of the ammunition, he preferred to

Vickers Gunbus FE2b FE2d

100hp Gnome 160hp Beardmore 250hp RR Eagle

1 Lewis gun 1-2 Lewis guns 2-3 Lewis guns36ft 6in 47ft 9in 47ft 9in(1113m) (1455m) (1455m)27ft 2in 32ft 3in 32ft 3in(828m) (9.83m) (983m)11ft 12ft 7.5in 12ft 7.5in(135m) (186m) (186m)382sq ft 494sq ft 494sq ft(3548sq ml (45.89sq ml (45.89sq m)l,220lb 2,0611b 2,5091b(55139kg) (934.87kgl (1,138kg)2,0501b 3,0361b 3,4691b(929.88kg) (1,377.13kg) (1,573.53kg)

70mph/5,000ft 81 mph/6,500ft 94mph/5,000ft(113kph/l,524m) (130kph/1,981m) (151 kph/l ,524m)

5min

7min 24sec

16min

9,000ft(2,743m)4.5hr

Ceiling

Top speed

Climbto 1,500ft

(457m)to 3,000ft

(914m)to 5,000ft

(1,524mlto 10,000ft

(3,048ml

Endurance

Height

Length

Wing area

Loaded weight

Engine

ArmamentSpan

Empty weight

German Aviatik reconnaissance aircraft,but was damaged by groundfire; he landednear to the front lines. But during thenight he managed to repair his engine, andreturned to his squadron in the morning.

The unfortunate gunner in either theGunbus or the FE.2b was, certainly tobegin with, completely untrained in hisduties - indeed, he was usually just amechanic who had volunteered to go aloft.Most early squadrons did not even havetrained armourers to look after themachine guns, let alone gunners trained inair-to-air firing. In return for their braveryin volunteering, these men were ubjectedto flights in an almost totally exposed posi­tion in sub-zero temperatures, their onlyprotection the thin plywood sides of their'pulpit'. Lt A. J. Insall, a Vickers Gunbusgunner with No. 11 Squadron, laterexplained what it was like:

10 11

THE TURRET FIGHTER CO CEPT

Technical Information for COW-Gun Fighters

If you were to compare the two COW-gun fighters and acontemporary medium bomber. the Boulton & Paul Bugleshows an unsurprising similarity in size and performance. It also shows why Boulton & Paul were considered like­ly manufacturers of the type. Although a formation of COW-gun fighters would have outgunned a formation ofBugles, they would have been very lucky to have intercepted them in the first place, with no great performancemargin. However. a Bagshot/Westbury might have stood a chance of intercepting the much slower Vickers Vir­ginia night bomber, if it could have found it in the darkness of the night.

Bagshot Westbul}' Bugle

Engines 450hp Bristol 450hp Bristol 435 hp BristolJupiter VI Jupiter VI Jupiter IV

Span 70ft 68ft 65ft '/lin121.34m) (20.73ml (19.82m)

Wing area 840sq ft 875sq ft 932sq ft178.15sq m) (81.29sq m) 186.58sq m)

Length 44ft llin 43ft 4.75in 39ft 9in(13.70ml (13.23m) (12.12m)

Height 9ft 6in 13ft 9in 15ft 8in(2.896m) (4.191ml (4.775m)

WeightsEmpty 5.1001b 4,8541b 5,0791b

(2.313.36kg) (2,201.77kg) (2.303.83kglLoaded 8,1951b 7,877lb 8,9141b

(3717.25kgl (3573kgl (4043.39kg)

Top speed 125mph 125mph 120mph(201kph) (201kphl (193kphl

Climbto 5.000ft 4.5min(1.524ml

to 10,000ft 15.5min(3,048ml

to 15,000ft 19min(4.572ml

Armament Two COW guns Two COW guns Two lewis guns1-2 Lewis guns

The first Boulton & Paul P.31 Bittern. This prototype was armed with two fixed Vickers machine guns. butthe second aircraft had lewis guns in revolving barbettes each side of the nose.

72

either of th se fighters had much mar­gin of performance over the bombers theywould probably have intercepted, and 0

they were not proceeded with. The AirMinistry did not abandon the idea of fit­ting the COW gun to fighter aircraft, how­ever, and a new specification, F.29/27, wasissued for a single-seat fighter equippedwith a single OW gun; but this was to befixed at an upward angle designed to allowthe fighter to attack bombers from below,perhaps silhouetted again t the stars. ei­ther of the aircraft that were ordered inprototype form - the Westland F.29/27 orthe Vickers Type 161 - received produc­tion orders.

The P31 Billern---

One other pecification during the 1920sfeatured an unusual armament arrange­ment, designed to counter bombers operat­ing at night. Spec. 27/24 resulted in an orderfor two examples of the Boulton & Paul P.3lBittern, unusual for the time in that it was asingle-seat, twin-engined monoplane, pow­ered by two 230hp Armstrong- iddeleyLynx radials. One of the aircraft was fittedwith the conventional fighter armament oftwo fixed forward-firing Vickers machinguns - but the other was novel in that it wasarmed with two Lewis guns, placed inrevolving barbettes on each side of the air­craft's nose, which could move from straightahead to an upward angle of 45 degree, thegunsight moving in unison. This meant thatthe Bittern could attack bombers frombelow and behind, in an area that was fre­quentlya blind spot.

This attacking technique was pioneeredby Albert Ball during 19l6, using the char­acteri tic of the Foster rail, on which theLewis gun was mounted on the upper wingof his Nieuport, to fire upwards into hisquarry. Interestingly Ball's father was adirector of Austin Motors, and when hereturned from his first spell in France, heoutlined an 'ideal fighter' that would fea­ture the new Hispano- uiza V8 engine,and two Lewi guns able to fire upward inthi way. His father took his ideas to themanager of Au tin's aircraft department,who happened to be none other than JohnDudley North, who had left Grahame­White Aircraft just after the start of thewar. orth initiated the design of a fighterto incorporate Ball's ideas - though by thetime the Austin AFB.l flew, J. D. Northhad left to become chief designer of Boul­ton & Paul's aircraft department, andAlbert Ball was dead.

How much influence Albert Ball had onJ. D. North's thinking i open to que tion,hut the two men certainly met and dis­cussed fighter armament. Every military.mcraft with which orth was associatedthroughout hi career, for three differentmanufacturer, was to feature guns onmovable mountings, with the solitaryexception of his conventionally armedBoulton & Paul Partridge. Although theBittern did not go into production, the air­craft with which orth will alway be most.Issociated, the Defiant turret fighter,would have the same ability to attackhombers from below with the guns in itspower-operated turret.

The Search Continues

Although the RAF's attempts at creating ahomber-destroyer in the 1920s had cometo nought, and the single-seater with twofixed guns remained supreme, there werestill many in the Air Staff who did nothelieve that such an aircraft would be ableto break up well drilled formations ofmulti-engined bombers. The RAF it elf'ICtually had only one squadron of multi­engined day bombers, namely No. 10lSquadron equipped with two flights off)oulton & Paul Sidestrands; but manoeu­vres involving this squadron were enoughto convince certain influential people thata novel bomber-de troyer was required.

The idestrands were equipped withScarff ring-mounted Lewis guns in thenose and dorsal positions, with anotherLewis gun ventrally mounted. They weredesigned to provide a close formation withall-round defence. In affiliation exerciseswith the iskin of o. III Squadron dur­II1g August 1930, it wa 'proved that theSidestrand was a difficult proposition to

lackie, and that fighters at present had noattack to meet them'.

Of course there was no way of provingthe theoretical accuracy of the bombers'gunners, any more than the Admiraltycould prove the effectiveness of the anti­.mcraft guns fitted to their battleships.This was to lead to dangerous self-confi­dence on the part of the Admiralty and theRAF's bomber force.

The 'Bright Ideas Fighter'

Just after these manoeuvres, Wg Cdr A.C.Maund was appointed to head the flyingoperations of the Air Staff, in charge offormulating the future operational require-

THE TURRET FIGHTER CO CEPT

ments of the Royal Air Force. Maund wasone of those who held a jaundiced view ofthe potential effectiveness of single-seatfighter. He shared the views of Higgins,that although conventional fighters mightbe capable ofdispo ing of olitary bombers,they would be ineffective against large for­mations. He soon proposed that the air­craft industry be asked to devise new formsof fighter aircraft capable of breaking upbomber formations before they reachedtheir target.

In October 1931 he outlined histhought in a scheme he placed before thedeputy chief of the Air Staff, AVMBurnett, for a 'Bright Ideas fighter'. Heproposed that every aircraft company becirculated with operational requirementsdrawn up in general term, inviting ten­ders to meet these requirements which didnot include any recognized conventionalform of fighter. He felt the requirementsmust include the ability to attack in for­mation to overcome the combined fire­power of a bomber formation. It was forthi reason that the conventional single­seat fighter had to be excluded, as it wasimpossible for pilots to keep station ontheir leader's aircraft whilst aiming theweapons at the ame time; the danger ofcollision was just too great; a recent Courtof Enquiry into just such an accidentbetween two Bristol Bulldogs had high­lighted this.

The officer commanding the air defenceof Great Britain, AM ir Edward Elling­ton, consulted the commanders of thetwelve fighter squadrons in his command.Five of them felt that in the event of war,the risk of coli ision was one that shou ld betaken, but only three of them felt that therisk was worth taking for peacetime prac­tice. Ellington therefore concurred withMaund that new fighters needed to have aseparate gunner, preferably sited in thenose.

AVM Burnett discussed Maund's ideaswith AVM H. C. T. Dowding, then AirMember for upply and Research. Burnetthim elf was largely in the camp of thosewho sought greater firepower for conven­tional single-seaters, but he was prepared toaccede to Maund's suggestion that theindustry be asked to come up with newideas for a fighter aircraft. Dowding thoughtit unlikely that the industry would think ofsomething that the Royal Air Force itselfcould not envisage; but his views prevailed,and a memorandum was issued through theservice calling for 'suggestions for an

73

improved form of fighting aircraft'.Entries were to be submitted by 2l

November 1932, and the criteria to be metwere as follows:

• Fighters flying in formation should beable to open simultaneous fire onbomber formations, and to sustain thefire until the hostile formation weredestroyed.

• The armament layout should be capableof deflecting ho tile formations awayfrom their course.

• It should also allow the attacking fighter to open fire ftOm as many directionsas possible, with the minimum ofpreliminary manoeuvres.

• The fighters should be able to success­fully engage hostile fighters as well abombers.

• An adequate margin of performance, intop speed, climb and manoeuvrabilityover contemporary bombers, would berequired.

• The ability to operate by day and bynight was required, carrying theequipment thought nece sary for night­time operations.

• Movable guns should not be obstructedin their freedom of fire by parts of theaircraft, such as the tailplanes.

• The armament fitted should be capablcof operation under all conditions.

A large number of entries were consideredby a committee chaired by Maund, whichmet on lO January 1933. Vague andimpractical entries were discarded - thisincluded one design for a twin-enginedpusher monoplane with the pilot in aprone position in the no-e, a well as oth­ers that merely envisaged arming conven­tional fighter' with more gun - until justfive serious suggestions were left for con­sideration. The first of these to be rejecLedwas from Wg Cdr A. A. B. Thomson of theArmaments Branch who suggested aneight-gun, twin-engined biplane fighter,reflecting work already done at Martle­sham I Leath on testing the effects ofincreasing fighter armament. The com­mittee rejected Thomson's design becauseit only carried 200 rounds per gun - inspite of the fact that the weight of the pilotwould have to be restricted to 8 stone!

The Power-Operated Gun Turret

The other four entries broadly envisagedone of two layouts: either with a gun turret

THE TURRET FIGHTER CO CEPTTHE TURRET FIGHTER CONCEPT

-----

New Fighter Types

Sir Edward Ellington became chief of theAir Staff in May 1933, and one of his firsttasks was to read a review of the previouseighteen months' debate on new fightertypes prepared by his deputy AVM E. R.Ludlow-Hewitt, which seemed to placethe two-seat front-turret fighter at the bot­tom of the priority list. Ellington, howev-

tional Requirement 9 was framed aroundthis suggestion.

Dowding, whose responsibility it was toimplement the committee's decision,accepted it reluctantly. He was of the opin­ion that such a fighter would be at themercy of any competent single-seater, andpreferred the developments that weregoing ahead elsewhere to increase thefixed armament of RAF fighters from twoto four, and then six guns. SpecificationF.5/33 was drawn up for a fighter with afront gun turret - but before it was issuedto the industry an even more radical pro­posal emerged.

The imaginative sketch provided by Wing Commander Maund to illustrate his ideas for a turret fighter,

with both fixed forward-firing guns and a nose turret.

the Directorate of Technical Development(DTD) for a twin-engined aircraft. Bothenvisaged a crew of pilot and a front gunner,with two fixed forward-firing machine gunsin addition to one or two guns in the turret.The DTD's proposal envisaged two NapierRapier engines, with extended propshaftsto the pusher propellers, and a 52ft (l5m)span wing. Maund suggested a single 'Mer­lin' engine, not the later wartime engine,but a Rolls-Royce paper proposal. Hisspherical front turret was far better thoughtout than some of the other vague notions,and his proposal included sketches of itsbasic layout.

The committee could not choosebetween the designs as they both seemedto have advantages. The single-enginedpusher offered a larger field of fire for thegunn r and a better performance, whereasthe twin-engined aircraft could be of moreproven aerodynamic layout. It was recom­mended that the industry be asked todesign experimental two-seat fighters withfront turrets, with both designs offered asexamples of what was envisaged. Opera-

Messrs Nash & Thompson Ltd had been.Isked to find ways of protecting the reargunner of the Hawker Demon fighter. TheDemon had recently become the RAF'sfirst operational two-seat fighter since thelast of the Bristol Fighters had beenretired. It came into existence because theI lawker Hart light bomber, that enteredservice in 1930, had proved to be consid­erably faster than all existing operationalfighters. On the theory of 'set a thief toLatch a thief', a fighter version of the Harthad been the obvious solution.

The Hart fighter was armed with twofixed forward-firing machine guns, and aslI1gle Lewis gun for the rear gunner, andL'arly in 1932 was ordered into productionas the Hawker Demon. The rear gunnerfound it difficult to aim his weapon againstthe 182mph (293kph) slipstream, andafter various experiments with simplescreens, ash & Thompson were asked todevise a power-assisted mounting.

Archibald Frazer Nash had been design­ing aircraft armament install~tionsduringWorld War I, but had made his name post­war firstly with the sports cars that bore hisname, and then with a crane safe-loadingindicator. He had then joined up with hisformer wartime associate Capt GrattonThompson to develop a retractable wing­tip flare installation to aid night landings.Awarded the contract to design a newpower-assisted gun position for theDemon, these two came up with ahydraulically powered 'turret' that was notfully enclosed, the gunner's only protec­tion being a retracting 'Iobsterback' shield.

Although neither of these new 'gun tur­rets' was operational when Maund's com­mitte assessed the entries for the novelfighter, the concept was clearly knownwithin the Air Force. The committee con­sidered that the most promising layoutwould be with one of these turrets in thenose of the aircraft, as it was consideredthat the forward hemisphere was the mostimportant one for fighters. For instance,one proposal, from the AMSR, had envis­aged a rear turret in an aircraft that lookedrather like a swept-wing, tail-less HawkerDemon. As the pilot as well as the gunnerwas sited behind the wings, the suggestionignored the importance the committeeplaced in visibility in the forward hemi­sphere, hopefully with both crewmenplaced in the nose.

The two proposals that envisaged thislayout were Maund's own, for a tail-less sin­gle-engined pusher fighter, and that from

cylinder, revolved pneumatically by thepressure of the barrel of the single Lewisgun on plungers either side of a verticalslot. The gun would be raised and loweredmanually, with the gunner's seat connect­ed hydraulically to maintain his sightline.

A mock-up of this turret was finished byJune 1933, and the first example would beflown in the nose of a heavily modifiedSidestrand before the end of the year, theaircraft being given a new name, 'Over­strand'.

At the same time that Boulton & Paulwere working on this pneumatic turret,

A Boulton Paul Overstrand, with a Sidestrand in the background, the type it was to replace.

appear with lightweight glazed cupolasover the gun positions, such as the MartinB-10 bomber and the Bristol Type 120General Purpose aircraft; but these weremanually revolved, and were less than sat­isfactory.

Two companies were working on pow­ered 'turrets'. Boulton & Paul Ltd hadbeen asked by the Air Ministry to investi­gate ways of protecting the nose gunner oftheir Sidestrand bomber against the effectsof the 140mph (225kph) slipstream, andafter much discussion the solution wasenvisaged to be a fully enclosed glazed

The Boulton & Paul pneumatic gun turret as fittedto the nose of the Overstrand, with the singlelewis gun stowed at the top of the gun slot, whichis sealed with its zip fastener. This turret featuredin early Boulton & Paul turret fighter proposals.

The Hawker Demon, the two-seat fighter that came about almost by accident as a fighter version of the Hart, and was to become the first fighter armed witha power-operated turret.

arranged to cover the whole upper hemi­sphere, or with a gun turret in the nose tocover the forward hemisphere. The con­cept of the 'gun turret' was a new one.Because of the greatly increased speeds ofmodern military aircraft, gunners in opencockpits had been finding it increasinglydifficult to train and aim th ir guns. in theearly thirties a few aircraft had begun to

14 15

er, wanted far more urgency in the devel­opment of an aircraft where piloting andoperating the weapons were separatere pon ibilities, because he was one oftho e who believed that fighters wouldhave to attack bombers in uni on.

He al 0 felt that a formation of fightersshould be able to fight ho tile aircraft fromeither the front or the rear, and envisagedtwo pilot, one to fly the aircraft and oneto man either the front or the rear gunposition depending on the tactical situa­tion. As chief of the Air taff, Ellington'sview had to be taken seriously, and a newOperation Requirement 11 was drawn upto outline his concept. From this, a newspecification, F.n/33, was drawn updetailing the requirement for a new fight­er. Though his idea of having two pilotswas not thought sensible, the specificationenvisaged a fighter with front and rear gunpositions armed with single Lewi guns,and manned either by a single gunner whowould move between th positions as nec­e ary, or with two gunners. Thus two tur­ret fighter specifications were i ued dur­ing 1933: F.5/33 for a fighter with a singlenose turret, and F.n/33 with nose and dor­sal turrets.

Meanwhile elsewhere the RAF hadbeen considering new airborne guns toreplace the traditional Vickers and Lewisguns. The contenders were .303in calibremachine guns from various manufacturers,with the Colt-Browning eventuallybecoming favourite. The Spe F.7/30,which required a fighter armed with fourmachine guns, eventually led to the pro­du tion of the Gloster ladiator, but in1933 consideration was being given to afighter armed with six or eight .303ingun.

The new deputy chief of the Air taff,Ludlow-Hewitt, discussed this newrequirement with Sir Edward Ellington,who wa till sceptical about the value ofingle- eat fighters, and was concerned

about the growing number of fighterr quirements being proposed. Air Cdr R.E. . Pierse, deputy director of Operationsand Intelligence, was of the opinion thatthe two turret fighter specifications shouldtake preference. They agreed that the sin­gle- eater requirement be deferred untilthe following year, when Spec F.5/34would be issued, calling for a six- or eight­gun ingle-seat fighter with a top speed ofat least 275mph (440kph).

THE TURRET FIGHTER CONCEPT

West/and Aircraft's P/erodactyl Designs

One company that had a head start withMaund's single-engined, tail-Ie s pusheridea for F.5/33 was We t1and Aircraft, in asmuch as they had been developing Geof­fr y Hill's tail-les ,swept-wing Pterodactyldesigns for some years. Their Pterodactyl[V, which first flew in March 1931, was athree-seat, tail-less cabin monoplane witha single ipsy III engine in a pusherarrangement, and they were actuallybuilding a two-seat tail-less fighter, thePterodactyl V, to pec F.3/32, though thiswas with a Rolls-Royce Goshawk tractorengine. It was armed with two fixed for­ward-firing machine guns, with just a sin­gle Lewis gun in the open cockpit at therear, where the gunner could fire over thecomplete rear hemisphere. Geoffrey Hillhad designed an ele (I'o-hydraulic gun tur­ret for the aircraft, with the single Lewisgun mounted on its side to fit the availablefuselage width. There is considerabledoubt that thi turret wa ever fitted to theaircraft, beyond perhaps being offered upto the structure to check clearances.

The rear turret gunner on the Ptero­dactyl V could not fulfil the role envisagedfor the gunner of the new turret fighters:he was there for strictly defensive purpos­es, not offensive, and so this aircraft couldnot meet the specification.

Westland's F.5/33 proposal, designatedthe Pterodactyl VI, therefore involvedreversing the positions of the engine andcrew of the Pterodactyl V. The gunnerwould also be provided with a fullyenclosed gun turret in the nose, but armedwith two machine guns, almost certainlyto be de igned by the company, and thepilot would be sited just in front of thewings with an enclosed cockpit. Therewould also be a change of engine, with the

troublesome, evaporation-cooled Goshawkgiving way to a Rolls-Royce Kestrel. Theaircraft was a sesquiplane with endplateson the large, upper swept wing, upportedon ' , struts above the much maller,unswept lower wing.

Other Designs'---------

Unlike Westland who only seemed to offeran F.5/33 proposal, Bristol Aircraft pro­duced two completely different designs forthe two specifications. Their Type 140 forF.5/33 was a two-seat fighter with a pher­iGl! nose turret, powered by a singl Bris­tol Perseus 665hp radial in a pusherarrangement. Their Type 141 was a three­seater with nose and dorsal turrets, pow­ered by two Bristol Aquila 600hp radials.Armstrong-Whitworth Aircraft producedtwin-engined designs for both specifica­tions, though each was quite different.Their A.W.32 was to Spec F.n/33, andwas powered by two of the proposed Arm­strong-Siddeley Double Genet Majorengines. It had a span of 48ft (14.6m), alength of 39ft (12m), and a wing area of335sq ft (3 [sq m). The all-up weight was6,5001b (3,OOOkg), and the estimated topspeed at 13,OOOft (4,000m) was 255mph(410kph).

The A.W.34 was to Spec. F.5/33, andwas to be powered by two Armstrong- id­deley Terrier engines. [t had a slightlysmaller span of 47ft (14m), but a largerwing area of 350sq ft (32.5sq m).

Gloster Aircraft also produced tworelated twin-engined designs for eachspecification, though they were a compa­ny that had almost exclusively producedsingle-engined aircraft throughout theirhi tory. The F.5/33 proposal envisaged twoBristol Aquila engines just like the BristolType 141. Just down the road at Yate,

llarnall Aircraft also produced an F.5/33design (though no details survive), a didI-airey Aircraft, who also produced a relat­t'd F.n/33 proposal.

Raul/on & Paul Designs

[n orwich, Boulton & Paul had the.Idvantage of being the only aircraft com­pany that a tually had a gun turret underdevelopment, the pneumatic nose turretfor the Overstrand (Type 1). [t followedthat thi turret featured heavily in theirpropo als, but they were also designingnew pneumatic turrets, including oneglazed in only its upper half (Type 2), butalso armed with only a single Lewis gun.

The Boulton & Paul P.76 propo al forF. 5/33 featured a single Over trand turret111 the nose and, like most of the othercompanies, also specified twin fixedmachine guns; but unusually the P.76 fea­tured twin Vickers guns in the rear fuselagefixed to fire upwards at an angle of 45degrees. This was the upward firingarrangement pioneered by Albert Ball,and with which so many of J. D. North'sfighters were equipped. The P. 76 waoffered in two quite different vel' ion,powered either by two Napier Rapier V350hp 'H' inline engines in an airframewith a span of 47ft 6in (14.5m), or by twoBristol Pega us [V 700hp radial engines ina much larger airframe of 58ft 6in(17.83 m) span.

(Right) Boulton Paul P.76 to Spec. F.5/33.

(Be/ow) Equipment layout in the Boulton Paul P.76.Note the upward-firing Vickers guns in the rear

fuselage.

THE TURRET FIGHTER CO CEPT

========t~t==========' .._--/ "

A sketch of the Pterodactyl VI. with engine and turret positions reversed to meet Spec. F.5/33.

76 77

THE T RRET FIGHTER CONCEPT THE TURRET FIGHTER CO CEPT

Technical Information Boulton & Paul P.74 and P.76

The Turret Fighter goes into Service

In the meantime, the two-seat 'turret'fighter was actually g ing into service. Thefirst production Hawker Demon, of an ini­tial batch of seventeen, had flown in Feb­ruary 1933, and the type replaced BristolBulldogs in o. 23 quadron. Furtherorders were plac d for the aircraft,totalling 108, to quip Auxiliary Air Forcequadrons. The last fifty-nine of these were

subcontracted to the newly independent

would affect performance quite consider­ably.

None of the proposals for the two spec­ifications 01 t with much enthusiasm, asthey did not seem to offer much of a per­formance margin over the bombers thenunder development. Indeed, Sir EdwardEllington himself eem d to think none ofthem would be more useful than a fighteradaptation of one of the new bombersdesigned to pec B.9/32 (Wellington andHampden), in the way the Demon wasdeveloped from the Hart. It was clear thatthe problem would have to be re-thought.

P.74D

P.74C

P.74A

The Boulton Paul P.74 to Spec. F.22/33.

firm of Boulton Paul Aircraft Ltd. Boulton& Paul Ltd had sold off its aircraft depart­ment to an investment group, andalthough it continued for a while in thesame premises at Mousehold Airport, Nor­wich, it was soon to move to a brand-newfactory at Wolverhampton.

The prototype Frazer- ash F .1 'Iob­sterback'turr t was first tested in a Demonlate in 1934, and was approved for serviceuse. Although the gunner was not com­pletely enclosed, as was usual in later tur­rets, the F .l's folding windshield didoffer a high degr e of protection, and therewas a heating system for the gunner's head,hands and feet, as well as his gun. Nash &Thompson took over Pamall Aircraft atYate to manufacture the turret, and todev lop and manufacture furth rhydraulic turrets. Demons equipped withthe .1 did not go into service until1936, by which time all Demon produc­tion wa centred on Boulton Paul Aircraftfrom their Wolverhampton factory.

The operation of the Demons in servicewith o. 23 Squadron, albeit with only

carff ring-mounted rear guns, broughtabout a change in thinking on future tur­ret-fighter proposals. It was noted thatDemon pilot tended to fly their aircraftIike single-seaters, using their two fixedfront guns as the primary weapons. Thiswas the method used by the two-seat Bris­tol Fighters in World War I to achieve suc­ces , but it went against the philosophyespoused by the turret-fighter enthusiasts.In eptember 1936, No. 74 Squadron sub­mitted a report on the two-seat fighter tac­tics it had devised in Malta. They envis­aged th 0 mons making normal frontgun attacks, in a manner that allowed ther ar gunners to get in a burst of fire as well.But Dowding's comments on the tacticshighlighted the fact that they neglectedthe principal advantage offered by a two-eat fighter, of flying on a parallel course to

th enemy and concentrating the attack­er's fire on one point, perhaps from a blindspot.

It had already begun to be propo ed thatthe new turret fighter specification houldnot require fixed forward-firing guns, onthe basis that it was undesirable to split thearmament. This was despite the fact that010 t of thc turrct fightcr proposals to datc,from Air Force or industry, had includedone or two such guns in addition to theirturrets.

Croup Captain A. T. Harris, deputyDirector of Plans, suggested that a ingle-

P.76A P.768

350hp 700hpRapier Pegasus

1x 1xType 1 Type 1

4x 4xVickers Vickers

47.5 58.5(1451 (17.81

39.5 44.5(12) (13.51

340 520(31.61 (48.31)

217mph 247mph349kph 397kph

29,0001t(8,839m)

5,797 8,780(2,630) (3,983)

Type 1& Type 2

232mph373kph

P.740

530(49.2)

700hpPegasus

nil

60(18.3)

48(14.61

9,035(4,098)

226mph364kph

9,035(4,098)

27,500ft(8.382m)

60(18.3)

48(14.6)

530(49.21

203mph327kph

P.748 P.74C

350hp 700hpRapier Pegasus

Type 1 2x&Type 2 Type 1

nil nil

6,147(2}881

350(32.51

39.3(12)

48(1461

P.74A

Engines 350hp2x Rapier

Turret 2xarmament Type 1

Fixed nilarmament

Span ft 48(m) (14.61

Length ft 39.3(m) (12)

Wing area sq It 350(sq ml (32.51

Top 195mphspeed at 314kph15.000ft

Service 25.000ftceiling 17.620m)

Loaded 6.147weight (2}88)Ib (kg)

The Boulton & Paul P.74 to E22/33 wasclosely related to the P.76, with the samepower options, in similar airframe sizes, allwith a Type 1 Overstrand turret in theno but with a choice of either the Type 1or the new Type 2 turret in the dor al posi­tion. Versions with the Overstrand turretin both locations had a very narrow rearfuselage, rather in the manner of the lan­dley Page Hampden, but attached beneathth turret. With the smaller Typ 2 turretthey had much broader rear fuselages,enabling higher top speeds to be estimatedbecause of the better aerodynamic charac­teri tic.

The P.74A and P.74B with the Rapierengines had a span of 48ft (1501). TheP.74A, with two Overstrand turrets, had atop peed of 195mph (314kph) at 15,000ft(4,50001), and the P.74B, 20 mph(32 7kph). The Pegasu -engined P. 74and P. 740 were much larger, with a span of60ft (1801). The P.74C was estimated toachieve 226mph (364kph) at 15,000ft,and the P. 740 the best of all the four lay­out, 232mph (373kph). Clearly the dragand weight of two turrets rather than one

78 79

THE T RRET FIGHTER CO CEPT

Hawker Demons awaiting delivery outside Boulton Paul Aircraft, Pendeford, Wolverhampton, in 1936. Almost overnight the company had become thecountry's foremost producer of two-seat turret fighters.

-PAUL

A Hawker Demon equipped with the Frazer-Nash FN.1 gun turret, but with a gun camera replacing thenormal lewis gun, for training purposes.

secured, Boulton Paul set ro work with adegree of urgency ro design an airframearound it; this was given the project num­ber P.82. Construction of their Overstrandhad been completed at orwich, andthough they were starting the manufactureof the Hawker Demon, which would soonbe moved ro their new factory in Wolver­hampton, they were anxious ro secureorders for another of their own designs. Toalleviate the drag of the turret, a great dealof use was made of Boulron Paul's own 4ft(1.2m) wind tunnel, in which 1/15 scalemodels were exten ively tested. Afterdetail design began, a 1/13 scale model wastested in the same tunnel, before thepreparation of a 1/ 10th scale model for theNational Physics Laborarory tunnel,where a 1/5th scale model of the rear fuse­lage and tail was also tested. peed was ofthe essence in the design process, becausealthough Boulton Paul had the only suit­able turret in existence, other manufactur­ers had other things to their own advan­tage.

For instance, Hawker Aircraft alreadyhad a suitable airframe for F9/35 on thedrawing board. They were building theprototype of a light bomber, the Henley,which itself used the outer wings, tailplaneand same Merlin engine as their Hurri­cane. The prototype Hurricane would flyfor the fir t time on 6 ovember 1935.The design of the centre fu elage of theHenley was altered to accommodate afour-gun turret in place of the Henley's sin­gle rear Lewis gun. ash & Thompsonwere entru ted with the design of a new,hydraul ic, four-gun turret, with the guns inpairs above one another on each side, inthe manner of the AMM AB.7. Aretractable fairing would be raised tostreamline the turret when it was not inu e, only being lowered during action.

Fairey Aircraft were also able to adaptan existing airframe, the Battle lightbomber, equipped with a four-gun turret ofindeterminate origin, and of course pow­ered by the same Merlin engine.

Bristol Aircraft also adapted an existing

Designing the Airframe

With the design of an actual turret

AMM to develop a movable mountingfor this weapon; a mounting that was toemerge as the A B.15. Knowing of BoultonPaul's Overstrand turret, SAMM thereforeapproached North, who went ro see theAB.7.

He knew immediately that it was superi­or to his own designs, which were limited totwenty revolutions before their pneumaticre ervoir was exhausted, whereas the AB.7had its own hydraulic motor, drawing onlyelectric current from the parent aircraft. Itwas al 0 armed with four belt-fed machineguns as specified in F9/35. On his return to

Great Britain, orth urged the Air Ministryto purchase the French turret, but thoughGp Capt C. Hilton Keith agreed that theSAMM turret represented a considerableadvance on anything yet produced, theydeclined, believing that such items shouldbe sourced in the United Kingdom. Withthe i ue of pec. F9/35, North immediate­ly saw the value of the French turret andought a licence agreement for its manufac-

ture. Boulton Paul beat another of the majorBritish aircraft companies to this deal bytwenty-four hours. An agreement wassigned on 23 November 1935, for the pur­chase by Boulton Paul of two completeA B.7 turrets, for 150,000 francs less 10 percent. At the same time an option was signedon a licence to manufacture them, with suit­able modifications for Briti h requirement ,and to exploit the relevant AMM patentsto produce a full range of turret for aircraftand anti-aircraft purposes.

The expiry date of the option was 25April 1937, and on the nnd, Boulton Paulpurchased the rights to the SAMM systemfor 250,000 franc, plus legal expenses, giv­ing them the rights to sell their version ofthe turret throughout the Empire and Com­monwealth, paying a royalty of£50 only forthe first 125 turret. Total payments toSAMM were to amount to just £8,50 I.

CHAPTER TWO

The firm of Boulton Paul Aircraft alreadyhad an ace up its sleeve. On a ales visit to

France, J. D. North, th managing directorand chief engineer, had been approachedby the French company ociete d'Appli­cations des Machines Matrices ( AMM),whose chief engineer, Antoine de Boys­son, had de igned an electro-hydraulic tur­ret armed with four Darne machine guns,the AMM AB.7. The company had beenunable to interest the French governmentin this design, the latter being wholly pre­occupied with fitting the H ispano 20mmcannon to aircraft, and encouraging

Specification F.9j35

The SAMM AB.7

The new specification was issued to theindustry on 26 June 1935, together withSpec. FI 0/35 for the new eight-gun single­seat fighters being developed by Hawkerand Supermarine. Companies attemptingro design the new turret fighter found thatthe aircraft's required performance was tobe remarkably close to that of the single­seaters, despite having to get airborne witha second crew member and a power-oper­ated turret (though this requirement waspartly alleviated by having to carry onlyhalf the number of guns).

Top speed at 15,000ft (4,500m) was to

be 29 mph (479kph) as (;pposed to315mph (507kph) for the single-seaters.Time to 15,000ft was only ro be a minutemore, at 5.5 minutes, and the service ceil­ing was to be only 2,000ft less, at 33,000ft(IO,OOOm). Endurance was to be the samefor each type, namely 1.5 hours at 253mph(407kph) for the turret fighter, and at267mph (430kph) for the single-seater.The aircraft was to be fitted with a power­operated turret able to fire over the wholeof the upper hemisphere, and over as muchof the lower hemisphere as possible. Therequirement was that it should be suitableboth as a day and as a night fighter, andshould be able to carry eight 20lb (9kg)fragmentation bombs for army co-opera­tion sorties.

being proposed for the new aircraft. Spec­ification F.9/ 5 was duly approved on 20May 1935. Later in the year, Spec.0.30/35, for a naval equivalent of F.5/35,wa also issued; and thu the designprocesses that brought about the BoultonPaul Defiant and the Blackburn Roc wereset in motion.

The minutes do not mention any discus­sion of the absence of front guns, but WgCdr C. H. Heath, who was head of the AirMinistry's Armament Branch, and waspresent, later wrote that certain formerfighter pilot" who were at the meetingexpressed strong opinions about the lackof front guns, and the tactics that were

engined two-seat fighter could have suffi­cient performance. There was also achange in the thinking behind the earlierpreference for a front turret, in the beliefthat a turret mounting four machine gunsable to fire over the upper hemispherewould confer the ability to attack frombelow and behind, below and in front, oron the flank of a bomber formation. Thiswould enable the turret of a large forma­tion of uch fighters all to be trained on theenemy while flying in formation.

These tactics were just those proposedby Higgins in 1923. They were supportedby AVM C. L. Courtney, who replacedLudlow-Hewitt as deputy chief of the AirStaff in 1935. He felt the new fighter didnot need a downward-firing capability, butdid need beam and rear firing. Ellingtoncontinued to argue that if fighters were todive on formation of bombers, they wouldneed the ability to fire downward, butCourtney was able to demonstrate that afighter diving un a bomber actually need­ed upward fire not downward fire, other­wise the pilot would not be able to see theaircraft he was attacking.

Ellington conceded this point, as well asthe need not to split the armament by hav­ing fixed as well as movable guns; and thusthe principle of the new fighter having allit armament concentrated in a dorsal tur­ret was finally arrived at. The new turretfighter specification was discu sed by theOperational Requirement Committee.

20 27

SPECIFICATION F.9/35 SPECIFICATION F.9/35

previou F.5/33 twin-engined design, pow­ered by 625hp Bristol Aquila radials, butwith fixed, forward-firing armament aswell as a four-gun dorsal turret, probablythe new Boulton Paul turret.

Supermarine began to design a con­tender, their Type 305, which was based onthe Spitfire wing and tailplane but with anew, deeper and wider fus lage. The radi­ator for the M rlin engine was moved tobeneath the engine, from the wings, andthe company envisaged a four-blade pro­peller. The dorsal turret wa a low profile,remotely operated design, with a cupolalike a shallow dome, and a second, glazedcupola of equally low profile for the gun­ner, between the turret and the pilot'scockpit. The turret and the gunner werelinked electro-mechanically, revolvingtogether, but the gunner's seat did not tiltwith the elevation of the guns. The gunscould revolve through 360 degrees, and beelevated from horizontal to 90 degrees.The top of the gunner's cupola could betilted up to form a windscreen, so the gun­ner could stand up and thereby enjoy agreater degree of all-round visibility: in hisnormal seated po ition hi eyes were levelwith the fuselage upper surface. uperma­rine stated that it was hoped to accommo­date the bomb required by the spe ifica­tion in the wings, presumably where theguns had been sited in the Spitfire wing,with a suitable 'ej etor mechanism'.

______--------n~-.:,.....,------------

-- ----------1

The Bristol Type 147.

design: their Type 146, single-seat, Mer­cury-powered fighter that was under con­struction to pee. F.5/34. This wa an all­metal monoplane with the requiredarmament of eight guns - though all thedesigns being built to this specificationhad already been overtaken by eventselsewhere at Hawker and Supermarine.Bristol adapted th is design as the Type 147,to take a remotely operated four-gun turretof their own design. The gunner would sitback to back with the pilot, on a wivellingseat, operating the low-profile turretmechanically by two hand-wheels.Changes gave the Type 147 a slightlyincreased span of 40ft (l2m), and a fuse­lage 3ft (1 m) longer than that of the Type146, at 40ft (l2m).

The Type 147 was to be powered by the90hp Per eus X engine, which would give

it a top peed of 2 Om ph (451kph); butBristol also offered the aircraft with a newengine on their drawing boards - the Her­cules, that would h.ave given it a top speedof 315mph (507kph).

Armstrong-Whitworth offered a ver­sion of th.eir F.5/33 de ign, the AW.34,powered by two Armstrong- iddeley Ter­rier engines. To achieve the required per­formance, the span was to be reduced from47ft (l4m) to 39ft (l2m), reducing thewing area from 350sq ft (32.5sq m) to259sq ft (24sq m). The length of therevised design was to be 37ft 3in (llAm).The aircraft was to be fitted with a dorsalfour-gun turret of it own design. Arm­strong-Whitworth were developing theirown gun turrets, manually operated noseand tail units designed for the AW.23bomber/ transport and fitt d to the earlyWhitleys, and the Anson dorsal turret.

Gloster also offered a version of theirThe Hawker Hotspur.

The Fairey F.9/35 contender was based on the Fairey Battle. and will therefore have looked something like the Battle prototype from the front.

22

The layout of the Bristol Type 147's crew and remotely controlled turret.

23

SPECIFICATION F.9/35 SPECIFICATION F.9/35

Designs prepared for Spec. F.9/35

2x Armstrong-Siddeley Terriers1xBristol Perseus1xBristol Hercules1xRolls-Royce Merlin1xRolls-Royce Merlin2xBristol Aquila1xRolls-Royce Merlin1 xRolls-Royce Merlin1xRolls-Royce Merlin

K8623, and one of the larger ArmstrongSiddeley F.9/35, to be serialled K8624. Inaddition, one prototype of the revisedGloster F.5/33 project was also ordered toa new specification, F.34/35, and allocatedthe serial K8625.

The original specification was revisedsomewhat when the prototypes wereordered, with, in particular, greater fueltankage being required. However, thechanges did not result in any major alter­ation either to the design of the BoultonPaul P82 or to the performance estimates,except those affected by the increase inweight.

A second turret fighter was already

Constructing the Prototype

Armstrong Whitworth AW.34Bristol Type 147Bristol Type 147Boulton Paul P.82 (Defiant)Fairey F.9/35Gloster F.9/35Hawker F.9/35 (Hotspur)Supermarine Type 305Vickers F.9/35

Such was the importance of the turretfighter in the Air Ministry's future plans,that in October 1935 funding for the pro­totype construction of five of the designswas approved. Hawker and Boulton Paulwere the favoured designs at this stage, theformer because of their proven trackrecord as fighter manufacturers, and thelatter because of the SAMM turret. Two ofthe Hawker design were to be ordered,serialled K8309 and K8621, and two of theBoulton Paul P82, serialled K8610 andK8620. Two were also ordered from Faireyas a back-up, and given serials K8622 and

The Supermarine Type 305.

The Armstrong-Whitworth AW.34.

I'---l--V

L

T-

G

~ 'IH

, ,J

~I ,

,.,'

~-\\ ,G0?--1

.. II: II !

N

'-'-f

c~~B _' E

A /" ,/""" ' .:

EE-The fuselage layout of the Supermarine Type 305 with its remotely operated low-profile turret.

Supermarine's parent company, Vickers,submitted an almost identical turret fight­er to Spec. F.9/35, the main differencebeing in the tail, which had a much small­er fin above the fuselage, thereby improv­ing the field of fire for the guns, and a sec­ond fin beneath the tail, the two fins beinglinked by a single rudder behind the tail.

Even before these designs had been sub­mitted, Vickers-Supermarine were advisedby the Air Ministry that they shouldstop work on their turret fighters to con­centrate on the new Warwick heavybomber and getting the Spitfire into pro­duction.

far from simple to design. Such turretscaused endless trouble when other manu­facturers attempted to produce them laterduring the war. When Frazer-Nash wereapproached in March 1936, they thoughtthe gun mounting as designed was notrigid enough, and that the guns should notbe remotely operated.

Supermarine then designed a secondversion of their turret fighter, in which thefour Brownings in the turret were replacedby four Lewis guns; but the gunnerremained in his separate compartment,though this was given glazed side panels toimprove his view.

960hp Rolls-Royce Merlin37h (l1.3m)30h 6in (9.3ml242sq ft (22.5sq ml5,6501b (2,563kg)315mph at 15,000h(507kph at 4,500m)30,000ft (9,000m)Service ceiling

Technical Information for theSupermarine Type 305

EngineSpanLengthWing areaLoaded weightTop speed

The remotely operated turret, like thatfor the Bristol Type 147, would have been

24 25

SPECIFICATIO F9/35 SPECIFICATION F.9/35

bombs. There would be stowage for adinghy in the upper rear fuselage.

The wing centre-section of the P.8S wasnarrower than that of the P.82, presum­ably for wing-folding requirements, whichmeant the inward retracting undercar­riage of the P.82 had to be changed to arearward retracting arrangement; but thespan of the P.8S was still greater, at 42ft6in (13m), as against 39ft (12m) for theP.82 then envisaged. The fuselage was alsolonger, at 38ft (for the Merlin-enginedlandplane), as against33ft (11.6m) for theP.82, though this was later to grow by 2ft(60cm).

The top speed of the Hercules-poweredversion was 312mph (S02kph) at 15,000ft,and for the Merlin-engined version308mph (496kph). The floatplanes weremuch slower, of course, at 263mph(423kph) and 2S8mph (41Skph),respectively. A dual-control training ver­sion of the aircraft was also outlined, withthe turret replaced by a second pilot's seatwith an open cockpit.

At Hawker Aircraft they were preoccu­pied with getting the Hurricane into pro­duction and building the first prototypeHenley light bomber, on which their newturret fighter was based. But waning offi­cial enthusiasm for the Henley slowed updevelopment on that aircraft, and there­fore the Hawker turret fighter as well.

At Boulton Paul there was no suchdelay. Drawings of the SAMM AB.? turrethad been received, and were rapidly con­verted to imperial measurements and spec­ifications. Wooden mock-ups of both theP.82 and the new turret were completed by

Technical Information for the Boulton Paul P.85

Landplane Landplane SeaplaneEngine Hercules Merlin HerculesSpan ft (ml 42.5 (12.95) 42.5 (12.951 42.5 (12951Length ft (ml 37 8in(11 48) 38 (11.58) 39 9in (12121Height ft (m) 12 (366) 12 3in (3731 13 9in (4.19)Wing area 318 (29541 313 (2908) 318 (29541sq ft (sq ml

Top speed at:5,OOOft 290mph 269mph 246mph(l,524m) (466kph) (433kphl (396kph)10,OOOft 307mph 308mph 258mph(3.048ml (494kph) (496kph) (415kph)15.000ft 312mph 308mph 263mph(4,572ml (502kph) (496kphl (423kph)

Rate of climb at:5.000ft 3.250ft/min 3.200ft/min 2.640ft/min(1.524m) (991m/min) (975m/min) (805m/min)

27

--"'- .-._--:::;".....oe:::::::__

The Boulton Paul P.85.

\

//

held gun, with a four-gun turret.At Boulton Paul they completely

redesigned the P.82 as the P.85, but withthe new Bristol Hercules HE-1SM radialas an alternative to the Merlin of the P.82.The engines were set lower, presumably togive a better view over the nose for carrieroperations, and the radiator in the Merlin­engined version was sited under the nose,making room for the struts of the optionalfloat undercarriage that was specified.Racks were provided for two 250lb(113kg) bombs and eight 25lb (11.3kg)

The Gloster F.34/35.

26

\\

/

under consideration, as the naval equiva­lent of the F.9/35 de igns. A n w specifica­tion, 0.30/35, had been issued on 31December 1935 calling for a turret fightersuitable for use on aircraft carriers. Black­burn Aircraft were already constructingthe prototypes of the Fleet Air Arm's firstoperational all-metal monoplane, the two­seat Skua, which would serve in the dualrole as a fighter and dive-bomber. It was arelatively simple matter for their chiefdesigner G. E. Petty to replace the rearobserver's position, with its single hand-The Boulton Paul P.82.

The Vickers F.9/35 proposal.

SPECIFICATION F.9/35 SPECIFICATION F.9135

The wing of the Boulton Paul P.82 underconstruction at Norwich in 1936. The P.82 mock-upis to the left.

In 1935 it became apparent that the His­pano-Suiza company in France had devel­oped an excellent new 20mm cannon,with a better rate of fire than otherdesigns. It was being developed there as amotor-cannon, mounted between thebanksofa Hispano-Suiza VI2 engine. TheAir Ministry inspected the weapon andchose it as the future armament for theRAF, encouraging Hispano-Suiza to opena new factory in Great Britain to produceit. A new specification was issued, E37/35,calling for a single-engined fighter capableof at least 350mph (560kph), and armedwith four of these weapons.

It was logical to suggest that just as thisnew fixed cannon fighter would replacethe eight-gun EI0/35 fighters, the replace­ment for the as yet unbuilt E9/35 turretfighter would be an aircraft armed with theHispano cannon in one or more turrets.The Air Staff suggested an aircraft fittedwith a turret that mounted four 20mmcannon, and able to fire straight ahead, forwhich a front turret was possibly demand­ed. This went back to the concept that hadbeen overturned in producing E9/35.

When the Operational RequirementsCommittee met to discuss it, two layoutswere suggested: either a two/three seat air­craft with two turrets each mounting two20mm guns, in nose and dorsal positions;or an aircraft with a single dorsal turretwith four of the guns. SpecificationE18/36 was outl ined in March 1936 forthelatter type, but also with a single fixed for­ward-firing machine gun. By June, consid­eration was given to cancell ing all theE9/35 designs altogether in favour of thisnew fighter.

Turret Fighter Armament

meeting that a stand should be designedfor the turret, to support it when it wasremoved from the aircraft, and that thisshould be made rigid enough to test-firethe guns. Construction of the first compo­nents of the prototype commenced on 21March - the same month that a new spec­ification was issued, outlining the replace­ment for the new turret fighter.

February 1936, and the assistant directorof Research and Development (Anna­ments) came to Norwich for the finalmock-up conference on the 28th. The tur­ret was to be modified to take four Brown­ing machine guns: this was to be the newstandard weapon of the RAE On themock-up they were fitted with articulatedcocking handles. It was decided at the

Wooden mock-up of the Type A turret at Norwich in 1936.[

_._-L-------'.-

'r.::=..-_-

The Boulton Paul P.85 f10atplane version.

---- ?h-----~ _./ '1.

/ 'is:

tr =.. __ cpas.

Fuselage layout of the Boulton Paul P.85.

28 29

was issued for the cannon turret fighter, toOperational Requirement 50. It nowrequired a twin-engined, two-/three-seataircraft with four Hispano cannon in apower-operated turret. Top speed andcruising peed were to be at least 370mph(595kph) and 320mph (515kph) at35,000ft (10,668m), respectively. It was tobe able to maintain altitude on one engineup to 15,000ft (4,572m). Good manoeu­vrability and low-speed handling, as wellas steadiness as a gun platform, were alsoe sential.

Boulton Paul's design, the P.92, was ashould r-wing aircraft, to be powered by1,760hp Rolls-Royce Vulture engin s.The fuselage was kept very slim becausethe cannon turret was set between thewing par with a low profile, 13ft(3.96m)-diameter cupola of light alloy.The gunner would sit between the breech­es of each pair of cannon, with a small,3.2ft (0.97m) glazed dom housing hishead and gun ight. The cannon barrelswere lowered into lots in the cupola whennot in use, and automatically covered byhutter . Outboard of the cannon th re

wa provi ion for a pair of .303 Browningmachine guns on each side, and there wasa mall bomb-bay aft of the turret.

The P.92 was an all-metal aircraft withstressed skin construction throughout.The fuselage was designed to be made upof easily ubcontracted sections that wouldbe bolted together: the forwardfu elage/cockpit, the centre fuselag , twor ar fu elage sides, and the tail. The wingonsisted of the all-important centre sec­

tion containing the turret, and the twoouter wings.

Armstrong-Wh itworth 's design toEll/37 was rather more radical, being atwin-engined pusher with Merlin engines.It had a tricycle undercarriage, and thefour-cannon turret was mounted justbeh ind the pi lot, though it could on Iy fi rein the forward hemisphere. With lesspower than the P.92, it had much smallerdimen ions, with a pan of 43ft (13.lIm)and a length of 43ft 3in (13.1 m).

Gloster Aircraft's El1/37 proposal fol­lowed the basic layout of the company'searlier turret-fighter proposals, with twoengines, a pilot seated ahead of the wing,and a turret aft of the wing, a well as twinfins and rudder. The aircraft had muchmore powerful ngines, however, witheither Rolls-Royce Vultures, Arm trong-

iddeley Deerhound III, twenty-one cylin­der 1,425hp triple-banked radials, or

SPECIFICATION F.9/35

rationalized production by cancelling theRoc and letting the P. 5 Sea Defiant goahead aft rail, e pecially a Boulton Paul'Design Department was already workingon the potential Defiant replacement.

On 26 May 1937 a modified Spec. El1/37

A Modified Specification isIssued: F.ll/37

The Blackburn Roc.

available factory space. The detail designand production of the Ro was thereforesub-contracted to Boulton Paul, who werein any case supplying the four-gun turret.They gave the aircraft their own projectnumber: P.93.

Boulton Paul were thus in the peculiarposition of building prototype and layingdown adjacent production lines for twoentirely different turret fighters. With thebenefit of hindsight it would have seemedmore ensible for the Air Ministry to have

turret fighter, and Blackburn and BoultonPaul for the Fleet Air Arm's equivalent.The Gloster turret fighter de ign wa laterreworked by the company as a single-seatTauru -powered fighter with five fixed20mm cannon to pec. E9/37, butalthough promising, it wa only built inprototype form.

Boulton Paul had designed a competentcontender for th fixed cannon fighter

pec. E37/35, namely their P88 pow redby either a single Hercules or a Roll ­Royce Vulture; but in March 1937, proto­type orders went to We tland for theirde ign, which became the Whirlwind.Much was therefor riding on the two tur­ret-fighter projects.

Decision day for all concerned wa 2April 1937, and it was with great reliefthat the company received a productionorder for the P. 2, for eighty- even aircraftwi th the erials L6950-L7036. The aircraftwas then given the suitably aggre ivename Defiant. Hawker Aircraft were tillclearly favoured however, as they receivedorder for 389 of their aircraft (serialsL3643-L4031), named Hotspur, to bebuilt by Avro. Th order f r the naval tur­ret fighter went to Blackburn, with 136Rocs ordered. Commonality with the kuawa clearly an important factor in thechoice of the Roc, for the P. 5 differedrather m re significantly from its RAFbrother. The Fleet Air Arm was able toplan joint squadrons of Skuas and Rocs,thus two version of one type to fly andmaintain. Ev n 0, with p rformance esti­mates for the P.85 giving it a top peedalmost 100mph (l60kph) higher than theRoc, the decision does seem extraordinary.The only detrimental feature of the 1.85de ign was the width of the aircraft withthe wing folded, nam ly 15fdin (4.65m),which was rather more than the avy'preferred lIft (3.35m).

Blackburn were far too bu y with pro­duction of the hark, and the develop­ment and production of the kua divebomber/fighter, 190 having been orderedoff the drawing board in 1936, and the pro­totype of which had just had its first flight,on 9 February 1937. In December 1936they had also receiv d order traight offthe drawing board for 442 Botha torpedobombers, and preparations for the massproJuction of thi was likely to take up all

Into Production

SPECIFICATION F.9/35

awaiting the Dowty undercarriage.The first ground-firing tests of the AB.7

turret took place at Orfordness on 17October 1936, and the turret' designer,Antoine de Boy son, att nded though hwas not allowed to see details of the air­craft for which it was intended. At aboutthis time, no doubt with the new cannonfighter in mind, Boulton Paul ordered anexample of the AMM AB.15 pedestalmount for the Hispano cannon.

Toward the end of 1936 the last of thecompany's personnel who were preparedto make the move to the new factory atWolverhampton transferred from or­wich, and construction of the P.82 proto­type was moved to a new experimentalshop alongside the new drawing office.One man who would not make the movewas the company's chi f test pil t since1925, qn Ldr C. A. Rea, who stayed in

orwich and formed his own company. Hewas replaced by Fit Lt Cecil Feather, for­merly a specialist armament pilot at theAircraft and Aircraft Armament e tablish­ment at Martlesham Heath. It was Feath­er who made the first flight of a BoultonPaul-built Hawker Demon at the new siteon 21 Augu t 1936. A total of 106 Demonswould be built at Pend ford over the nexteight en months.

The first flight of the prototype P.82 hadbeen scheduled for 4 March 1937, butdespite two shifts being instituted, thingswere not going a wiftly a planned. Thiwa disguised wh never there was a visitfrom the Royal Air Force, with panels andparts being fitted to the aircraft temporar­ily, to give the appearance of more progresshaving b n made than wa in fact thecase. Of cour e, havin to remove them allagain afterwards only lowed things upeven more.

In March the Armstrong-Whitworth'stwin-engined E9/35 de ign wa cancelled.De igning and building a larg new air­frame, to be powered by a new engine thatwas never in fact built, and armed with abrand new, complicated power-operatedturret, wa always going to be a major task,but with Arm trong-Whitworth fullystretched in bringing the Whitl y intoproduction, and trying to find time tobuild the four-engined Ensign for ImperialAirway, the turret fighter wa also alwaylikely to b a non-starter. Th GlosterF.34/35 de ign and the back-up FaireyE9/35 design had already been cancelled,so that left ju t Hawker and Boulton Paulvying for production orders for the RAE'

The Boulton Paul Prototype

In view of this, Boulton Paul pressed onwith th construction of the P.82 proto­type with all haste, and the system of con­struction they devised aided this consider­ably. The light alloy skin of the aircraft wasdrilled and riveted to stringers on the flatand was then wrapped round the structure,which itself consisted of a large number ofseparate major components. For instance,the ides of the lower rear fuselage wereconstructed eparately, with the kinattached to tubular rib structures. Thesides were then bolted together at the bot­tom, and at their upper sides were joinedby a corrugated alloy deck. The upper fuse­lage was formed entirely of plywood,which aided the construction ofretractable fairing sited on either side ofthe turret. The e helped to streamline theturret, but retracted as the guns passedover them, as cams operated pneumaticram.

Aerodynamically the advantages of anelliptical wing were well known, but con­structing uch a wing was not easy, asSupermarine were discovering with theSpitfire. Boulton Paul devi ed a wing ofbasic elliptical shape but modified intotwo linear tapers, for ease of onstruction.The heart of the aircraft was the wing cen­tre section, carrying the inward-retractingundercarriage, and on top of which at thefuselage; in fact the upper surface of thewing formed the pilot's cockpit floor. Theouter wings, of a slightly greater taper,were then bolted on. There were almost noforming processes in the whole structure,and very little double curvature.

When the director of Te hnical Devel­opment arrived at Norwich in September1936 to view the first AMM AB.7 turret,just arrived from France, he was pleasant­ly surprised by the progre made in theconstru tion of the P.82 prototype and thetechniques being used. A great deal ofwork was done in Boulton Paul's own 4ft(1m) wind tunnel in the streamlining ofthe aircraft, to try and overcome thepenalty of the weight of th turret. Apartfrom the retractable turret fairings, theinward-retracting Dowty undercarriagewas entirely enclosed in the wing by doors,the lower half of the wh el being coveredby flaps hinged to the leg. The tailskid waalso retractable, and flush riveting wasused throughout. By eptember the enginemounting had already been delivered byRolls Royce, but Boulton Paul were still

30 37

SPECIFICATION F.9/35 SPECIFICATION F.9/35

The First Engine Tests

The Defiant prototype was not to be fit­ted with the turret initially, though amock-up was installed to check clear­ances. Tests of the Dowty undercarriagerevealed a number of problems concernedmainly with the hydraulic oil emulsifying.George Dowty visited the factory severaltimes himself, but the problem was even­tually cured by Duckham's coming up witha new oil. There were no further failureson the prototype, though the undercar­riage was tested through several hundredoperations.

The first engine runs of the Defiant proto­type, K8310, were made in July. The turretposition was faired over, and ballast wouldbe carried for the first flight. On 11 August1937 the Defiant, still unpainted, wasbrought out onto the apron at the back ofthe new Boulton Paul factory. The enginewas run up to the satisfaction of Joe Plant,the 8 01ls-8 oyce representative, and a fewadjustments were made. Cecil Featherthen took the aircraft down the grass taxi­way to the airfield for some high-speedtaxiing trials, before returning to the fac­tory. The aircraft was serviced, and thenFeather returned to the airfield and tookoff. The first flight was cut short when anoil seal broke in the propeller hub, andFeather landed with oil stains despoilingthe shiny metal of the nose; but when hewent to report, he said: 'The aircraft flew

above another on each side of the turret.The gunner operated the turret with a sin­gle control handle, with a firing button onthe top. He sat on a backless seat, with hisfeet in the stirrups of simple footrests or aswivelling bar. Entry to the turret wasthrough two sliding doors behind his seat;this was also the normal way to get out ofthe turret, though escape could be madethrough a hatch in the bottom of the fuse­lage. Either way it was a tight squeeze for agunner to bail out, and was found to be vir­tually impossible with a normal parachute;eventually a special low-profile 'parasuit'was developed, worn on the gunner's back.

The prototype Defiant on the grass at Pendeford ready for its first flight. Unpainted and without turret, it still retains the original retractable tailskid.

The prototype P.82 Defiant, K8310, on the apron at Pendeford before its first taxiing tests and flight. Note thelower wheel-flaps that were later replaced by centreline doors.

satisfactory. The Armament Department,headed by H. A. 'Pop' Hughes, was pro­ducing two new versions of the turret: theType A MUID for the Defiant, and theMk.1l8 for the 80c, that differed only inthe non-conductive inserts in a cylinderspecially devised to prevent the gunnerhitting parts of his own aircraft. Electricalcontacts passed over the drum as the turretwas moved, stopping the electrical firing ofthe guns when they were pointed at thetail or other obstructions. The device cutout the left or right pair of guns as appro­priate.

The Browning guns were sited in pairs

Armstrong-Whitworth F.ll/37 proposal.

Air Firing Trials

The SAMM AB.7 turret, to be re­designated the Boulton Paul Type A Mk.l,was fitted to the modified nose of Over­strand K8175 for air firing trials from 3 Julyto 28 August 1937, against a Hawker Harttowing vertical and horizontal flag targets.The performance of the turret was entirely

foreman of the Experimental Department,Ted Parkinson. He watched with trepida­tion as the design load was applied to thewing he had made, through hydrauliccylinders strapped to a beam. The wing-tipwas lifted about 12in (JOcm), but thank­fully nothing failed, and on release of theload it return d to within '/4in (60101). Tedreturned about a week later when the wingwas taken to the limit and beyond, finallygiving way with a terrific bang that shookthe room. But Boulton Paul's impressivemethod of construction had been proven.

Testing the Defiant

By May, the wings of the Defiant prototypewere being mated to the fuselage. A thirdwing had been built for structural testing,and in December 1937 this had beendespatched to Farnborough along with the

320, also a twin Vulture-powered aircraft,and there were submissions from Bristol,Short Bros and Hawker.

63ft (1920m)45ft 6in (13.87m)13ft lOin (4.21 m)565sq ft (52.49sq m)17,1001b (775.6kg)280gal (l,273Itr)378mph at 15,OOOft (608kph at 4,572m)8.7min to 25,OOOft (7,620m)

SpanLengthHeightWing areaLoaded weightFuel capacityTop speed (Vultures)Climb

Technical Information for the Gloster F.ll/37

The Boulton Paul P.92.

Bristol Hercules VI radials. The turret wasfully retractable, the top being flush withthe fuselage upper urface when retracted,and Gloster also offered it with two 230101Madsen cannon as an alternative to thefour 200101 Hispano-Suizas.

A bomber version of the same airframewas also designed, but with a different fuse­lage, able to carry 3,0001b (I,360kg) ofbombs or a 2,0001b (907kg) torpedo.

Other companies also offered F 11/37proposals. Supermarine drew up their Type

32 33

SPECIFICATION F9/35 SPECIFICATION F.9/35

Hawker Hotspur Technical Informationment to be operated by the gunner. Inaddition the wings were re-rigged with 2degrees of dihedral, instead of having theupturned tips of the kua. The aircraft wasof all-metal construction, and skinned inflush-riveted Alclad throughout. BoultonPaul's production effort was helped byGeneral Aircraft being subcontracted tomake the entire tail of the aircraft, thatcompany also supplying some Skua rearfuselages.

Some Specification Details

The Roc was powered by an 890hp BristolPerseus Xl radial with a three-blade pro­peller. With a span of 46ft (14m) and alength of 35ft 7in (l0.84m), it was slight­ly larger than the Defiant; it had an all-upweight of7,9501b (3,606kg). From the out­set it was designed with pick-up points forfloats, a requirement of many naval air­craft up to that time. However, the firstflight of the Roc was still nearly a yearaway.

The prototype Defiant was fitted with anon-slip mat on the wing, and with aheater for the pilot's cockpit drawing hotair from the oil cooler, with all draught inthe cockpit being sealed off. The turret washeated by air taken from the glycol radia­tor, and gunners were also later to wearelectrically heated clothing. For a whilethe turret cupola was fitted for aerody­namic trials, and then in February 1938the SAMM AB.7 rurret was finally fittedto K8310. The turret was the same onethat had been tested in the Overstrand,but now had intercom and oxygen systemsfitted, as well as a new type of gun adjusterand an emergency outside hood release.

Other changes to the airframe includedthe removal of a central strut fitted to thepilot' windscreen: there was no need for agunsight on the aircraft, but pilots hadobjected to the strut right in front of theirfield of view. Thus the two flat urface ofthe first windscreen were replaced by a sin­gl curved Plexiglass unit. A furtherstrange fearure of the Defiant was that thepilot wa provided with a normal gun but­ton and could fire the guns, provided theywere locked in the forward position,although there was no synchronizationgear to protect the propeller. On at leastone recorded example during the war, aDefiant pilot on a non-operational flightover the Irish ea slid back h is canopy andrestecl his elbows on the canopy rail whilethe guns were pointed forward in this way,

Boulton Paul test pilot. George Skelton. whobecame an operational Defiant pilot with No. 264Squadron during the war.

40ft 6in (12.34ml32ft lO.5in (lO.Olml13ft lOin (4.21ml261.6sq ft (24.3sq ml5.BOOlb 12630Bkgl7.6501b 1347.04kg)316mph at 15.BOOft 150Bkph at 4.B16mlB5mph (137kphl1O.B5min to 15.000ft 14.572m)2B.OOOft 1B.534ml

In 1937 a factory extension that increasedthe floor area by 80 per cent was begun, tomake room for the new production linefor the Roc and the Defiant. As the Rocwa very imilar to the kua, which hadalready flown, there were to be no proto­types, the first three production examplesserving this role. Boulton Paul's detailedre-design involved the wiclening of thecentre fuselage to take the Type A Mk.lIRrurret, with the ame retractable fairingson each sicle as on the Defiant. A tinywireless cabin was sited between the pilot'scockpit and the rurret, the wireless equip-

Setting Up the ProductionLines

SpanLengthHeightWing areaEmpty weightLoaded weightTop speedLanding speedClimbService ceiling

The mock-up turret was soon removed,and the rear cockpit was faired over. Theaircraft was then used for a number of flapand clive-brake trials in connection withthe imilar Hawker Henley. It was deliv­ered to Farnborough in 1939 where it con­tinued its experimental work.

On 12 February 1942, Fit Lt W. D. B. .Davie, with Mrs Gwen Alston as observer,was carrying out gliding tests in aHot pur,fitted with a variable drag flap. At the endof one glicle a fire broke out in the carbu­rettor, which prevented the engine pick­ing up. Davie raised the unclercarriage,which had been lowered for the te t, anclsucceeded in making a belly landing atHartford Bridge Flats. Davie and MrAlston were unhurt, and the Hot pur wadeclared repairable; however there was lit­tle point to the latter expense, and the air­craft was scrapped.

The last of 106 Hawker Demons left theBoulton Paul factory in 1937, but thecompany was busy with large subcontractorders: for Blackburn Shark spars, com­plete Saro London wing sets, BlackburnB2 wings, and Fairey Seafox tail planes.The armament clepartment was develop­ing a complete range of electro-hydraulicgun turrets based on the SAMM principle,and these were being considered for fit­ment to most of the bomber designsemerging in the late 1930s.

An assistant te I' pilot had been engagedin 1936 to help Cecil Feather with the test­flying of the Hawker Demons: GeorgeSkelton, born in Australia, but who hadlearned to fly in outh Africa where hifamily had moved. He joined the Royal AirForce in 1930, and flew Bristol Bullclogswith 0.32 Squadron at Kenley, and thenWe tland Wapitis with No. 30 quadron inIraq. In 1936 he was promoted to flightlieutenant and placed on the Reserve lassC, so that he could join Boulton Pau!.

first flight, at Brooklands, was on 14 June,ten months after the Defiant. The deepfuselage of the original design, withretractalle fairings to streamline the tur­ret, had been dropped, and the pilot'scockpit canopy now sloped clown steeplyto the upper fuselage immediately in frontof the rurret. The original arrangement ofthe guns in the turret had also beenaltered: instead of being in pairs one abovethe other as in the Boulton Paul Type A,they were arranged in an arc across the rur­ret, in the manner of the Frazer-NashFN.I tail rurret then being designed forthe Sunderland.

For the first flight the Hotspur carriedonly a ballastecl wooden mock-up of theturret, which was never in fact to be built.In addition the Hotspur had provision fora Vickers ma hine gun in the nose, syn­chronized to fire through the propeller,though as the outer wings were basicallyHurricane units it would have been per­fectly practical to have fitted up to eightBrownings there. Trial at Martleshamshowed thar it was about 10mph (30kph)faster than the Defiant, probably clue to itlighter loaded weight, ancl hacl pleasantflying qualitie .

The Defiant prototype was delivered toMartlesham Heath on 7 December, whereit was put through its paces until the 23rd.The aircraft was found to be very pleasantto fly, with a sprightly top speed of32 mph(515kph) without the drag of the rurret. Itcould climb to I ,500ft (3,200m) in only7.5min. On the down side, the aircraft wascriticized for having no cockpit heating,and the operation of some of the controlswas nor liked. The unpainted wing wasoften sl ippy, and a non-sl ip mat was obvi­ously needed. Nevertheless the Defianthacl proved itself satisfactory for serviceuse, and this resulted in a further orderbeing received in January 1938 for another202 production aircraft, partly in re ponseto the cancellation of the Hawker Hotspurthat was slipping even further behindschedule. In addition, all the factories inthe Hawker-Siddeley group were at fullstretch, with new aircraft of many differenttypes being ordered in large number.

The first prototype Hotspur, K8309, wascompleted in the summer of 193 ,and its

The Prototypes are putthrough their Paces

The Hawker Hotspur with the dummy turret fitted.

neutrally, and appears to handle very well.I hope the next prototype and the produc­tion aircraft will be as good.'

A number of changes were thought nec­essary before the aircraft was del ivered toMartlesham Heath. The retractable tail-kid originally fitted was replaced by a

wheel, and the hinged flap that coveredthe lower half of the wheels when retract­ed were deleted. The Hurricane prototypehad had similar hinged flaps, but they wereconstantly damaged by dirt and stonesflung up by the wheels. The Defiant wasfitted with a novel curved brush justbehind the main wheels, which brusheddirt off the tyre as the undercarriageretractecl. The flaps woulcl later bereplaced by doors mountecl on the centre­line, and operated by a single verlicalDowty hydraulic ram. Trouble with theDowty undercarriage continued, as itwould often not lock up. At first the elec­trical pump was replaced by a LockheedMk.IV engine-driven pump, but furtherproblems meant the Dowty shockabsorbers were also replaced by LockheedAirdraulic unit.

34 35

SPECIFICATION F.9/35 SPE IFI ATION F.9/35

K8310

many other workers, such as tyre fitterfrom the nearby Goodyear factory, werealso attracted to the high wages offered byBoulton Paul. It was found in particularthat the bonuses offered on Roc wing pro­duction were very generous, and newworkers had to be told to slow down, sothat this was not made too obvious.

As production built up, the companyhad to scour further afield to find skilledmen, in competition with the rest of theexpanding aircraft industry; eventually itwas obliged to open a training school in

annock, and to bring in men from as farafield as cotland.

Performance Testing thePrototypes

The prototype Defiant, K 310, wa sent toMartie ham Heath in October 1938 forperformance tests with the turret fitted.The weight and drag of the turret werefound to have reduced the top speed to303mph (487kph) at 15,000ft (4,572m),and it took 20.lmin to reach 20,OOOft(6,096m). The Hurricane Mk.1 had a top

of skilled engineering workers, not leastbecause of the recent closure of many ofthe town's motor manufacturers, such asSunbeam, Star and AJS. Furthermore,

A rare air-to-air picture of the prototype K8310, with the turret finally fitted and other changes including the fixed tailwheel replacing the tailskid.

Roc final assembly with the complete tails, built by General Aircraft, being attached to the fuselages.

skilled men even before the move wascomplete. This was one of the reasons thatWolverhampton had been chosen for thenew factory, as there was a large local pool

Orders and the Workforce

On 5 May 1938, the Air Council Com­mittee on Supply questioned Boulton Paulabout expected deliveries of the two turretfighters. The company stated that theyexpected to complete all 136 Rocs byNovember 1939, though none had yetflown, and th y complained that Roc pro­duction wa - being held up because theyhad to wait for modifications to beapproved on the Skua before they cou Id beinstituted on the Roc. They also claimedthat they would have delivered 450 Defi­ants by March 1940, at which point theproduction rate would have been aroundfifty per month. They also pointed out thatthey only had orders for 289 Defiants atthe time, and 0 a further 161, with serialbatche in the' 'range, were immediate­ly ordered, to give the 450 total.

Around 600 orfolk men had movedwith the company from orwich, but thecompany had begun recruiting further

Royce Vulture engine, and one with thenew 2,055hp apier Sabre. The four-can­non turret wa now designated the Type L,and the company's machine-gun [Urretthen envisaged - apart from the Type A forthe Defiant and Roc - were the Type Ctwo-gun nose turret, the Type E four-guntail turret, and the Type K retractable two­gun ventral turret. The Type L turret wasalso being con idered as the defensivearmament for a future 'ideal bomber'.

In April the stress office began work onstressing a two-seat trainer version of theDefiant. The turret was to be replaced by asecond pilot's seat on a raised structure,giving the in tructor his own windscreen.But the dual-control Defiant was neverbuilt because the pleasant flying qualitiesof the fighter made it an easy process fornew pilots to convert to flying it.

The Department of Technical Develop­ment agreed in April that the first produc­tion Boulton Paul-built Type A Mk.11Dturret would go to the Royal AircraftEstablishment for electrical test, and thesecond example would be fitted to the sec­ond prototype Defiant, K 620. This wasupposed to fly a month after the first pro­

totype, but wa delayed becau e it wasbeing brought up closer to productionstandards, with modifications deemednecessary from test-flying K 310. It wouldalso be fitted with the revised Merlin IIengine, which it was hoped would cure thereliability problems.

The total weight of the turret includinggunner and 2,400 rounds of ammunitionwa 15lb (370kg), raising the total weightof the aircraft to 7,5001b (3,400kg).

After these tests the aircraft then wentfor armament trials at Orfordness, but newperformance trials were delayed by troublewith the Merlin 1 engine.

In March 1938 Boulton Paul received acontract for the construction of three pro­totypes of thei r P. 92 turret-fighter project.Two were to be powered by the Roll -

A close-up of the turret fitted to the prototype, showing that the pilot's canopy could be slid over one ofthe gun barrels if the turret was in this position.

The first prototype with the turret finally fitted, ready for flight outside the flight sheds at Pendeford.

and by mi take touched the firing buttonand the guns fired. The shot ripped thoughthe elbows of hi flying jacket, but luckilydid not touch his anTIS, which could easilyhave been shot off.

Another slight problem with the designwas that if the pilot's canopy was sl id backwhen the guns were pointing forward, butslightly to one side, the canopy actuallywent over one of the barrels, so that onegun could then fire through the lidinghood.

36 37

SPECIFICATION F.9/35 SPECIFICATIO ' F.9/35

The Roc was found to be a pleasant air­craft to fly and, Iike the kua, could beheld in a steep dive by the generou divebrakes. As expected, its performance wasdreadful, with a top speed of only 223mph(3S9kph) at IO,OOOft (3,048m), and a ser­vice ceiling of 18,OOOft (S,486m). It didhave a very useful endurance of six hours,however.

After the first aircraft, all initial Rocte t-flying was undertaken by Cecil Feath­er and George Skelton. The fourth air­craft, usually regarded as the first produc­tion machine, L3060, was delivered toBrough in March in connection with theplan to fit the Roc with floats. The nexttwo aircraft went to Worthy Down the fol­lowing month for their handling notes tobe prepared.The prototype Blackburn Roc, l3057. awaiting its first flight on the apron at Pendeford.

The Defiant second prototype, K8620, outside the flight sheds, with the prototype Blackburn Roc behind it. It has further changes to K8310, including ejectorexhausts. a window between the pilot and gunner, and the retractable wireless aerial fitted.

committee of upply, the Fifth ea Lordexpressed the opinion that the Roc shouldbe cancelled, as it would obviou Iy be use­less as a fighter. This was not done, how­ever, because the production line wasalready in full operation, though the firstaircraft had not yet flown, and it was feltthat cancellation would disrupt the build­up of Boulton Paul's labour force and facil­ities, which would be needed for the Defi­ant. Also, Boulton Paul had already begundesign work on the change needed tomake the Roc a target-towing aircraft, asfar back as April 1938. The Roc's majorsecond-line role in the future war wasmapped out almost from the moment itwas ordered, and Sea Gladiators were alsoordered to make up the Fleet Air Arm'sfront-line fighter strength.

The first Blackburn Roc, L30S7, wasfinally ready for flight on 23 December1938, and the Blackburn test pilot FI Lt H.J. Wilson came down from Brough to takeit up. Wilson would become famou afterthe war when he broke the world air-speedrecord, flying a Meteor. Unlike the firstDefiant, the Roc was flown with its Boul­ton Paul Type A MU1R turret fitted fromthe outset. The aircraft was then flown upto Brough for Blackburn's trials, and toMartIe ham Heath in March 1939, whereit was joined by the next two aircraft,L30S8 and L30S9, for performance andarmament trials.

A view of Roc production, showing how crowded the factory was, with thirty-eight Roc centre fuselages

visible in this picture (out of 136 produced altogether).

on landing; and so it was suggested thatthe gunner be supplied with a button tolower and fix the fairings down at thebeginning of an engagement, leaving themdown throughout. There would be a reduc­tion in top speed of up to 6mph (10kph),but this was thought acceptable.

In October 193 at a meeting of the

A Roc rear fuselage being built in its assembly jig.

Roc wing production, which is said to have produced high bonus payments.

speed only lSmph (24.1kph) higher, buttook only 11.7 minutes to reach 20,OOOft(6,096m).

The pnuen,atic rams that automaticallyraised and lowered the fairings on eitherside of the turret as it revolved were sup­plied from the same pneumatic reservoir asthe brakes. The pilot' gauge showed apre sure drop of 10lbjsq in on each revolu­tion of the turret, which could not bereplenished quickly enough from theengine-driven compressor. It was feared,therefore, that if the turret were revolvedtoo much, the brakes would he ineffective

38 39

SPECIFICATIO F.9/35 SPECIFICATION F.9/35

Production Roes, L3077 and l3084-6, outside the flight shed. The factory is being camouflaged ready for war, but the aircraft are still produced in silver finish.

The first prototype, K8310, but with further changes that make it more akin to production aircraft.

delivered during July, all going straight tomaintenance units.

The first production Defiant, L6950,made its initial flight on 30 July, and wasused to test the racks for eight 25lb bombsas specified. It was delivered to the A &AEE on 19 September 1939 for perfor­mance trials.

The only production Defiant deliveredfrom Pendeford before the start of the warwas in fact the third, L6952, which wentto the Air Fighting Development Unit atNord-wIt on 22 August; L6951 went to theCentral Flying School, Upavon, on 5 Sep­tember, two days after N ville Chamber­lain's fateful speech declaring that 'thiscountry is at war with Germany'.

Defiant's Successor: the P.92

Work on the P.92, the cannon turret fight­er that was to replace the Defiant, was pro­gressing in Boulton Paul's experimentaldepartment. The company had tested amodel of the aircraft in its own 4ft (l m)wind tunnel with satisfactory results, but a217th scale model with a 17ft lOin (SAm)wingspan was tested in the RAE's 24ft(7.3m) wind tunnel from March to Sep­tember 1939. Two 15hp electric motorsturned the propellers. This had tended tosuggest a stabi Iity problem at slow rates ofpitching, which would call for a differentwing plan. In addition, movement of thelong cannon barrels affected the stability,and raising them 45 degrees and revolvingthem through 135 degrees seemed toincrease the drag of the aircraft by as muchas 35 per cent.

A second model to 117th scale wasmade, with a new, more swept-back wingplan, moving the mean chord relative tothe centre of gravity. This model was test­ed in the National Physics Laboratorywind tunnel, and showed entirely satisfac­tory stability characteristics. To resolvethe problem completely it was decided tobuild a half-scale flying model of the P.92,and to use the new wing plan of the 117thscale model.

The P.92/2, as it was called, was sub­contracted out to Heston Aircraft whodesignated it their J.A.8, and it was giventhe serial V3142. It was powered by two130hp Gipsy Major II engines, with thenacelles matching the shape of those ofthe proposed Vulture engines as closely aspossible, so that cooling air had to be duct­ed in from the fairings. The undercarriage

had been assigned to 800 Squadron, andthree to 803 Squadron. The other produc­tion machine went to the A & AEE forarmament trials. There were six Roes

Performance Trials K8620 and l6950

Top SpeedAltitude 6.5lb boost (2.95kgl 121b boost (5.44kg)

feet metres mph kph mph kph

2,000 610 250 402 283 4555,000 1524 261 420 294 47310,000 3048 279 449 312 50215,000 4572 297 478 305 49120,000 6096 295 47525,000 7620 274 441

Ceiling 28,100ft (8,565miTake-off run 315yd (288m)Distance to restover 50ft (15.2ml 560yd 1512mlscreen

ClimbAltitude Rate 1ft/min) TAS

Feet metres Time in mins ft/min m/min mph kph

1,000 305 0.7 1,435 437 177 2852,000 610 1.4 1,455 443 179.5 2893,000 915 2.1 1,475 450 182.5 2945,000 1,524 3.4 1,515 462 188 3026,500 1,981 4.4 1,540 469 192 309

10,000 3,048 6.7 1,610 491 202.5 32613,000 3,962 8.6 1,415 431 207 33315,000 4,572 10.1 1,240 378 209 33618,000 5,486 12.8 980 299 211.5 34020,000 6,096 15.1 805 245 213 34226,000 7,925 27.0 285 87 220 354

Top speed using 100 octane and increased boost

Altitude Standard Using 100 octane and increased boostFeet metres mph kph mph kph

1,000 305 247 397 279.5 4502,000 610 250.5 403 283 4553,000 915 254 409 286.5 4615,000 1,524 261 420 294 4736,500 1,981 266.5 429 299 481

10,000 3,048 279 449 312 50213,000 3,962 290 467 308.5 49615,000 4,572 297 478 305.5 49116,500 5,029 302.5 487 303 48816,600 5,060 303 48818,000 5,486 300 48220,000 6,096 295 47523,000 7,010 284.5 45826,000 7,925 266.5 429

Production of the Roc began to pick up,with three more delivered to WorthyDown in May and five in June, four ofthem to Worthy Down, where five Roes

the undercarriage bays, and a retractableone just in front of the tailwheel. This mastextended automatically as the main under­carriage retracted. From K8620 onwards,the tailwheel was no longer retractable,and the entire Dowty hydraulic system wasreplaced by one from Lockheed, includingthe main undercarriage legs.

._J

- --+ .'-L I.,

rI••• 11

j .\ t

between the pilot's canopy and the turret.It was also fitted with a retractable under­fuselage wireless aerial mast, just in front ofthe railwheel.At an early stage it had been realized thatthe normal aerial position above the fuse­lage could not be used because of the tur­ret. One mast was therefore sited between

The second Defiant prototype, K8620,finally flew for the first time on 18 May1939. The aircraft had many of the pro­duction modifications deemed necessaryafter test flights of the first aircraft, includ­ing a VDM De Havilland spinner insteadof the Rolls-Royce unit, stub exhausts, anda small window in the fixed panels

40 47

SPECIFICATION F.9/35 SPECIFICATION F.9135

P92 Layout

The gunner entered hi turret through ahatch on the underside of the fuselage,which also served a his emergency escapehatch. Just behind thi was a compartmentfor a 230lb (104kg) bomb container.

The P.92 also had room for a navigatorseated in tandem behind the pilot, thoughan observer's cockpit was not designedinto the aircraft at the outset. The area justbehind the pilot only contained the flarechute and the radio. With the aircraft hav­ing a potential range of 2,000 miles(3,nOkm), a navigator would normally benecessary, but airborne interception radar(AI) had already been demon trated toAir Marshall Hugh Dowding in June 193 .

evertheles , Dowding was firmly of theopinion that the pilot would not be able tooperate the Al, not least because doing 0

would destroy his night vision. It thereforeeemed certain that an ob erver would

later be added to the P.92, and that hewould also become the radar operator; andwith the nose and wings of the P.92 con­veniently free of guns, the radar aerialswould be easy to site. All turret fighterswere envisaged as both day and nightfighters from the outset.

The company also built a mock-up ofthe centr section of the P.92, incorporat-

blade, and on the full-size aircraft therewould be the additional problem of thefour long cannon barrels that could forman obstacle behind him, depending onwhere they were pointing.

On the P.92/2 it was arranged for thepilot to bail out by collapsing the back ofhi cat with a pecial handle; the seat wa ,in any case, sited virtually on the cockpitfloor. He would then pu h out a panel inthe fuselage side and wriggle out throughthe opening. On the full-size aircraft it wasarranged that the pilot's seat would tiltback through 110 degrees, and the pilotwould slide out through a hatch on theunderside of the fuselage, upside down.Boulton l)aul built a mock-up of thisarrangement and it was tested by J. D.North himself, falling into a net riggedbeneath - though unfortunately the netwas not taut enough, and the great manbanged hi head on the concrete floor. Theforeman in charge of the test was sum­moned to the managing director's officeafter he returned from sick leave, expect­ing the wor t. But all orth said was:'Well, it worked, didn't it .'

2.600ft/(790mf)min

65ft 1Din (2006ml54ft 4in (16.56ml13ft lOin (4.21m)706sq ft (65.6sq m)20.0001b (9.300kgl

2x 1.920hp Napier Sabre13ft 6in (4.11 m)

B23gal (3.741/tr)

6min

P.92

315mph (507kph)2.600ftlP92m/)min

7.3BOIb (3.34Bkg)

370mph (595kph)(3.000rpml

slim. Even 0, the pilot had to virtually siton the cockpit floor of the aircraft.

Bailing Out of the P92

On both the P.92/2 and the full-size air­craft there was clearly going to be a prob­lem if the pilot had to bailout. He wasseated very near to the tips of the propeller

P.92/2

33ft 1.5in (1 0.09m)27ft 6in (B.3Bm)7ft 7.5in (2.32m)354sq ft (33sq m)2,77Blb 11.260kg)

P.92

2x 1,710hp Rolls-Royce Vulture II13ft 6in (4.11 m)

2x 130hp Gipsy Major II

5.5min

300mph (4B2kph)2..000ft/(610m/lmin2.200ft/(671 m/lmin2.150ft/(655m/lmin1.050ftj(320m/lmin

65ft lOin54ft 4in13ft lOin706sq ft21.0001b (9.525kg)

152mph (245kph)135mph (217kph)

7min3B.OOOft (11.5BOm)2BOyd (256m)470yd (430m)450 miles - 292gal(724km - 1.3271trl77Bgal (3.537Itr)

7.BBOlb (3.574kgl

299mph (4B1 kph)355mph (571 kph)(4.000rpm)352mph (566kph)

Fuel for 2.000 miles:(3.21Bkm)

EnginesDimensionsSpanLengthHeightWing areaLoaded weightPerformanceTop speedCruising speed

at 30.000ft (9.145ml:Cruising speedat 15.000ft (4.570m):Climb at sea level:at 11.000ft (3.350m):at 15.000ft (4.570m):at 30.000ft (9.145ml:Time to 11.000ft

(3.350m):to 15.000ft(4.570m):

Service ceiling:Take-off run:Distance to clear 50ft:Normal range:

Boulton Paul P.92 and P.92j2 Technical Information

EnginesPropeller dia.(3-bladelPower unit weight(oil and 292gal)(oil and 1.327Itr)DimensionsSpanLengthHeight (tail down)Wing areaLoaded weightPerformanceTop speedat sea level:at 15.000ft (4.570ml:

wa fixed for simplicity, and the 'turret' wasinitially just a plywood dome. The wholeaircraft was built of wood, and there wasome difficulty building a spar of suffi­ciently narrow dimensions at the wing-tip.Because it was difficult to find a half-sizepilot, the front fuselage had to be bulgedsomewhat to accommodate a normal-sizeone, becau e the full-size aircraft was so

DRAWING No X 157111

L

"========'3!l==1~~ -.--J lWIN-£NGINED lWO SEATER FIGHTERI: AM SPEC f11/37.

JE_=========:;==r~~ B PA SERlE S No P9 2

•

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EOUIPMENT LAYOUT

The P.92/2. V3142. after it had been completed by Heston Aircraft. It is parked all the compass-swinging ring at Pendeford.

Fuselage equipment drawing for the P.92.

BOUL TON'PAUL AIRCRAFT LTD WOLVERHAMPTON

42 43

SPECIFICATIO F.9/35 SPECIFICATION F.9/35

Adapting to the NewGeneration Turret Fighter

also have implications for the Type L tur­ret for the P.92. The A & AEE' engineersde igned fixed fairings to attach to the bar­rel to alleviate this drag, but they broke upin the air. H. A. Hughes, at Boulton Paul'sarmament department, de igned floatingfairings that automatically adopted theoptimum position in the airflow, and thoseworked better than the A & AEE's exam­ples when tested on both the Defiant andthe Overstrand. However, they were stillnot completely satisfactory.

De'pite all the work being done by Boul­ton Paul with the P.92, the preferred lay­out for a new generation turret fighter wasstill being discussed. In 1939 the Air Staffagain perceived a requirement for a turretfighter with the ability to fire at consider­able angles of depression, which againseemed to indicate the need for a nose tur­ret. This seemed to be the same old argu­ment, but it was once more overturned bythe possibility of using the Boulton PaulType L cannon turret in the new 'idealbomber'. A new A R F2/3 was thereforedrawn up with a dorsal turret like the P.92,a specification redrafted the following yearas F26/39. However, the project wasdropped in October 1939.

Two new naval fighter pecificationswere also issued in 1939: F8/39 for a fixedgun fighter, and F9/39 for a new turretfighter, clearly to provide the Fleet Air

(l.Sm) cannon barrel produced a greatlyincreased drag on the turret whenrevolved in the slipstream, an increase ofup to 7 per cent at maximum speed. Thestandard turret's motor, which was till fit­ted, could not cope with this, and it would

The SAMM AB.15 Hispano cannon mounting in a special nose position of an Overstrand.

The cannon-fire selector box designed by Boulton Paul for the P.92 turret.

Rivet failures on a section of the P.92 turret ringunder test.

The SAMM AB.1S pedestal mountingfor the Hispano cannon was also tested inthe nose of the Overstrand, which hadbeen used for air test' of the AB.7 turret.The work Boulton Paul did with the His­pano cannon, in the air and in their gunbutts, proved very valuable for all the man­ufacturers who would be u ing it. A stan­dard Defiant turret was also adapted totake a single cannon, sited on the star­board side, when the turret was pointedaft, with the gunner on the other side.

This turret was then fitted to the Defi­ant prototype, K831O, and was sent to theA & AEE for trials on 9 July 1939. Thecannon could be elevated 88 degrees anddepressed 10 degree, which was slightlymore than the Type A turret machineguns. At the trials it was found that the Sft

position. There were three spare drums foreach cannon, giving 480 rounds in all.The company also designed and built acannon fire selector, allowing the gunnerto fire any or all of his guns. The fourmachine guns outboard of the cannoncontained their ammunition in boxe .

Early Tests

With a cupola of 13ft (4m) diameter, it wasclearly important that the centre sectionof the wing be as rigid as possible, a anymovement would distort the turret ring,causing it to jam. The vibration of fourcannon being fired would also not help.Early tests of this structure in June 1939resulted in failures, and caused a rede ignwith extra stiffening.

A mock-up of the P.92's gun turret with the four cannon fitted.

The P.92 centre-section mock-up.

ing the turret. The cannon were armedwith thirty-round drums, and it was thegunner's job to reload them with newdrums, which were hung on four overheadraib a that he could just slide them into

44 45

SPECIFICATION F.9!35 SPECIFICATION F.9!35

jA production Roc. l3158. outside the factory in March 1940. It later served with No. 771 Squadron at RNASHatston.

A Defiant cockpit. showing that the pilot had a gun button: he could fire the guns if they were fixed to fireforward.

The Defiant prototype, K8310, being demonstrated at the Royal Aeronautical Society garden party in 1939.

/

50ft (15m)39ft 1in (11.9ml16ft 2in 149m)396sq It (36.8sq m)1O.0001b 14.540kgl

321mph at 17,OOOft(516kph at 5,180m)2.2min to 5,OOOft (1 ,525ml11.1 min to 20,OOOft (6,1 OOm)6hr

DimensionsSpanLength

Height

Wing area

Loaded weightPerformanceTop speed

Climb

Endurance

-----t-----­

e-----:J

The Gloster F.9/39.

Technical Information for the GlosterF.9/39

By the outbreak of war, Boulton Paulhad delivered just thirty-one Rocs and thesolitary production Defiant, L6952, to theAFDU. Thi~ wa~ hortly joined by L6951,and the two Defiants were then engaged inair fighting trials against, not bombers asmight have been expected, but o. IIISquadron's Hurricanes. It wa not thoughtthat the Defiant would ever face single­seat fighters in action, as they weredesigned to break up bomber formationsattacking Great Britain, which was out ofrange of Germany' sole single-seat fighterthe Bf 109. Thus the Defiant's predictablypoor performance against the Hurricanes,with their much lower wing loading, andpower loading, did not seem too importantat the time.

More important trials took place at

Arm with a rather more effective aircraftthan the Roc. Blackburn naturally offereddesigns for both of these specifications:their B.33 project for .8/39, and B-31 for

.9/39. Westland Aircraft offered a designwith a single Bristol Taurus engine.

One of the few other designs ubmittedagainst the turret fighter specification wasfrom Gloster, who offered a single-enginedesign with the basic Defiant/Roc layout,powered by either a Bristol Hercules or a

apier Sabre engine. A four-gun Frazer­ash turret wa sited immediately behind

the pilot's cockpit. The Blackburn wing­folding mechanism as used on the Roc andSkua was adopted, reducing the overallwidth of the aircraft for stowage in a carri­er hangar to 11ft (J.35m).

Both .8/39 and N.9/39 resulted in onlypaper project. They were combined thefollowing year in a new specification for atwo-scat naval fighter which would pro­duce the Fairey Firefly. There were to be nomore naval turret fighter specifications, sothe Blackburn Roc was to be unique.

Overstrand K8175, in the Boulton Paul flight shed with the AB.15 cannon mounting in the nose.

The Defiant prototype. K8310, at Boscombe Down, crudely camouflaged, and fitted with a standard turret adapted to take a single 20mm Hispano cannon; it was

designated the Type F turret.

46 47

aircraft, a Dornier Do 18 flying boat. TheArk then took her Skuas to the SouthAtlantic, leaving the Rocs to be reassignedto other units from Worthy Down, beforethe year's end. No Roc was ever deck-land­ed on a carrier, let alone served on one,though No. 769 FRU, the deck-landingtraining squadron, did have a Roc, L3114,from August to November 1940.

One of No. 803 Squadron's Rocs waslost on an operational patrol: on 23 Octo­ber 1939, Pit Off L. R. Tregillis and NavalArtificer R. E. Eason took off on a fighterpatrol over the sea, off Wick in Scotland inRoc L3063. They failed to return, reasonunknown.

The only other two operationalsquadrons in the Fleet Air Arm to actual­ly operate Rocs were two other Skuasquadrons, Nos 801 and 806. Both hadbeen re-equipped with Shlas before thewar began, No. 801 Squadron aboardHMS Furious and No. 806 at Eastleigh.

No. 806 Squadron received five Rocs,L3 101-3 and L3105-6 on 8 February 1940,with L3118 joining them during April. On26 May the squadron was moved back toWorthy Down, and each day was movedforward from there to Detling, from wherethey gave cover to the Dunkirk operationsas a fighter unit of Coastal Command.Their main role in these operations wasthe dive-bombing of German heavycoastal batteries. Tragically, on the firstday of this operation three Skuas were mis­taken for German aircraft by RAF Spitfiresand shot down, though the crews managedto ditch the aircraft and were saved. By theend of June the squadron had given up itsRocs, and shortly afterwards its Skuas, andin July became a Fairey Fulmar squadron.

Five Rocs - L3117, L3128, L3135,L3160 and L3161 - joined 801 Squadronat Hatston in the Orkneys in June 1940,and the squadron was almost immediatelymoved to Worthy Down to replace No.806, also operating from Detling in Kentto cover the Dunkirk evacuation, com­pleted on 4 June. The squadron continuedto operate across the Channel, and the

As related previously, eight Rocs hadgone to Worthy Down before the outbreakof war, five for No. 800 Squadron andthree for 803 Squadron. These twosquadrons had been equipped with Skuasearlier in the year, for service on theNavy's newest aircraft carrier, Ark Royal.The Rocs did not join the Skuas aboardthe carrier, which operated in the NorthSea just after war broke out. One of 803Squadron's Skuas was the first British air­craft in the war to shoot down a German

CHAPTER THREE

The Blackburn Roc in Service

A production Roc. awaiting its first test flight at Pendeford just after the start of the war. with no guns asyet fitted to the turret.

As the war began, a number of Rocs wentto training squadrons to prepare crews fortheir introduction to service. No. 758FRU Telegraphist Air Gunners' TrainingSquadron at Eastleigh received its first in

ovember 1939, and No. 774 ArmamentTraining Squadron initially had threeRocs on a turret conversion course at Wor­thy Down, also from November 1939. Inthe same month o. 759 Fighter Schooland Pool Squadron at Eastleigh receivedthe first of five Rocs.

A row of five production Roes awaiting test flights. and showing two different camouflage styles. The firstin the line is L3105. which first went to No. 806 Squadron at Worthy Down.

Production Defiants outside the factory just afterthe start of the war.

Boscombe Down on 20 September whenthe fourth production aircraft, L6953, wasflown in mock combat with a BlenheimIV, the fastest bomber in RAF service. Itwas found that the Blenheim pilot couldnot lose the Defiant, no matter what dras­tic manoeuvres he undertook. By sudden­ly diving he could gain a respite, but oncehe levelled off the Defiant was able to pullalongside and then close in. The only dif­ficulty the Defiant crew experienced wasat very low altitude, where the pilot wouldhave to lower a wing so that the gunnercould bring his guns to bear. Boulton Paultechnicians at Boscombe were able to givethe guns 7 degrees of depression by losing7 degrees of elevation, and this helped, butthe final report indicated a preference forthe guns to be able to bear as near as pos­sible to the line of flight - in other words,so that the Defiant could make a conven­tional fighter attack.

It was clear that fighter pilots would behard to shift from their conventional viewoffighter tactics, which is why Spec. F.9/35had specified no fixed forward-firing guns.It has been said that the Defiant was seenas a Hawker Demon replacement, but noDemon squadron was re-equipped withthe new turret fighter. The Demon hadbeen a stop-gap replacement for the sin­gle-seaters that had been unable to catchthe Hart, and was replaced by the RAF'snewest single-seaters, the Hurricane andthe Spitfire.

The Demon, though fitted with theFN.l turret, was not a 'turret fighter'. Itwas flown and fought like a single-seater,with conventional tactics. Entirely newtactics would have to be worked out for theoperational use of the Defiant and Roc,possibly in conjunction with single­seaters, so that large bomber formationscould be attacked from several directionsat once, bringing a huge weight of fire tohear, while splitting the defensive fire. Theunit entrusted with devising the new tac­tics would he No. 264 (Madras Presidency)Squadron, reformed at Sutton Bridge on30 October 1939, as the first DefiantSquadron.

SPECIFICATION F.9/35

:_-~~---,I -'- I

r- - - l~ -' --'- --I

Defiant Mk I.

48 49

THE BLACKBURN ROC I SERVICE

A Notable Engagement

ranges, but with in onclusive results; how­ever, it was hit by two bullets from returnfire. This particular Roc had an eventfulcareer, after thi brief brush with theenemy. On 3 June 1942, operating atRoborough, it suffered a brake failurewhile taxiing and collided with a parkedFairey Battle. Then on 16 September1942, landing at Detling, the tailwheelstrut snapped off; and on 16 October whileundertaking low-level photography overthe Thames estuary an engine fire causedthe pilot, Fl Lt D. W. Ashby, to ditch in thewater. He and his observer, Fl Sgt Brown,were rescued.

On 16 August 1940, GermanJu87 divebombers attacked Gosport and two Rocs,U131 and U162, were damaged in theattack, though both were later repaired.The commanding officer then sited four ofhis Rocs around the airfield with the tur­rets permanently manned as anti-aircraftposts, thus putting the Roc's lack of speedto its best advantage.

A well known engagement involved a 2AACU Roc, UO 5, and Pit Off D. H.Clarke, who had painted a red 'Saint' (theLeslie Charteris character) in a red-framedyellow diamond on each side of the rearfuselage of his 'own' Roc. On 26 eptem­ber he was sent out to search for burvivorsin the water 15 miles (24km) south-west of

t Catherine's Point. With ergeant Huntin the gun turret - which, unusually for 2AACU Rocs, was fully armed - he took offin the late afternoon. As he instituted asquare search in the area indicated, henoticed what he thought was a wordfishalso searching about 3 miles (5km) away.

After about forty-five minutes of fruit­less search in the gathering gloom, he sud­denly noticed that the Swordfish, nowonly half a mile away, was in fact a twin­engined floatplane. Out of curiosity, won­dering what it was, he flew toward- it: andthen suddenly realized it was a HeinkelHe 59, a German aircraft probably on theame air-sea rescue task as himself. nsure

as to whether he should open fire on anaircraft on such a humanitarian mission,he flew across its nose with Hunt traininghis turret on it.

As he did so the German nose gunneropened fire with his 7.9mm machine gun,and Hunt returned fire, his tracer pouringinto the Heinkel's fuselage. After the pan­demonium and hock of his first a tion,

Roes in Combat

tried, but this, too, was ineffective.The majority of Rocs went straight to

Fleet Requirement Units and trainingsquadrons. As previou Iy related, BoultonPaul had completed the stressing calcula­tions for the redesign of the aircraft for tar­get towing even before the first one hadflown. Many Rocs were soon serving inthis role, usually with the turret removed,while others served as targets for traineefighter pilots, and ground gunner'. Thisdid not alway preclude enemy action, assome of these units were in the Iine of fireduring the Battle of Britain, such as o.759 Fighter Pilot Training Squadron atEastleigh, and o. 2 Anti-Aircraft Co­Operation Unit at Gosport.

On 13 June 1940, U146 of No. 2 AACUattacked an enemy aircraft over the

Desperate attempts were made to improvethe landplane Roc's performance by fittinga better propeller. An 11ft 6in (3.5m)diameter kua unit was tried instead of thenormal 12ft (3.7m) diameter de HavillandType 5/8. With this, sea-level climb in factdeteriorated to 600ft/min (183m/min)from 710ft/min (216m/min), but itimproved at 5,700ft (I,737m) from30ft/min (253m/min) to 1,000ft/min

(305m/min), and 1,900ft (579m) wasadded to the service ceiling. A special pro­peller with a kua hub and the blades nor­mally fitted to the Tiger engines of anA rmstrong-Wh itworth Wh itley was also

Improving the Landplane Roc

Roc L3059, shortly after its conversion to a f1oatplane. It displayed directional instability and crashed.

complement of eighteen Rocs. After a Rocconver ion course the squadron moved to

Lee-on- alent, but was then disbanded,after existing for only a few weeks.

Roc L3084, later to undergo trials as a floatplane.

1939 to be fitted with float. These wereadapted from the Blackburn Shark floats,Alclad units mounted on 'N' struts and asingle front strut, with a spreader bar. Thefloat were equipped with water ruddersoperated by the aircraft's normal brakingsy tem. The wheel wells were covered overby metal plates.

In November 1939, U059 was tested atHelensburgh where the M.A.A.E. had justmoved from Felixtowe. Directional insta­bility was found, and on 3 December theaircraft crashed ju t after take-off. Theother aircraft wa - modified with an extrafin below the fuselage, and this greatlyimproved matters, making turns at lowaltitude far less hazardous. Another Roc,U060, was also sent to Brough to be fittedwith floats as a replacement for U059, butthere is some doubt that this was actuallydone, as it ended its day after a wheels-uplanding at Farnborough in January 1940.

If the Roc wa hopeless as a fighter in itsnormal form, with floats it was even worse.Its top speed was only 193mph (311kph)at 1O,000ft (3,048m), and 170mph(273kph) at sea level; initial climb was1,130ft/min (344m/min), and ervice ceil­ing 14,400ft (4,3 9m). The aircraft thatthe Roc floatplane might conceivablyhave faced in an operational environmentwas the Arado Ar.196 reconnaissance sea­plane: this had similar performance, butwith twin 20mm cannon amongst itsarmament, it would have b en a deadlyopponent.

o. 05 quad ron wa formed at Donib­ristle in May 1940 to operate as a Roc sea­plane fighter squadron, with a planned

The Roc as Floatplane

As indicated earlier, the Roc was designedfrom the outset to operate from floats, aswere many Fleet Air Arm aircraft up tothat time. The first and third Rocs, U057and U059, were sent to Blackburn Air­craft's factory at Dumbarron in October

the Roc was even slower, and was neverany use at all as an operational aircraft.There were very few enemy aircraft that itcould even catch - and yet steps weretaken to adapt it for a role that made iteven slower: a a floatplane fighter.

Head-on view of a production Roc, showing the split white/black camouflage used on the undersurfaces early in the war.

Sub Lt Stanley Gordon Orr with an 806 Squadron Roc probably at Detling, from which operations wereflown over Dunkirk. He became one of the Fleet Air Arm's highest-scoring fighter pilots, with twelvevictories by the end of the war.

Rocs must ha e been involved in thisbecause one is reported to have been shotdown during an attack on a gun battery atCap Blanc ez, near Calais on 21 June;Sqn Ldr A. V. M. Day and his gunner F.Berry were both killed.

Before two months were up, o. 01Squadron had also given up its Rocs, andonce again became an all- kua unit. Thusthe very short operational career of theBlackburn Roc was over. o. 801

quadron continued to operate it Skuasuntil August 1941, when it acquired eaHurricanes. This was largely becau e theSkua was barely viable as a fighter aircraft,being far too slow and under-armed - and

50 57

A Fleet Requirements Unit Roc. converted to a target tug. with the observer's open cockpit where theturret used to be.

No. 770 - CrailL3062. L3088. L3118. L3131. L3152. L3171

No. 771 - Twatt/HatstonL3062. L3071. L3073. L3074. L30n. L3078. L3079.L3080. L3083. L3085. L3087. L3089. L3091. L3093.L3096. L3097. L3098. L3104. L3118. L3121. L3128.L3139. L3141. L3142. L3150. L3151. L3152. L3153.L3156. L3158. L3159. L3165. L3166. L3167. L3170.L3171. L3174. L3177. L3178. L3185. L3186. L3187.L3190. L3192

No. 775 - Dekheila. Egypt

L3086. L3123. L3132. L3138. L3148. L3149. L3155.L3157. L3162. L3163. L3183. L3184

No. 773 - BermudaL3069. L3092. L3100. L3109. L3140

No. 774 - Aldergrove/St.MerrynL3061. L3065. L3066. L3067. L3076. L3090. L3138.L3140. L3164. L3169. L3176

No. 772 - MachrihanishL3062. L3071. L3073. L3074. L3080. L3083. L3084.L3093. L3097. L3102. L3110. L3114. L3121. L3124.L3129. L3135. L3142. L3149. L3156. L3159

No. 776 - Speke/Woodvale/Stretton

L3058. L3066. L3075. L3078. L3080. L3087. L3117.L3118. L3119. L3124. L3150. L3160. L3164. L3167.L3169. L3171. L3174. L3175. L3178. L3189. L3190.L3192

the 136 Rocs on 19 August 1940, andthere had, of course, been no more orders,not least because Boulton Paul needed theproduction capacity to produce large num­ber of the far more succe sful Defiant.

Blackburn Roc Squadrons

No. 757 - Worthy DownL3104

No. 758 - EastleighL3091

No. 760 - YeoviltonL3099. L3100. L3105. L3109. L3111. L3121. L3125.L3139. L3140

No. 759 - Yeovilton/EastleighL3061. L3070. L3073. L3075. L3092. L3094. L3095.L3097. L3104. L3109. L3113. L3114. L3115. L3117.L3118. L3135. L3136. L3142. L3150. L3155. L3159

No. 725 - EglintonL3071. L3074. L3097. L3134. L3139

No. 754 - Lee-on-SolentL3058

No. 755 - Worthy DownL3165

No. 769 - DonibristleL3066. L3070. L3078. L3079. L3080. L3081

No. 761 - YeoviltonL3092

No. 764L3099

No. 765 - Lee-on-SolentL3058. L3091

No. 767 - ArbroathL3078. L3135

An FRU Roc. LJ086. at Dekheila. Egypt.

September 1942, with U174 fitted withfloats, and with a wind-driven winch inplace of the turret. There was a metal con­tainer carried under the fuselage contain­ing the target sleeves.

Boulton Paul had delivered the last of

positions, or simulating the dive-bombingattacks of its cousin the kua. A 2 AA URoc, U143, suffered an engine failurewhile climbing away after a simulateddive-bombing attack on I ayling Island,forcingSgt B. tTravel1 toditch in the sea,from where he was rescued. A 771Squadron Roc from Twatt, L3159, suffereda imilar fate: after a simulated divingbombing attack it suffered an engine fail­ure, followed by a forced landing onRonaldsway. Another 771 Squadron Roc,L3177, ditched in the sea after a destroyershoot and engine failure. There were threemen on board and they all perished.

Some Rocs seemed to suffer more thantheir fair share of accidents. One such wasL3171, operating with 771 Squadron: forinstance, on 20 October 1942 it hit a pileof sand when touching down at Twatt.Then on 16 June 1943 it was being taxiedtoo fast with low brake pre sure, and hit aparked Albacore; and on the 29tb of thesame month it was taxied into a parkedlorry. Even transfer to 776 Squadron atStretton did not improve its luck, andwhile taxiing at Speke on 26 October 194it ran into a van parked on the perimetertrack. This accident was the final straw,and subsequently no one bothered torepair poor old U171.

Roes Abroad

Many of the Rocs served abroad with FleetRequirements Units in the Carribean,Africa and the Middle East. In these areasthey were all operated without their tur­rets, serving largely as target tugs. EightRocs found their way to Piarco inTrinidad, one of them being U130 thathad been force-landed at quire Gate, ina storm, on its delivery flight back on 23January 1940, and had over hot through ahedge. On its repair in May 1942 it wasshipped to Trinidad, and while it was thereit had a Walrus gun mounting fitted, forreasons unknown.

A dozen Rocs went to Dekbeila inEgypt, and a couple to Wingfield in SouthAfrica. No. 777 Fleet Requirements Unitin Freetown, ierra Leone, had three Rocs,and flew these in formation for a photo­graph that has been reproduced manytimes. In Bermuda, some of the five Rocsthat were delivered operated with eitherwheels or float. The use of the floatplaneversion as a target tug was investigated atHelen burgh between March and

The Rocs' role was now to provide targetsfor the anti-aircraft gunners of HisMaje ty's ships and Fleet Air Arm fighters.The Fleet Requirements Unit that usedthe greatest number of Rocs was o. 771,based at Twatt and Hat on in the OrkneyI land, and serving the fleet at capaFlow. A total of forty-four Rocs were topass through its hands, exactly twice asmany as No. 776 at Speke, Wood vale and

tretton, serving the ships operating out ofLiverpool, which only had a total of twen­ty-two Rocs. The other largest users were

o. 759 FR at Yeovilton and Eastleighwith twenty-one, and No. 772 FR atMachrihanish in Argyl with twenty in all.A total of twenty-one United Kingdom­based Fleet Requirement Units operatedat least one Roc during some point in theirlifetime.

No.2 Anti-Aircraft Co-Operation Unitat Gosport provided targets for anti-air­craft gunner on hip and land, rightalong the outh coast. In this capacity itu ed a total of twenty-two Rocs at varioutimes.

Life was not alway ea y flying low-leveldummy attacks on anti-aircraft gun

affected the outcome. All the aircraft werereturned to Fleet Requirements Units.

Roes for the Anti-AircraftGunners

twenty-eight Gauntlets, twenty-fourBlenheims, seventeen Lysanders, twelveHurricanes and thirty-three Rocs. TheFrench were also to supply a variety of air­craft.

The Blenheims of No. 600 Squadronhad their newly installed Al radar strippedout, and the squadron was ordered to Fin­land. A total of twenty-three Blenheimactually reached Finland, one crashing onthe way, and the thirty Gladiator werea1 0 delivered.

The Rocs began to a semble ar AstonDown on 6 Mar h, where they hadFinnish markings applied, a well as theirFinnish serial RO-118 to RO-150. Theywere to be delivered by air to Finland, withfive scheduled to leave on the 9 March,and thereafter five every four days. By 9March nine Rocs had left for cotland, buthad encountered bad weather and werestuck at quires Gate, Blackpool. Already3,0001b (1,360kg) of equipment for theRocs had left Perth by ai r. By 12 Marchsome of the Rocs bad reached Dyce Air­field, Aberdeen, amongst them RO-143and RO-150 - but it was too late.

The Finns fought a desperate defence oftheir country, inflicting humiliating rever­sals on the mighty Red Army; but byMarch 1940 the writing was on the wall,and on the 12th the Russo-Finnish Treatywas signed, ceding huge tract of Finlandto her aggre sive neighbour. The Rocs hadnot been delivered in time, though it ishard to see thar they would have greatly

Roes for Finland

The Roc almost found its way into theFinnish Air Force during the Winter War,fighting the Russians. When Russia invad­ed Finland on 30 November 1939, freed toact by talin's non-aggression pact withHitler, there was a huge amount of sympa­thy in the We t for the Finn. On the 21February 1940, agreement in principle wasreached to supply thirty Gladiators,

larke swung on a parallel course, and re­estabished communications with Hunt,whose intercom lead had been pulled out.The Heinkel turned for France, skimmingthe waves. Happily the twin-enginedbiplane was even slower than the Roc,with a top speed at sea level of only137mph (220kph), and Clarke wa able togain on his adversary; although he was tillfaced with the problem of having to drop awing to enable Hunt to open fire, eventhough his propeller wa kimming thewave-tops.

At 300yd range he dropped a wing, andHunt opened fire with another broadside.The Heinkel replied from all three gunpositions, nose, dorsal and ventral, a singlemachine gun in each, but larke had tolift the wing after only a few se onds toavoid side-slipping into the sea, causingthe last few rounds of Hunt' bur t to shootharmles Iy up into the air. The two aircraftcontinued these brief exchanges of fire forabout twenty-five minutes, until the coa tof France was looming up. Both aircraftwere hit, and one of the Heinkel's gunnertopped firing; but just as larke was about

to turn away, the Roc was hit in theengine.

It faltered, and Clarke switched to thereserve 17gal (77ltr) tank, pulling up andaway. Just as he thought he might have toditch, the Perseu picked up, and henursed the damaged aircraft back toGosport. But before he could taxi in, theengine stopped, out offuel. Clarke claimedthe Heinkel as 'damaged'.On his return his groundcrew found twoincendiary bullets in the main fuel tank,above which he at. They had entered lowdown in the petrol, whi h extinguishedthem; slightly higher, in the explosivefuel/air mixture above, and the Roc wouldhave been 'missing in action'. This actionwa almost certainly the nearest the Black­burn Roc ever came to destroying a Ger­man aircraft in combat.

52 53

Blackburn Roc Squadrons continued CHAPTER FOUR

ing at targets in the Wash. On 15 February,the fir t night-flying tmining began, theturret fighter having been envisaged as anight fighter as much as a day fighter fromthe outset. Barwell was to fly a leisurelyeight hours during February, but this was toin rease the following month when Hardywas replaced as CO by Sqn Ldr PhillipHunter. Born in Chesham, Hunter hadjoined the RAF in 1931, and in February1933 was posted to o. 6 Squadron inIsmailia, which was then just changing itsBri'tol F.2B fighter for Fairey Cordons.On his return to the K he joined theRAF College Cranwell, and then movedto the Central Flying chool in pavon inMarch 1937.ltwa Hunter who set aboutdevising tactics for o. 264 Squadron to

use on operation .At ortholt they had already tried fly­

ing a section of three Defiants againstBlenheims from 0.25 quadron, and for­mulated a cheme for a Defiant squadronto attack simultaneously from each flankand from below, in sections of four aircraft.

Trials and Training

Sqn Ldr Phillip Hunter leading A Flight of No. 264 Squadron in Defiant N1535.

During these first few months thequadron learned how to operate their new

aircraft, forming pilot/gunner teams, prac­tising the formation flying that was essen­tial to the turret-fighter concept, and fir-

Zealand. At the time, many of the air gun­ners were only leading aircraftmen or cor­porals; the order to make all aircrew atleast sergeants did not come until the endof May 1940.

The squadron had moved to Martle­sham Heath on 7 December and, as withmost new aircraft, the Defiant suffered var­ious teething troubles. First, the Merlinengine was still not entirely reliable, anddespite the change to Lockheed unit,there continued to be problems with thehydraulic system. The whole squadron wasgrounded for a week on 2 Janu<lry, whileRolls-Royce and Lockheed technicianssorted them out.

The Defiant Day Fighter

The squadron entrusted with bringing theDefiant into service wa No. 264 (MadrasPre idency) Squadron, that re-formed atSutton Bridge on 30 October 1939 underthe command of Sqn Ldr Stephen Hardy.The squadron had flown Short Type 184seaplanes during World War I, but was dis­solved shortly afterwards.

To begin with, No. 264 had no Defiants,and had to make do with a few Miles Mag­ister ,three of which - N3857, 3867 and

386 - arrived on 8 ovember. Thesewere augmented with a few Fairey Battleuntil the first three Defiants - L6959,L6960 and L6961 - arrived o~ 9 Decem­ber, with six more arriving by the end ofthe year. Many of the pilots were new tomonoplanes with retractable undercar­riages, and thi period gave them a chanceto get used to uch modern feature .

Take, for instance, Pit Off Eric Barwell,an RAFVR pilot: he arrived on 20 Decem­ber, but Sqn Ldr Hardy advised him thathe needed more training, and he was sentto No. 12 Croup Fighter Pool at AstonDown for a month of flying Harvard. Onhis return he was taken up by A Flightcommander Fit Lt Nicholas Cooke for acouple of flights in a Magister, and thenone flight in a Battle. After a flight in theDefiant gun turret with Cooke at the con­trols, he was finally let loose in the newfighter.

By the end of the year, fourteen pilothad flown the Defiant solo, and twelve ofthese were deemed competent; the othertwo were as igned to more practice-flyingon Battle. When the gunners arrived, thefirst thing that was done was to split theminto two groups, those over and tho eunder SfI' 8in (1.7m) tall, to determinehow comfortable the turret could be made.The parasuit designed for the Defiant gun­ner meant that the eat-back paddingcould be removed, which improved theamount of room he had by a couple ofinches.

A high proportion of the air gunnerswere New Zealanders trained at the AirObserver's School at Ohakea in New

A formation of three Roes from RNAS Donibristle inNovember 1939. That coded 'E' is L3114. and '0' isL3118.

No. 805 Fighter Squadron - DonibristleL3136. L3164

No. 806 Fighter Squadron - DonibristleL3065. L3075, L31 01, L3102, L3103, L3105, L3106,L311B, L3154. L3156

NO.2 Anti-Aircraft Co-Operation Unit - GosportL3062. L3071. L3072, L3075. L30B2. L30B5, L30B9,L310B, L3109, L3126, L3127. L3129. L3131, L3143,G14~ G14~ G16~ G17~ G17a G17~G17~

L3190

A Roc target tug. L3086. at Dekheila in Egypt.

No. 792 - St.MerrynL3064. L3065. L3075. L3079, L3094, L3110, L3113.L3134. L3137. L31BO

No. 793 - Piarco. TrinidadL3076. L3106. L3116. L3125, L3130, L3163, L3176.L3191

No. 800 Fighter Squadron - Worthy DownL3061. L3064. L3065, L3066, L3067. L306B

No. 801 Fighter SquadronL3117. L312B. L3135, L3160, L3161

No. 803 Fighter Squadron - Worthy DownL3062. L3063. L3064, L30BO. L30Bl. L30B3. L3116

No. 787 - DuxfordL3079

No. 789 - Wingfield. South AfricaL3127, L3141

No. 791 - ArbroathL3062, L3071 , L3092, L3093, L311B, L3129, L3134,L3136, L3150, L3160, L3161

No. 777 - Freetown. Sierra LeoneL3067. L3090. L3165

No. 778 - Lee-on-Solent/ArbroathL30B4. L30B5. L3141. L3162

No. 782 - St.MerrynL3071

A Blackburn Roc fined with a 70gal (3201) ferry tank beneath the centre-section.

54 55

THE DEFIANT DAY FIGHTER THE DEFIANT DAY FIGHTER

The six Defiants of No. 264 Squadron's A Flight. which undertook the Defiant's first successful operational

sortie. over Holland.

The three Boulton Paul test pilots mainlyresponsible for Defiant testing: left to right: RobinLindsay Neale. Colin Evans. and chief test pilot.Cec iI Feather.

Whitworth Albermarle. A new turret fac­tory was under construction, integral withthe rest of the main building at Pendeford.

At the tart of the war, George Skeltonwas recalled from his duties as assistant testpilot and rejoined the RAF, being trans­fert'ed to No. 264 Squadron as B Flightcommander. His place was taken by RobinLindsay Neale, a well known pilot in thelight aircraft community during the 1930s,and a director and pilot for Dart Aircraft.He had joined the RAF at the start of thewar, and from 23 October until 18 Decem­ber flew Rapides and Ansons from Baging­ton. He was released to take up the post ofassistant to Cecil Feather on 1 January1940. He had his first flight in a Roc, inL3136 with Skelton, on the 3 January, andsoloed the following day. His first flight ina Defiant, also with Skelton in L6969, wason the 9th. He was a skilled and flamboy­ant pilot, well liked by everyone in thecompany.

Joining the company at the same timewas Fit Lt Colin Evans, who had complet­ed a short service commission with theRAF and then become a flying instructor.He served as a test pilot with Boulton Pauluntil joining Fairey Aviation as a test pilotin 1942. He was killed in 1945 when test­flying a Fairey Firefly.

A further 150 Defiants were ordered inDecember, and another fifty would beadded in February, making the total 650 onorder. With production considerablybehind schedule, it was suggested thatReid & Sigrist at Desford could open a sec­ond assembly line. This suggestion fellthrough, literally, when the hangar desig­nated for Defiant assembly was destroyedwhen the weight of snow on the roofcaused it to collapse. Instead, Reid &Sigrist became the main centre for theoverhaul and repair of Defiants.

As the Defiant was an aircraft boltedtogether from different sub-assemblies, itwas very easy to subcontract its variouscomponents, and orders were placed fordifferent parts of it with Redwing Aircraft(who bought a factory in Heath Town,Wolverhampton, to make fuselages), Rol­lasons, Aero Engines Ltd, Daimler Cars,Northern Aircraft and many others. Aproposal had been made to bring Boulton

A Defiant being tested with bomb-racks; however. they were never used in action.

The light duty bomb-racks fitted beneath the wing of a Defiant.

The Squadron is Operational

In mid-March 1940, No. 264 Squadronwas declared operational. Then based atWittering, they operated forward detach­ments to Bircham Newton, for convoypatrols. During the same month No. 141Squadron at GrangemolIth, up to thenequipped with Blenheim IFs, receivedtheir first Defiants. By the end of May theywere fully equipped with their new aircraftand began wotking up as the second Defi­ant squadron, many of their aircraft beingdelivered to them by No. 264 Squadronpilots.

Deliveries from Boulton Paul had beenslow to build up, with only six in Decem­ber, despite a labour force of2,900 and twoshifts operating. Of course they were alsobuilding Blackburn Rocs at the rate of six­teen per month, and were facing mountingdifficulties with gun-turret production:every time they increased their productivecapacity, new orders for turrets wouldcome in. These had been received for theLockheed Hudson, the forthcoming Han­dley Page Halifax and the Armstrong-

did not let his speed drop below 160mph(257kph). He had his squadron practise ad fensive circle, or a spiral down to lowlevel, for those occasions when they mightbe attacked by a large force of Bf 109s,something which did not seem very likelyat the time, because German single-seaterswere out of range, and there was no appar­ent likelihood of the Defiants being sent toFranc.

The squadron also practised dive bomb­ing and ground strafing at Orfordness, arole for which the aircraft was equipped,with light duty bomb racks, but whichnonetheless seemed to be contrary to thebasic concept of the turret fighter. Clearlythe design had been seen as a possible armyco-operation aircraft, and in January 1940one Defiant, L6968, was sent for trials withthe School of Army Co-operation at Odi­ham.

The Lysander was the standard army co­operation aircraft and represented theaccepted thinking of the time, of lowspeed, short landing and good visibility.Before the rude awakening of theBlitzkrieg, when the Lysander's terriblevulnerability over the front line wasexposed, the higher speed and betterdefensive armament of the Defiant wasobviously being considered.

tion, while bringing all the weight of fireof No. 264's gunners to bear at the sametime. With practice, synchronized attackswere found to be quite easy.

There remained the problem of whattactics to utilize if the Defiants were facedby Bf 109 fighters. To investigate how theaircraft handled against a single-seater,Hunter arranged with Fg Off StanfordTuck of No. 65 Squadron to attack in hisSpitfire at any point as Hunter flew hisDefiant on a steady course from Northoltto White Waltham. Tuck bounced theDefiant, and a turning fight ensued thatlasted ten minutes.

During the dogfight Hunter's gunnerexpended all his cine gun film; he wasoften able to fire at the Spitfire across thearc of the turning circle, whereas Tuck, onthe other hand, never had the chance tobring his guns to bear, and did not expendany cine gun film. On one occasionHunter even managed to get on the tail ofthe Spitfire and slightly below, so that hisgunner could fire.

This showed Hunter that in a turningfight the Defiant could defend itselfagainst single-seaters, provided the pilot

One of the Defiants used, L6951, hadcome from the Central Flying School, andthe other two directly from Boulton Paul.

No. 264 Squadron now becameinvolved in tactical trials, five aircraftmoving to Martlesham Heath andNortholt, thus enabling Hunter to lead asection of four Defiants against variousbombers. Six Hampdens from Nos 49 and144 Squadrons, and three Blenheims from604 Squadron provided the targets, andlater Wellingtons also joined in. The aimwas to find the best way to attack variousbombers, and to work out a tactical plan.

They came up with three distinct attackplans: overtaking on a parallel course, con­verging on a beam attack, or diving acrossthe noses of a bomber formation - the lat­ter had to be from at least 1,000ft (300m)above to help the Defiant's poor accelera­tion. Hunter still believed the best Defiantsection would be three aircraft, the stan­dard RAF section, which was handier tooperate than four, and could still be spliteither side of a bomber. The squadronpractised the various attacks, co-ordinat­ing approaches from different directions tosplit the defensive fire of a bomber forma-

56 57

THE DEFIANT DAY FIGHTER THE DEFIANT DAY FIGHTER

Colin Evans test-flying a production Defiant, N1650. Destined never to serve as a day fighter, this Defiant went to No. 256 Squadron as a night fighter in

November 1940.

line of five production Defiants at Pendeford. The first two, L6969 and L6965, went to B Flight, No. 264Squadron, and were both shot down over Holland on 13 May 1940.

response. Another Ju 87 appeared on theirtail, this time accompanied by a Bf 109that riddled the Defiant with cannon andmachine-gun fire.

Around twenty-seven Bf 109s had cometo the assistance of the dive bombers. Hat­field shot down the first Ju 87, and as theDefiant went into a spiral dive, the otherJu 87 followed them. The dive became aspin, and Hatfield assumed that Skeltonhad been killed. He struggled out throughthe back of the turret, even though onlyone of the doors was open, a feat of agilitythat owed much to the amount of adrena­lin in his system. He parachuted down intosome water in an area covered with dykesand river channels.

Skelton was not dead, however. He hadbeen hit in the arm and legs, and had infact ordered Hatfield to bale out, thoughhis gunner had not heard him. He thenpulled off a successful crash-landing. Hewas hauled from the aircraft by the Ger­mans, and taken to hospital with severeinjuries.

Pit Off Thomas had followed Skeltondown, and flew his Defiant into positionfor his gunner to shoot down a Ju 87: it fellaway out of control. He then manoeuvredonto the front quarter of another Ju 87,which his gunner hit, and it, too, fell away.Straightaway after, Thomas saw a flock ofBf 109s coming in to the attack; he heardLAC Bromley give a cheer, and assumedhe had hit one of them - but then theirDefiant was hit by cannon and machine­gun fire, and there was silence from theturret. The starboard wing was on fire, theinstrument panel had been hit, and part ofthe control column shot away. Thomaslost control for a while, but then managedto turn the Defiant upside down, whichwas a signal to bale out. He slid back thehood and parachuted down; but there wasno further sign of Bromley. He landed insome tall reeds on an island, and while hewas still lying on his back he saw a Defiantexplode in mid-air. Afterwards he assumedthis must have been Blue Three, Chandlerand McLeish's aircraft, shot down by theBf 109s.

Leading Green Section, Pit Off Green­hous was attacked by Bf 109s flying in lineastern before he could get near the Ju 87s.His gunner hit one and it burst into flames,going down on fire. Greenhalgh then firedat the next Sf 109, and it, too, went down,apparently out of control. At that momentthe Defiant was hit by cannon fire, oneshell exploding in the cockpit, injuring

gunner. Blue Two was Pit OffThomas/LAC Bromley, and Blue Threewas Pit Off Chandley/LAC McLeish.Leading Green Section was Pit Off Green­hous with Sgt Greenhalgh as his gunner.Green Two was Pit Off McLeod/LAC Cox,and Green Three was Pit Off Kay/LACJones. Fit Lt Gillies was leading 'A' Flightof 66 Squadron.

They were ordered to patrol in the areaIjmuidan and the Hague, and crossed the

orth Sea in Vics of three, with the Spit­fires leading. They crossed the Dutch coastat Ijmuiden at about 6,000ft (l,800m). ADutch anti-aircraft gun in the harbouropened accurate fire. They flashed theDutch letter of the day and the fire ceased,but they might just have been out of range.They flew towards Rotterdam, which wasblazing, with smoke rising from severalseparate fires,

At 5,45am they saw seven Junkers Ju87sdive-bombinga railway, and Gillies ledthe Spitfires into the attack. Skeltonformed the Defiants into line astern, andfollowed the Spitfires down. As theyjoined in the fray they saw one of the Ju87s fire red parachute flares, which theytook to be a signal they were under attack.Skelton's gunner, Pit Off Hatfield, saw a Ju87 on their tail firing with its two frontguns from a distance of only 50yd. Hecalled for Skelton to bank, but got no

for the coast, the Spitfires attacked fromthe rear, while the Defiants of Red Sectioninstituted a standard cross-over attack infront of the bomber, raking it with fire asthey went by. This was just the kind of co­ordinated attack that had been envisagedfor the Defiant against single-seaters, andthe Ju 88 was set on fire and crashed witha dull explosion in a field full of Dutchcows. A solitary Heinkel He 111 was nowseen by Yellow Section, and they, too,made a standard cross-over attack ahead ofthe bomber, as the other Spitfire sectionattacked from the rear. After this secondco-ordinated attack the Heinkel crashedinto a field.

The flight crossed back over the NorthSea and landed back at Horsham St Faithat around 15.35hr, all of them very low onfuel. Boulton Paul Aircraft sent a telegramto the squadron, congratulating them on'drawing first blood'.

The following day B Flight, led by Fit LtGeorge Skelton, again with six Spitfiresfrom No. 66 Squadron, took off from Hor­sham at 4.15am, hoping to repeat thesuccess.

Air Battle Over Holland. 13 May 1940

Fit Lt George Skelton, leading B Flight,264 Squadron, was flying as Blue One inDefiant L6969 with Pit Off Hatfield as his

first offensive fighter sweep. They refu­elled at Horsham St Faith, near Norwich,and along with a flight of six Spitfires from

o. 66 Squadron were then ordered tocross the North Sea and to attack themany German aircraft that were believedto be operating over Holland. Sqn LdrHunter was leading the flight, which tookoff at 13.10hr, with his gunner LAC Kingin L6973. The other crews in his Red Sec­tion were: Pit Off Whitehouse/ gt Small­ey (L6972), and Pit Off Young/LAC John­son (L7003); Fit Lt Cooke/Cpl Lippett(L6975) led Yellow Section with Pit OffBarwell/Sgt Quinney (L6964), and Pit OffWhitley/LAC Turner (L6970). Theypatrolled in the area of the Hague, but didnot see the hordes of German aircraft theyexpected, apart from a large number ofJunkers Ju 52 transports bogged down onan airfield near Rotterdam.

Eventually they sighted a Junkers Ju 88attacking three ships. As the Ju 88 dived

On the 10 May 1940 the balloon went upas the Germans launched their attack onthe Low Countries and France. No. 264Squadron was moved to Duxford, and onthe 12th, 'A' Flight took part in the type's

Into Battle

as it greatly improved climb performance,it was fitted to subsequent aircraft.

Sqn Ldr Hunter had arrived at the fac­tory on 11 April hoping to test this air­craft, but it was not yet ready. He did takethe opportunity to complain about theretracting rear wireless mast, which wasnapping off at the rate of one a daybecause it did not retract when the wheelswere lowered, and hit the ground ontouchdown. When he left Wittering therewere only three Defiants with an intactrear mast. An investigation was institutedby the company.

Paul into a consortium to build thirty ofthe new Bristol Beaufighters a month, butthis was dropped in favour of letting themsort out Defiant production. Eventually allturret production was handed over toJoseph Lucas, and the new turret factorywas integrated into airframe production,allowing the company to concentrate onairframe production and gun-turret devel­opment.

Further development of the Defiant hadbeen considered even before the warbegan, and on 31 January 1940 it wasagreed that two standard Defiants on theproduction line - NI550 and N 1551 - befitted with the I,390hp Merlin XX engineand extra fuel tanks to increase endurance.These would serve as prototypes for a newMark 11 Defiant. The initial batch ofeighty-seven production aircraft had beenfitted with a two-speed propeller, but on 22April the first constant speed propeller wastested on a Defiant for the first time and,

58 59

THE DEFIANT DAY FIGHTER THE DEFIA T DAY FIGHTER

Pilot Officer Chandler/LAC Mcleish's Defiant, l6960, shot down over Holland on 13 May 1940.

Pilot Officer Greenhous/Sgt Greenhalgh's Oefiant l6977 crash-landed in the midst of a German Army unit

in Holland on 13 May 1940.

Whitehouse/Plt Off H. Scott flying Defi­ant L6972 shot down a Bf 110. In a secondpatrol they saw a Ju 88 and took up thechase, but Sqn ldr Hunter called it offwhen he thought the bomber was leadingthem towards a concentration of anti-air­craft fire.

On the 25 May, morning and afternoonpatrols were flown over the Dunkirk toBoulogne area, but although enemy air­craft were seen, there was no action. Onthe 26th, the squadron patrolled over aFrench ammunition convoy near Calais,but no enemy aircraft appeared. Red Sec­tion saw a concentration of German tanksand vehicles and dived to investigate;there was intense anti-aircraft fire, but nohits. In the afternoon there was anotherpatrol, but the weather was grey and over­cast and there were no enemy aircraft inaction.

On 27 May, another patrol made a sor­tie directly over the Dunkirk beaches, tak­ing off at 08.30hr. Early on they wereattacked by some Bf 109s and shot downtwo, without loss to themselves; th y th nsighted a formation of twelve Heinkel HeIlls. [n a co-ordinated squadron attack,the Defiants shot down three of thebombers and claimed two more damaged;the rest then scattered.

And so the Defiant proved itself in theexact role for which it had been designed,as a bomber destroyer. Taking an hour torefuel and re-arm, they took off for a sec­ond patrol. They saw a solitary Junkers Ju

The Squadron Moves to Manston

No. 264's B Flight had been decimated,and over the next eleven days replacementaircraft and aircrew were drafted in. Withthe British Army in France retreating intothe Dunkirk pocket, the squadron movedfrom Duxford to Manston on the Kentcoast on the 23 May, and flew their firstpatrol over Dunkirk, Calais and Boulognethat afternoon. During the patrol seven Bf110s were seen, and one dived as if toattack the Defiants; but before it camewithin range it broke away, as if the pilothad thought better of it, The squadronflew another patrol in the evening, alongwith two Hurricane squadrons, but againno contact with the enemy was made.

No. 264 Squadron air gunners (apart from Sgt Thorn) around 29 May 1940. left to right. back row: Cpllippert, LAC Turner, LAC Barker, LAC Johnson, LAC Hayden, ?, LAC lillie; front row: Sgt Thorn, LAC King, "Pit Off Williams, ?, LAC Cox.

Patrols Over Dunkirk

During the following afternoon No. 264flew another patrol over Dunkirk, and onthis occasion got into action. FIt It E. H.

with technical descriptions, appeared inGerman aeronautical magazines. Theluftwaffe already knew all about the Defi­ant and what to expect from its four-gunturret.

The following day it was the turn of AFlight once more, who took off fromMartlesham Heath for a further patrolover Holland. But A Flight were recalledas they crossed the Suffolk coast becausethe Dutch had capitulated.

l6969 Fit It G. Skelton CapturedPit Off Hatfield Captured

l6958 Pit Off Thomas EvadedLAC Bromley Died

l6960 Pit Off Chandler DiedLAC Macleish • Died

l6977 Pit Off Greenhous CapturedSgt Greenhalgh Captured

l6965 Pit Off Macleod EvadedLAC Cox Evaded

l6974 Pit Off Kay ReturnedLAC Jones Returned

The air battle over Holland on 13 Mayagainst the Ju 87s and their escorting Bf109s, cost five Defiants shot down, threeaircrew killed and four captured. No. 264squadron claimed four Ju 87s and a Bf 109shot down. No. 66 squadron claimed oneJu 87 shot down. In fact the luftwaffe 10 tjust four Ju 87s in the engagement. In anuncontrolled melee the Defiants had comeoff worse; they had shown their ability toshoot down the dive bombers, perhapswith even greater effectiveness that theSpitfires, but when the Bf 109s intervenedthe Defiants had not been able to defendthemselves without mutual support. Theyhad already split up to attack the Stukas,and had no time to reform.

The luftwaffe was able to examine thetwo Defiants that had pulled off forcedlandings and stayed reasonably intact, butin fact the layout of the turret fighter heldno surprises for them. Both the Defiantand the Roc had appeared at the RoyalAeronautical SOCiety's Garden Party onthe 14 May 1939, at Fairey Aviation'sGreat West Aerodrome. Cecil Feather haddemonstrated the Defiant in poor weather,and photographs of the aircraft, together

Defiants in Action 13 May 1940

then turned over when a main tyre burst.Kay followed him down, refuelled, andflew back to England.

Pit Off Macleod and his gunner lACCox, and Pit Off Thomas, were all able toevade capture with the help of the Dutch,and returned to England in a destroyerfrom the Belgian port of Ghent. Fit ffSkelton and his gunner were captured, aswere Greenhous and Greenhalgh. Skel­ton's injuries were so severe that he wasrepatriated to England in 1943, via Swe­den. He returned to the Royal Air Force,and retired in 1959 with the rank of AirCommodore.

followed Greenhous down, and attacked aJu 87. His gunner managed to deliver sev­eral bursts, mostly from above, and thedive bomber went down in flames. Theywere then attacked from behind by a Bf109, and Macleod pulled the Defiant in asteep turn to starboard. After bursts of firefrom both sides, lAC Cox reported thatall four of his guns were jammed. Macleodevaded attack for a few moments whileCox got two of the guns working.

Macleod then noticed a Defiant withtwo fighters on its tail, probably that ofGreenhous and Greenhalgh, and turned totheir assistance, but they were thenattacked themselves. Macleod once morepulled into a tight turn, but this time he lethis speed drop too much and he went intoa high-speed stall, falling away into a spin.As he recovered from the spin he noticedthat both wings of the Defiant were ablaze.Cox also reported that all his guns wereout of action again, so Macleod pulled offa forced landing, luckily in Dutch-heldterritory.

Green Three was Pit Off Kay, and in theinitial attack on the Ju 87s he found him­self a little left behind, possibly because hedid not hear a radio instruction from Skel­ton. He was flying in the flight's reserveaircraft, l6934, which had to be broughtout at 4am because his own was uns rvice­able: there had not been time to undertakea circuit to tune the radio, something nec­essary on the Defiant because the aerialhad different characteristics when the rearmast was retracted. He quickly lost sight ofthe other Defiants, but did follow one of66 Squadron's Spitfires for a while. He sawone of the Ju 87s and pulled into a suitablefiring position for his gunner lAC Jones,with it on his port rear quarter. Jonesopened fire, but all his guns soon jammed.

Kay climbed to 4,000ft (960m) andwatched the action below as Jones clearedthe guns. Kay noticed around twelve Ju 87sbombing the village of Gravendeel. Hedived down and attempted once more toget one of the dive bombers on his rearport quarter, but he had to slow down somuch that the other Ju 87s were able todrive him away, and Jones reported that hewas having trouble revolving the turretbecause the hydraulic motor was damaged.He climbed away, and having only thirtygallons of fuel left, set course for Knocke inBelgium. omewhere over Flushing he wasovertaken by Fit Off Brown in one of the66 Squadron Spitfires: he watched himland on the bombed airfield, but Brown

Unfortunately they came down in themiddle of a German infantry unit. NeitherGreenhous nor Greenhalgh was injured,and the two scrambled from the aircraftand ran for it; but they were soon caughtby an officer on a motorbike, and takenprisoner.

Flying as Green Two, PIt Off Macleod

Greenhous in the hand, another puttingthe turret out of action. The starboardwing was also on fire, and so Greenhousrocked the aircraft from side to side, theirpre-arranged signal to bale out. There wasno sign of his gunner, and in case he waswounded and unable to get out, Green­hous decided to attempt a crash-landing.

60 67

THE DEFIANT DAY FIGHTER THE DEFIANT DAY FIGHTER

Defiants in Action, 29 May 1940

Final Sorties

eight aircraft in one day; there were alsofour DFMs for non-commissioned mem­bers of the squadron, Corporal Lippett, SgtE.R. Thorn, LAC FJ. Barker, and LACFH. King.

Bf 109, Bf 110, 2 xJu B7

Bf 109. Bf 110. 2xJu 87

Bf 109. Bf 110, Ju 87

Ju 87

Bf 109. Bf 110. Bf 110 shared2xJu 87 shared, Ju 88 shared

Ju 87 probable

2xJu 87, Bf 110, share Ju 88

Bf 109. Bf 110. Bf 110 sharedJu 87. 2xJu 87 shared

Ju 87 probable

2x Bf 11 0, Ju 87

3xBf 109, 5xJu 87, share Ju 88

On 31 May the Defiants were back inaction, taking off at 14.00hr and crossingthe French coast at 10,000ft (3,OOOm)around 14.20hr. With the Hurricanes of213 Squadron at 15,000ft, and the Spit­fires of 609 Squadron above them at20,000ft (6,000m), Hunter saw a large for­mation of around seventy Bf 109s at alti­tude, and about twenty Heinkel He Illsapproaching from the south-east. Heturned towards the bombers, but they jet­tisoned their bombs and scattered.

Hunter saw the Bf 109s coming downout of the sun, and called the squadroninto a defensive circle. His gunner, LACKing, gave one Bf 109 a burst, and it spun

L6956 Sgt R. A. ThornLAC F. Barker

L6957 Pit Off D. H. S. KayLAC E. J. Jones

L6961 Pit Off D. H. S. KayLAC Cox

L6964 Pit Off T.0. WelshSgt L. H. Hayden

L6967 Pit Off M. H. YoungLAC S. B. Johnson

L6968 Pit Off G. L. HickmanLAC A. Fidler

L6970 Pit Off G. H. HackwoodLAC P Lillie

L6972 Sgt A. J. LauderSgtWise

L6973 Sqn Ldr P.A. HunterLAC F. King

L6975 Fg Off R. W. StokesSgt Fairbrother

L7004 Pit Off D. WhitleySgt R. C. Turner

L7005 Fit Lt N. CookeCpl A. Lippett

L7006 Pit Off E. BarwellPit Off C. E. Williams

destroyed, though without realizing it, andmany of the German aircraft were notactually destroyed. Over-claiming is a fea­ture of all air fighting. evertheless, it wasclear that the Defiant had had a good day,and back at the Boulton Paul factory,newspaper accounts of the day were soonpinned on notice boards with the words'Our work' scrawled across them. NicholasCooke, who had claimed eight aircraft anda share in the Ju 88, that day told onenewspaper reporter: 'It was like knockingapples off a tree.'

By 20.22hr on 29 May 1940, No. 264squadron had claimed eight Bf 109s, sevenBf 110s, one Ju 88 and twenty-one Ju 87sshot down, for the loss of one gunnerkilled, and one aircraft crash-landed backat Manston. Their reward was a host ofpublicity photographs, and by the end ofMaya clutch of medals. Sqn Ldr Hunterreceived the DSO, and there was also aDFC for Fit Lt Nicholas Cooke, who, withhis gunner Cpl Lippett, had shot down

replacement aircraft, L696I, and with anew gunner, LAC Cox.

Once more they had Hurricanesquadrons flying above them, and this timethe Hurricanes kept the Bf 109s off theirbacks. Hunter saw large numbers of Ju 87sapproaching the beaches from all direc­tions, and wisely did not try to follow themdown in their bombing dives, but went tolow level to wait for them to pull out. TheDefiants then eagerly closed in on theslower Stukas, pouring accurate fire intoone aircraft after another, and sendingthem crashing into the sea. Ten of thecrews were able to claim Ju 87s destroyed,four of them two Ju 87s, and Fit Lt Cookeand his gunner an incredible five. It was amassacre, the slow Ju 87s almost sittingducks at low level, and the Defiants able totake up position on each in turn, slightlybelow so that their gunners could shootthem down at will.

With the Stukas shot from the skies, theDefiants closed on some Ju 88s, sendingone down in flames with their combinedfire, and damaging another. They turnedfor home nearly out of ammunition, andlanded having experienced an incredibleday's fighting. They claimed thirty-sevenGerman aircraft shot down, and threemore probables, the only loss being of onegunner, and Sgt Thorn's Defiant that over­shot while landing at Manston with leak­ing fuel tanks and only one wheel. Fit Lt

icholas Cooke/Cpl Albert Lippett hadclaimed an incredible eight victories inone afternoon: three Bf 109s and five Ju87s.

It was the best day a British fightersquadron has ever had, and many mythshave grown around it. Wg Cdr HarryBroadhurst, the station commander atWittering, but who happened to be atManston when they landed, was the firstto suggest that the Germans had mistakenthem for Hurricanes, and thereforeattacked from the rear. This ignores thefact that more than half the victoriesclaimed that day were bombers, and it wasthe Defiants doing the attacking. It alsoignores the fact that when they wereattacked by fighters in the first sortie, thesquadron adopted its proven defensive tac­tic, a spiral dive, and it did not matterwhich direction the Germans came from,they faced accurate, defensive fire.

Of course, as already seen, there is littledoubt that o. 264 Squadron uninten­tionally over-claimed. More than onegunner claimed the same aircraft

it - but then he saw an even juicier target,a formation of Ju 87s. SergeantThorn/LAC Barker saw an isolated Ju 87and broke away to attack: the Stuka didnot see them coming, and was shot downwith a burst of fire. Thorn rejoined thesquadron as they turned to attack the mainforce of Ju 87s, but the dive bombers'escort of Bf 1lOs dived on the Defiants.Hunter ordered the squadron into a lineastern spiral dive, and as the German twin­engined fighters attacked, they werealways faced with accurate fire from theDefiants' turrets. Six of the Defiant crewsclai med the destruction of a Bf I 10, PI t OffStokes and his gunner claiming two. MoreBf 109s joined in the frantic battle, andthree more of these were also claimed.

Hunter led h is men back to Manston,where they landed cock-a-hoop, thoughtheir elation was inevitably modified bythe news that the thirty-one-year-oldCanadian gunner, LAC Jones, was miss­ing. They claimed a total of seventeenfighters shot down, plus the odd Stuka.Refuelled and re-armed, they took off for asecond patrol at 18.55hr, Pit Off Kay in a

No. 264 Squadron aircrew in the summer of 1940.

and Fit Lt Cooke/Cpl Lippett each alsosent Bf 109s down in flames, the latter shotdown right off the tail of another Defiant- probably that of Pit Off Kay/LAC Jones.His Defiant (L6957) was badly hit in theattack, the hydraulics being damaged andthe starboard aileron and turret hit; andLAC Jones must have been under theimpression that the aircraft was lost,because he baled out. Kay, however, was infact able to return to Manston and landsuccessfully. Jones' body was later washedup on a French beach.

Eric Barwell's gunner Pit Off Williamsalso fired on a Bf 109 attacking Kay's Defi­ant, and saw it going down in flames; thiswas probably the same aircraft claimed byYoung's gunner. Although the squadronbelieved it had shot down five of the sixattacking Bf! 09s, it seems likely that thetrue score was four or even fewer. It was aninherent problem with the Defiant thatdifferent gunners could be firing at thesame target from different directions, andall claimed it destroyed when it fell.

Hunter now saw a Heinkel He IIIapproaching Dunkirk and turned to attack

88 and attacked, without noticeable suc­cess, as it made its escape.

The following day the squadron set OLit

for Dunkirk, once more from its forwardbase at Manston; this time only ten aircraftwere able to take off. About halfway overthe Channel they were attacked by thirtyor so Bf 109s, and Sqn Ldr Hunter calledhis aircraft into the defensive circle theyhad practised so often: like this, fromwhichever direction the Messerschmittsattacked, they were faced with defensivefire from several turrets. Six of the Bf 109swere claimed as being destroyed, but in all,they picked off three of the Defiants. Oneof the missing crews was Pit Off MacLeodand Pit Off Hatfield, who had been shotdown on 13 May, but evaded capture. Thistime there was to be no return, and theyand Sgt Daisley/LAC Revill, and Fit LtWhitehouse/Pit Off Scott were lost.

If 13 May had shown that the Defiantwould struggle in a general melee with Bf109s, the squadron now showed that ifthey adopted co-ordinated defensive tac­tics, they could defend themselves againsta large force of single-seaters. They werealso confident that they could inflictsevere losses on unescorted bombers. Onthe following day, 29 May, they were to

emphasize both these things, in what wasto become the most famous day in thestory of the turret fighter.

An Historic Day: 29 May 1940

At 14A5hr on 29 May 1940 Sqn LdrHunter took off with eleven other Defi­ants and headed for the Dunkirk pocket.They were flying at about 6,000ft(1 ,800m) with three Hurricane squadrons­56, 151 and 213 - flying above them. Asthey approached Dunkirk they were mostaware of the great column of smoke risingfrom the harbour, and the many ships inthe Channel below them. The Hurricanesbegan to engage some Bf II0s escortingsome Ju 87s.

Six Bf 109s dived on the Defiants, com­ing out of the sun in the classic fighter tac­tic. Hunter saw them coming, but for thetime being kept his four Vics of three fly­ing in line astern. As the first Bf 109 camewithin 300yd, Hunter's gunner, LACKing, opened fire, and it soon burst intoflames. As the other Bf 109s shot over­head, Pit Off Welch's gunner, LAC Hay­den, hit one and it fell away out of control.The crews of Pit Off Young/LAC Johnson

62 63

THE DEFIA T DAY FIGHTER THE DEFIANT DAY FIGHTER

No. 141 Squadron Defiant coded !W-O', airfield unknown, with gunners len Bowman, Ernie Salway, AlfCumbers, Gerry Holton, Wally Mott, Sandy Powell, Dave Ashcroft and John Townsend.

away towards the sea; soon aFter, PIt OffYoung's gunner, LAC Johnson, opened Fireon one of the attackers, and it, too, Fellaway - Young saw just one parachuteemerge From the stricken aircraFt. But thendisaster truck: Johnson yelled that therewa another DeFiant almost on top ofthem, and with that, PIt OFF Whitley's air­craft cra hed into them, and Young's Defi­ant disintegrated. The other crewswatched in horror as piece of the aircraFtfluttered down towards the sea - andagain, only one parachute opened. Whit­ley's aircraFt was badly damaged, but hewas able to nurse it down and crash-landnear Dunkirk. Whitley and Turner sal­vag d their Four guns and then set theDeFiant on Fire beFore making their escape;they Found their own way back across theChannel.

The attacking Messerschmitts had alsoshot down PIt Off Hickman's Defiant, buthe amI his gunner, LAC Fidler, were ableto parachute to saFety. As Hunter main­tained the deFensive circle with the ninesurviving aircraFt, he counted eight para­chute in the air below them, a well as theplummetting remains of Young's DeFiant.

Pit Off Barwell, who was leading GreenSection, had watched a LAC Fidler hadshot down one of their attackers, and hadthen seen their DeFiant Fall with smokeand Fuel pouring From it. uddenly Bar­well's own gunner, Pit Off Williams, shout­ed a warning that a Fighter was right onthem, and tracers flashed around their air­craft. Barwell pulled the Defiant in a tightturn to the right as Williams hit the BF109, which Fell away in flames.

No. 264 squadron claimed Four BF lO9sshot down and another damaged For theloss of three DeFiants, two of them in thecollision. Only LAC Johnson did notreturn. Yet again they had proved theywere capable of deFending themselvesagainst superior numbers of single-seatFighters.

At 18,40hr they took off For a secondpatrol, this time at 27,OOOFt ( ,230m),with the Hurricane of o. 111 quadronbehind them and the pitFires of 609

quad ron at 30,000Ft (9,144m). OverDunkirk they saw a Formation of HeinkelHe Ills 2,000Ft (610m) below them, andthe DeFiants and SpitFires dived to theattack.

In a classic turret-Fighter Formationattack, Four DeFiant gunner all opened Firein a devastating assault on one of thebombers, which Fell away into the sea. The

DeFiant then began individual attacks onthe Heinkels, and both qn Ldr Hunter'sand Pit Off Hackwood's gunner ent theirtargets down in flame. Another Heinkelflew right above Eric Barwell's DeFiant,and his gunner Fired straight up into itscockpit and centre Fu elage: the enemybomber Fell to the sea, just two of its crewescaping to parachute c.Iown.

Barwell and Williams then attackedanother bomber, but return Fire hit theDefiant's glycol tank, and Barwell had toturn For home, nursing his rapidlyoverheating engine. As he slowly lostheight it became clear he would not reachthe English coast, and so he asked his gun­ner, PIt Off Williams, iF he preFerred tobale out or ditch. De pite the Fact that'Bruce' Williams had been a stunt manbefore the war and had made several hun­dred parachute jumps at air shows, hewould not state his preference. Barwellchose to ditch between two destroyers,going in opposite directions. Against stan­dard procec.lure, Barwell undid his strapsand sat on the seat back, operating the air­craFt with only the control column.Williams sat on the fuselage with only hislegs inside the turret. As the enginetopped completely Barwell tailed the air­

craFt onto the water. Both he and Williamswere thrown clear, but his gunner waknocked unconscious; however, Barwellsupported him until they were picked upby a boat From one of the destroyers. Imag­ine their delight to meet PIt Off Young onthis vessel: he had managed to get clear ofhis aircraFt when it broke up during theearl ier sortie.

Pilot Officer Stokes' Defiant had alsobeen hit by the Heinkel' defensive fire,and his gunner LA Fairbrother waswounded. tokes ordered him to bale out,but then managec.l to nurse the crippledDefiant back to Manston, and made a suc­ce sful crash-landing. A crew who did notreturn were the squadron's top scorers, FitLt icholas Cooke and Cpl Albert Lippet,who had claimed ten German aircraftde troyed up to that point.

Back to Duxford

No.264 had claimed Four Heinkelsdestroyed and another damaged For thelos of two Defiants, bringing their totalscore to sixty-four German aircraFtclaimed during the month of May, for theloss of fourteen DeFiants. They had flown17S sorties during the month, and were in

64

need of a re t. They were moved to Dux­Ford, and replacement aircraft and crewswere draFted in, including thirteen ewZealand air gunners. They returned to fly­ing convoy patrols over the orth ea,usually operating out of Martie hamHeath. A we have seen, though, theDunkirk area had not een the last of theturret Fighter, as No. 06 quad ron of theFleet Air Arm began operating it kuasand Rocs From Detling in June. It lost oneRoc over ala is.

The Battle of Britain

In Apri I 1940 a second Fighter squadronbegan to receive Defiants. No. 141, the'Fighting Cocks', had re-Formed in Octo­ber 1939 with Gladiators, but these gaveway to Blenheim IFs in ovember. Thesquadron was based in Scotland, From Feb­ruary 1940 at Grangemouth, where thefirst DeFiants arrived in April. The aircraFtwere coded 'TW' and they all receivedsquadron themed names, including 'Cock0' the orth', 'Cocksure', 'Cock a'Hoop','Cocked for Firing', and so on.

On 16 June, qn Ldr Hunter and PIt OffKay of o. 264 quad ron went to Farn­borough to fly a Defiant fitted with a DeHavilland constant speed propeller. Theyalso undertook an exercise flying a Defiantin mock combat with a captured BF lO9flown by Sqn Ldr Wilson.

Evaluating the Defiant's Performance

On the 21 June there was a conFerence atthe office of war tactics at the Air Ministryto evaluate the performance of the Defiantin combat, Following its operation overHolland and Dunkirk, and to recommendFuture practice. Attending were Sqn LdrHunter, Wg Cc.lr Woodhall, his StationCO, anc.l the CO of No. 141 quadron,

qn Ldr W.L. Richardson and his flightcommanders. Hunter was able to explainthe defensive tactic u ed on the first patrolon 29 May, when the Defiant were putinto a spiral dive and the Bf lO9 and BF11 Os were Forced to attack on the outsideof the spiral, sixteen being shot down. Healso empha ized the ease with which PItOff Cooke had flown along a line oFJu87son the second patrol, and shot down five,one after the other.

When they were again bounced by Bf109s on 31 May, there was a very brightsun, and they had not been able to scan

that section of kyo They were attacked byfighters diving almo t vertically out of thesun, and the First warning was when thefirst Bf lO9 flashed by. There was then acontinuous stream of fighters diving onthem, and three Defiants were lost, thoughtwo were because of a collision. HunterpOinted out that the squadron hadmaintained its defensive cohesion, andthat Four of the Bf 109s had beenclaimed.

Hunter said he was not impressed by theBF 110, but even 0, there were severalways their own tactics against these air­craFt could be improved. Continual R.T.problems with the Defiant needed to berectiFied, and when they were co-operat­ing with other squadrons, they all neededto be on the DeFiant's wavelength. Whenthree-squadron operations were flown, asthey had been over Dunkirk, the COs ofthe quadrons concerned needed to meetbeforehand to co-ordinate their tactics.Over Dunkirk, they may have tarted outtogether, but they had Fought' as separateunits.

qn Ldr Richardson expressed the viewthat the Defiant needed a bullet-prooFwindscreen and two front guns to improveit as a fighter. They all agreed that theproper role of the Defiant was againstbombers on home deFence.

Further Action

On 28 June, o. 264 squadron's Red ec­tion, led by Fg Off Banham, was scrambledat 13.00hr to intercept enemy aircraFtapproaching over the sea; no contact wasmade, however. On the 6th they flew theirFirst night operations with three patrols,and then flew one on each of the follow­ing two nights. Through the months ofJune and July they continued to fly a mix­ture of convoy patrols and night opera­tions.

No. 141 Squadron was moved south toWest Mailing on lO July, with their for­ward base, Hawkinge. The CO, qn LdrW. Richardson, visited No. 264 Squadronwho were then at Fowlmere. qn LdrHunter once more explained to him thetactic they had successfully used manytimes, but Richardson let it be known thathe had a very low opinion of the Defiant,and he was not to be swayed by the enthu­siasm of O. 264 Squadron aircrew For theaircraft. In the early hours of 19 July 1940,twelve DeFiants of No. 141 SquadronsliPred into Hawkinge airfield and reFu-

e1led, ready For their First call to arms.

Swansong for No. 141 Squadron

At 12.10pm on 19 July 1940, the sirens inthe Folkstone area warned of approachingraiders, and shortly afterwards anti-aircraFtguns opened up on a Formati n of Bf 110sdive-bombing a ship in the Channel. O.141 Squadron was ordered to scramble, butengine problems prevented three of thetwelve DeFiants taking off. The remainingnine formec.l into three 'vics' of three air­craft in line astern, and clawed for altitudeas they crossed the coast.

But unknown to them, the Bf 1lOs hadalready been escorted back to the Frenchcoast by the Bf 109 of IllIJGS 1. The com­manc.ler of lll/JGS 1, however, HauptmannTrautloft, finding he still had ample fuelsupplies, decided on a sweep along theEnglish coastline. TrautioFt flew with his

chwarm at 10,000ft (3,OOOm), with therest of the Fighters 3,000ft (1 ,000m) high­er. It was a crystal-clear day and he couldee right across Kent - and could also see

aircraft taking off from airfields near theoast. He spotted the nine Fighters as they

crossed the coast, apparently heading rightfor him. With the sun at his back he divedinto the attack, and when he was about

65

2,600ft (800m) above them, recognizedthem as DeFiants.

The DeFiants altered course, hoping tointercept the German bombers, and thistook them away from the diving BF 109s,which were then seen by Fit Lt Loudon,leading the squadron, who called out awarning. Trautloft aimed For the right­hand Defiant in the rear vic: and suddenlythe Defiant gunners opened up. Therewere tracers flying past TrautloFt's aircraFtand he Fclt several hits, but he closed in to100m and opened fire. His first burst watoo high, but the second caught the Defi­ant in the centre of the Fuselage, and partsof the aircraft came flying off. Trautloft sawa trail of smoke from beneath the Defiant,which suddenly explodec.l in a huge redball of flame.

A econd Defiant Fell in flame to theFirst chwarm' attack, and the other BflO9s followed them down. The Defiantcontinued to fly traight and level, a

chwarm aFter Schwarm dived throughthem, and then used the speed of theirdives to curve in For further attack. Pit OffJ. . MacDougall's Defiant was hit andwent into a spin, and with a failing enginehe ordered his gunner, Sgt Wise, to baleout; but aFter Wise had succeeded in thisdifficult task, MacDougall managed to

THE DEFIANT DAY FIGHTER THE DEFIA T DAY FIGHTER

Defiants in Action, 19 July 1940

LS974 Pit Off J. R. Kemp DiedSgt R. Crombie Died

LS9S3 Pit Off MacDougall Forced landingSgt J. FWise Baled out, missing

LS995 Pit Off R. A. Howley DiedSgt A. G. Curley Died

LS999 Pit Off A. B. Halliwell ReturnedL7001 Fit Lt M. J. Louden Forced landing

Pit Off E. Farnes Forced landingL7009 Fit Lt I. D.G. Donald Died

Pit Off A. C. Hamilton DiedL7014 Sgt H.N. Tamblyn Returned

Sgt S. W. N. PowellL7015 Pit Off R. Kidson Died

Sgt F P. J. Atkins DiedL701S Pit Off J.F. Gardner Baled out, rescued

Pit Off P. M. Slatter Baled out. died

Boulton Paul's Single-Seater

With the Battle of Britain raging, and theLuftwaffe attacking known fighter facto­ri s, Boulton Paul began to consider a sin­gle-seat version of the Defiant a a top­gap fighter should pitfire and Hurricanesuppl ies be interrupted. The prototype,K 310, was converted back to a single­seater, and first flew in this form on 16Augu;t. Boulton Paul also de igned a moreadvanced single-seat ver ion of the Defi­ant, the P.94, with twelve fixed forward­firing machine guns, or six 20mm cannon,and the Merlin XX engine. E timated topspeed wa 364mph (5 6kph) at 23,500ft(7,160m). Another version with fourmachine guns and four 20mm arlllon wasalso envisaged, with the cannon able toswivel downwards to an angle of 17degrees, for trafing ground troops.

gave up to I,390hp with 121b of boost. Twoof the Defiants on order, 1550 and

1551, were authorized to be fitted withthis engine.

The in tallation made the aircraft 6.4in(16.3cm) longer, at 35ft lOin (10.9m);other change included a pressurized fuelsytem and extra fuel, with a new 27gal(122.7Itr) tank in the port outer wing; anda 28gallon 027ltr) tank in the starboardouter wing. The prototype of what was tobecome the Defiant Mk.ll, 1550, firstflew on 20 July 1940, and eci I Featherquickly determined that increased verticaltail area was required. This was quicklyaccomplished by bolting an extra sectionon the front of the fin.

Trials of the new fin were held up whenFeather, while taxiing N1550 to the air­field, collided head-on with a productionDefiant, 1639, that Lindsay Neale wastaxiing back to the factory after a testflight. Repairs to 1550 took three weeks.Flight tests revealed a disappointingin rease in top speed to only 313mph(504kph) at 19,000ft (5,79Im), rath rthan the 345mph (555kph) that had beenanticipated. Despite this, the order for 2 0Defiant wa revised, to make the last 210Mark II aircraft. In addition, the last sevenMark I aircraft on the production Iine wereconverted to Mark II status, though it ilikely that these were not tandard, as theywere to remain in store until 1943, neverissued to a fighter squadron before theywere converted to target tugs. Thus a totalof 713 Mark I Defiants were bui It, plus thetwo prototypes.

detected approaching Hull. It would havebeen an ideal opportunity for the Defiantonce more to prove itself as a bomber­destroyer, but No. 264 was ordered to staywith the convoy, while other fighters werevectored onto the raiders.

That same evening on the 15/16 Augustthe squadron had it first night engage­ment. PIt Off Whitley and his gunner gtTurner were on patrol, showing thecoloured downward light then required foreasy recognition by the Observer Corpsthough obviously, this also made them vis­ible to bomber crews. Suddenly, tracerstarted flashing past them: they followed itto its source, and found a I-Icinkel He Ill.Turner opened fire, but the flash of his gunsand the tracer immediately blinded him,and the results were inconclusive. Whenhis eyes regained their night vision hefound Whitley had managed to stay withthe bomber, and so fired another burst ­and this time both of them were blindedand lost sight of the bomber; however, itwas later confirmed as having crashed.

A New Engine for the Defiant

The apparent success of the Defiant overHolland and Dunkirk may well have influ­enced the placing of a further order for theaircraft in July. ome 2 Defiants withserials in the AA range were ordered,bringing the total order to 930. As early asAugust 1939, Boulton Paul had been askedto inve tigate the installation of morepowerful Merlin engines, and in January1940 the choice fell on the Merlin XXwhich had a two-stage supercharger and

The loss of six out of nine Defiant andten aircrew virtually knocked out o. 141

quadron in one battle. The panic bellswent off in Fighter CommanLl headquar­ters, and o. 264 quadron, that hadalready flown three patrols over a NorthSea convoy that day, and were taking off at15.00hr to continue the cover, wereordered to land immediately. The rem­nants of o. 141 quad ron were orderedback north to cotland on the 21st. o.264 was also ordered north, but with theBattle of Britain raging it was decided thatsuch an experienced and proven squadroncould not be spared.

o. 141 Squadron moved to Prestwickwith a detachment to Grangemouth, anda month later moved A Flight to Montroseand B Flight to Dyce, flying convoy patrolsand its fir t night patrols. No. 264Squadron was moved to Kirton-in-Lind­sey, mainly flying convoy patrols, inter­spersed with some night-time patrols, butwith flights often detached to olebyGrange and Ringway for the defence of thenorth-west. tephen Hardy, the quad ron'sfir t 0, was station commander at Kir­ton, and he encouraged them to give hisanti-aircraft defences some practice bysimulating low-level attack. As usual,official permission to 'beat-up' an airfieldwas seized on with enthusiasm.

The Defiant must Restore itsReputation

n 15 August, eleven Defiants werepatroll ing over a orth Sea convoy whena large force of Ju 88s and He III s were

A No. 141 Squadron Defiant, N1752, coded TW-l,probably flying from Gravesend late in 1940.

level out, and his engine picked up. Henursed the aircraft back to Hawkinge andmanaged to land; but unfortunately Wisewa not seen again.

Fit Lt Loudon had not been a target ofthe first attack, but then found himselfbeset by several Bf 109 oming in fromboth sides. With his engine ablaze, he putthe aircraft into a dive, and ordered hisgunner, Pit Off Farnes, to bale out; Loudonhimself nursed his stricken aircraft almostback to Hawkinge, but crash-landed justshort of his destination. Luckily Farnes wasres ued by the Ramsgate lifebo:'1t.

Fit Lt I. D. G. Donald's Defiant wasanother one that burst into flames as aresult of the murderous cannon andmachine-gun fire. He dived to wave-topheight, ami headed for the coast. Unableto gain height, he shot low across therooftops of Dover, and then along the val­ley behind, until he hit a hill 4 miles fromHawkinge; both he and his gunner, Pit OffA. . Hamilton, were killed.

No. III quadron's Hurricanes, whichtried de perately to reach the battle,reported that four of the Bf 109 had fall­en in flames. Trautloft had been hit in theradiator during his attack, and had to nursehis aircraft back to France, with ObItKath, his adjutant, who had also been hit.Both men successfully force-landed onFrench territory.

No. 141 Squadron had been de imatedin what would be its sole daylight action ofthe Battle of Britain. Six out of nine Defi­ants had been lost, and the others heavilydamaged, one of these being written off.Four pilots and six gunners were killed,and although they claimed four Bf 109sshot down, it was clear that o. 141Squadron had suffered a devastatingdefeat. By chance, the four men of theleading chwarm of Ill/JG51 - Trautloft,Kath, Pichon and Wehelt - all survivedthe war, almost certainly the only Battle ofBritain chwarm to do so.

Ernie Ferguson, a parachute packer, in the turret of No. 141 Squadron Defiant coded 'TW-P'.

No. 141 Squadron Defiant, N1564, at Gravesend, having suffered an undercarriage collapse on 29November 1940, flown by Fit It T.B. Fitzgerald, B Flight commander, with Sgt l.H. Allen in the turret.Standing on the aircraft are Sgt Meredith and Sgt Townsend.

66 67

THE DEFIA T DAY FIGHTER

The prototype Mark II Defiant, N1550, with the more powerful Merlin XX engine, at Pendeford in August 1940.

THE DEFIA T DAY FIGHTER

A crew truck taking No. 264 Squadron aircrew to their aircraft.

The Defiant prototype, K8310, on the taxiway at Pendeford, converted back to a single-seater as part of a proposal to produce a conventional single-seat Defiant

with fixed forward-firing guns.

68

In the event, a stop-gap Defiant single­seater in either form was never needed, ashortage of pilots, rather than of aircraft,being the critical factor in the battle. Aconference on the proposal in eptemberexpressed the opinion that it would bewrong to disrupt the production of stan­dard Defiants, which were needed to cre­ate new turret-fighter squadrons. For sixmonths after th is, K8310 was operated as ahigh-speed communications aircraft witha rear seat under a simple liding hood, inthe area where the turret had been.

On 22 August, with the Battle ofBritain raging in earnest, o. 264squadron was moved south again, toHornchurch in Essex, just out of range ofBf 109s - though this was obviou Iy notthe reason that Hornchurch was chosen. Itwas because Manston was to be their for­ward operating base, and that ame after­noon Red Section undertook a patrol overManston, followed by a full squadronpatrol in the evening.

At S.lOam on 24 August they weremoved to their forward base of RAFManston, and thus as near to the Germanfighter airfields as they could pos ibly get.And so the scene was set for o. 264's fir tengagement in the Battle of Britain.

An Eventful Day: 24 August 1940

o. 264's Blue ection arrived overManston first, and remained aloft as theother three sections landed to refuel. Ato .00hr Red, Yellow and Green Sectionswere ordered to take off and patrol overManston. FIt Lt Campbell-Colquohoun,who was a new pilot to the squadron andhad not had time to familiarize himselfwith the Defiant, had trouble starting hisengine and took off late. In the mi tyearlymorning conditions he saw two fightersthat he thought were Defiant and format­ted on them. Suddenly, to his horror, herealized that they were Germans - ami hisaircraft recognition skills were doubly sus­pect because he later reported that theywere Heinkel He IUs, a type that onlyever operated at Heinkel's home airfield.The Germans attacked him, and someshells struck the Defiant just behind hisgunner, PIt OffG. Robinson, igniting Verycartridges.

Campbell-Colquohoun put the Defiantinto a steep dive, and in the mist he wasable to avoid the German fighters. Robin­son, however, thought that his pilot hadbeen hit and started to bale out - thoughas soon as he put his head through the tur-

69

ret doors into the slipstream, his helmetwas ripped off, complete with the intercomlead. rruggl ing to squeeze out through thedoors, he realized the aircraft was levellingout, so he queezed back inside again.They landed back at Manston in the mid­dle of a bombing raid, somehow avoidingthe bomb craters. As soon as th aircraftcame to a halt they made a dash for the air­raid helters, each expre sing surprise thatthe other was alive. The heavily damagedDefiant wa pushed into a hangar.

The other airborne Defiants had alsoseen the Bf 109 , and there was inconclu­sive firing before disengagement; afterthirty minute in the air they returned. At11.30hr they were sent back toHorn hurch, but after a hort while twelveaircraft were ordered to orbit Man ton,which they did so for an hour; but with nosign of a German attack, nine landed to

refuel, leaving Yellow section in the air ascover.

But then at lunchtime, as the Defiantswere re-fuelling, the air-raid warning wasounded, and almost immediately twenty

Ju 8s appeared overhead, diving from13,OOOft (4,000m), and bombs werealready falling when the squadron wasscrambled. Two of the nine Defiants had

THE DEFIA 'T DAY FIGHTER THE DEFIANT DAY FIGHTER

Sqn ldr Phillip Hunter's Defiant, N1535, last seen chasing a Junkers Ju 88 across the Channel on 24August 1940.

shot down a Do 17, but their aircraft wasimmediately hit by raking cannon firefrom a Bf 109. The Defiant burst intoflames, and Banham rolled it onto his backand ordered Baker to bale out, Banhamparachuted into the sea, where he spent anuncomfortable hour before being re cued,but Baker wa never seen again.

Pit Off Desmond Hughes/Sgt Fred Gashshor down two of the Dorniers in their firstengagement. Pit Off Goodall was attackedby a Bf 109 before he could 'get at' thebombers, but survived to open fire on aDornier, from which he saw at least twoparachutes desccnding. gt Thorn/ gtBarker also shot down two of the Dorniers,and were just attacking a third when theywere hit in the engine compartment by aBf 109. Glycol and oil began treamingfrom the Merlin a Thorn threw the Defi­ant about thc sky to try and evade theattacking fighter, and Barker kept firingbursts at their assailant. The Merlin was onits last leg, but Thorn put it down in askilful forced landing; but as he did so, theGerman came diving in for another attack.Unlike most fighters that were 'sittingducks' when attacked during an engine-offforced landing, the Defiant was still a dan­gerous adver ary as long a' the turret wasstill working. Barker gave the attacking Bf109E one more burst, and he must have hitsomething vital, because it force-landedonly a couple of fields away, The twosergeants scrambled unhurt from thesmoking Defiant. For this action the two

mission, keeping a very wary watch on thesurrounding skie , until his fuel ran low (atthe expected time, so the self-sealing tankshad obviously been fitted), when hereturned to Hornchurch.

After two actions during the same day,with four Defiants lost for nine Germanaircraft claimed, o. 264 quadron wasalle to recuperate a little the following dayas the Luftwaffe laun hed attacks on theWest Country. A ten-aircraft patrol wassent over Dover, and the groundcrewaccepted seven replaccment aircraft - andfound there W<lS much work to be done to

bring them up to operational standard.Indeed, there was usually two days' work tobc done to an aircraft just arrived from amaintenance unit before it was ready foraction.

On the morning of 26 Maya five-aircraftpatrol was sent up over Thameshaven, butno enemy aircraft approached. Later in themorning a large force approached Londononce again, consisting of around forty HeIlls and a dozen Do 17s escorted by abouteighty Bf 109s. The squadron wa cram­bled at IIAShr, led by Fit Lt Banham, andwas vectored onto the Dorniers, intercept­ing them in the area of Herne Bay.

As the Defiants opened fire on theDorniers, the escorting Messerschmittshad already seen them and were diving to

the attack. Banham's gunner gt Baker

Further Action Over London

No. 264 squadron aircrew at Duxford.

the attack. He got within 30m of one, andsaw pieces flying off the aircraft, before itburst into flames. He circled on to the tailof another Defiant and opened fire: a largepiece came off the port wing, and Lutzowleft that one, to attack a third. After a fewrounds his guns topped firing, out ofammunition, but the Defiant's guns werepointing straight up, as if the gunner hadbeen hit. Lutzow turned for home.

One of the Defiants he had attacked wasthat of Pit Off R.S. Gaskell/Sgt W.H.Machin; the latter wa in fact firing atanother Bf 109 when Lut:ow' cannonshells struck home: they destroyed the portside of his cockpit, smashing the throttlequadrant, and injuring Gaskell's hand.Machin himself was very severely injuredin his turret, 0 there was no thought ofbaling out. Gaskell managed to bring theshattered Defiant down for a belly-landingin a potato field near Boreham Hall, Essex.Both men were taken to Chelmsford Hos­pital, but sadly Machin died of hi wounds·hortlyafterwards.

One of the people who had rushed tothe crash site of the Defiant was RonCheeseman, an air gunner on leave from

o. 149 squadron, a Wellington squadronat Mildenhall. When he arrived at the ite,to his horror he found an army captain sit­ting in the turret playing around with theguns, which were all cocked. He politelypointed out to the captain what mighthappen to the gathered throng ifhe shouldtouch the firing button. The captainquickly but carefully left the turret, andRon de-activated the guns.

When the seven Defiants had climbedto the attack it was in two vics of three,with Fg Off Barwell/Plt Off Martin as tail­end Charlie. In this exposed position theywere afraid of being bounced out of the sun- which is in fact just what happened,their Defiant being hit in the starboardwing by a Bf 109 that plummetted pastthem. Barwell had instinctively turnedwhen the aircraft was hit, and in doing solost sight of the other Defiants that werestill climbing towards the bombers. Hecalled Control and explained that he wasdetached and his aircraft damaged - andwas surprised to be ordered to patrol overDover at 10,000ft (3,00 m). He was notflying his usual Defiant, and so did notknow if it had the self-sealing fuel tanksthat were in the process of being fitted.Barwell repeated his situation to Control,who verified the order to patrol by himselfover Dover. So off he went on this solitary

ant climbed underneath the bombers,their gunn rs picking their target and fir­ing up into their bellies. Garvin's gunnershot down two Ju 88s in quick succession,while Fit Lt Banham and Pit Off Goodallattacked the same Ju 88, claiming it dam­aged.

Pit Off Young climbed under a Heinkelformation and his gunner shot down oneHe III; amI PIt Off Welsh potted a strag­gling Ju 88 and shor that down. The Ger­man fighter pilots began to notice thebombers falling in flames below them, anddived down to pick off the attacking fight­ers. PI t Off Walsh was attacked by three ofthem, but managed to fight them off. Thecommander of JG3, Hauptmann GuntherLutzow, had already shot down a pitfireand engaged in a head-on attack withanother; when he pulled out of this, after anear collision, he saw one of the smokingbombers and dived to investigate.

He saw the Defiants and closed in for

temporarily attached to o. 264, becameacting CO, de pite the fact that he had norpreviously flown fighters. But he did nothave long to wait to lead the squadron intoaction, because at 15AOhr they werescrambled to meet a heavy raid approach­ing London. ine Defiant were ready fortake-off, but those of Fit Lt D.K.C. O'Mal­ley and Pit Off A. 0' onnell collided withone another on the ground, so that onlyseven took off to be vectored on to a mixedforce of Ju 88s and He Ills.

The afternoon was a beautiful summer'sday, with a radiant blue sky and only a fewcattered clouds. As the German forma­

tion approached the Thames estuary theywere attacked from above and to the rightby other squadrons, drawing off the Bf 109sofJG3 that were e corting them. The Defi-

Afternoon Sortie: Defending theThames Estuary

trouble starting their engines and took offlate, and the other seven had no time toform up a they clawed for altitude under­neath the bombers: they all picked outtheir targets individually, as the bombersflattened out after their dive attacks.

Fit Lt Banham/ gt Baker and PIt OffWhitley/ gt Turner both destroyed Ju 88s.One of the flight commanders, Fit LtGarvin, with Fit Lt Ash as his gunner, alsoclaimed a Ju 88, as did the veteran team ofThorn and Barker, now both sergeantsafter a recent directive that all air gunnerswere to be sergeants. Pit Off Knockerclaimed a Ju 88 damaged, and Sqn LdrHunter with his gunner gt King were lastseen cha ing another Ju 88 towardsFrance, and it is likely that he shot itdown, a KG76 reported the 10 s of five Ju

s in the engagement.As the Bf 109s came to the assistance of

the bombers, two of the Defiants were shotdown, including that of Fg Off Shawl gtBerry. The other was flown by a new crew,PIt Off Jones/Pit Off Ponting, who wereflying with Eric Barwell's section. Barwellsaw five Bf 109s attacking and called atight turn, but Jones did not respondquickly enough and was hot down. Aseach of the German fighters attacked Bar­well' Defiant, he pulled into a tight turnto give his gunner, Pit Off Martin, a simpleno-deflection shot. They saw hits on twoor three of the Bf 109s, and one from JG 51was in fact so damaged that it crashed intoanother Bf 109, unbeknown to the Defiantcrew; both of the e German fightercrashed. The attacks continued unabated,though during one of Barwell's tight turnsMartin did not fire; when Barwell swore athim, Martin's indignant excuse was 'Youblacked me out!' Barwell was beginning toworry about how he was going to break offthe action, but suddenly the surviving BfI09s disappeared, possibly low on fuel, andhe was able to fly home to Hornchurch.

The re t of the squadron also landedback at Hornchurch, where four Junkers Ju88s and a Bf 109 were claimed for the lossof three Defiants: one of these was that oftheir well-liked commander PhillipHunter, and thi wa a deva tating blow. Ina reversal of the usual situation it is possi­ble that the Defiant actually accountedfor more enemy aircraft than they claimedthat day, if Hunter did bag his Ju 88 andBarwell/Williams caused the collison oftwo Bf 109s.

Fit Lt George Garvin, who had been asupernumerary acting squadron leader

70 71

THE DEFIA 'T DAY FIGHTER

CHAPTER FIVE

night-fighter force was seriously inade­quate, just a handful of Blenheim IFsquadrons, admittedly equipped with earlyAI radar, but often too low to catch thebombers they were v etored towards.More and more Hurricane squadronswould be switched to night operations, butsince the Defiant had been envisaged as aday or night fighter from the outset, it waslogical to switch the Defiant force tonights. 0.264 undertook convoy patrols,but also began practising more night

14th, and on 17th the aircraft 1671­now pre erved in the RAF Museum - wasdelivered to them.

Although o. 307 was seen a a night­fighter unit from the outset, while theywere working up they did operate daylightconvoy patrols over the Irish Sea, afterthey moved to Jurby on the Isle of Man on7 November; but there were no contactswith the enemy during this period.

With the Luftwaffe beginning to witchto night-time operations, the British

Night Fighting

One more Defiant fighter squadron was tosee daylight operations. On 5 eptember,

0.307 (Lwow) Squadron, a Polish unit,was formed at Kirton-in-Lindsey, whichbecame a Defiant base for a considerabletime. The squadron had an inauspiciousstart, in that when the first Poles arrivedthey found the station commander was fly­ing the Prussian flag, a black eagle on awhite background, instead of the Polishflag, a white eagle on a red background.Their first eight aircraft arrived on the

Bristol Blenheims in formation. Though the Blenheim served as a night fighter and was armed with a turret, it was hardly a turret fighter as the turret was onlyfor defensive purposes.

A No. 264 Squadron Defiant slung inside a hangar,location unknown but probably Kirton-in-Lindsey,on 31 October 1940.

The eight surviving Defiants landedback at Hornchurch, but five of them weretoo badly damaged for another sortie thatday. De pite the pleas of the crews theywere not allowed to take off asHornchurch it elf was bombed; only threeDefiants left the ground, at l2.45hr, land­ing back after the raid at 13.10hr.

In the afternoon, No. 264 was scram­bled yet again at l6.05hr, against a force ofaround thirty German aircraft approach­ing across Kent. Only the Defiants of pilotofficers Desmond Hughes and RichardStokes were in a fit tate to take off, find­ing a clear path through the bomb cratersfrom the recent raid. As the two of themclimbed through 12,000ft the ontrollercame on the radio with the message: 'Ter­ribly sorry, old boy, but they've turnedaway!'

either Hughes, nor tokes, nor theirgunners were 'terribly sorry', and theirtwo-Defiant formation turned back to basewith four very relieved men on board.While they were up, three more Defiantshad managed to take off, but they wererecalled and landed at 17.15hr, fifteenminutes before Hughes and tokes.

During four daylight actions in the Bat­tle of Britain, o. 264 quad ron hadclaimed nineteen German aircraft shotdown (plus one at night), but had losteleven Defiants. This was not the worstperformance of any fighter squadron in theBattle of Britain, but they were obviouslyin need of a move to a quieter sector to re tand receive replacements. Dowdingmoved them to Kirton-in-Lindsey in lin­colnshire - and the Defiant had fought itslast day Iight action.

trouble retracting his undercarriage duringthe climb, and had to recycle it severaltimes; and as his gunner, Fit Lt Ash - thesenior gunner on the squadron - was aboutto open fire, hi turret blew a fuse. As Ashwas changing it, a Bf l09 came into theattack, and the Defiant was badly hit andcaught fire. The two men baled out, butwhen they reached the ground, Ash wasfound to be dead.

Pilot Officers Carnaby and Bailey wereboth on their fir t action, but both suc­cessfully manoeuvred under the Germanformation, and their gunners each suc­ceeded in shooting down Heinkels. AsBailey's gunner, Sgt Hardie, was switchinghis aim to another bomber, they were hitby return fire, and he called out that theywere being attacked by a Bf l09 fromastern. Bailey thought he said he waswounded, and dived away, spiralling downto ground level. But as he levelled off theengine refused to pick up, and he had tomake a forced landing - on top of a hedge,to avoid the anti-glider poles in all thefields.

The fighters of Adolf Galland' JG26had seen the Defiants attacking theHeinkel formation, and swung into theattack. As well as Garvin and Bailey, theyalso shot down the veteran team of Pit Off'Bull' Whitley and Sgt Robert Turner,whose aircraft crashed in Challock Forest,and also Pit Off Kenner/Pit Off John on,their Defiant crashing at Hinshill. Theyhad destroyed four Heinkel, but four Defi­an ts were shot down (though Bailey's waslater repaired), and five aircrew werekilled.

The Defiant's Last Daylight Action

On 27 August, the surviving serviceableDefiants were deployed to their forwmdairstrip at Rochford, but they saw noaction, though a section of three did patrolalong the Thames estuary. Then on themorningof2 Augu t,a large German raidbegan gathering over France at 0 .00hr,and headed for London. Three Hurricanesquadrons were sent up, followed by 264Squadron with its twelve Defiants. TheGerman formation split a it approachedDeal, and the Hurricanes were engaged bythe e corting Bf 109s.

qn Ldr Garvin was leading o. 264Squadron, and he brought them up under­neath the formation of around thirtyHeinkel He Ill. He had been having

men were awarded bars to their DFMs.Fit Lt Campbell-Colquoquoun's gunner

Sgt Maxwell opened fire on another of theDorniers and certainly damaged it, butthey were forced to break off the actionwhen a Bf 109 came in to the attack. Thesquadron then returned to Hornchurch,having hot down six of the Dornier andsuccessfully fought off the Bf 109s, shoot­ing one down in the process for the loss ofthree of their own number. The Hurri­cane of o. 1 ( anadian) quadron hadbeen attacking the Heinkel formationunmolested by fighters, and had also lostthree of their number, but without scoringthemselves. Thus it wasn't always theDefiants that put up the poorest perfor­mance in the few actions they took part induring the Battle of Britain!

72 73

NIGHT FIGHTII G 'iGHT FIGHTING

A No. 264 Squadron Defiant night fighter, N1773, with the gunner giving a 'thumbs up'.

able to open fire. If they had thought find­ing targets was going to be easy, they werequickly disillu ioned as they flew patrolafter patrol without a hint of a target. Theytried flying high to spot the bombers il­houetted against the flame of London,and flying low to spot them silhouettedagainst the tar, but all to no avail. 'B'Flight moved from Luton to Rochford

outhend, in ovember, and were joinedby 'A' Flight which had been operating air­craft from Ringway, in the defence of Man­chester; but still there were no successes.

Up until now the squadron's morale hadalways been high, but by this time it wasbeginning to flag. Basil Embry, the CO atRochford, arranged to replace Sqn LdrGarvin with Sqn Ldr A.T.D. Sanders, whohad been in one of his previous squadrons., cruffy' Sanders became an excellent COand morale improved, helped also by newnight-time successes.

It fell to Pit Off Desmond Hughes/ gtFred Gash to score No. 264 quadron'snext night-time victory, on 16 October.

Robin Lindsay Neale talking to Boulton Paul flight shed personnel before test-flying a Defiant night fighter.

~g Off D.C. Williams ~nd Pit O~ G.~. ~Iedger in front of No. 141 Squadron Defiant T3913 at Gravesend earlyIn 1941. They were killed In thiS aircraft when they crashed just over 2 miles (3kml from the airfieldreturning from a night patrol. '

The first night-time claims by a Defiantsquadron after Bull Whitley's early effortin August were on 16 September, when PitOff Waddingham/ gt Cumbers of o. 141

quad ron claimed two Heinkel He Illsshot down; however, these were neverconfirmed as being destroyed. The firstconfirmed claim was the following night,when gt W. Laurence/ gt G.T. Chard,also of o. 141, shot down a Junkers Ju

A-I of I/KG.54, which crashed on aMaidstone hou ing e tate.

The Defiant squadrons quickly discov­ered the difficulty of finding the Germanraiders in the blackness of the night. Forinstance, Eric Barwell with Pit OffGoodall as his gunner spotted a bomber onthe 13 ept mber, their very fir t nightpatrol, but they lost it before they were

The Difficulties of NightFighting

Adapting the Defiant toNight-Time Operations

The only changes made to the Defiant fornight-time operations, apart from paintingthem all black, were the fitting of flame­damper ejection man ifold exhausts, theremoval of the pi lot's armour plate, anddimming the gunner's call-lights, whichsat on top of the pilot's instrument panel.

conference that took place on 5 ep­tember between the deputy chief of theAir taff and the Director General ofResearch ami Development had discussedthe possibility of removing the Defiant'sturret and replacing it with an Al opera­tor's position, with twelve fixed forward­firing machine guns fitted to the wings.But with the Bri tol Beaufighter already inproduction, and other new night fightersbeing considered, it was decided not to

interfere with the Defiant, 0 as to speedits switch to nights; although the in talla­tion of Al radar as it became available wasnot ruled out, or the introduction of theMark II version.

an inordinately long time before he waspromoted to a squadron leader.

The Defiants of o. 141 Squadron hadmoved to Turnhouse on 30 August, but on13 eptember the squadron was broughtback south, to Biggin Hill and thenGatwick, far the night defence of London.

They had not been at Luton long when,on 21 September, they were vi ited byACM ir Hugh Dowding. His openingword when he visited them in their di ­persal hut were 'Well, lads, you have a fineairfield here!' The flight commander, FitLt S.R. Thomas, thought it was ju t themoment to explain some of the difficultiesthey were having - but Dowding cut shorthis catologue of woe with a stern repri­mand, and stormed out. Thomas may wellhave paid for his temerity later, as it took

ome of the crews were still beingtrained in night-time operations, and thecrew of mith/Rol inson on such a prac­tice flight were followed into aistor by aHeinkel He 111. The bomber opened firewith its machine guns, but there were nohits on the aircraft, and the only damagewas twelve hit on the chance light. How­ever, it did erve to show that at night thehunted could turn on the hunter.

After a week at ortholt, 'A' Flight wasmoved to Luton, which did not have thebarrage balloons, but had other problems.First of all, it was quite a small airfield fornight landing, with a maximum length offlare path into the prevailing wind of only600yd (550m). Also there was no homingassistance in place, and below 2,000ft(600m) they could not contact artholtfor help, either; so the squadron rigged upits own system, with a radio in the disper­sal hut. When a crew was returning, oneman posted outside would Iisten for theaircraft, and then tell the man on theradio, 0 he could advise the crew theirdirection from base.

fighter base, being ringed by barrage bal­loons. ontrol of the aircraft wa thenfrom the ector Operations Room, withthe controller following the progress of'bandits' and the night fighter he wasdirecting on a large operations table.When the twO arrows on the table coin­cided he became quite excited, but theDefiant crews found that the heights giventhem were often inaccurate, and they wererarely placed within a mile of the 'bandit',and usually too far away to see the bomber.

One flight of No. 264 was moved to

Northolr on 12 eptember and flew its firstnight patrols the following evening ­though ortholt was not an ideal night-

First Night Patrols

flying, usually from their satellite at Cais­tor, to avoid lighting up Kirton-in-Lind ey,as well as helping 0.307 become opera­tional.

The 264 Squadron aircrew felt theywere being 'condemned' to night-timeoperations. Few of them welcomed thedeci ion, being completely confident inthe Defiant and their ability to hold theirown in any tactical situation, even beingbounced by Bf 109s. It was explained tothem that the Defiant had always beenintended as a night fighter, and the moveto nights should not be thought of as a rel­egation; but few of them believed it, pre­ferring to blame No. 141 Squadron afterthe debacle of their solitary daylightaction.

74 75

IGHT FIGHTING IGHT FIGHTING

151 was quicker into its stride than thenew D fiant squadrons, and scored its firstsuccess with the Defiant on the night of4/5 February when at 2lAOhr Sgt Bodi­en/Sgt Jones were vectored onto a DornierDo 17Z west of Wittering. Bodien closed

An armourer in a No. 307 Squadron Defiant turret, location unknown.

ber, retaining Hurricanes for the thirdflight. They were not best pleased with thearrival of the Defiant, and it was thesquadron's avowed intention at the time toprove the Hurricane a better night fighter.

Being an experienced squadron, No.

Polish air gunner, Sgt W. G. Anurski of No. 307Squadron, killed in Defiant N3401 on 10 January1941, aged twenty-five. His pilot attempted aditching off Barmouth after becoming lost while onpatrol from Jurby. They were casualties of No. 30Tsearly high accident rate.

No. 151 Squadron, AA435, coded DZ-V, which later went to No. 515 Squadron.

News came through later in the monththat the rest of the squadron was to moveto Squires Gate, and on 23rd a section wasordered to fly over from Jurby. The weath­er conditions were poor, and only one ofthe three reached the new airfield. One,

3439, force-landed in a field but waslater flown on, and the other, N3320,force-landed near Ormskirk, causing dam­age to the aircraft. On 26th, seven Har­rows arri ved at Jurby from Doncaster totransport the rest of the squadron, butbecause of the continuing bad weather thiswas not achieved until the 27th, the lastaircraft not arriving until 1 February.

When No. 307 Squadron was formed,the cream of the available Pol ish fighterpilots were posted to it, but when they dis­covered that they would just be drivers forback-seat gunners, their pride wastouched, and they objected strongly,demanding transfers to single-seaters.These reque ts were largely granted, andthey were replaced by pilots of lesser qual­ity - which may explain the high accidentrate suffered by the squadron in the earlymonths of its existence.

It had been decided to start equippingsome of the Hurricane squadrons that hadbeen switched to night fighting with someDefiants, enabling them to fly single- andtwo-seat 'cat's-eyes' fighter. The first ofthese was No. 151 quad ron at Bramcoteand then Wittering, which began equip­ping two flights with Defiants in Decem-

New Defiant Night-FighterUnits

With production at Boulton Paul finallyachieving the target of fifty per month,and a growing number of aircraft held inreserve, it became possible to form newDefiant night-fighter units. No. 307 hadbeen the first at the beginning of Septem­ber, and then on 23 ovember two morewere created, o. 255 at Kirton-in-Lind-ey, and No. 256 at atterick, though they

would not be declared operational untilJanuary 1941.

On 9 January 1941, five Defiants of o.307 Squadron, and a Handley Page Har­row filled with groundcrew, left Jurby for

quires Gate near Blackpool. One ofthem, N3401, flown by Sgt A. Joda/ gtW.G. Andurski, took off for a patrol thatnight, but did not return. The followingday th Defiant was discovered upsidedown in Barmouth Bay: both crewmenwere killed, having apparently attemptedto ditch while lost.

The sticky end of a No. 141 Squadron Defiant, most probably N1795, which struck a bank attempting aforced landing on Watling Street near Gravesend on 23 March 1941.

Hill. The No. 264 quadron airmen stillblamed No. l41 quad ron for the Defiantbeing taken off day fighting, and were notslow to tell them. Inevitably fight brokeout in local pubs and elsewhere, and it wasconsidered prudent to eparate the twounits.

They had flown 200 sorties without eveneeing a German bomber, and when at last

they did, it caught them by surprise. Theywere suddenly aware that they were flyingalongside a Heinkel Ie III that musthave been only 25yd off their port wing­tip: Hughes spotted it out of the corner ofhis eye, peripheral vision being veryimportant in 'cat's eyes' fighters. Hughesmoved slightly below the bomber, andGa h aimed at it starboard engine, imme­diately blowing a hole in it with his deWilde explosive ammunition. He firedtwo more bursts, and there was no returnfire from the Heinkel, perhaps becausethey were unable to train their guns at theposition the Defiant was flying in. TheHeinkel, of Il/KGl26, rolled on its back,one engine ablaze, and came down ato1.30hr in the Brentwood area. As theDefiant came in to land in awful weatherconditions, Hughes and Ga h overshot,though fortunately the aircraft sufferedonly minor damage.

On another evening they came across acondensation trail at 1 ,000ft (5 ,500m),and reasoned that if they followed it at fullthrottle they would eventually catch upwith a raider. After a while Hughes real­ized the trail was turtling, and thought thebomber must be taking evading action.They flew three complete circles beforethey tumbled to the fact that they were fol­lowing their own condensation trail inever-decreasi ng ci rcles.

On 23 ovember the same crew inter­cepted another Heinkel He III overBraintree, but after Gash had fired a 2secburst into one of the bomber's engines, histurret drive jammed. He could still fire hisguns, however, and so Hughes attemptedto manoeuvre the Defiant so that the trac­er from the guns hit the bomber. Thi wasextremely difficult, and continued from17,000ft (5,000m) down to 8,000ft(2,400m) as they crossed the coast. Even­tually they broke off the action andreturned to base, only able to claim theHeinkel a a probable.

Like ortholt and Luton, Rochford wasnot an ideal night-fighter base, largelybecause when convoys gathered just offSouthend pier, only a mile away, naturallythey had barrage balloons flying. On NewYear's Day 1941, No. 264 moved again,across the estuary to Gravesend, where

o. 141 quad ron were already in resi­dence. The two Defiant squadrons onlystayed on the same airfield for ten days,before o. 264 was moved on to Biggin

76 77

NIGHT FIGHTINGNIGHT FIGHTING

ant crew of Sgr Taylor/Sgt Broughtonclaimed a probable. Afrer rhey had openedfire on a Heinkel, Broughton's gunsjammed afrer six rounds, bur rhey conrin­ued to chase rhe bomber at low level intorhe Welsh mountains - rhey were flyingbelow rhe mounrain tops rhar wereobscured by cloud above 1,000fr (300m).When Taylor pulled up into a climb hecleared a hilltop by only 70fr (20m) andconsidered rhe Heinkel unlikely to sur­vive. As already recorded, No. 307claimed anorher Heinkel damaged overNonh Wales ar abour rhe same rime.

A No. 96 Squadron Defiant, T4052, believed to have been photographed at RAF Valley.

moving over to the starboard side. StillHeycock could not get the guns to work­and then one of the Heinkel's gunnersfired two bursts that hit the Defiant andinjured Vesely in the head, chest, left armand shoulder. The Defiant fell into a spinwith the pilot unconscious, but he came toand managed to recover and land the dam­aged aircraft. It had been firsr blood to rheLuftwaffe.

Bur No. 96 Squadron had rheir revengelarer rhat nighr when Sgr Me air, flying aHurricane, shot down another Heinkel arWychbold, and rhe all-New Zealand Defi-

Mixed Fortunes for the NightFighters

The No. 264 Squadron Defiant of Desmond Hughes/Fred Gash with their five victory markings beneath the canopy.

Heinkel fell in flames. These two victoriesseemed to indicate a change of luck for thePoles, after their move to Colerne.

Through the poor weather and the darkwinter months of December, January andFebruary there had been little 'trade' forany of the night fighters. No. 264 was onlyable to cla im one Ju 88 damaged by SgtEndersby/Sgt Chandler in this period.

No. 255 Squadron crews claimed threebombers as probables during February, allover the Humber estuary. On the night of12/13 March the Luftwaffe launched alarge raid against Liverpool, which wouldlast for nearly six hours. Across the coun­try all the night-fighter squadrons werebusy. No. 96 at Cranage launched eighteensorties, and one of their Defiants was firstin action: aftertaking off at 21.55hr, Fg OffVesely (a Czech)/Sgt Heycock saw an He111 off their port side - but Heycock's gunswould not fire. Vesely continued to line upon the bomber as Heycock tried desper­ately to get the guns to work. The Heinkelbegan to dive and Vesely stayed with it,

claimed a probable. They had intercepteda raider while patrolling at 20,000ft(6,000m), and Niewolski had fired a Isecand then a 3sec burst from only 50yd(45m). Hits were seen on the aircraft'snos and starboard engine, and thebomber then turned violently to port anddived straight down.

On 16 April the squadron had a secondconfirmed victory when Fg OffLewandowski/Sgt Zakrocki shot down aHeinkel He Ill: they had spotted it flying300yd (275m) ahead of them and about150ft (45m) above, which meant theywere in an ideal position to stalk a nightraider, able to creep up undetected to just50yd (45m) behind before opening fire.Zakrocki let fly, and kept firing until hehad used up all his ammunition, and the

No. 307 Squadron Polish aircrew at Church Parade in Bath, after the squadron had moved to Col erne.

15,000ft (4,600m) and were vectoredtowards a 'bandit' at 180 degrees. They sawa Heinkel He III when it was about3,000ft (900m) away and 2,500ft (750m)below, flying just above the 10/10th cloudcover in the opposite direction towardsBristol. As the bomber passed them by,Lipinski opened fire at a range of only120ft (36m). There were flashes andexplosions all over the Heinkel, withpieces of fuselage flying off, and thebomber then dived away and crashed ncarthe vi IIage of Lydl inch.

No. 307 Squadron's only successesthrough the previous winter had been on12 March when an He III was damagedby a 3sec burst over orth Wales del iveredby Sgt Jank/Sgt Karais, and on 14 Marchwhen Fg Off LewanJowski/Sgt N iewolski

A No. 256 Squadron Defiant, N3494, location unknown.

Nos 256 and 307 Squadrons would shortlychange places. No. 307 had their first con­firmed victory when Sgt Jankowiak andSgt Lipinski shot down an He Ilion 12April over Dorset. They patrolled at

Better Luck for the Poles

to 50yd, and Jones fired a 5sec burst, andthen a second from only 25yd. TheDornier's fuselage began burning, and thenthere was a sn1all explosion and it wentdown and crashed near Weedon,

orthamptonshire. There was little of theaircraft left, but enough to show that it hadbeen a Do 17 night-fighter conversion,obviously on an intruder mission.

The second Hurricane squadron tobegin receiving Defiants was No. 85, inJanuary 1941, while at Debden. They, too,were not anxious to lose their Hurricanes,and considered that the Defiant's onlyadvantage was that it gave their hard­working groundcrew the chance of theoccasional flight. They only flew threepatrols with the nine Defiants theyreceived, and then relinquished them toanother Hurricane squadron, No. 96 atCranage in Cheshire, mostly on 15 Febru­ary. But if they had thought that theywould be able go back to their beloved

lurricanes, then they were sadly mistak­en, as they were immediately re-equippedwith the Douglas Havoc.

On 26 February 194 J, a No. 256Squadron Defiant flying a dusk patrol fromMiddle Wallop in Hampshire sightedthree enemy aircraft, which dropped theirbombs and fled when they saw the threat.On the same night, 3520, flown by Ftt LtS.F.F. Johnson, was low on fuel, andordered his gunner, Sgt C.S. Lewis, to baleout. Johnson then attempted a crash-land­ing, near Upavon in Wiltshire, but waskilled.

By March J941 there were seven Defi­ant night-fighter squadrons. In No. 11Group, No. 264 was now at Biggin Hill,No. 141 at Gravesend, and the FighterInterception Unit had one Defiantamongst its aircraft at Ford. No.9 Grouphad No. 307 at Squires Gate near Black­pool, and No. 96 at Cranage in Cheshire.No. 12 Group had two squadrons: No. 255at Kirton-in-Lindsey, and No. 151, witheighteen Defiants and ten Hurricanes, atWittering. Finally o. 10 Group in thesouth-west had just one Defiant squadron,No. 256 at Colerne.

78 79

The same night, o. 264 quad ron wasbusy on the south coast, claiming two HeIlls shot down: PIt Off Hughes/ gt Gashtheir seconJ night-time success, and PitOff Walsh/Sgt Heydon their first. Over inthe east, Fit Lt Sanders/Sgt Hill of No. 255Squadron set a Heinkel on fire and saw itdiving towards the sea; they claimed it as aprobable.

These successes across the country onthe night of 12 March 194\ indicated thereturn of the Luftwaffe in some number asthe spring brought better weather. It alsoindicated that there was no substitute forexperience in night operations, whichwere often as Jangerous to the fightercrews as the enemy: flying over a blacked­out countryside in filthy weather was initself more hazardous than return fire fromenemy bomber. All the squadrons hadtheir catalogue of accidents, even the mostexperienced, o. 264.

On 4 September 1940, Fg Off O'Mal­ley/ gt Rasmusson were killed when theirDefiant struck the ground taking off fromKirton-in-Lindsey at 21.30hr. On the 28thof the same month, N 1630 undershot atLuton and suffered an undercarriage col­lapse after a night patrol, and the small air­field at Luton claimed a second victim on7 October when NI578 crashed on take­off, injuring Fg Off Hackwood and Fg OffO'Connell. The very next night 1627crashed at Marlow while on a night patroland Pit OffGoodall/Sgt Young were killed,the cause of this crash being unknown;they may well have been shot down, per­haps by return fire from a bomber, perhapsby a German intruder. Only eight dayslater, N 1621 also overshot after a nightpatrol and hit a hedge. On 15 Novemberthe engine of 1547 failed on a nightpatrol, and the aircraft crashed on theapproach to Rochford, killing Pit OffKnocker/PIt Off Toombs.

The Frustrations of NightFlying

Such a catologue of accidents was experi­enced by all the night-fighter crews,whether they were flying Defiants or not.Losing radio communications was oftenenough to claim the aircraft, a navigationat night in British weather, above cloudand a blacked-out countryside, was oftenimpo sible. For instance, on \3 April, PitOff Paul Rabone and his gunner SgtRitchie took off from Cranage in Defiant

1766 on a routine training flight. Theylost radio contact with the ground, andthen began suffering engine trouble.Rabone was an experienced pilot, withtwo victories over Bf 109 and one nightvictory, all flying Hurricanes, but he wascompletely lost. They did the sensiblething and took to their parachutes, and theaircraft crashed at Rowlee Pasture in thePeak District. Perhaps a less experiencedpilot might have tried to descend blindlythrough cloud, and would have died. As itwas, Rabone went on to build a total scoreof nine victorie , mostly flying Mosquito .The engine and propeller of this Defiantare now displayed at the Yorkshire AirMuseum, in the care of the Night-FighterPreservation Team.

The frustrations for the crews wereimmense: they would go out on one patrolafter another, night after night, without ahint of the enemy - and yet they riskeddeath at every take-off. But the return ofthe Luftwaffe was to bring targets in num­bers, and they would be able to take theirrevenge. Beginning with the two successeson 12 March, No. 264 squadron had aseries of victories through until mid-July,by which time they were the top-scoringDefiant night quadron, with fourteen vic­tories.

Fortunes Improve

During April \94\ they flew seventy-sixexperimental sorties in the Kenley sectorin conjunction with ground control usinga gun-laying radar: these were accurate butof short range, requiring a large number ofsets. There were fifty-six attempted inter-ept during the seventy-six sorties, seven

visual contacts, and four bombers claimeddestroyed. It was decided that althoughthe concept had promise, there were stilllimitations to its use.

qn Ldr anders/Pit Off utton shotdown one Heinkel on 8 April, with Hugh­es/Gash claiming another as probablydestroyed. The following night the veter­an team of Thorn/Barker hot down aHeinkel He III at Godalming, their first- and last - night-time success. Thisbrought to thirteen their victory total,making them the top- coring Defiantcrew. It also probably made Fred Barkerthe top-scoring air gunner of all time: it ishard to imagine that any gunner on abomber, or even a fighter with reardefence, such as a Blenheim or Bf 110,

80

could possibly have shot down more thanBarker's total.

Only two days later another veteran ofthe Dunkirk days, Eric Barwell, scored hisfirst night-time successes. Up until then hehad been flying night patrol for sevenmonths and had only seen a erman air­craft twice - a brief glimpse on his first­ever night patrol, and an exhaust that hechased all the way to France without everbeing near enough to open fire before hav­ing to return - and then in the space of justone night he cored two successes.Flying with gt Martin as his gunner, theywere patrolling in the Kenley ector atabout 15,000ft (4,500m). Vectored onto a'bandit', they finally spotted it 500ft(l50m) above them and about 1,000yd(900m) ahead. Barwell closed in, and theyidentified it a a Hinkel He III. Martinopened fire at about 300yd (270m), firingfour bur ts as they clo ed to 50yd: they sawstrikes all over the underside of thebomber, which pulled up in a steep climb,o teep that as Barwell tried to follow, the

Defiant almost stalled. The Heinkel thensuddenly fell into a dive, and though theytried to follow it through the cloud, theylost it; they later learned that it hadcrashed at eaford, near Beachy Head.They landed at Tangmere at 22.15hr, andthe Defiant was re-fuelled and re-armedwith 435 round of ammunition.

They took off again at 02.35hr, andpatrolled the coa tat 12,000ft (3,660m).They were vectored towards anotherraider, flying south towards Beachy Head,and saw it at about 2,000yd (l,800m)range, about 2,000ft (600m) below them.It was a bright moonlit night, almost likedaylight, ideal conditions for a 'cat's-eyes'fighter. Barwell set off in pursuit, but theymust have been spotted, because thebomber, which they identified as aHeinkel, began climbing towards omecloud cover. Martin again opened fire atabout 300yd (270m), and the Heinkelbegan taking violent evasive action, withits rear gunner firing back. Unusually for anight-time engagement, a real dog-fighten ued, and Martin fired over 600 rounds.Hits were seen allover the bomber, andvarious pieces of it could be seen fallingoff; and then suddenly it dived vertically,and Barwelliost it in the cloud. The radartrace disappeared 15 miles (24km) out tosea, but as it was not seen to rash, Bar­well/Martin could only claim it as aprobable. They landed back at Biggin Hillto find that De mond Hughe /Fred Gash

IGHT FIGHTING

The top-scoring Defiant crew of Sgt R. Thorm DFM and bar. and Sgt F. Barker DFM and bar. just after their first night victory, and their thirteenth overall.

The Heinkel He 111 shotdown on 9 April 1941, byThorn/Barker nearGodalming.

81

NIGHT FIGHTING NIGHT FIGHTI G

A No. 256 Defiant flying near to Squires Gate, Blackpool.

No, 264 Squadron Successes during the Blitz

lage. As the Dornier swerved from side to

side they followed it down until theyentered haze at 2,000ft (600m). Immedi­ately afterwards there was a terrific flash asthe bomber hit the ground.

They returned to Squires Gate, wherethey landed with only 20gal (90Itr) of fuelleft - but found that Scott had expendedonly 416 rounds in the two combats. Theywere also shaken to discover bullet holesin the glycol header tank, the port petroltank, the main spar and through the rearfuselage. And they also discovered corru­gations on one propeller blade, which sug­gested they had come into contact withsome sort of wire, perhaps one of thebomber's aerials.

The experience of the three combatshad shown Deanesly that there wa' littlehope of seeing bombers if the night fighterflew patrol line acros the raider' line ofapproach. The best chance was to risk theanti-aircraft fire and fly over the target,where the light of the fires started by thebombing would help them sec thebombers. All they required would be theheights at which the bombers were operat­ing. They were also quite sure that theywould not have scored these three victo­ries in a fixed-gun fighter.

In o. 15 I Squadron however, just such afixed-gun night-fighter pilot was havingconspicuous successes. Pit Off RichardPlayne tevens was finding and shootingdown German bombers on a regular basisin his Hurrican , including two in onenight during a Fighter ight over Coven­tryon April. On the same night, two ofthe quadron's Defiant crews al'o shotdown Heinkels: Fit Lt McMullen/ gt Fair­weather, and gt Wagner/ gt iedengart.The latter were flying Defiant 1790, andhad taken off from Wittering at 00.48hr.They saw the Heinkel about an hour later,at a distance of around 4 miles (6/7km),showing what good visibility there wasthat night. After stalking the bomber

iedengart opened fire with controlledbursts which set the engines ablaze. TheHeinkel crew baled out, and the aircraftthen began a long, uncontrolled glide andeventually crash-landed on a farm nearDesford in Leicestershire.

Two crew members had not heard thecall to bale out and were still in the rearfuselage when the aircraft landed it elf, butmiraculously they survi cd; they were

A Run of Success

On the 5 May the Deansely/ cott teamwere to score a double. Taking off fromSquires Gate at 22.30hr to patrol west ofLiverpool at 12,000ft (3,660m), they sawmany fires break out in the city. With ahalf moon and the light from the blazingcity illuminating the cloudless sky, theyspottedaju onlyl50yd(I4 m)awayatthe same height. Deanesly got below andto starboard of the bomber, and Scott firedeveral short bursts, though h is turret was

not rotating at maximum speed. There wassome return fire, but then the ju disap­peared in a steep dive: it crashed ncarWrexham, and only two of the four crewbaled out.

With plenty of fuel and ammunitionleft, Deanesly and Scott decided to con­tinue to patrol. At 23.5511.1' they saw aDornier at the same height about 250yd(23 m) away, pas ing right over them.Deanesly turned and chased, closing inbelow and astern. Once more cottopened fire, and hits were seen on the fuse-

Successful Sorties over liver­pool

ingly worried about barrage balloons, andclimbed away.

The Heinkel hit a balloon cable andcra hed between two house in HaleLane, Smethwick, the wing demolishingthe houses and killing even inhabitants,who could not go in their Anderson shel­ters because they were flooded. Two of thecrew baled out and were captured, but theothers died in the crash. Deanesly landedback at Tern Hill particularly satisfied withhi night's work: not only had he brokenhis duck, but he had done so not far fromthe place of his birth, Wolverhampton,where his Defiant had also been made. Hisgrandfather was john Marston, who hadfounded john Marston Ltd, which madeDefiant radiators amongst others, and theSunbeam Motor Car Co., which had madeaero engines and aircraft during WorldWar I.

jack cott was commended for havingfired only 494 rounds to bring down theHeinkel. But yet again their success wasfollowed immediately by another No. 256

quad ron Defiant lost: the next night3460 crashed at Cheslyn Hay near Can­

nock, only 20 miles (30km) from theHeinkel in Smethwick, after the crew, gtR. Dean/ gt R. Robinson, experiencedradio failure and baled out.

Iy, who had answered the call forvolunteers for the new Defiant night­fighter squadrons the previous autumn,and at the time commanded 'B' Flight of

o. 256 squadron.The day after the crash of 3424, on

the 10 April, nine of the squadron aircrafthad moved to Tern Hill in Shropshire inpreparation for a 'Fighter ight' overBirmingham. On Fighter Nights, certainareas and altitudes were left free by theanti-aircraft gun so that the night fighterscould roam at will. Deanesly was sched­uled to take off at 21.55hr, and a he tax­ied to the runway in Defiant 1771, codedJT-U, his gunner, the New Zealander Sgtjack Scott, remarked: 'Well, sir, I'd farrather go with you than anyone else!' Thishelped boost Deane.ly's morale enormous­ly.

They were vectored towards Birming­ham, and as they climbed through14,000ft (4,300m), they could see a largefire in the middle of a cloudless area ofabout 10 miles (16km) in diam·eter. Therewas a full moon, and they could see con­densation trails above them, so theyclimbed slowly to 20,000ft (6,000m). Fourmore fires broke out below them, and theycould see that the conden at ion trailspassed from north to south, and lost heightquickly beyond the fires as the bomberdived for home after releasing their load.

As they reached 2 ,000ft (6,000m) theintercom was jammed - by the BBC outhAfrican ervice, of all things! just thenScott saw a bomber to starboard, andpressed the green call light warningDeanesly to turn after it; but he lost sightof it as he did so. At around 23.55hr theysaw another bomber on the port sideabout 300yd (275m) away and 300ft(90m) below. A quick turn brought them600- OOyd (550-730m) behind thebomber, which was throwing out a con­densation trail and already diving.Deanesly dived after it and closed rapidly,throttling back to drop below it and toport.

When the bomber was on their beam,Scott opened fire and they saw strikes onthe engine. A second burst set the bomberon Fire, and this lit up the glazed nose, con­firming that it was a Heinkel He JJ J. Thebomber turned in towards them, therebyclosing the range from 200 to 50yd (I 0 to45m), and cott fired again. The fu elagewas now well alight, and they followed theburning bomber down to 10,000ft(3,OOOm), until Deanesly became increas-

Bombers Over Birmingham

had downed another Heinkel that night,the aircraft crashing near Dorking.

Replacing 0.307 Squadron at SquiresGate on 26 March, o. 256 quadron didnot have their fir t confirmed succes until7 April, when Fit Lt D. R. West/ gt R. T.Adams shot down a Ju over Southport,the bombs exploding on impact. Thatsame night, the radio on Defiant N 1694failed, and when the crew, Fit Sgt J. Sten­toni gt W. Ross, realized they were lostand running out of fuel, they baled out.The Defiant crashed at Hel all, not veryfar from the Junkers Ju . The followingnight Sgt J. D. H. Cunningahm/Sgt A. D.Wood were killed on take-off from SquiresGate in Defiant 3424.

After such tragedies, and with the onlysuccess being that of West/Adams, manyof the No. 256 crews were losing confi­dence during those long winter months.One such was Fit Lt Christopher Deanes-

DestroyedDestroyed

Destroyed

DestroyedProbableDamagedDestroyedDestroyedProbableDestroyedProbableDestroyedDestroyedDestroyedProbableDestroyedDestroyedDamagedDestroyed

Result

Heinkel He 111

Heinkel He 111Oornier Do 17

Target

Heinkel He 111Heinkel He 111Junkers Ju BBHeinkel He 111Heinkel He 111'Somber'Heinkel He 111Heinkel He 111Heinkel He 111Heinkel He 111Junkers Ju BBHeinkel He 111'Enemy a/c'Heinkel He 1112xHe111sSf 110

Pit Off Curtice/Pit Off MartinPit Off Gray/Pit Off Hil

Fg Off Young/Sgt RussellSqn Ldr Sanders/Pit Off SuttonFit Lt Stephenson/Pit Off MaggsPit Off Curtice/Pit Off Martin

Crew

Pit Off Hughes/Sgt GashPit Off Hughes/Sgt GashSgt Endersby/Sgt ChandlerPit Off Hughes/Sgt GashPit Off Walsh/Sgt HeydonSgt Wilkie/Sgt CrockSqn Ldr Sanders/Pit Off SuttonPit Off Hughes/Sgt GashFg Sgt Thorn/Fg Sgt SarkerPit Off Hughes/Sgt GashFit Lt Sarwell/Sgt Martin

OB.05.41DB 05.41

11.05.41

0905.4111.05.41

11.05.41

Date

16.10.4023.11.4009.01.4112.03.411203.4113.03.4108.04.41OB.04.4109.04.4116.04.4116.04.41

82 83

IGHT FIGHTING IGHT FIGHTING

A No. 151 Squadron Defiant with very unusual shark's mouth markings.

A No. 141 SquadronDefiant on night patrol.

Pit Off Frank lanning, DFC, who shot down twoenemy aircraft in one night as a No. 141 Squadrongunner.

minutes, the two fighters twisted andturned in a night-time dog-fight. Whenthey lost sight of one another Veritybelieved he must have shot it down andclaimed it a a probable. The o. 96

quadron's Operational Records Bookcommented that Verity's victims had 'paidthe price for getting too close to the fourguns of a Defiant'.

The other Defiant crews of o. 96Squadron claimed two Heinkels destroyedas well as a probable. Sgt Scott/SgtStreeter shot down an He III that crashedeast of Wrexham, and Sgt Taylor/SgtMcCormack took out another, whichbroke up in the air near Malpas, Cheshire.Then they chanced upon another raider,and after a 3sec burst that hit the portengine and cockpit, the bomber divedaway and was claimed as a probable.

Theother uccesse werebyPltOffHib­bert/Pit Off Haycock, who hit an He IIIthat dived vertically away; and gt

ain/ gt Windman who fired bursts attwo different Ju 88s, one of which was hitin the fuselage and one in an engine. Thusthe total core for o. 96 Squadron on 7May was four aircraft destroyed, threeprobable and one damaged. This wa thebest score in one night for a Defiantsquadron - but it was a record that wouldnot la t long.

On the same night No. 256 squadronclaimed three Heinkels shot down, and

A Run ofSuccessful Nights forDefiants: 7 May

The night of 7 May began a run of verysuccessful nights for the Defiant crews asthe Luftwaffe mounted a series of heavyraids in good weather, with little cloud anda half moon - just the condition 'eat'seye' fighters needed. On the 7th, liver­pool was the target for the second succes-ive night, and o. 96 Squadron at Cran­

age and No. 256 Squadron at quires Gatewere heavily engaged. Fg Off Verity of o.96 took off with good heart after claimingtwo the night before. He spotted a Ju 88,and his gunner shot it down in flames; buthe was then attacked himself by another Ju8 that he assumed was a fighter vel' ionon an intruder mission.

In an engagement that lasted nearly ten

Junkers turned north, away from them,and increased speed. They chased, butwere unable to gain on it, though theymanaged to avoid the odd burst of fire fromthe German gunners. everthele s, Lan­ning' first burst must have hit somethingvital, because the Junkers eventuallycrashed on Holy Island. When they land­ed back at Acklington the Defiant hadonly a few gallons of fuel left in the tanks.The two men received DFCs for thenight's work.

Frank Lanning had been given his firstflight in 1919, when he went up with hisparents and brother in the capacious rearcockpit of an Avro 536 during a joy-ridingsession at Hounslow. The pilot was FrankCourtney, who was also a freelance testrilot, and who did all the early flight-test­ing for Boulton & Paul Ltd.

Another o. 141 squadron crew, SgtMeredith/ gt Mott, also had a meritoriouscombat in May. They shot down a He IIIon 5 May after the expenditure of onlyixty rounds of ammunition.

On 6 May, Fg OffVerity/Sgt Wise of o.96 quadron were on patrol trying tointercept raiders that were bombing Liver­rool. They decided to dive to 10,000ft(3,OOOm) and to fly right over the firesburning below. Wise saw a Heinkel illumi­nated by the glow, and Verity banked anddived after it. Wise opened fire at 150yd(140m), and sent the bomber down inflames. ontinuing their patrol they saw aJu 88, and attacked it; however, they lostsight of it before they could be sure of itsdestruction, and could only claim it as aprobable.

Defiant, and though there was little appar­ent damage it eventually lost engine powerand belly-landed in Norfolk.

On the very next night, 4 May, aHeinkel He III of KG 53 had bombed Liv­erpool, and its crew must have felt rela­tively safe when they reached the Wash onthe way home. But suddenly the devastat­ing fire from a Defiant turret crashed intotheir underside, killing the wireless opera­tor instantly. Then the engines began los­ing oil, and the pilot had no other choicethan to belly-land at Brinton r Holt.Once again the crew were Sgt Bodien/ gtJones, making their third Defiant victory.Later in the war, Bodien would claim twomore, flying Mosquitos.

In the orth, o. 141 Squadron werealso having a series of victories. DuringMay they shot down a total of eightraiders, including two in one night by FgOff R. L. F 'Bingo' Day/Pit Off F C. A.Lanning. Flying from Acklington, theysaw a Heinkel He III flying below them,creeping over a blanket of white cloud Iikea fly walking across a white tablecloth. Daysideslipped and gained peed to achieve anattacking position below the bomber. Heflew to within 100ft (30m) of theHeinkel's belly, and then Lanning openedfire, sweeping his tracer aero s the under­sides of the bomber from engine to engine.The Heinkel burst into flame and divedaway, and Day followed it until it fell intothe grounds of Morpeth Hospital.

They landed, refuelled and re-armed,and then went up for a second patrol. Assoon as they arrived at their assigned alti­tude they spotted a Junkers Ju 88 in thedistance, heading out to sea. Day openedthe throttle wide, and they chased after it.They gained very slowly, and at about400yd (360m) Lanning opened fire. The

May: Best Month of the NightWar

This run of success continued into May:on the 2nd a Ju 88 was shot down by PitOff Edmi ton/Sgt Beale; and Pit OffStevens flying his Hurricane destroyedone He Ilion the 3rd, and two in onenight on 7 May. ergeant Bodien had part­ed company with hi gunner in more thanone way. On 3 May he was flying with gtWrampting, when they claimed a HeinkelHe III after a running fight that la ted45min. The following day Bodien wacommis ioned as a pilot officer.

During the fir t ten days of May theLuftwaffe returned to Great Britain inforce, making one last great effort beforemoving east. o. 151 had two further suc­cess over the Wash, a favourite route forthe raiders, bringing them as far west asthey could go before crossing the coast. On3 Maya Ju 88 of I/KG30 was fired on by a

taken prisoner, one of them for a secondtime, having been shot down over Belgiumin May 1940 amI then released when thatcountry surrendered.

The following night there was a Fighteright over Birmingham, and the o. lSI

Squadron Defiants shot down three of theraiders: two Ju 8s and another Heinkel.

gt Bodien/ gt Jone had claimed one ofthe Ju , and then Bodien dived afteranother bomber into the balloon barrage.

gt Jones in the turret was thoroughlyalarmed, and could not raise Bodien onthe intercom. Thinking his pilot musthave been killed in the first combat, heproceeded to bale out. Both landedunhurt, Bodien in Defiant N3387 andJones beneath his parachute.

84 85

'1GHT FIGHTING NIGHT FIGHTIl':G

J.D. North shows Sir Stafford Cripps the component parts of a Boulton Paul Type A turret.

Pit Off R. l. Lambe (left) and his gunner Pit Off John Toone at No. 256 Squadron dispersal hut, SquiresGate. The cross is from the Heinkel He 111 they shot down on 8 May 1941; it crashed into the River Deemarshes, Bagillt. Lambe survived the war, but Toone was killed in a Beaufighter in 1943.

alight. They followed the burning Heinkeldown to ,000ft (2,SOOm), and only brokeaway when they were so low that theycould see the ground fires highlighting thebarrage balloons. The Heinkel crashed at

Hazel Grove, near Stockport, at 01.30hr,though the German crew had baled out.Scott had expended 800 rounds in theshort action.

The team of Fit Lt West/Sgt Adamsachieved their second victory, shootingdown a Heinkel He III, and Pit OffToone/Pit Off R.L. Lamb got a third HeIll, hitting it with a burst from 150yd.The Heinkel turned onto its back anddived vertically, crashing and exploding inLiverpool Docks.

Over on the orher ide of the country,0.255 quad ron had the satisfaction of a

victory within sight of their base at Kirton­in-Lindsey: gt Johnson/ gt Aitchesonshot down a Heinkel He III over theTren t, and it fell in flames from 10,000ft(3,OOOm). It wasn't very often that thegroundcrews actually witnessed su h a uc­cess, made possible by their labours.

On the same night Fit Lt Trousdale/ gtChunn, flying Defiant 3378, saw anenemy raider but could nor catch it; but

A No. 264 Squadron Defiant, location unknown, in

front of a Fairey Battle.

Run of Success: 8 May

On May 1941, No. 264 quadronreturned ro the skie over France for thefirst time since their last battle overDunkirk nearly a year before; this was to

begin intruder operations. o. 141Squadron had flown the first Defiantintruder operation on the night of 7/8April, but without success. o. 264 wereto have better luck: operating over theGerman nighr-fighter airfields in the earlyhour, Pit Off Curtice/Pit Off Martin shotdown one Bf 110 and damaged anorher,and Pit Off Gray/Pit Off Hill similarly shotdown one He III and damaged two more.

On this night the Luftwaffe were send­ing bombers to the north-we t for the th irdnight running, and as the Germansapproached in the early hours of the th,both o. 96 and o. 256 quadron oncemore sent up patrols from Cranage andSquires Gate, hoping for the ame level ofsuccess. No. 96 Squadron drew a blank,but No. 256 had several more victories.

qn Ldr E. C. Deanesley/ gt Jack cottrook off at 00.30hr and climbed to14,000ft (,700m) over Manchester,already burning in several places. cottspotted one bomber 2,000ft (600m) below,but was unable to direct Deanesly onto it.Then at 01.l5hr they both saw an aircraftat the ame altitude coming out of theanti-aircraft barrage, 500yd (460m) awayoff their port bow. Deanesly turned after itand approached slightly below until theyrecognized it as a Heinkel He III - theycould even see the black crosses on thewings and fuselage. At a distance of about100yd (90m) cott opened fire, but noreturn fire came their way. The bomberdived steeply away. They moved to deadastern below the tail, and cott aimed ateach engine in turn, setting them both

three other bombers damaged: twoHeinkels and a Ju 88. It may well havebeen that several Ju 88 intruders wereoperating with the bomb r stream,because one shot down a Defiant, 3500,near Widne , though the cr w, Sqn LdrGatheral/Fg Off D. . Wallen, baled out.

A No. 256 Squadron night fighter attached to the trolley ack ready for an instant start-up.

86 87

NIGHT FIGHTING

No. 255 Squadron Defiants at dispersal at Kirton-in-lindsey.

No. 141 Squadron aircrew in the crew room late in 1940; one pilot is wearing dark goggles to preservehis night vision. Frank Lanning is third from the left, and another air gunner, Sgt l.H. Allen, is fifth from theleft.

The Night-Fighter Force isReshuffled

Run of Success: JJ May

On the II May, No. 264 once more stagedsuccessful intruder missions over northernFrance, Sqn Ldr Sanders/ptt Off uttonshooting down one Heinkel He III andFit Lt Stephenson/Fg Off Maggs another.Pit Off Curtice/Pit Off Martin had theirsecond intruder victory when they shotdown a Domier Do 17. With threebombers hot down in one night, No. 264had achieved an echo of the successes theyrecorded a year earlier, also across theChannel.

Run of Success: J2 May

The following night, bombers returned tothe Exeter area once more, and gt Mali­nowski/ gt Jorzembow ki sighted aHeinkel He III flying at only 1,000ft(300m). They crept up on it and openedfire, whereupon the \-!cinkel went into ahalf roll and dived out of sight. The Defi­ant crew then spotted another Heinkel,and they turned on that and exchangedfire; but the bomber dived to sea level andwas 10 t. They then came across a thirdHeinkel, and this one they definitelydestroyed. When they landed back atExeter they found the airfield had ufferedheavy damge from three waves of attack­ing bombers, and two Defiant and oneFairey Battle had been damaged by straf­ing.

Down in the south-west, Exeter airfieldwas bombed once again on the 10th, butonly slight damage was done, and No.307's five patrols could not find the cul­prits.

The month of May was also the bestmonth of the night war for o. 14\Squadron, way north at Ayr, with detach­ments at Drem and Acklington: theyclaimed eight bombers shot down, theirDefiants finally moving into credit in theirfight with the Luftwaffe. The followingmonth, however, they began converting toBeaufighters, and this was to signal areshuffle of the night-fighter force over thecoming summer, the German raidersbecoming scarce as the Luftwaffe turnedits attention to Russia.

Aberdeen. He thought it appropriate tomake Bill Cuddie the pilot, and arrangedfor a Defiant turret to be locked in the for­ward position so that Cuddie could fire theguns if the need arose; Lord Lovatt madethe journey with his long frame squeezedin the turret. The reason for the journeyhad nothing to do with Hess, but wasbecause Lord Lovatt's son had just beenborn, though it was recorded as 'cross­country practice' in the Squadron's ORB.

Wolfe knew Lovatt well, becauseLovatt's Commando unit had 'captured'

o. 141 Squadron's dispersal during anexercise; but the RAF boys got their ownback two weeks later when they were wait­ing with torches attached to the Defiantturret guns, operated manually, and able toclaim all the attacking Commandos welland truly torched.

Cuddie to dive, which he did, reaching anincredible speed of 430mph (690kph). Fora short while the two blips on the radarscreen were on top of one another, but theDefiant crew could not see anything. Cud­die began to pull out of the dive, but onlymanaged to at around 1,000ft (300m). SqnLdr Wolfe was so concerned at the effect ofthis on the Defiant that he got the ground­crew to check the airframe for damageafter Cuddie landed; but such was thestrength of the Defiant that all was well.

The 'bandit' had continued on its way,but was soon to disappear from the radarscreens. It was the Bf 110 flown by RudolfHess, undertaking his crazy plan to arrangepeace terms through Lord Lovatt. As anaftermath of the Hess Affair, Sqn LdrWolfe was asked on 16 May to provide anaircraft to take Lord Lovatt from Ayr up to

Run of Success: JaMay

Revenge for No. 151 squadron came thefollowing night when two Defiants,crewed by Fit Lt Mcmullen/ gt Fairweathand Sgt Copelow/Sgt ampson, shot downa Ju 88 and an He Ill, respecti vel y; andthe indefatigable Pit Off Stevensdestroyed one He III and damaged anoth­er in his Hurricane. Pit Off Wagner/SgtSiedengart shot at three different Ju 88s,but each got away because their Defiantwas too slow to catch them. Pit Off Gay­zler/Plt Off Pfleger intercepted a Bf 110 onan intruder mission over Peterborough,but again, their Defiant wa too slow tocatch it.

The night of the 10 May was alsonotable for an interception that a Defiantdid not make. No. 141 quadron were atAyr, and at around 22.00hr, Fg OffWilliam Cuddie, a Canadian, was scram­bled to intercept a fast-moving 'bandit'coming in over the orth Sea at about5,000ft (l,500m). His squadron comman­der, Ted Wolfe, ordered him to patrol ataround 25,000ft (7,600m), conservingfuel, and waiting until the target arrived.Then he should dive at full throttle, and'with the assistance of Isaac ewton', hemight be able to catch the target. At theright moment ground control ordered

during World War I, but rather than leavemilitary service, he had become an SE.5Apilot with o. 74 quadron, hootingdown eleven German aircraft. He wasawarded the Military Cross, the DFC andthe DFM, and was one of three Defiantgunners entitled to wear Royal FlyingCorps pilot's wings. He was known on thesquadron as 'Timbertoes', and sadly he waskilled by one of the bomb.

In cotland, o. 141 Squadron tookpart in a Fighter Night over Glasgow onthe 9 May, and Sqn Ldr E. Wolfe/SgtAshcroft had their first victory of the warwhen they shot down a Junkers Ju 88 at01.09hr.

While all this action had been going onin the north, down in the south-west theskies had been quiet, and No. 307Squadron had flown four uneventfulpatrols on both the 7th and the 8th. Onthe 9th, however, the war came their wayonce more when their own airfield atExeter was bombed, and two Pol ish offi­cers were injured. The squadron oncemore flew four patrols, but no contact wamade.

With six raiders shot down in one night,five of them by the Defiants, it was the bestscore of any British night-fighter squadronin the war, and brought immediate mes­sages of congratulations from SirArchibald inclair, the Secretary of Statefor Air.

Just further south, o. 151 Squadronwere not so lucky, because a stray JunkersJu 88 bombed Wittering, and a stick ofbombs landed aero 'A' Flight dispersal,destroying two Defiants and damagingfour others. As the bomber attacked, PitOff idney Carlin ran toward his Defianthoping to climb into hi turret to use it asan anti-aircraft battery. At fifty-two yearsold he was the oldest Defiant gunner, andwas hampered in his run by havinga wood­en leg. He had lost his leg in the trenches

Smith now attacked another He 111, buthis aircraft was damaged by return fire andhe had to land.

The other uccesse for o. 255 were tobe credited to the Defiants. Pit OffWyrill/Sgt Maul were first, shooting downanother He 111 over Hull at 0 1.25hr. Onlythree minutes later, Pit Off Wynne­Williams/Sgt Plant shot down another atPatrington, and then Pit Off Wright/SgtMcChesney shot down a Ju 88 into thesea. The final two bombers shot down thatnight were again credited to 3378, butnow flown by its usual crew, Fit Lt Trous­dale/ gt Chunn. They shot down twoHeinkels in the space of just ten minutes,the first at 01.40hr, a few miles south-eastof Leconfield, and the second at 01.50hr;this one fell into the sea.

The German attack was against threecities: 129 bombers crossed the North Seato bomb Hull, ninety-five headed for ot­tingham and thirty-four for Sheffield.Covering that area was 255 Squadron,who sent aloft every Defiant they could, aswell a a small number of Hurricanes theyhad also taken on charge. A Hurricaneflown by Sqn Ldr Smith achieved the firstucce s, shooting down an He III just off­

shore. Only five days earlier he had cho ento fly a Defiant, and took as his gunner PitOff Fames, who had been Fit Lt Louden'sgunner in o. 141 Squadron's sole disas­trous daylight action, and had baled outinto the sea. In N3378 - the Defiant nowon display at the Boulton Paul AircraftHeritage Project - they had hot down a Ju88 just off the coast. In his Hurricane,

they were to make up for this on the fol­lowing night.

Run of Success: 9 May

The following night, 9 May, the sevenDefiant squadron prepared for anotherLuftwaffe assault, wondering in which sec­tors it would fall. But No. 264 Squadrondid not have to sit and wait, a 'A' Flightagain ent intruders over northern France,and once more achieved success. Pit OffYoung} gt Russell hot down another Bf110 night-fighter over Merville, the Ger­man crew baling out. After two recentbombing attacks on Belfast, 'B' Flight hadbeen despatched to utts Comer; but theGermans did not return to orthem Ire­land for a while.

88 89

Up to and including 2April 7947:

Type

BeaufighterBlenheimDefiantHurricaneSpitfireUnknown

3April to 28 May 7947:

Type

BeaufighterBlenheimDefiantHavocHurricaneSpitfire

liGHT FIGHTING

Night-Fighter Successes by Type. 1940-41

Destroyed Probable Damaged

16 3 11

21 18 11

6 3 6

12 8 11

15 8 4

1 1

Destroyed Probable Damaged

54 10 24

143.5 9 17

10 9 12

31 8 14

9 1 5

CHAPTER SIX

New Turret Fighters

The P.92/2 on the compass-swinging circle at Pendeford. showing the low dome simulating the gun turret on the full-size aircraft.

90

As the war progre sed, Boulton Paul hadcontinued to work on the P.92, the poten­tial Defiant replacement. The order for ahalf-scale flying model of the aircraft, theP.92/2, had gone to Heston Aircraft, andconstruction of the first prototype wasunder way, as well as testing of the largeturret ring and the surrounding structure.Then Lord Beaverbrook was appointedMinister of Aircraft Production byChurchill, and set about rationalizing theaircraft on order.

The Bristol Beau fighter had alreadyflown in prototype form, a heavy fighterthat had come about almost by accident. Itwas seen as the obvious replacement forthe Blenheim night fighters then in ser-

vice, an I wa ordered in large numbers.Boulton Paul were actually given an orderfor 2 °Beaufighters as part of a consor­tium to build the aircraft, but with Defiantproduction still not achieving the desiredfifty aircraft a month, wiser councils pre­vailed and the BeClufighter order was can­celled.

Also cancelled, on 26 May 1940, wasthe P.92. The first prototype was about 5per cent complete, but the type's introduc­tion into service wa unlikely to be withintwelve months, possibly twice that. Inview of the difficulties with the P.92's spec­ified engines, the Rolls-Royce Vulture andthe apier abre, when they went intoservice on other aircraft, it is clear that the

91

P.92 might well have been delayed evenmore than that. The Type L four-cannonturret wa not needed for the new RAFheavy bombers, as another of Beaver­brook's decisions was to concentrate onthe rifle-calibre machine-gun turretsalready in production. Whether the diffi­culties the company was experiencingwith the turret's 13ft (4m) diameter ringhad any bearing on the decision to cancelthe aircraft is not known.

The P.92/2 and its Short­comings

Despite the cancellation of the P.92, it was

An unusual model produced by Boulton Paul.showing the pressure distribution along thesurface of the P.92's wing.

NEW TURRET FIGHTERS

Th~ P.92/2 a few yards from where it was eventually broken up. The fixed undercarriage and the slight widening of the nose to accommodate the pilot were themain changes to an exact half-scale model.

A Replacement for theDefiant

relevant.After the P.92/2 had flown, a half-scale

dummy turret was ordered, to be poweredby an electric or an electro-hydraulicmotor, with half-scale cannon barrels thatwould range in length from 1 in (45cm) to5ft (1.5m). It was then estimated that thiwould take five to six months to build, andthere would be another five to six monthsto iron out the bugs in its operation. It wasdecided that this was not worth the manythousands of pounds that would beexpended on a purely academic exercise,and the half-scale turret was cancelled.

The P.92/2 was returned to the compa­ny on completion of the handling tests,which had been of only academic interestafter the cancellation of the P.92. The lit­tle aircraft was stored for some time in ashed half-way between the factory andPendeford airfield, alongsid the connect­ing taxiway, but before the end of the warit was chopped up for firewood.

The Type A gun turret fitted with a single20mm cannon, which had been tested onthe Defian t prototype, K8310, before thewar, was in ovember 1941 fitted to Defi­ant 1622 to test a new fairing to be fittedto the cannon barrel, designed to alleviatedrag. A related previously, the first fair­ings designed by the RAE had broken upin the air, and they were redesigned byBoulton Paul. They were fitted to thegreater part of the barrel protruding fromthe turret, and had a cro s-section like anelongated teardrop, with a fish-tail. Therewas 540z of lead in the leading edge, andthe fish-tail was tested at different diame­ters. Both Cecil Feather and LindsayNeale test-flew the aircraft, with RAEobservers, Mr Cameron or Mr Tomkins, inthe turret. In its best form the fairingdecreased torque considerably and was sat­isfactorily stable in all conditions. Withthe P.92 cancelled, its mo t likely usewould have been on the cannon turr tsplanned for heavy bombers, but in fact nosuch fairing was ever fitted to an opera­tional turret.

Even after the cancellation of the P.92,the need for an eventual replacement forthe Defiant and Beaufighter was, however,still seen. The Luftwaffe had launched itsfirst night-time attack on I June, when

engine nacelles. The fact that they couldtill be read quite easily demonstrated just

how near the pilot was to them, andexplained why complaints were madeabout the noisiness of the cockpit. Thefull-size P.92 would have had extensivesound-proofing to alleviate the noise prob­lem, and the pilot would have sat lightlyfurther forward in relation to the enginenacelles, which would have improved theview sideways - another cause for com­plaint.

The trials proved that the P.92/2 wasvery pleasant to handle, but that its dragwa higher than the figures suggested bythe RAE wind-tunnel model. However,the stability was better than that suggestedby the 2/7th scale model, probably becauseof the lower power of the Gipsy Majorengine. It was thought that the full-sizeaircraft, if it had been built, would havehad stability figures nearer to tho e of themodel. Obviously those in the RAEpreparing the report were unaware of theintermediate l/7th scale model with a newwing plan. In October 1944 the companysubmitted a report pointing out that theP.92/2 had the same wing plan as thismodel, which had satisfactory stability,and that therefore the P.92 would be morelikely to conform to this, and not to thel/7th scale model, which was no longer

An air-to-air shot of the P.92/2. which spent most of its short life at Pendeford.

EW T RRET FIGHTERS

decided to complete the half- cale P.92/2that was already under construction atHeston Aircraft. This all-wooden aircraftmade its first flight in the spring of 1941 atthe hands of Boulton Paul's chief test pilot,Cecil Feather. After a small number offamiliarization flights at Heston, it wasflown to Pendeford, and the centre sectionwas fitted with pressure pick-up points andwas tufted for aerodynamic trials. RobinLindsay Neale had his first flight in V3142on 4 eptember 1941, and the P.92/2 final­ly went to Bo combe Down for handlingtrials in June 1943.

The P.92/2 was not exactly a practicalaircraft, as it was limited by its role. Thepilot could only enter the cockpit viatemporary steps when the engines werenot running, be ause of the proximity ofthe propeller arc, and the canopy was aone-piece removable item that could onlybe fixed with the help of someone on theoutside. The A & AEE pilots were alarmedto find they could not reach the handlethat collapsed the seat prior to making anemergency exit through the fuselage hatchprovided for the purpose. A piece of stringattached to this handle eased their minds,though happily it was never needed.

Because of a lack of room in the narrow,cramped cockpit, the engine instrumentshad to be pia ed on the inside of the

92 93

EW T RRET FIGHTERS NEW T RRET FIGHTERS

Alit- PRESSURE GpWGE

Technical Information for the Boulton Paul P.96

P.96A P.968 P.96D P.96D (no turret)Engine Sabre Sabre Centaurus CentaurusArmament 6x20mm 4x20mm 6x20mm 4x20mm

no turret turret no turret turretTop speedat 21,OOOh 415mph 392mph 389mph 367mph6,400m 668kph 631 kph 626kph 591 kph

Span 45ft lOin 45ft lOin 45ft 1Din 45ft lOin13.97m 13.97m 13.97m 13.97m

Length 37ft 5in 37ft 5in 39ft 8in 39ft 8in11.41m 11.41m 12.09m 12.09m

A model of the P.96B with the Napier Sabre engine, a Type A turret and two forward-firing 20mm cannon.

,... 1.· '~l •• 111,>""00

31M" f1llD' i:OQllooQ..

apier Sabre 6SM, or the 2,300hpBristol Centaurus CE45M. It was offeredin two distinct versions, with either a TypeA Defiant turret, and the pilot operatingthe Al equipment, or without a turret andan Al operator beneath a long transparentcanopy in the rear fuselage, facing for­wards. With the turret, the aircraft wouldalso be fitted with either two or four for­ward-firing cannon. The version withoutthe turret would have six fixed forward-fir­ing cannon.

The aircraft wa thus not a 'turret fight­er' in the same way as the Defiant or Roc,a the armament was to be split in the sameway a the Hawker Demon' had been.The aircraft had an all-up weight ofaround 13,OOOlb (5,900kg) and the abre­engined version was estimated to have atop speed of 367mph (591 kph) at 2l ,000ft(6,400m) with the turret, or 389mph(626kph) without. The estimates for the

entaurus-engined versions were 392mph(631 kph) at 34,000ft (l0,363m) with theturret, or an impressive 4I5mph (668kph)without.

A drawing exists of a standard Defiantequipped with ix forward-firing cannon,to illustrate tests with three alternativefairings. Test one was with individual con­ical sleeves for each cannon; te t two was

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true figure was worse than that. One of theHeinkels also shot down a pitfire thatjoined in the attack with a Blenheim, andanother damaged a second Blenheim thathad al a been attacking.

Boulton Paul's submission for pee.E18/40, the P.96, was virtually an enlargedDefiant, powered with either the 2,300hp

A new specification, EI8/40, was drawnup and issued in August 1940 for a dedi­cated night fighter. It required a two-seataircraft armed with either four cannon andix machine gun, like the Beaufighter, or

six cannon. It was to have a top peed of400mph (644kph) at 20,000ft (6,000m), aservice ceiling of 35,000ft (10, 700m) anda three-hour patrol endurance. The fit­ment of a gun turret was not a definiterequirement.

Fairey prepared a version of the Fireflyto this specification, Gloster designedtheir G.39, Miles the M.22A, and Hawkertheir PIOO .

Boulton Paul's P96

Specification for a DedicatedNight Fighter

The Type N cannon turret, a Type A re-armed with a single 20mm cannon.

the Heinkels of KG4 were detailed tobomb the airfields at Mildenhall and Hon­nington. The British force standing readyto oppose them consisted of just twoBlenheim squadrons, No. 23 at ollywest­on and o. 29 at Debden; two Spitfiresquadrons were also on standby. By theend of the night the Luftwaffe had lost sixHeinkels - but the RAF had also lost threeBlcnheims and a Spitfire. From smallbeginnings such as this, a picture of a bet­ter night fighter was evolved. The single­seaters proved that they could operate atnight, though the difficulty of landing a

pitfire at night soon led to the Hurricanebeing the preferred aircraft.

The ability to carry heavy armament tode troy the raider with the fir t burst wasquickly realized. After the first burst thebomber could rake evasive action, and wasthen easily lost in the darkness of thenight. In a prolonged battle, the four fixedforward-firing machine guns of theBlenheim were often not enough to over­power the defensive guns of the raider, andit would be touch and go which would beshot down. On that first night, threeHeinkels were shot down by Blenheims,who were also themselves shot down bythe defensive fire. A one-for-one loss ratewas clearly unacceptable, especially as the

94 95

NEW TURRET FIGHTERS EW T RRET FIGHTERS

The Boulton Paul P.96C with a Napier Sabre engine.

97

• 10! I

, 4 • • 7! ! t ! !

SCAl.t! ,,.. ,.eeT

BOULTON PAUL AIRCRAFT L~. 'w'OLVERHI\MPTON

The Boulton Paul P.96D without a turret and with six forward-firing 20mm cannon.

':'.A..! "4....UNITION BOX

,~ 1f·1::+, -- -A"4MUNITION BOX~~ .'l J

----

FIGHTING POSiTION

96

A.M. SPEC. F.18/40

SINGLE ENGINE TWO SEATER NIGHT FIGHTER

I. NAPIER St\BRE SERIES NSGSM ENGINE

BOULTON P"'UL SERIES P9GC

\

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-----Ij l

1 1'-'::::=:;!-

""-RMOl.JR PROTECTION SHOWN THUS~

BOULTON PAUL AIRCRAFT L'tO. WOLVERHAMPTON.

The Boulton Paul P.96.

EW T RRET FIGHTERS EW TURRET FIGHTERS

The Centaurus-powered P.96 with a Type A turret and four forward-firing cannon.

An artist's impression of the P.96B head-on.

A model of the P.97B with the Type A gun turret as well as fixed forward-firing cannon.

on the underside of th fu elage pod andno turret.

There were two alternative positions forthe Al operator: in the first he sat well tothe rear of the pilot in a stepped-up po i-

fixed cannon armament plus a gun turret,which could easily be removed as requiredin service. In its P.97A version it wasarmed with six 20mm cannon with 900rounds of ammunition, in a weapons bay

with tapered group fairing for each set ofthree cannon; and test three wa with thecannon below the wings in a nacelle-likegroup fairing. The drawing does not indi­cate the nature of the tests or their date,but they were unlikely to be in the air;most probably they were wind-tunnel testsin connection with the P.96 project. Theymight also have been connected with theidea of building a single-seat Defiantarmed with twelve machine guns or ixcannon, an idea that was rejected at a spe­cial conference on 4 eptember 1940, onthe basis that two-seat Defiants were need­ed and it would have been wrong to havedisrupted their production.

Boulton Paul's P97

The Air Ministry decided that single­engined aircraft could not have sufficientperformance to meet the pecification,and 0 Boulton Paul designed a twin­engined aircraft, the P.97, with the samebasic themes. The P.97 was a twin-boomdesign powered by two apier abreNS.6SM engines, and fined with a tricycleundercarri<lge. The specification called for

The P.92/2 half-scale model of the proposed P.92 turret fighter, showing the slim lines of the fuselage.

98 99

lEW T RRET FIGHTERS EW T RRET FIGHTERS

two extra 2501b (l13.5kg) bombs, turningthe aircraft into a conventional three-seatmedium bomber. With both turret and A1position removed, the aircraft could beflown a a long-range, single-seat fighter.

The main fuel tanks were in the wingcentre-secti n, with capacity for 520gal(2,360Itr). With the turr t removed, over­load tanks totalling 230gal (1 ,050Itr)would be ited in the turret bay, and justforward of it. For ferry flights, another170gal (nOltr) jettisonable tank could becarried in the weapons bay on the bombracks.

Using the P.97 as a basis, Boulton Paulalso submitted a brochure for a pilot-oper­ated movable cannon mounting. Slots oneither side of the cockpit would contain20mm cannon able to move in elevationonly, in conjunction with a special gun-ight. Thi had echoes of the revolving

Lewis gun barbettes on the second Boul­ton Paul Bittern prototype twelve yearearlier, but this new cannon mountingcould be depressed below the horizontalfor ground attack, as well as raised for air­to-air firing, from beneath a target oracross the arc of a turn in a dogfight.

The concept of attacking a surface tar­get while flying straight and level was to

re-emerge a few years later when the Boul­ton Paul Type L mounting was de igned forthe nose of the hackleton, a very similarmounting as that envisaged for the P.97,but later altered, with the cannon muchcloser together for production; this wasmade possible by moving the Shackleton'sraclar from the nose, to a ventral position.The nose gunner was thus able to fire at asurface target as the Shackleton made alow-level bombing run, to suppress returnfire.

. '

,-r- ­;..-

J,..) . ,.' .-.

-~~---

General arrangement of the P.97A.

tion, behind his own wind creen, and waprovided with a revolving seat so he couldhave good all-round vision. This versioncovered the removable turret facility in itssimplest form and without disturbing theaircraft's centre of gravity; however, it didnot allow close access of the Al operator tothe pilot, as required by the specification.As an alternative the Al operator wouldhave been provided with an aircraft con­trolunit connected to the automatic pilot,allowing him to control the aircraft in thelast stages of an interception.

1n the second version, the A1 operatorsat right behind the pilot beneath a long,flush-fitting canopy. H was also providedwith a swivelling seat to provide rear warn­ing, and this could be raised to give the A1operator a forward view. The top of hiscanopy folded forward to form a wind-creen, in much the same manner a that

of the rear seat of a Miles Ma ter.The P.97B version was equipped with

two fixed cannon plus the Type A gun tur­ret, and the radar was therefore operatedby the pi lot. The turret was the basic TypeA with improvements, so that the gunscould be depressed to 20 degrees below thehorizontal, though this limited their ele­vation to 70 degrees. There was aretractable fai ri ng to the rear of the turretin the manner of that on the Defiant, andthe aircraft was also capable of carrying sixcannon a well as the turret, therebyexceeding the pecification requirements.

Two 500lb (227kg) bombs could also becarried in the weapons bay if four of thecannon were removed, giving the P.97extra versatility as an intruder or ground­attack aircraft. The aircraft could be fur­ther modified by replacing the lower for­ward nacelle with a new unit containing aprone bomb-aiming position, and space for

\"

I l11k--------------,l;

I

General arrangement of the P.97B.

A model of the P.97A, with the radar operator in a cockpit just behind the pilot. A head-on view of the P.97A, normally armed with six 20mm cannon.

700 707

:'JEW TURRET FIGHTERS EW T RRET FIGHTERS

(Left) A sketch of the use of the nose-cannonmounting for ground attack - a mounting designedwith the P.97 in mind. which came to fruition withthe Shackleton nose mounting.

Interestingly, the considerable amountof work that Boulton Paul had done withregard to the use of plastic materials in air­craft, with many Defiant ranels beingredesigned in the material, led the compa­ny to claim that much of the P.97, includ­ing the tail boom, tail plane, fin, rudder,outer wings and gun doors would be madeof this material once the P97 was in pro­duction. The company had first used plas­tic in aircraft as far back as 1919, when thePI0 biplane exhibited at the Paris Salond' Aeronautique had fuselage panels ofBakel ite- Di lecto.

The ML Night Fighter

A imilarly powered twin-boom fighterwas also designed to Spec. El /40 by R.Malcolm Ltd, of lough. It was designatedthe ML Night Fighter, using the initials ofits designer's name, Marcel Lobelle.M.J .0. Lobelle had been a Belgian refugeeduring World War I, and had becomeFairey' chief designer in 1924, joining R.Malcolm Ltd just before the war.

The ML ight Fighter wa submittedfor consid ration in January 1941, and hada far more radical engine and armamentlayout than the P.97. The apier abreengines were in push/pull arrangement ateach end of the central pod, amI there wasonly a singl fin and rudder placed cen­trally on the tailplane in the slipstream ofthe engines. The pilot sat in the portboom/fuselage. The armament wa carriedin two gun turrets at the front of eachboom: the port turret was fitted with thespecified six .303in machine guns with6,000 round, and the tarboard one withtwo 20mm cannon and 150 rounds. Thegunners could thus only fire over the for­ward hem isphere. Jn add i[ion there weretwo fixed forward-firing 20mm cannonand 150 rounds in the wings, fired by thepilot.

The technical details submitted by thecompany mentioned a nose-wheel under­carriage, but rhe photographs of a modelattached to the proposal showed a rail­wheel, with the leg attached to the centralfin.

2xNapier Sabre NS.6SM. 2.235hp58ft 6in (17.86m)45ft 6in (13.87m)525sq ft (48.77sq mj6.519.5861b (8.840kg) (p97Aj; 19.2321b (8.723kgj (P.97B)520gal (2.363Itr)

Technical Information for the Boulton Paul P.97

EnginesSpanLengthWing areaAspect ratioLoaded weightFuel capacity

P.97A (without turret) P.978 (with turret)Top speedat 20,000ft 404mph 398mph(6.000m) (650kph) (640kphl

at 22.500ft 419mph 413mph(6.860m) (674kph) (665kphl

at 34,000ft 425mph 418mph(10.360m) (684kph) (673kph)

Rate of climbat sea level: 3.520ft/min 3.560ft/min

(1.073m/min) 1.085m/minjTimeto 20.000ft 6.7min 6.6min(6.100m)

Ceiling 39.500ft 39,50Oft(12.040m) (l2,040m)

Range 1,430 miles 1,430 miles(2.300km) (2.300kml

.,~ ~1'tf! I£.~I

II

FIG.8

PORT tI M SPEC. F.18/40

T'WIN ENGINED TWO SEATER NIGHT FIGHTER

2. NN'IER Sf\BRE SERIES NSGSM ENGN:S

BOULTON PN-L SERIt=S P976

STt\RBOI\RO/'

ot=Jo

RnlOVABL£ ClLLFOR CONV(R51 N ALT£RNATIVE5

___-..:..-~-------i-----.----r----__

PORT f\.M SPl':c. F.18/40

T'vJ\N ENGNEO TW'O SEflER NIGHT FiGHTER

2. NN'IER SABRE seRIES NSIOSM ENGN::SBOULTON PN-L SERIES P.97A.

STI\RBOI\RD

T\,@;II

I

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,: _....!----i:...-~-J-___;:......r--"---+

60ULTON PI\UL "IRCRI\FT LT~ \oIOLVERHI\MPTON

The fuselage of the P.97. showing the equipment layout.

102 103

NEW TURRET FIGHTERS EW T RRET FIGHTERS

Technical Details for the Ml Night Fighter

EnginesSpanLengthWing areaAspect ratioAirscrew diaLoaded weight

Top speed:at sea levelat 5,OOOft (1,500m)at 1O.OOOft (3.000m)at 15,OOOft (4.500m)at 19.000ft (5,BOOm)at 25.000ft (7.600mlat 30,OOOft (9,1 OOm)Climb to:1O.OOOft (3,OOOm)15.000ft (4.500m)20.000ft (6.000ml25.0001t (7.600m)30.000ft (9.1 OOm)Service ceiling:Range:

2x Napier Sabre NS.6SM, 2.235hp66ft 120m)Bft (14.6m)600sq ft (5Bsq ml7.2514ft (4.3ml1.500lb (9,750kg)

362mph (5B2kph)386mph (621 kph)382mph (615kph)400mph (644kphl425mph (684kph)414mph (666kph)404mph (650kphl

3.2min4.9min6.8min9Amin12.7min38.500ft (11,735ml4hr at 225mph (362kph)

704

(Above) Four views of a model of the ML NightFighter. showing a tail-wheel undercarriage.

The Gloster Reaper

The Boulton Paul P.97 was considered tooradical by the Air Ministry, and so thehighly unusual ML Night Fighter stood lit­tle chance of acceptance. The preferredfighter to emerge from the El /40 specifi­cation was entirely conventional, but hadstarted life as a turret fighter: the GlosterE34/35. Gloster had rede igned this air­craft to the E9/37 cannon fighter specifi­cation, with the turret removed and fivefixed forward-firing 20mm cannon fitted,two in the lower forward fuselage beneaththe pilot, and three in the upper rear fuse­lage where the turret had been. Two pro­totypes of the E9/37 design were built, onewith Bri tol Taurus engine, and one withRolls-Royce Peregrines, the powerplant ofthe successful E9/37 design, the WestlandWhirlwind.

Anxious not to abandon a promising

design, Gloster adapted it in 1939 withMerlin engines, one or two crew, and theheaviest armament then considered for afighter: four 20mm cannon in the lowerforward fuselage, and a tray of eight .303inmachine guns beneath the fuselage wh rethe turret had been. This design was calledthe Gloster Reaper, and the Air Ministryconsidered it would form the basis for anexcellent solution to the EI /40 pecifica­tion. Boulton Paul were given instructionsto help Gloster with the detail design ofthi fighter, but when it became clear, first,that the Reaper would not be available forproduction until well into 1942, and alsothat the de Havilland Mosquito wouldform the basis for an excellent night fight­er with even better performance, theGloster Reaper was cancelled.

The Beaufighters

The adaptation of an existing design totake a gun turret was an alternative to thedesign of a brand new airframe. In March1941 two Merlin-engined BeaufighterMk.lls, R2274 and R2306, were adaptedon the production line to take a BoultonPaul Type A four-gun turret, sited immedi­ately behind the pilot's cockpit. The turretwas equipped to elevate the guns from aminimum of 21 degree to 84 degrees,clearing all part of the aircraft' structure.The small observer's canopy normally fit­ted was replaced by a flush metal panel.The six wing-mounted machine guns andtwo of the fuselage cannon were also delet­ed. In this form the aircraft was re-de ig­nated the Beaufighter Mk.V.

One of the aircraft, R2274, went toBoscombe Down for brief handling trialsand to investigate the effects of speed onthe turret operation. It was found that atspeed of 400mph (644kph) achieved in adive, turret rotation remained within 1degree per second of the normal average.At this speed there was some vibration inthe cupola panels, and the turret was foundto be very draughty when the guns werepointed forward. The rotation of the turretdid not affect the handling of the aircraft.

Both Beaufighters were sent for trialwith No. 406 Squadron at Acklington,and later by the RAE's premier night­fighter squadron, o. 29. The arrange­ment was found to have three significantmerits. First, it was easier to engage a low­moving target, which could easily be over­shot in a normal fixed-gun approach, andthen lost in the darkness. Second, it

enabled the crew to make the best of a badapproach, letting the gunner open fireeven when it would be impossible for thepilot to place his sights on the target. Last­ly, it let the Beaufighter approa h frombeneath the target, which was more visiblefrom below on dark nights. These advan­tages were something the Defiant crewsalready knew about.

o more Beaufighters were fitted withthe turret because it reduced the top speedof the aircraft too much, from 303mph(48 kph) at 15,000ft (4,500m) to 2nmph(438kph). Also, the turret blocked thepilot's em rgency exit, a hatch in the floorimmediately behind his eat.

The Fraser-Nash Havoc

The major advantage of the turret fighterin night fighting, the ability to approachand attack the target from below, was nowwidely recognized, and in March 1941Frazer-Nash adapted a Douglas Havoc,BD 126, to take movable, upward-firingguns. Six .303in machin guns were fittedin two rows of three beh ind the pi lot'cockpit. They could move in elevationfrom 3-50 degrees, and in traverse 19degrees either side of the centreline. Theirmovement was controlled by a gunnerseated in the glazed nose of the aircraftwith a remote sight and a clear visionpanel in the roof. The mounting was des­ignated the .71, and wa inspected atTolworth on 2 April 1941. The 'field ofsearch' for the gunner was criticized, andthis was modified by Frazer-Nash; themounting was then re-designated theEN.n.

The Havoc was delivered to the FighterInterception nit on 24 July 1941 for tri­als, and later also went to No. 85Squadron, an operator of tandard Havocnight fighters. Although both of the efound the installation very effective, nomore Havocs were converted, firstlybecause putting the gunner in the nose leftno room for forward-firing guns, and alsobecause the Havoc was considered tooslow for further development.

The Mosquito

When the Mosquito came into ervice as anight fighter during the summer of 1941, itprovided an airframe that wa not tooslow; a proposal to adapt the aircraft totake a Bristol Type B.XI Mk.1 four-gun tur­ret was therefore accepted. One Mosquito,

705

W4050, wa completed with a dummy tur­ret on 24 July 1941; two more airframes,W4053 and W4073, were th n fitted withthe turret at Salisbury Hall, and flew outon 14 September and 5 December 1941.The reduction in the top speed of the air­craft with the turret fitted once moreended any further development, especiallyas the normal Mosquito night fighter withfixed guns was by now achieving satisfac­tory result.

Finding a Defiant Replacement

The proje t to find a turret-fighterreplacement for the Defiant was still onthe agenda, however, and on 24 April1942 a conference looked at three newalternative. The first was a Defiant fittedwith a Merlin 61 engine, that would giveit a top speed of 321 mph (516kph) at26,000ft (7,900m), a ceiling of 35,500ft(10,800m) and an endurance of 3.19hr.

The second was a new airframe with aBristol Centaurus engine: this would havea top speed of 368mph (592kph) at22,500ft (6,850m), a ceiling of 31,500ft(9,600m) and an endurance of 3.8hr.Whether thi was the Boulton Paul P.96 isnot clear, though the P.96 is quoted as hav­ing a better performance than these figuressuggest. The third option was an aircraftpowered by two Rolls-Royce Griffonengines, with a top speed of 3 5mph(619kph) at 27,000ft ( ,230m), a ceilingof 36,100ft (11,000m) and an enduranceof 4hr. Again, whether this scheme wasrelated to the Boulton Paul P.97 is notclear. The conference decided that none ofthese options provided sufficient perfor­mance, and the project to find a Defiantreplacement was dropped.

In the USA

Though a turret fighter to follow the Defi­ant did not come to fruition in GreatBritain, it did on the other side of theAtlantic. As reports of Briti h experienceagainst German night-bombing raidsbegan to filter through to the Americans,it became clear that a dedicated nightfighter was required. The ad hoc use ofstandard day fighters at night, which hadbeen the usual practice of most air forcesup to then, wa clearly not acceptable.Although Britain led the world in airborneradar, in 1940 the Americans were alreadyworking on air-to-air radar, and it was alsoclear that a modern night fighter required

NEW T RRET FIGHTERS NEW TURRET FIGHTERS

Comparison between the Boulton Paul P.97 and the Northrop P-61

Boulton Paul P.97 Northrop P-67B

Type Night Fighter Night FighterLayout TWin booms Twin booms

Nose-wheel u/c Nose-wheel u/cCrew Two ThreeEngine 2x Napier Sabre 6SM Pratt &Whitney R-2800Power 2,235hp/ea 2.250hp/eaFixed armament 6x 20mm cannon 4x 20mm cannonTurret armament 4x .303in 4x O.5in

Span 58ft 6in 66ft117.83m) (20.12ml

Length 45ft 6in 48ft 11 in113.87m) (14.93ml

even knew they were under attack.On the night of 30/31 March 1944, 7 1

Lancasters and Hal ifaxes set out foruremberg expecting cloud cover, but

finding instead clear skies. A total of nine­ty-five of the bombers failed to return tenmore were destroyed in crashes on ~heirreturn, and 440 aircrew were killed, with148 more taken prisoner. A great numberof the aircraft shot down succumbed to theLuftwaffe's 'sloping mu ic', and the skyover Germany was lit again and again byexploding bomber, which horrified theother crews and led to a rumour of a secretGerman weapon. But it wa no secret tothe crews of the Defiant turret fighterswho had used the same attacking tech­nique three years previously.

Northrop P-61 Victories during World War II

Pacific/Asia

Victories Probables5th Air Force (3 squadronsl 37 47th Air Force 13 squadrons) 22 313th Air Force (2 squadrons) 6 110th Air Force 11 squadronl 0 014th Air Force (1 squadron) 5 1

Europe/Mediterranean

9th Air Force (2 squadronsl 53 712th Air Force (4 squadrons) 5 0

Total 128 16

Air-to-air shot of the Northrop P-61 CBlack Widow with the turret locked to fire forward.

victories. From the 201 t productionexample of the P-61 B, the gun turret wasreintroduced. A new General Electric tur­ret with a redesigned fire control 'y temwas fitted. A total of 250 turret-equippedP-61 Bs were built, and then they were up­planted on the orthrop production linesby the P-61C, with turbo-charged R-2800engines giving 2,800hp, which gave agreatly increased performance to the air­craft. Maximum speed was increased to430mph (690kph) at 30,000ft (9,000m),and the service ceiling was raised by8,000ft (2,430m) to 41,000ft (l2,500m).

Although it was the last turret fighter togo into service, the P-61's turret was onlyused in the fixed forward-firing position.The turret fighter's ability to attack frombeneath or on the beam was not exploited.In part thiS was due to improvements inairborne radar, which made approachesfrom the rear of a target easier to co-ordi­nate. By the time the P-61 entered servicethere were very few targets, and the bulk ofthe work undertaken by the P-61squadron was intruding, usually groundattack.

At the same ti me that the P-61 BlackWidow was entering service with a turretthat would only be used to fire straightahead, and the RAF had abandoned nightfighters with turrets, the Luftwaffe was fit­ting its night fighters with upward-firinggun, albeit fixed at a teep angle. The sys­tem was called Schrage Musik (SlopingMusic), the German for 'jazz', and itenabled German night-fighter pilot toattack the unprotected undersides of RAFheavy bombers with a great deal of accura­cy. They were often able to aim specifical­ly for the fuel tanks or engines, so that thebomber would explode before the crew

Flight testing of the first aircraft revealedtail-buffeting problems when the turretwas operated, so this was deleted on thefirst production batch of P-61s, whichwere given the name 'Black Widow'. Inany case, the same basic turret wa beingused on the Boeing B-29, which had prior­ity. Deliveries of production P-61 As com­menced in October 1943, followed by theP-61B in July 1944 to the Pacific theatre,where the Black Widow recorded its first

The P-61 Black Widow goesinto Production

ing resemblance to the Boulton Paul P.97project, with very similar armament,power, size and performance. It was a twin­boom aircraft powered by two 2,250hpPratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wa pradial. The fuselage pod contained a crewof three: pilot; radar operator, in a raisedposition with his own windscreen; and agunner facing aft in the rear of the fuselagenacelle, who operated the remote-controldorsal turret containing four 0.5in Brown­ing machine guns. These could be fixeJ tofire forwards, together with the four for­ward-firing 20mm cannon in the lowerfuselage. Like the P.97, the P-61 could alsocarry two 1,0001b (454kg) bombs underthe outer wings.

The first detailed designs for a turretfighter to Spec. F.9/33 had produced air­craft as big as medium bombers, such as theBoulton Paul P-74. Ten years later the lastdetailed designs for turret fighters, such asthe Boulton Paul P-97 and the orthropP-61 Black Widow, had also produced air­craft as big as medium bombers. The cir Iewa complete.

Northrop P-61 Block Widow

Late in 1940 the orthrop Aircraft or­poration began to design a dedicated nightfighter that would incorporate the cle­ments suggested by Briti h experience: suf­ficient performance, heavy armamentincorporating a turret, long endurance,amI a radar operator with the best Al radaravailable. Northrop looked at differentconfigurations, for a while considering twogun turrets, one on the nose and one onthe dorsal position; thi would haverequired a crew of four: two gunners, apilot and an AI operator.

The Army Air Corps was happy to backorthrop' interest in the project, and on

I I January 1941, two prototypes of theNorthrop design were ordered as the XP­61. Two months later a static test specimenand thirteen pre-produ tion YP-61s werealso ordered. On 1 September 1941, nearlyix month before even the prototype XP­

61 had flown, 150 production exampleswere ordered by the nited States ArmyAir Corps. Such was the AAC' desper­ate need for night fighters that on 12 Feb­ruary 1942 another 4 lOP-6 Is wereordered. Fifty of these aircraft were to beassigned to the Royal Air Force - though inthe event Britain only ever received one P­61, for evaluation. It was, incidentally,flown by the Boulton Paul test pilot, RobinLindsay calc, on a 30min flight fromBoscombe Down, on 6 September 1944.The Mosquito proved to be effective andavailable ooner, 0 much so that Ameri­can night-fighter squadrons in Europe wereequipped with Beaufighters and Mo quitowhile they awaited deliverie of their ownP-6Is. The first XP-61 finally flew for thefirst time on 2 I May 1942.

The aircraft that emerged bore a strik-

the ability to carry an AI set and a radaroperator. The successful usc of the Defiantduring the early months of the Blitz alsosuggested the use of a gun turret, Britishexperience during the Blitz having shownthat speed wa not of prime importance.

ufficien t speed to overtake raiders wasobviously required, but too much speedcould be an embarrassment, leading toovershooting, and losing the target. Longendurance wa of far more importance ­the ability to loiter aloft until vectoredonto an intruder - as was a very heavyarmament to destroy a target in the firstquick burst, before eva ive action could betaken by the target.

706 707

FURTHER NIGHT FIGHTING

CHAPTER SEVEN

A No. 125 (NewfoundlandlSquadron Defiant beingserviced, probably at RAFColerne.

from other squadrons formed the nucleusof the squadron, including Eric Barwell,Desmond Hughes and Fred Gash. Barwellhad changed his gunner a month beforethis move: instead of Sergeant Martin,who had been with him for a year, hecrewed up with Pit Off Martin, no relationand a much older man, who had been afighter pilot during World War 1. In thatwar he had been shot down and taken pris­oner, but had escaped from the prisoner­of-war camp at Holzminden. He hadjoined the Indian Forestry Servicebetween the wars. He did not go with Bar­well to No. 125 Squadron because hewanted to see some action and knew thatthe new squadron would be some timeworking up. Even with No. 264 Squadron,things went vcry quict during the summer,and so Martini, as he was called, volun­teered for a couple of trips in the turret ofa Wellington bomber - and on the sccondof these his aircraft was shot down and hewas killed.

No. 125 Squadron's build-up was in factvery long and slow, and they were notdeclared operational until 27 September;they were then bascd at Fairwood Com­mon in South Wales.

patrol on the 15th. These three Defiantsquadrons were replaced by four new ones,all with Commonwealth connections.The first was No. 125 (Newfoundland)Squadron that formed on 16 June at Col­erne. A number of Defiant aircrew posted

No. 125 Squadron aircrew lined up in front of a Defiant, with Eric Barwell to the right of the propeller.

Houghton/Sgt Ferguson made the lastDefiant operational landing by thesquadron, at 06.00hr in T3928.

Beaufighters began to equip No. 255Squadron in July and No. 307 Squadron inAugust, the latter flying their last Defiant

The Night-Fighter Squadronsare Reorganized

Fit Lt Deanesley/Sgt Scott of No. 256Squadron received the DFC and the DFMrespectively, the squadron's first honours.But on the following day, 17 May, Deans­ley was brought back down to earth, liter­ally, when he hit the tea van while taxiing.There was sl ight damage to the ai rcraft bCitthe tea van was wrecked, though the occu­pants escaped unhurt.

On the night of 22nd/23rd, No. 256Squadron had one more success: Fit LtColeman/Fit Sgt Smith took off at

20.55hr, and just half an hour later shotdown a Junkers Ju 88 at 21.30hr, nearOswestry in Shropshire.

No. 151 Squadron had one success inJune when Edmiston/Beale shot down a Ju88 over Yarmouth; but during July, Augustand September the only successesachieved were by the redoubtable Pit OffRichard Playne Stevens, now flying a can­non-armed Hurricane. By July, o. 96Squadron, which had taken to using Honi­ley as a forward base, had achieved a sixthnight-time victory with its Defiants. On10 June, Sqn Ldr Burns/Fg Off Smith werecircling the 'Sardine' focal point, one ofseveral such holding points to which theycould be assigned by ground control, whensudden Iy they spotted a Ju 88 on the ir portside and only 100ft (30m) below. Smithfired a 1sec burst, and the Junkers' pilotput his nose down and went into a tightturn. Burns banked with him, and Smithgot in a second burst from 70yd (64m)range down to 40yd (37m). Burns nowmanaged to get below the bomber andSmith fired two more bursts, sending thebomber to its destruction.

It was time for a reorganization of thenight-fighter squadrons. In June No. 141Squadron began converting to Beaufight­ers, and flew its very last Defiant patrolson the 4 August. The crew of Pit Off

command No. 86 Squadron in June, andwas replaced by Sqn Ldr PJ. Sanders, whowas no relation, and had commanded No.92 Squadron during the Battle of Britain.He had been recovering from injuriesreceived after his Spitfire was hit in an airbattle on 20 September 1940 and he wassoaked in petro!. He had lit a cigarette onlanding, and his flying suit had caught fire.

For their exploits in May of shootingdown four German bombers, the crew of

Further Night Fighting

Four 264 Squadron air gunners by a Defiant night fighter; left to right: Fit Sgt Chandler, Sgt McNair, Sgt FredBarker, Sgt Croucher.

After the burst of activity in May, the Luft­waffe turned its attention to Russia, andthe short summer nights saw very fewraiders over Britain. In June, July, Augustand September No. 264 Squadronachieved no interceptions, and the onlyexcitement was when they were filmed byMovietone News in June. Wing Comman­der A.T.D. Sanders, who had taken overcommand of No. 264 from George Garvinthe previous November, was posted to

108 109

FURTHER NIGHT FIGHTING FURTHER NIGHT FIGHTING

26 August 1940, having been hit by a Bf109. It had only arrived at 24 MU afterrepair by Reid & Sigrist from that experi­ence on 16 May 1941, and had been issuedto No. 456 Squadron on 4 July. As relatedpreviously, N 1569 was a redoubtable Defi­ant, and was once again repaired, goingsubsequently to No. 256 Squadron (as didBryan Wild), then to os 287 and 289Squadrons, being finally abandoned in theair in June 1942.

By the autumn of 1941 there weretherefore six Defiant squadrons waiting tomeet the return of the Luftwaffe as thenights grew longer: No. 96, No. 125, o.151, No. 256, No. 264 and No. 410.

During the summer, not only was there areorganization of the Defiant force, butnew tactics were tried out. The bizarreTurbinlite experiment was expanded toinclude Defiants from o. 264 Squadronin June, and No. 151 Squadron in August.The Turbinlite flights were equipped withDouglas Havocs with a large searchlight inthe nose where the armament would nor­mally be. The Havoc would track a raiderwith its radar, and at the crucial momentilluminate it with the searchlight. A Hur­ricane flying in formation beneath theHavoc, using light-coloured strips on theunderside as a reference, would then moveforward and shoot the raider down. Atleast that was the theory.

The Turbinlite Havocs had been co­operating with Hurricane squadrons forsome time when it was decided to try them

New Tactics

Sgt A.D. Lofting in the cockpit of his No. 264 Squadron Defiant.

cookhouse, being towed by a tractor to adispersal site across the runway in use,despite the red light showing. The star­board undercarriage leg remained embed­ded in it, but luckily the two airmen withit were riding on the tractor, and wereunhurt.

The Defiant was none other thanN 1569, the one that PIt OffJim Bailey hadforce-landed on top of a Kent hedgerow on

Defiant Night-Fighter Squadrons

Period Equipped

1939 1940 194112 1 23456789 10 11 12 1 23456789 10 11 12

Squadron

2641413072552561518596125409410456153

1942123 4 567 8

26425615196125410153

new member of the squadron, Bryan Wild,with Sgt Walker as his gunner, was makinga normal landing at RAF Valley when justprior to touchdown at 110mph (120kph)at about 12ft altitude (3.65m) there was asudden loud bang: obviously they had hitsomething. Wild had to make an instantdecision: whether to carryon with thelanding, or to try and go round again. Hereasoned that if he opened the throttle,any propeller damage might result in dis­aster, and he did not fancy climbing awayin the darkness of the night in a damagedaircraft.

The landing continued normally untilthe starboard wing began to settle, and itsoon became clear that there was noundercarriage on that side. Wild quicklyswitched everything off, and pulled hiscanopy back. The starboard wing-tip hitthe runway with a loud scraping noise, andthen the port undercarriage leg collapsedand shot up into the wing. The aircraftslewed to starboard and slid into the sanddunes, which brought it to an instant stop.Wild and Walker scrambled from thewreck but there was no fire. All thatremained was to find out what they hadhit.

1t turned out to have been a mobile

No. 456 Squadron suffered one veryunusual accident before the changeoverwas complete. On 26 July 1941, on onlyhis second night flight on the Defiant, a

Disaster for N1569

were made on the 31 st, but on 1September the weather was too bad. On 2Sep­tember three aircraft once more searched the route, but nothing was found. Itwas not until 23rd that the fate of N3378 was discovered: two shepherds foundthe crash site of the Defiant, and the two crewmen huddled alongside. They hadsurvived the crash, but had died of their injuries and of exposure whilst awaitingrescue. The aircraft had crashed near the top of Bleaklow Moor in the Peak Dis­trict, only a few feet from a summit known as Near Bleaklow Stones. They hadbeen well off course, which was why the searchers had been unable to find them.Their bodies were taken down to Glossop Police Station, and Pit Off Craig wasburied at Kirton-in-Lindsey on 26 September.

Personnel from No. 10 Barrage Balloon Unit visited the site, where little of thewreckage was recovered. They sent amessage to the squadron stating that thereseemed to be many bullet holes in the aircraft, suggesting that the crash hadbeen due to enemy action. However, there had been no recorded German activi­ty over the North on that day, and so the possibility of the Defiant having beenshot down by Spitfires operating from one of the nearby airfields was also pos­tulated.

No proof of a 'friendly fire' incident has ever been discovered, but another pos­sible reason for the Defiant being off course was also raised: James Craig's wifewas living in Wakefield with her parents at the time, and her house was only 15miles from the crash site. It would not have been the first time that a pilot hadgot into trouble flying low over a loved one's house.

Whatever the reason for the loss of N3378, its wreckage lay on the Dark Peakas a silent memorial to the two men who had died there. Over the years a num­ber of enthusiasts carried down bits of the wreckage as souvenirs, including thefin brought down by aCheshire man who had worked at Northern Aircraft duringthe war, making Defiant fins. In 1993 the Boulton Paul Association in Wolver­hampton began collecting Defiant parts, acutely aware that the last survivingcomplete example was far away in the RAF Museum, Hendon.

They soon learned about N3378, and began tracking down and acquiring thoseparts of the aircraft that had been brought down off the moor, which included thealmost complete rear fuselage/tail. Further parts were carried down off the moorby association members. Such was the poor condition of many of the pieces thatrestoration would have meant throwing away much of the surviving structure andbuilding new, and so the wreckage was displayed in a re-creation of the crashsite, as amemorial to James Craig and George Hempstead, and asuccessful tur­ret fighter, Boulton Paul Defiant N3378.

Two aircrew of No. 456(Australianl Squadronat RAF Vallev.

on 20th; however, it did not make anycontacts, and began to convert to Beau­fighters the following month. No. 456Squadron flew its first operational patrolon 5 September, but began to convert toBeaufighters the same month.

James Craig (right) on leave at his parents' house in Edinburgh, before his return

to No. 255 Squadron in N3378.

The following day the squadron sent up nine Beaufighters and a Defiant tosearch the route he would have taken, but they found nothing. Further searches

On 23 August 1941 No. 255 Squadron was declared non-operational while theycompleted their conversion to Beaufighters. The twelth Beaufighter had arrivedon 1August, and the first four Defiants left on the 21 st, three of them going toNo. 409 squadron. Six more Defiants left over the next two days, three of themgoing to No. 151 Squadron and three to 46 MU. One of the Defiants left at Kir­ton-in-Lindsey was N3378, aDefiant with three victories to its name. It had flownits last operational patrol on 18 August when Pit Off Clarke/Sgt Allen took off at22.50hr, landing back just after midnight. Its last attempted interception hadbeen on 8 August, when Pit Off Ballantine/Sgt Bayliss were vectored after araider but were unable to find it.

Now that it was non-operational. a number of the squadron's personnel weregranted leave, and Pit Off James Craig was allowed to take N3378 up to Edin­burgh where his parents lived. He gave a lift to LAC George Hempstead, who alsolived in Scotland. They set off for their return from Turnhouse at 08.08hr on 29August. About half an hour later Craig contacted Kirton-in-Lindsey to let themknow he was returning to base, but he never arrived.

The formation of one night-fightersquadron with orth American connec­tions, o. 125, was followed by two newCanadian Defiant squadrons, No. 409 and

o. 410. The first, o. 409 (N ighthawk)Squadron, was formed at Digby on 17June, with thirteen Defiants, all arrivingon 9 July. No. 410 (Cougar) Squadron wasformed on 30 June at Ayr, with its first fiveDefiants arriving on 8 July. The fourth newDefiant squadron to be formed in the sum­mer of 1941 was No. 456, an Australiansquadron that formed at Valley on 30 June,its first seven Defiants arriving on 2 July.For a brief period in August there werethus eight Defiant night-fightersquadrons, the highest number to beachieved.

Two of these squadrons did not keeptheir Defiants for very long. No. 409Squadron flew its first patrol on the 3August, and was declared fully operational

Boulton Paul Defiant N3378

770 777

FURTHER IGHT FIGHTING FURTHER IGHT FIGHTING

to receive radar­o. 96, with threeovember 1941. It

sent back to the pecial Duties Flight on23 April 1941, but technical problemsdelayed its operational use until Augu t.By then the Mark II aircraft with it extrapower wa becoming available, a was thenew Mark VI radar set, with extra bandwidth. The first radar-equipped Mark IIwas AA372, of the TelecommunicationsFlight.

The first squadronequipped aircraft wasMark lAs arriving in

A radar-equipped No. 96 Squadron Defiant operating over Crewe in a co-operation exercise. with Armyanti-aircraft gunners. The pilot was Fit Sgt Cornwell. the gunner Fit Sgt Heycock.

behind the pilot's seat, and the transmitterin the rear fuselage. The arrow-I ike trans­mitter aerial was on the starboard wing,with twin pole on the port wing. The H­Type receiving aerial were on the fuselageides just in front of the pilot's cockpit.

The aircraft wa deSignated the Mk lAwith the radar fitted, but the extra drag ofthe aerials affected the aircraft's perfor­mance, and the outer-wing fuel tanks ofthe Mark II could not be fitted to the MarkI because of the aerials. The aircraft was

A radar-equipped Defiant at the Boulton Paul Factory.

The Fitment of Radar

Preparations for the fitment of radar to theDefiant were made in the autumn of 1940.Boulton Paul received details of the equip­ment that needed to be fitted, and theyprepared installation drawings. A Defiantbelonging to the Special Duties Flight,N 1553, was delivered to the company on11 November, and the in tallation of theAl Mk IV set was undertaken. The cath­ode ray tube display was sited to the pilot'sleft, with the controls to the right. Thereceiver, control box and power pack were

with the Mark II Defiants began on 31October, when Pit Off McRitchie/Pit OffSampson intercepted four Ju 88 25 miles(40km) east of North Yarmouth, destroy­ing one and damaging the other.

On IS ovember, Pit Off McRitchiewas successful again, thi time with SgtBeale as his gunner, when they destroyedanother Ju 88. Set aga inst th is, on thesame night Sgt Jee/Sgt Bainbridge wentmissing over the sea flying AA423, andcould of course have been a victim of aer­ial combat, though there is no evidence tosupport this.

The Mark /I Defiants

The first production Mark ll, AA370, wasdelivered to Boscombe Down on 20August 1941, and No. 264 quadron wasthe first to receive the more powerful air­craft; its first four Mark lls arrived on 29August, and the squadron was completelyre-equipped by the end of September.Only one of the other Defiant squadronsre-equipped with the Mark II before theend of the year, No. 151, which tartingreceiving them in eptember. uccess

A No. 151 Squadron Defiant.

of the Turbinlite experiment as could beenvisaged'

If this were not enough, No. 151Squadron was al 0 assigned to co-operatewith the 'flare-burning tactic' fromDecember 1941 into 1942. In this scenarioa Havoc would drop a parachute flare overa low-flying raider, and the Defiant or Hur­ricane would then move in and shoot itdown. The Defiant night-fighter force wasbetter served, in being re-equipped withMark Il Defiants and the installation ofpilot-operated radar.

The prototype radar-equipped Defiant AA370 at Boscombe Down.

with Defiant, but these had no more suc­ce s than the Hurricanes had. It was foundthat on the few occasions when targetswere actually illuminated they showed amarked reluctance to stay in the search­light beam, which only served to warn thebomber of the night-fighter's presence andgave its gunners something to aim at. Fur­thermore, once the raider had sl ipped outof the beam, it was found that the bright­ne s of the light had destroyed the night­vision of all concerned, and he invariablyescaped.

Coincidentally, a 'turret fighter' hadbeen engaged in operations with an air­borne searchlight during World War I. AnFE.2B, A 781, was fitted with a searchlightwith a Lewis gun coupled on each side, sothat the gunner could aim the searchlightand fire the guns at the same time. Theearchlight was powered by a small pro­

peller-driven generator located under thenacelle. Carrying the armament andsearchlight in the same aircraft wouldseem to be a better scheme, but this instal­lation had no more success than theTurbinlite Flights.

o interceptions took place while o.264 and o. 151 were co-operating withthe Turbinlites, except on the night of 22October 194 I, when Pit Off Stevens in hisHurricane was a Havoc's partner: he was sofrustrated that he broke away, found a Ger­man bomber by himself and shot it down.This was as great a testament to the failure

II

• I:1 II I

112 113

F RTHER NIGHT FIGHTING

Catalogue of Accidents

The month of February 1942 was to provethe unluckiest the squadron had experi­enced. On the 7th, Pit Off Olney/SgtGreenwood crashed in the sea in theirDefiant, V 1116, off Lytham Pier, and three

the bookstall. There was ahuge explosion and acolumn of black smoke billowedinto the air.

The Defiant crashed to the ground on a house in Regent Road near to the policestation. The gunner, Sgt Clifford, tried to bale out and did in fact fall away from thedoomed aircraft, but he was too low, and crashed into Regent Road with his para­chute unopened.

The booking hall at the station was devastated. Several died instantly and manywere severely injured, others fled the station with their clothes on fire. The firebrigade and ambulances rushed to the scene, but their efforts were hampered bycrowds of people rushing from the promenade to the scene of the crash. Despitethere being awar on, it was Blackpool in August, and the promenade was crowd­ed.

All five men in the two aircraft died, plus eleven people in the station. There werealso thirty-nine people injured, seventeen serious enough to be detained in hospi­tal. In fact these figures could have been worse, as the London train had left onlyten minutes earlier, and if the crash had taken place just before then, the death tollmight have been huge.

The Defiant/Botha Crash at Blackpool

colli ion over Blackpool provided the onlydamage to the routine of o. 256 quad ronflying at Blackpool through the summerand autumn of 1941. Christopher Deanes­Iy rook over command of the squadron, andin January they flew their first ever convoypatrols over Liverpool Bay.

The worst accident of the war involving a Defiant took place over the centre ofBlackpool on the afternoon of Wednesday 27 August 1941. Three Defiants of No.256 Squadron from Squires Gate were practising formation flying. One of themwas N1745, crewed by Sgt L.J. Ellmers as pilot and Sgt N.A.J. Clifford. Both menwere twenty-three years of age, and both were New Zealanders.

As the Defiants were flying at 2,oooft (61 Om) over the sea in a north-easterlydirection they saw a Blackburn Botha, L6509, of NO.3 School of General Recon­naissance, also based at Squires Gate. It was flying roughly in the same direc­tion but 1,oooft (300m) lower, over the centre of Blackpool. The crew on boardwere Pit Off A.A. Horne, Pit Off K.J.A. Sale, and acivilian mechanic from Brook­lands, Frank Longson.

The Defiants turned and dived, as if making adummy attack on the Botha. Thefirst two flashed by the Botha, which then began a turn to starboard - and thismanoeuvre probably caused the collision, as the third Defiant, N1 745, struck theBotha amidships, cutting it in two, and itself losing awing. The tail of the Bothafell in the sea, but the main part plummetted through the main entrance hall ofBlackpool's Central Station, the nose striking the ground only a few yards from

company. uch was their consumption ofthe free beer continually set in front ofthem, there were almost no airmen pre entwhen Lord Gorell stood up to praise themfor their combat record - they were all vis­iting the toilets'

Accidents such as the Defiant/Botha

The presentation of a silver salver by lord Gorell, chairman of Boulton Paul Aircraft, to Fit It S.R. Thomas, celebrating No. 264's 100th victory, even though theyhad not quite made that score. Wearing the trilby hat on the right is J.D. North.

o. 256 Squadron al 0 had a victory inOctober, their la t flying the Defiants. FitSgt mith/Plt Off Kilpatrick shot down aJu 8 over oventry, flying T3995.

In December and January there werealso no interceptions, but on the 18December, No. 264 Squadron was invitedto the Boulton Paul factory to receive a sil­ver salver to commemorate the destruc­tion of 100 German aircraft while flyingDefiant. Fit Lt A. . Thoma received thesalver from the company chairman LordGorell, even though they had only actual­ly claimed the destruction of ninety- ixenemy aircraft at the time. After the pre­sentation at the factory, m mbers of thesquadron were entertained for dinner,each with on of the female employees for

Off tuart/Fg Off Maggs destroyed aHeinkel He III south of Beachy Head.Mervyn Maggs had been a Royal FlyingCorps pilot during World War I, th thirdDefiant gunner to be so; the others wereCarlin and Martin - but unlike them,Maggs survived his second war.

A Winter of Little Activity

This ucce followed another winter of lit­tle activity, though there was one bizarresucce s on 12 October 1941 when Pit OffGray chased a Domier Do 217 without everbeing able to get his Defiant in a position tofire. everthcless the Dornier crash-landed,and was duly claimed by the squadron.

A No. 256 Squadron Defiantcoded JT-J, crewed by Fit SgtRay Jeffs (RNZAF) and WIDDerek Hollinake undertakingformation flying practice.

was to be the sole user of the Mark Iequipped with radar, the conversion ofwhich was largely done by Boulton Paulthemselves. Conversion of the Mark Uswas done by No. 32 MU at St Athan, andNo. 264 quad ron recei ved the first radar­equipped Mark [[ in January 1942, withNo. 151 and 0.256 receiving radar air­craft in April 1942.

The radar was a mixed bles ing in theDefiant. Using it rather destroyed thepilot's night vision, and he could not po i­tion the aircraft for his gunner to fireunless he ould actually see the target. Inthe end, very little uccess was hadthrough using radar. The only victory o.264 Squadron ever had using the radar setwas on the night of 17 April 1942 when Pit

A formation flight by radar­equipped No. 264 SquadronDefiants.

114 775

FURTHER NIGHT FIGHTI G

'Goodbye Old Faithfuls'

It was clear that a fa ter night fighter wasneeded, and on 6 April No. 151 quadranreceived its first Mosquito. The followingday all the Canadians were posted to o.410 (Cougar) Squadron at Drem, despitevigorou prote t. On the 27th, the 0.151

quad ron Defiants had their final successwhen on a Fighter ight over orwich aJu 88 was chased out to sea where itcrashed - even though it had not beenfired on.

On 23 May, the squadron's OperationsBook recorded that 'The Defiants are nowdefinitely "off the board" for 151 Sqd.Goodbye Old Faithfuls'. These were ratherdifferent sentiment than those expre sedby o. 151 Squadron's pilots when theDefiants first arrived, when they weredetermined to prove that the Hurricanewas a better night fighter. Only the extra­ordinary Richard Playne teven could besaid to have done this; and he had died onan intruder mission over Holland on 15December 1941, still in his Hurricane.

Up north, o. 410 quadron had had anot uneventful winter, with quite a cata-

re-equip with the radar-equipped DefiantII; however, they were to have no combatswith these aircraft, though they did recordone 'victory' when they shot down a straybarrage balloon. On 13 April the first of afew Oxfords arrived for twin-enginedtraining, largely carried out by Sqn LdrHaine himself. The first Merlin-enginedBristol Beaufighter II arrived on 2 May.

On the evening of 19 February between18.42hr and 19.20hr, four Defiants of o.151 Squadron were vectored against fiveGerman raiders approaching a convoy offthe orfolk coast. qn Ldr Smith/ gtBeale found and attacked a Dornier Do217 at 20,000ft (6,000m) and shot it downin flames. Just afterwards they wereattacked from a tern, and then a Junker Ju

flew right above them, overshooting inthe usual fixed-gun night-fighter fashion.As it did so, Sgt Beale opened fire and sawclear hit on the undersides; but then theylost it, and could only claim it as damaged.

Two other crews, Sgt MacPherson/ gtTate and PIt Off Wain/Pit Off Lynes, alsosaw Do 217s and opened fire, claimingdamage to the German bombers, but theirDefiant were too slow to catch theDorniers to complete the job. everthe­less, the German bombers had been drivenaway from attacking the convoy.

117

left it up there" replied Ritchie.On 7 January qn Ldr R.C. Haine

assumed command of No. 96 Squadron,which then had on strength thirteenradar-equipped Defiant las, fifteen stan­dard Defiant Is, and four Hurricanes,although the ingle-seaters finally left inFebruary. Shortly afterwards they began to

An all-New Zealand No. 256 Squadron Defiant crew. On the left is Sgt Derek Hollinake wearing his

gunner's parasuit, and Sgt Ray Jeffs.

records another amusing incident, whenPit Off Ritchie had to bale out over orthWales because of engine failure. A farmerapproached him suspiciously when helanded, and asked him where he had comefrom.' p there,' replied Ritchie, pointingto the cloud. 'Where's your aircraft]'asked the farmer, even more suspiciously. 'I

Defiants in Trouble

o. 96 quadron had a particularly badnight on 3 ovember 1941. qn LdrBurns/Fg Off Smith suffered the dreadedwireless failure in T4008 flying over orthWales. Completely lost and with their fuelrunning out, they baled out and the air­craft crashed near Rhayader. Once the air­craft became overdue, and of course withno radio contact, the squadron sent up twoDefiants to search. One of these, 1575,with Fit Lt Verity/Sgt Armstrong, soonhad engine trouble, and they, too, wereforced to bale out. And unbelievably, theother one developed engine trouble; fur­thermore, gt cott had taken a ground­crew corporal as his observer, and it turnedout that the corporal did not know how touse the parachute! cott was thereforeobliged to stay with the aircraft, and in factpulled off a creditable forced landing; nei­ther pilot nor observer suffered injury, andthe aircraft was eventually recovered andrepaired.

The 96 Squadron Operations Book

tions at Cranage, and on 21 October 1941it moved its fourteen Defiants and twoHurricanes to Wrexham, which had pavedrunways. Shortly afterwards, on the 25th,there was a bizarre incident when DefiantT3999, crewed by Pit Off J.J. Phoenix/SgtLes Seales, took off from Wrexham. Theysuffered undercarriage damage on take-offand were ordered to bale out, but Phoenixhad trouble releasing himselffrom his har­ness. eales thereupon climbed out of histurret onto the wing, and, edging forwardsgripping whatever he could, he reachedthe pilot's cockpit and helped releasePhoenix from his harness; they then bothparachuted to safety. As a result of this featLes Seales acquired the nickname 'Dizzy'.Over fifty years later, at the age of eighty­one, he returned to his wing-walkingcareer when he answered the call from the'Utterly Butterly' team for wing-walkersfor their Boeing Stearmans. Despite hav­ing lost a leg in a road accident some yearsbefore, he flew strapped to the wing of oneStearman while his grand-daughter flewon another. He was somewhat miffed todiscover that there had been an olderwing-walker in America, so waited twoyears and then did it again, so he couldclaim the title of 'Oldest Wing-Walker inthe World'. He proclaimed: 'I love doingit, and I've no intention of stopping now l '

No. 256Squadron airgunner, SgtSquires in his'office'.

116

equipping with Beaufighters without itsDefiants having een any combat. One ofthe gunner who had been with o. 256

quadron was gt R.T. Adams: with hispilot Fit Lt West, he had shot down twoGerman aircraft during 1941, and onlymissed a third because his gun had refusedto fire. He did not want to retrain as an AIoperator, saying that he loved the Defiant,and wished to remain an air gunner. Likemany Defiant gunners he wa transferredto bomber; sadly he was shot down overGermany.

Dizzy the Wing-Walker

o. 96 Squadron had suffered throughoutthe summer from the poor airfield ondi-

A No. 256 Squadron Defiant at Squires Gate in the winter of 1941/2.

days later when a Court of Inquiry wasbeing held into this crash, Defiant T4041taxied into a car on the perimeter track,causing the death of gt Carr. The follow­ing day, 11 February, Pit Off Harri on­Yates and Sgt Woodford baled out of theirDefiant after undercarriage trouble, andanother Defiant force-landed on the air­field. Finally, on the 26th of the month,Sgts Joyce and Walden were killed whentheir Defiant, T3995, crashed on the air­field.

During the summer, 'A' Flight of o.256 was moved to Ballyhalbert in orth­ern Ireland, and on 24 October this unitwas formed into a new squadron, o. 153,which became fully operational in Decem­ber; but the following month it began re-

FURTHER NIGHT FIGHTING FURTHER NIGHT FIGHTI G

Top-Scoring Defiant Crews

Defiant pilots were unusual in that they could become 'aces' without ever having fired their guns in anger. It was the essence of the turret fighter that it was the team thatsecured the victories, rather in the way that McDonnell F-4 Phantom crews scored victories in Vietnam with the back-seater firing the missiles. The following are the scores ofthe top-scoring crews when flying Defiants. Some pilots went on to score victories flying other aircrah, or even came from single-seaters to the Defiant, but those victories arenot included. The total scores are those victories claimed, adding up all the fractions of shared victories, but not including probables and damaged aircrah. In most cases theteam remained the same, but in some cases a pilot acquired a new gunner, and the total is that for the pilot. The rank given is the rank at the time of the last victory flying aDefiant.

Sgt E.R. Thorn/Sgt F Barker

Total 12 '/2

Sqn Ldr PA. Hunter/Sgt FH. King

Total 9'/3

(No. 264 SquadronI

(1 at night) (4 x Bf 109E. 2xJu 87,Bf 110, 2 '/2 He 111, Ju 88, 2x Do 171

(No. 264 Squadron)

(5 x Bf 109E, Bf 110, 2'/2 He 111, Ju 87,'/6 Ju 881

Fit Lt N.R. Cooke/Cpl A. Lippett INa. 264 Squadron)A No. 410 Squadron Defiant coded 'RA-H' in the winter of 1941/2.

Total 9 '/6 (2 xBf 109E, Bf 110, 5xJu 87, '/3 xJu 88,'/2xHel111

A group of No. 264 Squadron aircrew gathered by one of their Defiant night fighters.

Total 5 (3 at nightl (2 x Do 17, 3x He 1111

Fit Lt E.C. DeaneslylSgt w.J Scott (No. 256 Squadron)

(No. 264 Squadron)

INa. 264 Squadron)

Total 4 (at night) (2 x Ju 88, 2x He 111)

Total 4'/6 13xJu87,Ju88,1/2Bf110,'/3xHel11)

Sgt V.B.S. Verity/Sgt FH. Wake (No. 96 Squadron)

Total 6 '/1 (1 at night) (Bf 109E, Bf 110, 2xJu 87,Ju 88, 1 '/2 x He 111)

Total 7 (1 at night) (2 x Bf 109E, 2xJu 87, He 111)With Sgt A. Martin as gunner (Bf 109E, He 111)

Total 5 '/2 (Bf 109E, 1'/2 x Bf 110,1 '/3 xJu 87,1'/3 x He 1111

Total 4 (at nightl(2 x He 111, Do 17, Ju 88)

Total 9 (1 at night) 12 '/2 Bf 109E, Bf 110, '/6 xJu 88, '/2 XHe 111)With Sgt L.P Russell as gunner IBf 109E.Bf 110, He 111, '/3 xJu 87, '/2 xJu 88)

Pit Off D. Whitley/LAC R.C. Turner (No. 264 Squadron)

Pit Off G.H. Hackwood/LAC P Lillie (No. 264 Squadronl

Fit Off M.H. Young/LAC SB. Johnson INa. 264 Squadron)

Fit Lt T.D. Welsh/Sgt L.H. Hayden (No. 264 Squadron)

Fit Off E.G. Barwell/Plt Off JEM. Williams

Fg Off FD. HugheslSgt F Gash

Night-Fighter Successes by Type 1941-42

29 May to 2July 1941

Type Destroyed Probable Damaged

Beaufighter 24 2 4Defiant 2 2Havoc 2 2 2Hurricane 5 1Spitfire 1

3July to 8 October 1941

Type Destroyed Probable Damaged

Beaufighter 24 3Blenheim 3Defiant 2 3Havoc 3 2 3Hurricane 9 1Spitfire 1

9 October 1941 to 28 February 1942

Type Destroyed Probable

Defiant 4(other figures not availablel

1 March to 29 July 1942

Type Destroyed Probable

Beaufighter 69.5 17Defiant 1 2Havoc/Boston 1.5 3Mosquito 12 1Spitfire 2 1

Command. The last Defiant fightersquadron to convert was o. 264, whichinterestingly had also been the first. Theybegan converting to Mosquitos after twoyears and five months' flying the Defiant.During that time they had claimed ninety­eight German aircraft destroyed, for theloss of twenty-six Defiants shot down bythe enemy, though of course many morewere destroyed in accidents. They saidfarewell to their very last Defiant in July1942.

logue of crashes in the bad weather andmountains of Scotland and northern Eng­land. But its Defiants had never madecontact with the enemy, and in Aprilthey, too, began converting to Beaufight­ers.

The following month No. 256 beganconverting to Beaufighters, and on 30 May

o. 96 Squadron stood down as an opera­tional Defiant unit, continuing withpreparations to introduce the BeaufighterH, and transferring its gunners to Bomber

118 119

FURTHER NIGHT FIGHTII G

Top-Scoring Defiant Crews continued CHAPTER EIGHT

Sgt H.E. Bodien/Sgt Jones

Total 3

(No. 151 SquadronI

(at night) (2 x He 111, Do 17) Radar CounterDleasures

Victories and Losses

Total 3 (3 xJu 88)

Mandrel and Moonshine forDefiant

On II May 1942 a conference was held atUxbridge attended by representatives fromthe Air Ministry ignals Department, No.II Group, and o. 80 ignals Wing fromRadlett. It was agreed to deploy Defiant asthe electronic countermeasures aircraft, asthe Defiant night-fighter squadrons wereall in the process of being re-equipped,freeing large stocks of aircraft, and crewsexperienced in night-flying operations,important in the case of Mandrel.

It was agreed that a unit of eighteenDefiants would be required, nine equippedwith one device, and nine with the other(both could not be carried on the same air­craft because of mutual interference). Theaircraft would be the longer-range Mark lIsfitted with the standard AI racks andwiring, and with the old-type retractableradio aerial mast. It wa suggested thatone Defiant night-fighter squadron should

appear to the Germans a if a large bomberformation were being joined by e ortingfighter, against which they would hopeful­ly commit a large proportion of their inter­ceptors. As the British formationapproached France, the Moonshine air­craft would dive for home, leaving thefighter to battle it out with the Germans.

There was a marked reluctance to useeither Mandrel or Moonshine because todo so would quickly reveal its existence tothe Germans, and encourage their ownadoption of radar countermeasures. How­ever, on 11 February 1942 the Germanbattlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau,with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, madetheir 'Channel dash' from Brest back toGermany. This daring scheme was aidedby the German jamming of British coastalradars, showing that the German wereoperational with their own electroniccountermeasures. And so the green lightwas given to the exploitation of Mandreland Moon hine.

121

The other system, which was not a jam­mer, wa first uggested in July 1941. It wadesigned to lure German fighters awayfrom a real raid by staging an apparentlymuch larger raid in another se tor. Thisequipment was codenamed Moonshine,and worked by picking up the Freya signaland retransmitting it exactly in phase.One Moonshine set was able to affect one­eighth of the Freya frequency; however,two sets could not be carried on the sameaircraft because of mutual interference. Aformation of eight aircraft would thereforebe required, and would give the appear­ance of a much larger formation on theGerman radar screens. Because formationflying woulel be required, the Moonshinesystem could only be used in daylight.

It was planned that the Moonshine air­craft would be joined by squadrons of fight­ers as they crossed the Channel. It would

Since the beginning of the war, theTelecommunications Research Establish­ment had been preoccupied with counter­ing German bombing aids and perfectingBritish radars, but by ovember 1941details of the German Freya radar werewell known, and the famous BrunevalRaid on the night of 27/28 February 1942secured actual hardware from theWurzburg radar.

Two electronic counters to the Germanground-to-air radars were designed. Onewas a jamming system codenamed Man­drel, which would be carried up by an air­craft to orbit in a sector where a Britishbombing raid was planned, jamming thefrequency of the Freya radar in that ector,with other aircraft jamming Freya in otherectors so that the Germans would not

know from which direction the raid wasapproaching.

A publicity photograph of a No. 264 Squadron Defiant over Biggin Hill.

121

37

2516

120

Oefiants Lost in Aerial Combat

152

Squadron Victories

264 day 83night 15

141 day 4night 10

96 6151 15255 7256 9307 3277515540TU

Totals

Trying to keep 'score' in aerial combat situations is a minefield of contention. Not only are victories hard to pin down for the reasons already given, but losses can be equal­ly ambiguous. When Defiant N1569 was shot down on 28 August 1940 and was force-landed by Jim Bailey on top of a Kentish hedgerow, who could have begrudged the Ger­man pilot adding one to his victory score? Yet neither Defiant crewman was hurt, and the Defiant was repaired and went on to serve with No. 456, No. 256, No. 287 and No.289 Squadrons, and was finally abandoned in the air over the Moray Firth on 19 June 1942, nearly two years later. Thus the only 'loss' was the cost of the repair work at Reid& Sigrist. Anumber of the German bombers claimed as 'probable' or 'damaged' might well have arrived back at their base with far more actual damage and with dead or dyingcrewmen aboard. One of the No. 141 Squadron Defiants not usually included in the 'shot down' category on 19 July 1940, was L6983. Though it was forced-landed after theaction, after the gunner had baled out and was posted missing, it was repaired, but only ever served as an instructional airframe subsequently, and probably never flew again.

The following figures are therefore open to all kinds of interpretation. I do not claim they are anything but aguide to the performance of the Oefiant squadrons in aerial com­bat, my personal estimate of their achievements.

Fit Lt D.A. McMulien/Sgt Fairweather (No. 151 SquadronI

Sqn Ldr G. Garvin/Fit Lt R.C.V. Ash (No. 264 Squadron)

Total 3 (at night) (3 x He 111)

Thus eight Defiant crews can justifiably be called 'aces' in that they destroyed five or more enemy aircraft in action - that is, if we include Whitley!Turner, whose bits andpieces add up to 4 5/6 victories (plus one probable). It is often said that all victory totals in air fighting are probably unintentionally exaggerated, but it is rarely pointed outthat in some cases totals might well be less than they should be. Who is to say that Sqn Ldr Hunter/Sgt King did not shoot down the Ju 88 they were chasing when they werelast seen, or that some of the night-time probables not recorded here, did not crash in France. or in the North Sea?

No. 515 Squadron Moonshine Operations

be transferred to the new ta k, but AVMholto Douglas preferred a new unit to be

formed, so as not to interfere with theplanned re-equipment of the night-fighterforce with Beaufighter and Mosquito.

This new unit was known initially as theDefiant Flight, and began to receive its air­craft from 7 May 1942; but from 2 May itwas officially called the 'Defiant pecialDutie ' Flight', and was set up at ortholtattached to the Station Flight. Two Defi­ants were delivered shortly afterwards forinitial trials of the equipment, AA631 andAA443, the former originally from 0.96Squadron, and the latter from No. 264

quadron; these served as the prototypesfor the Moonshine equipment. The trialscontinued until 24 May, and with the sys­tem proven, fourteen more Defiants weredelivered in june. Many of the crews camefrom night-fighter squadrons, su h as Fit

gts Lewis and MacCauley from 96quadron, and especially the gunners who

were not being retrained as Al operators,such a Fred Gash, a veteran of o. 264

quadron. Many others were newlytrained aircrew.

On the 4 june, one Defiant was sent toHatfield to be fitted with the prototypeMandrel equipment, manufactured byGeneral Electric nearby. The Mandrel setconsi tedofaT140 transmitter,aType6

A low pass of the same Defiant across Biggin Hill.

RADAR COU TERMEASURES

modulator, a Type 300 power unit and atransmission mast. On th 13 june, irHenry Tizard took the decision to useMoonshine as soon as possible, but to holdMandrel back until a really big operationcame along.

For the first month the crews practisedwith their new aircraft, and then on 20july, eight aircraft flew up to Drem for thefirst trials of Moonshine. A mobile GClunit was sent there, and modified to trans­mit the usual Freya frequencies (Drem,north of Berwick, was sufficiently far awayfor the Germans not to pick up the trans­missions). After these successful te ts itwas decided to test the equipment on theGermans.

The 6 Augu t 1942 was the date chosento operate electronic countermeasuresagainst the German radars for the firsttime, and nine Defiant took off at14.00hr; however, AA43S developedengine trouble and had to force-land atMiddle Wallop, and the operation wascancelled. Later in the day, at 18.55hr,nine Defiants took off once more and flewa holding pattern off Portland Bill, re­transmitting the Freya signals. After fiveminutes they set off towards Cherbourg,maintaining radio ilence and with theirIFF sets switched off, turning back whenthey were 35 miles (56km) from the

722

French coast, and therefore out of range ofthe Wurzburg radar, and landing back atbase at 20.55hr. The German rai ed theirballoon barrage and scrambled twenty- ixfighters. On 11 August nine Defiants tookoff to fly an identical test, but they wererecalled because of bad weather, and wereonly in the air for thirty-four minutes.

On the following day, 12 August, anidentical operation was flown, with Moon­shine not being used. There was no reac­tion from the Germans, and the equip­ment had proven itself. During thisoperation Pit Off Wingfield/Pit Off Sim­monds also developed engine trouble andrash-landed at Tangmere. On 14 August

there was a further flight, with ten Defi:ants taking off at IS.05hr and landing backat Tangmere at 16.50hr.

Circus Operations

The fir t major operation for Moonshinewas on 17 August when the Defiant Flighttook part in Circus 204. The Circus opera­tions were primarily fighter sweepsdesigned to draw as many German fightersinto action as possible, and usuallyinvolved a small number of bombers on areal raid. In the case of Circus 204, twelveBoeing B-17 Fortres es took part in a

bombing raid on Rauen, with the Defiantflight helping to make it look like a muchlarger raid. Eight Defiants, together with aninth aircraft acting as a monitor, took offfrom ortholt at 16.27hr. They werejoined by three pitfire wing and theFortre e over Walton-on- aze, and flewto a point 25 miles (40km) ea t of orthForeland. The Defiants then dived forhome at zero feet, leaving the pitfires topounce on more than 144 German fightersthat were drawn into the air.

On 19 August, the Defiant flight tookpart in ircus 205, with three Typhoonsquadrons as part of the air cover for theDieppe raid; the following day they werepart of ircus 206, a repeat of 204, exceptthat the destination of the B-17s wasAmiens. Also there was a massive Germanresponse, with nearly 300 fighters beingcrambled.

On 21 August they were part of Circus207, with twelve B-17s heading for Rot­terdam, covered by ten squadrons of fight­ers. The Defiant flight was a whole hourwithin range of the German radars, andmore than 144 fighters were scrambled.On the 27th there was an exact repeat ofthis operation, but only ju t over fifty Ger­man fighters took the bait.

On 2 August the Defiants helpedtwelve B-17s to bomb Meaulte as part ofCircus 210; but then in the first few days of

eptember there were four operationsrecalled by radio when the Defiants werealready in the air. Circus 214 on 5 eptem­ber was the biggest yet, with twelveBostons bombing Le Havre, and thirty-sixB-17s bombing Rauen, escorted by a vastfleet of fighters that tackled the 250-plusGerman fighters that were scrambled.

No. 515 Squadron in Action

n I October the Defiant flight was re­designated No. 515 Squadron, and movedto Heston. It was found that eighteen Defi­ant were required to ensure that eightwould be available for an operation, withan extra one or two normally going alongas man itors.

The Moonshine Defiant were al a usedon the operations codenamed Ramrod andRodeo. On 11 October, for instance, tenaircraft, with six squadrons of fight r ,took part in Rodeo No. fO}, flown in fourpart over four different days. Then on 22November eleven Defiants took part inRamrod No. 38 against Lorient, with two

RADAR COU TERMEASURES

squadrons of fighters e carting sixty-eightB-17s and eight B-24 .

Defiant equipped with Mandrel hadbeen available as from August, but had notbeen on the unit's strength until the use ofMandrel was authorized. Analy i ofeleven operations aided by the use ofMoonshine hawed that the average of107 aircraft taking part drew a re ponse ofeighty-six German fighters crambled,whereas the main raids for which theywere forming the diversion had 153 air­craft taking part, but drew only sixty-fourGerman fighters into the air. Moonshinewas used operationally a total of twenty­nine times.

Date No ofAircraft Time

6.842 9 14.006.842 9 1855-20.5511.842 9 12.00-13.1512.842 9 11.00-12.5014.842 10 15.05-16.5017.842 9 16.20-17.55

19.842 9 11.00-12.30

20.842 9 16.00-18.20

21.842 9 08.50-10.20

27.842 9 15.35-17.05

28.842 9 11.25-13.5029.842 84.942 94.942 84.942 95.942 9

6.942 97.942 92.1042 911.1042 925.1042 106.11.42 107.1142 108.11.42 922.1142 11

Mandrel was first used on the night of5/6 December 1942. The Air Ministryrefused to supply enough Defiants to jamthe whole of the Freya radar chail\' and sonormally just eight positions were target­ed, with extra Mandrel being used on theground in the area of the Channel. Itrequired a very experienced pilot to orbit

723

his Defiant at night within 5 miles of hia igned spot: with Mandrel switched on itwas not po sible to use the aircraft's radio,so dead reckoning had to be used, and theIFF could not be witched on, so there wasalway a slight threat from Briti hdefence.

The fir t u e of Mandrel became typicalof all such operation. Three Defiants weremoved for refuelling to West Mailing,three to Coltishall and two to Tangmere.At their designated times they beganorbiting over a specific spot, calculated tobe most ideal to jam a Freya sector. TheDefiants were normally able to maintainthis location for about half an hour, after

Details

Recalled (AA435 engine troublelTotal success 26+ German fighters scrambled

AA525 crash-landed at Tangmere

Circus 204 with 3Spitfire wings and 12 8-17s bombingRouen. 144+ fighters scrambledCircus 205 with 3 Typhoon Squadrons. Diversion forDieppe raidCircus 206 with 3 Spitfire Wings and 12 8-17sbombing Amiens. 287+ fighters scrambledCircus 207 with 10 fighter squadrons and 12 8-17s toRotterdam. 144+ fighters scrambledRepeat of Circus 207 with 3 Spitfire Wings. 51+fighters scrambledCircus 210. with 12 8-17s to MeaulteRecalled by radioRecalled by radioRecalled by radioRecalled by radioCircus 214 with 12 80stons to Le Havre and 36 8-17sto Rouen. 250+ fighters scrambled

Rodeo 101 with 6 fighter squadrons. 1aircraft aborted

From Exeter

Div. 10 Grp RamrodNo. 380n Lorient with 68 8-17s and88-24s

which they returned, the bomber treamhopefully having cleared the danger area.

During December there were sevenmore similar Mandrel operation, usingthe same three airfields as forward ba e ;but on the third operation, in 1943,Manston was used for the first time, and on14 january Bradwell Bay was also used.

That night two of the Defiants returningto Tangmere after the operation, AA576and AA581, succeeded in colliding on theground; Fit Sgt Neale suffered headinjuries in AA581, which was deemed toodamaged to repair.

On 23 January, the three Defiants oper­ating from West Mailing were forced toreturn after mud thrown up by the wheelshad clogged their radiators, causing theengines to overheat. This was a frequentproblem in Defiants on wet airfields, andthere were warnings in the Pilot's Notesagainst taxiing too fast in such conditions.The same thing happened again on 5 Feb­ruary when one Defiant was forced to

return to West Mailing with its radiatorclogged.

Although No. 515 Squadron's crewswere flying rather tedious missions, theywere occasionally broken by moments ofexcitement. On 13 February, FIt LtMacauley/Sgt Jordan took off from Tang­mere for a routine Mandrel operation.While on station they were attacked by aBf 110 night fighter. Jordan got in threebursts of fire at their attacker, and thentheir assailant disappeared.

On the 25th, AA629, operating fromColtishall, was also attacked by a Germannight fighter, and the gunner fired 400rounds in their defence, without beingable to claim any hits. Again theirassailant disappeared, and they returnedearly from the operation.

The threat was not always from the Ger­mans. On 3 April, Fit Sgt Moule/W/OWhitmill were operating from BradwellBay. At around 22.00hr there was intenseanti-aircraft fire because of a German air­craft in their vicinity. Moule took evasiveaction from 7,000ft (2,00001) down toaround 1,500ft (45001), and then askedcontrol for a vector back to base. Shortlyafterwards the Defiant hit a balloon cable,and the starboard wing caught fire. Bothmen bailed out, but Warrant Officer Whit­mill died.

Bomber Command requested that theMandrel aircraft be kept on tation for twohours, but the Defiants only had the rangeto manage half an hour at some orbit sta­tions. Plans began to be made to re-equipthe squadron with Beaufighters, which notonly had more range but also had moreroom to accommodate other pieces ofequipment. On 5 May 1943 an AirspeedOxford was del ivered to the squadron, tobe used for twin-engined training by thepilots.

RADAR COUNTERMEASURES

On 21 May AA658, flown by FIt Sgt T.J.Macauley/Sgt M.e. Wilmer, was declaredmissing; MacCauley was one of thelongest-serving pilots and a veteran of No.96 Squadron. Why the aircraft did notreturn was never confirmed, but there wasknown to be an enemy aircraft in the areaat the time.

Continuing Mandrel Operations

The pattern of Mandrel operations con­tinued, with sorties on twenty-two nightsin April, seventeen in May and twenty­four in June, involving between one andeight aircraft each night. The squadronbegan to start suffering from a shortage ofspare parts, and during May more andmore operations were abandoned becauseof malfunctions. It did not help that smallnumbers of Defiants were being parkedoutside on forward airfields, where facili­ties for maintenance were difficult. Thesquadron was even beginning to have towait for an aircraft to crash to cannibalizeit for spares. On 1 June the base for opera­tions had been moved to Hunsdon inHertfordshire.

Operating well-worn, single-enginedaircraft out over the North Sea was a riskybusiness. On one Mandrel patrol, Fit LtS.R. Thomas, a veteran of No. 264Squadron's early days, suffered total instru­ment and electrical failure while off theDutch coast near Den Heiden. There was10/10 cloud cover below them. He turnedfor home, and when he thought he wasprobably over land he offered his gunnerthe chance to bale out, an offer that waspolitely declined. With little fuel left, theygingerly descended through the cloud, andeventually broke into the clear at 1,500ft(45001). They flew on looking for familiarlandmarks, and then saw a flashingChance light, which turned out to be thatof Coltishall, the airfield from which theyhad taken off. They flashed the downwardrecognition signal and came into land, theengine cutting dead as the wheels touchedthe ground.

The Germans had responded to theMandrel jamming by creating new Freyawavelengths outside its capabilities. TheDefiants flew seventy-three more sortiesduring July, with the last four on the 17th.During this operation one of the four Defi­ants, AA651, crewed by Fit Lt Walters/FItSgt Neil, left Tangmere at 23.05hr and didnot return. A Mosquito pilot of No. 256Squadron saw an aircraft going down in

124

flames in the general area that the Defiantwas supposed to be operating, and also sawan FW 190 in the same vicinity, which hepromptly shot down.

If the German fighter did shoot downthe Defiant it was the last Defiant ever lostto enemy action, and on the very last oper­ational sortie by a turret fighter.

Further Mandrel operations with theDefiants were planned but were all can­celled because of the weather and techni­cal problems. Although No. 515 Squadronkept some of its Defiants until December,all further missions were flown by Beau­fighters.

Defiants for Electronic Trialsand Tests

After No. 515 Squadron had given up itsDefiants, the type still had two roles toplay in the electronic countermeasureswar. Firstly the Defiant IT. I , DR936, wasused for IFF trials at the A & AEEBoscombe Down, late in 1942. Identifyingfriend or foe was becoming an essentialingredient of the electronic war. Then theTelecommunications Research Establish­ment developed a device for homing in onthe German night-fighter radar emmis­sions, codenamed Serrate. To test this andother devices in the air, the Radar Devel­opment Flight was formed at Drem, late in1942. It acquired the brand-new Mark IIDefiants, AA580, AA654, AA659 andAA660, on 18 October 1942. They wereequipped with transmitters that worked onthe frequencies used by the German air-to­air radar.

These Defiants served as targets to trainBeaufighters quipped with the Serratedevice, initially from Nos 141, 169 and239 Squadrons. The first of these tobecome operational with Serrate, in June1943, was No. 141 Squadron, an old friendof the Defiant. They began intruder mis­sions over the Continent, hunting downthe German night fighters by homing inon their radar emissions. The hunter hadbecome the hunted. By the end of Sep­tember the squadron had despatched 233intruder sorties

Also in June 1943 the Radar Develop­ment Flight was re-designated No. 1692Flight, with Fit Lt Ian Esplin in command,and in January 1944 it acquired six moreDefiants, enabling more and more Serratesquadrons to be trained and to operate

No. 515 Squadron Mandrel Operations

Date No. aircraft Airfield Notes Date No. aircraft Airfield Notes

6.12.42 3 West Mailing 3 Tangmere3 Coltishall 2 Bradwell Bay2 Tangmere 19.2.43 3 Coltishall

9.12.42 2 Tangmere 1 Bradwell Bay3 Coltishall 24.2.43 1 West Mailing2 West Mailing 25.2.43 3 Coltishall Exchanged fire with night fighter

11.12.42 1 West Mailing 26.2.43 1 West Mailing3 Coltishall 2 Tangmere

13.12.42 3 Coltishall 28.2.43 3 Coltishall14.12.42 3 Coltishall 1 West Mailing17.12.42 3 Coltishall 3.3.43 1 Coltishall

2 Tangmere 3 West Mailing3 West Mailing 4.3.43 3 West Mailing

20.12.42 3 West Mailing 2 Tangmere2 Tangmere 3 Coltishall3 Coltishall 5.3.43 3 West Mailing

21.12.42 3 Coltishall 3 Coltishall2.1.43 2 Tangmere 8.3.43 2 West Mailing

2 West Mailing 2 Tangmere3.1.43 2 Tangmere Recalled, but AA651 did not hear 9.3.43 2 West Mailing8.1.43 3 Manston 2 Tangmere

3 Coltishall 10.3.43 3 West Mailing9.1.43 2 Tangmere 2 Coltishall

3 West Mailing 1 Tangmere3 Coltishall 11.3.43 1 Tangmere

11.1.43 3 West Mailing 3 Bradwell Bay1 Tangmere 12.3.43 3 Coltishall

13.1.43 3 West Mailing 1 West Mailing3 Coltishall 13.3.43 3 West Mailing2 Tangmere 2 Tangmere

14.1.43 2 Bradwell Bay 3 Coltishall3 Tangmere 2collided on landing 1 Heston Monitoring flight2 Coltishall 14.3.43 1 Heston Monitoring flight

15.1.43 3 Coltishall 26.3.43 2 Tangmere2 Bradwell Bay 3 West Mailing1 Tangmere 27.3.43 2 West Mailing

20.1.43 3 Coltishall 1 Tangmere21.1.43 2 Coltishall 3 Coltishall

2 Tangmere 28.3.43 2 Tangmere3 West Mailing 2 West Mailing

23.1.43 2 Tangmere 29.3.43 1 West Mailing3 West Mailing Returned, mud-clogged radiators 2.4.43 4

26.1.43 3 Coltishall 3.4.43 4 Bradwell Bay AA542 hit balloon cable evading2 Bradwell Bay AA fire

27.1.43 3 Coltishall 4.4.43 5+1Monitoring flight2.2.43 1 Northolt 5.4.43 4+1Monitoring flight

1 Coltishall 6.4.43 53.2.43 1 BradweII Bay 8.3.43 7+2 Monitoring flights4.2.43 1 Bradwell Bay 9.4.43 8

2 Coltishall 10.4.43 85.2.43 2 Coltishall 11.4.43 7+1Monitoring flight

1 Bradwell Bay Returned, mud again 13.4.43 8+1Monitoring flight7.2.43 2 Tangmere 14.4.43 8+1Monitoring flight

3 Bradwell Bay 15.4.43 93 Coltishall 16.4.43 8

11.2.43 1 Manston 17.3.43 8+1Monitoring flight3 Coltishall 18.4.43 8+2 Monitoring flights

13.2.43 1 Tangmere Fired at BI.110 19.4.43 32 Coltishall 20.4.43 81 Bradwell Bay 24.4.43 3

14.2.43 2 Tangmere 26.4.43 83 Coltishall 27.4.43 52 Bradwell Bay 28.4.43 5

15.2.43 3 Coltishall 30.4.43 22 Tangmere May 1943 99 Operational flights over 17 nights1 Bradwell Bay June 1943 118 Operational flights over 24 nights IAA572 Missing)

16.2.43 3 Tangmere July 1943 73 Operational flights to 16th1 Bradwell Bay 17.7.43 4 Last Defiant operational sorties,AA651 missing, possibly

18.2.43 3 Coltishall shot down

with the bomber streams over Europe,increasingly equipped with Mosquitoes.The electronic countermeasures' war,tarted in such a small way by th Defiant

of o. 515 Squadron, developed into awhole group, No. 100, formed in Decem­ber 1943. By July 1945, o. 100 Group

RADAR OUNTERMEASURES

had eleven squadrons, five equipped withMosquitoes, two with B-17 Fortre ses,three with Halifaxes and one with a mix­ture of aircraft. They were involved notjust in jamming and spoofing Germanradars, but also in electronic intelligence­gathering, and hunting down their Ger-

man equivalents in their own skies. It waa mas ive new component of modern war­fare, all begun when nine aircraft of theDefiant Flight took off and headed for theFrench coast on 6 August 1942.

CHAPTER NINE

Air-Sea Rescue Defiants

The dedicated air-sea rescue quadrancame into being as a direct result of theBritish situation after Dunkirk, when thewar was being fought across the Channeland the North Sea, and aircraft wereincreasingly required to search for airmenwho had baled out or ditched in the sea.Th obvious candidate was the uperma­rine Walrus, because it could actually landand rescue men from the water in calmconditions; however, it was more u ual fora earch aircraft to direct a rescue launchor lifeboat to a downed airman. The air­craft chosen initially was the WestlandLysander which, although it wa foundwanting in its army co-operation role, was

nevertheless endowed with excellentqualities for visual search. Lysanders werenormally equippe I with four M-Typedinghies on their bomb racks, which couldbe dropped near airmen in the water whilstthey awaited the arrival of surface craft. Inthe winter of 1941 four new air-sea rescuesquadrons were formed, numbered 275-8,and equipped with a mixture of Lysandersand Walrus amphibians.

It was proposed shortly afterwards thatthe Defiant would make a useful air-sea res­cue aircraft, as it would have a much fastertransit time to a search area, and al agreater ability to defend itself in areas whereGerman interference was likely. In February

1942 Boulton Paul carried out a trial instal­lation on AA326-a new Defiant Mkl heldat 46 MU - of a cylindrical M-Type dinghyon each of the light-duty bomb racks thatthe Defiant was designed to carry. The M­Type dinghy was an automatically inflating,three-man dinghy. Drop trials were carriedout successfully, and on 29 March 1942 anew Defiant-equipped ASR squadron wasformed, receiving its first aircraft, T4000(that had previously been at the RAE,Famborough) on 3 April. The quad ronreceived eight more Defiants to provideA R cover for o. 13 Group in the orchof England and catland. Strangely, T 4000wa the newest aircraft it received; the oth-

126

The trial installation of the Type M dinghy on a Defiant at Boulton Paul.

127

A No. 276 (ASR) Defiant, T3997, formerly of No. 96 Squadron.

ers were all ex-54 OTU, 60 OTU, 410Squadron or 125 Squadron, and thereforewell used examples.

No. 277 ASR Squadron was the first toactually receive a Defiant - N3398 - on 30March 1942; it was assigned the code let­ters BA-A, and in April, after a short spellwith No. 96 Squadron, the original trialASR Defiant, AA326, went to thissquadron for comparison with theLysander in the air-sea rescue role. On 16April, after some local flying, a practicerescue was carried out. The satisfactoryresult of this trial meant that the four orig­inal ASR squadrons began to receive Defi­ants, although they also kept both theirLysanders and the Walrus amphibians,using whichever aircraft was most appro­priate for a particular search and rescue.

ASR Defiants in Action

The No. 10 Group ASR Squadron No.276 was the first to receive Defiants in anynumbers. It was based at Harrowbeer inDevon, with detachments allover theSouth-West, and its first two Defiants,AA352 and AA353, arrived on 3 May.These were both ex-96 Squadron aircraft,and it was to be a feature of the Air-SeaRescue Squadron re-equipment that as thenight-fighter squadrons gave up their Defi­ants in the spring and summer of 1942,they would be re-assigned to the ASRsquadrons. By the end of May, No.2 76 hadreceived ten more Defiants, most of thesebeing ex-96 Squadron, some having to govia St Athan to have their radar removed.

No. 276 operated sea searches over theWestern Approaches, the Bristol Channeland St George's Channel, with detach­ments at Fairwood Common, Perranporth,

AIR-SEA RESCUE DEFIANTS

Roborough, Portreath and Warmwell, aswell as Harrowbeer itself. The Defiantswere used for just over a year until June1943, with Spitfire lIAs arriving to supple­ment them and the Lysanders and Walrus­es. Twenty different Defiants passedthrough their hands over this period, butonly two were lost in service.

On 7 November Defiant N3516, crewedby Fit Sgt T.A. Vaux/Sgt CG. Cave, tookoff at 13.15hr to search for a Spitfire pilotreported to have baled out 30 miles(50km) off Dodman Point in Cornwall.During the search the Defiant was report­ed to have crashed into the sea. AnotherDefiant, T3999, crewed by Fg OffSeabourne and Fit Sgt Poxton, took off at14.00hr to search for both the Spitfirepilot and the Defiant crew. They landedagain at 16.05hr having found nothing,refuelled and took off again at 17.20hr.They were recalled twenty minutes laterand the search was resumed by a Walrus,but nothing was found.

A couple of weeks later Seabourne wasto take the same Defiant - T3999 - on asearch 75 miles (l20km) out across theChannel, so near to the French coast thattwo Spitfires were sent to escort him. Dur­ing the search an enemy aircraft wasreported to be approaching, but was notseen by the three fighters, and nothing hadbeen found when they returned.

Though most searches for men in thewater proved to be fruitless, occasionallythey were successful. On 9 December 1942Fit Sgt Davies and Sgt Bain in DefiantT3999 searched for a downed Whitleybomber 5 miles (8km) off Bude. They suc­ceeded in finding the dinghy and droppedanother, and a smoke-float, and continuedto orbit until low on fuel, waiting for a boatto arrive.

On 22 January 1943, FltSgt K. Hall/FitSgt W. Elder baled out of Defiant T4051when lost in bad weather. The aircraftcrashed at Stafford Farm, West Stafford,Dorset.

No. 275 squadron provided air-sea res­cue coverage for the] rish Sea, and the seasoff Northern Ireland. It was based at Val­ley in Angelesey, with detachments atEglinton in Northern Ireland and on theIsle of Man. It received three Defiants on5 May 1942, and was in fact only to receivefive in total, mostly ex-255 and 256Squadron aircraft. The squadron keptDefiants until August 1943, the last one­T3920 - departing on the 22nd.

ASR Squadron No. 277

The busiest ASR squadron was No. 277,operating over the English Channel andthe southern part of the North Sea. Basedat Stapleford Tawney, it had detachmentsat Martlesham Heath, Hawkinge, NorthWeald and Shoreham. It was also to be thelargest ASR user of Defiants, havingacquired thirteen before the end of May1942, and having thirty-one pass throughits hands before giving them up in June1943.

The first thirteen Defiants were mostlyreceived directly from No. 264 and No.410 night-fighter squadrons as they weregiven up; but practice flying with thesewar-weary aircraft began to show problemsalmost straightaway. For instance, on 12May, N3421 suffered a forced landing atFairoaks after engine failure on a trainingflight from Stapleford Tawney, and had tobe sent to Reid & Sigrist for repair. On the18th, N3443 was in such need of overhaulit, too, was sent away; it was eventuallystruck off charge without further use. Onthe 25th, N1561 stalled on approach toCroydon in bumpy weather and crashed,killing the crew, Fit Lt G. Grant-Governand Mr D.W. Mauri, and a civilian on theground.

The following month the squadronbegan to receive more well-used Defiantsfrom No. 60 OTU, as that unit ceasedtraining Defiant night-fighter crews. Thefirst operational search was carried out on19 June from 14.05hr to 14,45hr byN3392, but nothing was seen. The follow­ing day, three Defiants - N3392, AA398and AA3421 - were scrambled to searchfor aircrew 10 miles (l6km) south ofDover. This time they spotted a parachute

in the water and escorted a launch to thescene.

The 13 June 1942 might be cited as atypical day for No. 277 Squadron. FromMartlesham Heath a Walrus flew a routinepatrol, and two Defiants, V1117 andN3392, were given air tests. At Hawkinge,Lysanders took off on two operationalflights but were then recalled, and anoth­er undertook a sea search for a downed air­crew along with Defiants T3994 andAA302. A third Defiant was taken on asolo local flight, presumably with ballast inthe turret, and was then flown to BigginHill. Defiant N3398 flew back to Staple­ford Tawney, returning later in the daywith another Defiant, AA302.

Although the ASR Defiants primarilyhad a humanitarian function, they werestill operational fighters, and this wasbrought home on 17 July when N3392,crewed by Pit Off Morrison/Sgt Burl, wasscrambled from Martlesham Heath tointercept a German bomber off the coast;however, they were unable to find it. Thismay well have been the last ever attempt­ed interception by a Defiant.

On 25 July, Fit Sgt J.S.B. Arundel/SgtW.G. Bunn took off in Defiant V1117 ona sea search over the Channel. They wereattacked by a FW 190 fighter about 4 miles(7km) north of Dunkirk, and were shotdown, both men being killed. This was thelast Defiant ever confirmed to have beenlost to enemy action.

AIR-SEA RESCUE DEFIANTS

On 19 August 1942 No. 277 Squadronprovided twelve Defiants and other air­craft as A R cover for the Dieppe Raid.One downed pilot was rescued when W/OKnowlton/Fit Sgt Rose in Defiant BA-Bsaw him floating in a dinghy and directeda launch to him. Masses of oil patches, andwreckage from downed aircraft were alsoseen, and some Junkers Ju 88s were alsospotted bombing a ship. One of thesquadron's Walruses picked up a Bostoncrew, and one of the Lysanders was chasedinland by a German fighter.

As noted earlier, from 11.00hr to12.30hr on the 19th, No. 515 Squadronhad nine Defiants in the air providingMoonshine ECM cover for a diversion tothe Dieppe Raid. With two squadrons andtwenty-one aircraft involved, this was thelargest number of Defiants ever assigned to

one operation.Sometimes the Defiant ASR crews, fly­

ing war-weary aircraft on long sea patrols,became candidates for their own rescueorganization. For instance, on 27 January1943, W/O Greenfield/FIt Sgt Horan tookoff in Defiant N3392, on a sea search for abomber crew downed in the orth Sea.Twenty-five miles (40km) off the coast ofSuffolk they experienced engi ne fai lure,had to ditch themselves, and were thenrescued from the water. The Defiant ASRpilots had the standard K-Type one-mandinghies worn by Hurricane and Spitfirepilots on overwater operations, but the

gunners had to clip one on, as there was noroom in the turret to wear one.

ASR Squadron No. 278

The fifth and last Defiant ASR Squadronwas No. 278, based at North Coates inLincolnshire with detachments alloverthe east coast and in Scotland. Like theother original ASR squadrons, it beganreceiving Defiants in May 1942, the firstsix arriving on the 7th, all being ex-96Squadron, having been to 30 MU to havetheir radar removed. No. 278 was to use adozen in all, but unlike the other units, itwould be for only seven months, giving upthe last one on 12 December.

The only one lost while on No. 278Squadron service was AA360, one of theex-96 Squadron aircraft: it was hit by aLockheed Hudson, while parked, mindingits own business, on North Coates airfieldon 29 July 1942, and had to be struck offcharge.

After a year of flying Defiants, the otherfour ASR squadrons began to give up theirDefiants in June 1943, replacing themmainly with Spitfires, which had proved to

be quite capable in the ASR role. Just asthe first fighter squadron to receive Defi­ants, No. 264, was also the last to relin­quish them, the first ASR squadron toreceive Defiants, No. 281, was also thelast.

728 729

CHAPTER TE

against low-flying targets, before movingon to air-to-air firing practice. Theseground trainers were usually only fittedwith one gun, and those in the air withonly two guns, to conserve ammunition.

Four air gunners' schools were to receiveDefiants in some numbers: o. 2 AG atDalcross, o. 7 AGS at Stormy Down,No. 10 AGS at Barrow-in-Fume , andthe Central Gunnery choo!. In omeca es the e units had already used a Boul­ton Paul aircraft for gunnery training, as ahandful of Overstrands received camou­flage paint at the tart of the war, and werevery useful for training air gunners whenthere were few spare aircraft around

Overstrands in Gunnerv Schools

still needed were thenceforth trained atNo. 18 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit atRAF Church Lawford, near Rugby in War­wickshire.

Defiants for Gunnery Schools

NO.10 Bombing & Gunnery School, ex·No. 2Air Observers School

K4551 • ex No. 101 Squadron.K4557 - ex NO.1 01 Squadron, SOC March 1940.K4563 - ex No. 101 Squadron,later 2174M, No. 12 SIT. Melksham.K8173 - ex NO.1 01 Squadron, crashed July 1940.K8174 - ex No. 101 Squadron, disposed Henlow, January 1940.K8176 - ex No. 101 Squadron, and Boulton Paul turret trials.

Later at Special Duty Flight and ACDU.

The Defiant's turret made it an ideal air­craft on which to train air gunners forBomber Command, as well as for the tur­ret-fighter squadron themselves. Thecompany had devised a wheeled groundtrainer for the Type A turret, with its ownengine and electrical generator, andtrainee gunners were able to operate these

The self-contained ground turret trainer produced by Boulton Paul.

The door impaled itself on one of the Defi­ant's propeller blades, which had toppedin the vertical position, 0 th shame­faced pilot was able to squeeze out andexplain himself.

Further South: No. 54 OTU

Further south, the OTU at hurch Fentonin Yorkshire, o. 54, had a further hazardto contend with besides inexperi ncedpilots, bad weather and high ground: thepos ibility of meeting the enemy. On the26 April 1941, Sgt Ee. Crozier/Fit gt .Bell were on a night exercise. Theycrashed after hitting tree 5 mile (8km)north of the airfield, apparently while try­ing to avoid a German aircraft. Just over amonth later, on the 29 May, gt D.A. Heg­gie, flying 1556, a Battle of Britain Defi­ant, crashed and died after a mid-air colli­sion with a Bristol Blenheim, L8377; aGerman aircraft was also reported in thevicinity.

By the end of 1942 the need to train fur­ther Defiant pilots was beginning todiminish, ince the aircraft' operationalday were numbered. Tho e Defiant pilots

reported over the radio that they 'hitsomething solid in cloud', and then lostcontrol and crashed on approach to EastFortune.

The something solid might also havebeen one of the Scottish hills, and otherNo. 60 OTU Defiants that flew into highground were N 1679, 1739 and N3495.The first of these three was flown by an all­Polish crew, Sgt Stanislaw SaJawa and PitOff Wladyslaw Blasinski, both of whomhad made a typical escape from the Ger­man occupation via Romania and France.Interestingly, Blasinski had been a pilot inthe Polish Air Force, but was deemedbelow the minimum standards for the RAFand volunteered to become an air gunner.After taking off at 1O.00hr, they flew southover the Cheviot Hills. After fifty min­utes, disorientated or lost, adawa hadmade the fatal mi take of descendingthrough cloud, and hit Dunmoor Hill inNorthumberland at an altitude of about1, 00 ft (549m).

Two·other aircraft were posted missingover the sea: T3914 and V1182. One air­craft, 1797, was wri tten off after thebrakes failed while taxiing at East Fortune,and it hit something unyielding. Thisproblem was one that the Defiant pilot'snotes warned about. A No. 4l 0 quadronDefiant pilot 5 miles (8km) away at Dremhad a similiar accident when taxiing aDefiant from one side of the airfield to theother. A slow, idling propeller was not ableto replenish the pneumatic reservoir, sothat when he applied the brakes on arriv­ing on the apron in front of the mainte­nance hangers at the bottom of the air­field, nothing happened. Inside the hangarhe wa aimed at, was a Whitley bomberthat had been damaged by anti-aircraft fireover Germany and was being repaired by aparty from Armstrong-Whitworth Air­craft. The Defiant hit the hangar doorwhich, dislodged from its rollers, fell for­ward onto the Defiant. As the pilot duckeddown into the cockpit, he just had thechance to see the white-overalled fittersrunning for their lives in all directions.

minor accidents. The highest number ofaccidents occurred during take-off or land­ing. For instance, on 19 July 1941, V1140,an almost new Defiant with only just overthirty-six flying hours, crashed on landingat East Fortune; and only ten weeks later aDefiant that had only just preceded it onthe production Iinc, V l138, crashed whileon approach.

On l5 August, l692 struck farmbuildings on approach to RAF Drem. Thepilot, Sgt EG. Westray managed to gainenough height for his gunner to bale out,but died himself while attempting a forcedlanding.

On 30 December, 16 0 struck theground 50yd from Drem railway tat ion indeteriorating weather conditions, killingthe crew. o. 410 quad ron, based atDrem, had been grounded at the timebecause the weather was considered toobad for operational flying, but the OTUDefiant 5 miles ( km) away at East For­tune, as was often the case, kept flying.They were able to watch 1680 makethree attempts to land at Drem, the traineepilot obviously unaware that in Defiants,when the wheels were down, the under­carriage doors obstructed the coolant flowto the radiator. After three circuits withthe wheels down all the time, the watch­ing pilots saw the tell-tale stream of glycolvapour, and then the aircraft rolled ontoits back and dived into the ground.

The cottish weather was to claim sev­eral other No. 60 OTU Defiants. A veter­an of all three OTU , L7023, crash-landedat Elder hope, elkirk, after running out offuel when the crew were lost in bad weath­er. In an identical situation, 1799cra hed in January 1942, the crew havingbaled out after they had run out of fuelwhile lost over Pathhead, Midlothian.

Two 0.60 OT Defiants, 1754 andVI172, were lost after an air-to-air colli­sion on 11 December 1941, but luckily allfour crew member were able to bale outafely. Another Defiant, N 1705, may well

have been involved in another mid-aircollision on 8 February 1942. The crew

No. 60 OTU: A High AccidentRate

o. 60 OT moved to East Fortune incotland, and became one of th largest

users of Defiants, with 106 going throughits books over the next eighteen months.Not surprisingly there was a high accidentrate, with at least twenty-four of the eDefiant being written off, and many more

Training on Defiants

As indicated earlier, Boulton Paul beganthe de ign of a dual-control trainer versionof the Defiant, with the turret removedand a raised instructor's position substitut­ed; but the aircraft was so easy and pleas­ant to fly, this was not built. The first Defi­ant squadrons, o. 264 and o. 141,trained their own aircrew; but after that

o. 5 Operational Training Unit at RAFAston Down began to equip with a smallnumber of Defiants, the first, L6991, arriv­ing on 17 May 1940, and five more the fol­lowing month, including K 620, the se ­oml prototype. A cowling blew off K8620on 13 July, and the aircraft was written offduring the following cra h-Ianding atPorthcawl. The unit only ever operatedtwelve Defiants alongside it Hurricanes,and became No. 55 OTU later in the year.

In December 1940, a dedicated night­fighter OT was created at Church Fen­ton, o. 54, equipped with both Defiantsand Blenheims. In March 1941, o. 54OTU had twenty-six Defiant and twenty-even Blenheims on strength, as well as

eleven Masters, five Oxfords, twelve TigerMoths and two Fairey Battle target tugs. Atotal of thirty-nine Defiants went throughNo. 54 TU's hands, and then a secondnight-fighter OTU, No. 60, was created at

Leconfield in May 1941, also equippedwith both Blenheims and Defiants.Though the two aircraft had a similar role,they were totally different in operation,and so it was decided to concentrate all theBlenheims (and later Beaufighters) in o.54 OTU, and all the Defiants in No. 60OTU.

IIIII

I j

130 131

TRAINING 0 DEFIANTS

Ground Instructional Airframes

School of Technical Training, Blackpool

NO.9 School of Technical Training

No. 11 School of Technical Training, Hereford

2589M Roc L3111

No. 7School of Technical Training

No. 12 School of Technical Training

No. 10 School of Technical Training

NO.3 Air Gunners School, Stormy Down

No. 10 Air Gunners School. Barrow

No. 14 School of Technical Training

3106M Defiant L6957

In the case of one lucky Defiant, N3370 at Blackpool.the arrival of an 'M' number was not the signal for itsdemise. It was an ex-264, 456 and 125 Squadronfighter, and it was returned to effective status on 6April 1942, going to No. 286 Squadron at Colerne. Itwas later converted to a target tug and was trans­ferred to the Navy, being eventually struck off chargein December 1944.

Defiant L6983 was one of the nine aircraft in thefirst and only daylight engagement of No. 141Squadron. Usually regarded as one of the seven air­craft shot down, its gunner, Sgt J.F. Wise, baled outand was not seen again: but the pilot, Pit Off I.N. Mac­Dougall, then made aforced-landing. The aircraft wasrepaired at Reid & Sigrist and went to No. 27 MU,from where it was reassigned as an instructional air­frame, 3198M, going to NO.9 School of TechnicalTraining, and then NO.3 School.

2740M Defiant N34452789M Defiant N3370

3198M Defiant L69833199M Defiant L6956

3251 M Defiant L6988

2982M Defiant N33943262M Defiant L70303279M Defiant L69873280M Defiant L6990

3281 M DefiantL69893282M Defiant L70083284M Defiant L6984

3278M Defiant L7033

3204M Roc L31223260M Defiant N16113263M Defiant L7000

NO.6 School of Technical Training, Hednesford

NO.4 School of Technical Training, St Athan

2732M Defiant N18013210M Defiant L69513211 M Defiant L70243212M Defiant L7014

NO.5 School of Technical Training, Locking

2730M Defiant N16212731 M Defiant N33073226M Defiant L70363227M Defiant L7012

2436M Roc L30572733M Defiant N17032734M Defiant N33682783M Defiant K83102980M Defiant L69503240M Defiant L6979

NO.6 Signals School, Bolton

No. 7Signals School, Science Museum, South Kens­ington

No. 1School of Technical Training, Halton

NO.5 Signals School, Malvern

NO.3 School of Technical Training

As with many RAF aircraft, the final training role ofseveral Defiants and Roes was as ground instruction­al airframes. attached to technical training schools,and given new maintenance serials.

2729M Defiant N33773171 M Defiant L69763172M Defiant L7023

3196M Defiant L69933197M Defiant L6997

2975M Defiant N17432976M Defiant N18032977M Defiant N3337

2983M Defiant T39932998M Defiant Vl1722999M Defiant N17973000M Defiant N34793006M Defiant N16163007M Defiant N18023008M Defiant T41073009M Defiant L6962

2981M Defiant N16812982M Defiant N3394

briefed. Gunners with Polish pilots oftenfound a towed target flapping just off theaircraft's wing-tip. Gunnery exercise over,the pilots would often indulge them elvesin a little low flying or aerobatics, to thedi comfort of their trainee gunner.

One well-known accident involved aNo.2 AG Defiant ditching in the MorayFirth, though it is often attributed to LochNes . The eight-sixth production Defiant,L7035, had a short but troubled opera­tional career. Issued to o. 307 (Lwow)

quadron on 14 September 1940, on 5October it was landing at Kirton-in-Lind­sey when the pilot retracted the undercar­riage instead of raising the flaps. Repairedand put back into service with No. 307, itwas landing at ]urby, on the Isle of Man,when it overshot, apparently because of oilon the windscreen. This time it went toReid & Sigrist for repair, and on 8 ovem­ber 1941 wa issued to No.2 AG at Dal­cross.

On 4 May 1942 it was being flown on acamera gun exercise by Fit gt Finney,with the trainee gunner, LAC Langley,part of o. 15 Course. On approach backto Dalcross the engine cut, and Finney wasforced to ditch in the Moray Firth. Fit gt, heppard was airborne in another Defiantand saw the ditching. He quickly landed,and climbed aboard the station's fireengine to race to the beach. He wam outto L7035 and assisted Finney ashore. Lan­gley was left on the wing of the Defiant try­ing to blow up his Mae West, which hadbroken its valve during the ditching. Hewas a non-swimmer, and before help couldreach him the Defiant had sunk, and Lan­gley drowned.

The fact that this Defiant was so intactwhen last seen, and was also within swim­ming distance of the shore, has attracted agreat deal of interest over the years frompeople anxious to increa e the populationof surviving Defiant. How much of theaircraft survives after sixty years of expo-ure to the full force of northern gales, in

fairly shallow water and corrosive seawater at that, i another matter.

One other air gunner' school had tenDefiants: o. 1 Air Gunnery chao! atBairagarh, near Bhopal, India. These wereall target tugs - although that did not pre­clude them adopting more aggre ivetraining roles than hauling an aerial targetaround: in May 1944 the TTL AA371 wasflown as the 'attacker' in an exercise witha Vultee Vengeance (AN766). The crewbecame lost and had to make a force-land-

equipped with power-operated gun turrets.o. 10 B & G School eventually

became No. 10 AGS; located at Barrow, itb came the largest u er of Defiant, with114 through it books. RAF Barrow was anairfield on a peninsular jutting out into theIrish ea, which created its own problemsif engine failure occurred on take-off. Thishappened to Defiant 3449 on 20 Augu t1942. The aircraft was ditched one milenorth of Millom, but both crew members,Pit Off] .R. Mackie and LAC G. Bradshaw,were killed.

One Defiant, N3328, was lost whilebeing ferried from Barrow to WalneyIsland on 24 October 1942. Sgt ].L. Coul­ter of the Royal Australian Air Force Wet!;

flying it over the Peak District when heran into a severe hailstorm. The aircraftstalled and crashed near Lower CloughFarm, Barnoldswick, and Coulter waskilled.

Considering that the Defiant was a veryeasy aircraft to fly, with good visibility forthe pilot (compared with a pitfire or Hur­ricane), quite a few were lost while beingferried. For example, the engine cut on

3319 while it was being ferried by No. 14Ferry Pilot Pool, and it crashed near Tim­perley in Che hire; and 3371 also lost itsengine on a delivery flight, and was force­landed near Dunbar in East Lothian.Another engine failure happened toN3444 while it was being delivered afteran overhaul, and it dived into Harrowbeerairfield. Amongst other Defiants lost whilebeing ferried were 3337 and T3927.

The second-largest user of Defiantsamongst the Air Gunners Schools was No.2 at Dalcross, where 108 were 'consumed'.Like No. 60 OTU to the south, there wasa high accident rate due to the Scottishweather and mountains, and well worn air­craft. None of the e reasons caused the lossof 1625 and T40032, however, whichcollided while formation flying over Dal­cro son 29 December 1942.

or were the conditions to blame forthetwoaccident thatbefellT4101 atNo.2 AG . On 3 ovember 1941 it hit theairfield Chance light after drifting onapproach; and on 16 March 1943 it strucka tree while undertaking low flying near

aim. Low flying was a particular tempta­tion for many AG pilots, whose daily jobwas just to drive aspiring gunners aroundwhile they blazed away at air or ground tar­get. Some of them, particularly the Poles,were known to improve 'their' pupils'score by flying nearer the target than

Trainee air gunners gathered round a Type A turret in a ground trainer.

A cadet gunner in an AGS Defiant: these were equipped with only two guns.

732 733

TRAINING ON DEFIANTS

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Defiant Target Tugs

Defiant N3315, coded UF-V, at 24 OTU Honeybourne. This was the aircraft in which Sgt Lipinski gained No. 307 Squadron's first victory.

The Defiant was ideal for conversion to ahigh-speed target-towing aircraft, forwhich there was an increasing need duringthe war. The removal of the turret left theperfect place to site an observer to operatethe winches and targ ts, for both air-to-airand ground-to-ai l' firing exercises. Thesame was true of the Blackburn Roc, whichhad quickly been re-assigned to target-tow­ing tasks, but the performance of that air­craft fell far short of what was required forrealistic firing exercises. Although a pro­posal to utilize the Defiant as a target tug in1940 had been discussed, the priority wasthen to produce enough fighter versions.

In July 1941, with suppli s of fighterDefiants more than adequate to meet fore­se n demands, the last thirty aircraft in theorder for 300 placed in July 1940 (withserials beginning 'Ap.:) were cancelled,

together with the entire following orderfor 298 Defiant lIs with serials beginning'AV'. A new order was placed with Boul­ton Paul for 150 of a target-towing versionof the Defiant Mark 11, with the MerlinXX engine. This version of the aircraft wasdesignated the T.T.I, and the prototype,DR863, was built on the Mark 11 produc­tion line, preceding eighty of the fighterversion.

The Target Tug Prototype:Design Details

The turret was replaced by an observer'sposition, covered by a sliding glazed hood.There was a large drogue box beneath therear fuselage, and a windmill projectingfrom the starboard side of the fuselage, pro-

viding electrical power to a Mk liB winchfor ground-to-air targets, and a Mk liEwinch for air-to-air targets. All standardtargets then in use could be carried,including 3ft and 4ft sleeves, 4ft and 5ft5in flags, 3ft astern attack targets, andhigh-speed flares.

The aerial mast wa moved frombeneath the fuselage to a more orthodoxposition between the two cockpits, andguard cables were fitted above and belowthe tailplane to protect the tail from dam­age from the winch cables. Surprisingly,even with the removal of the turret, thesubstantial weight of the winch and otherequipment increased the loaded weight ofthe aircraft to 8,191lb (3,715kg), or8,250lb (3,742kg) with tropical equip­ment and oil filter, and reduced its topspeed to only 280mph (451kmph).

ing at Sarangpur after running short offuel.

Apart from the night-fighter OTUs andthe air gunners schools, at least twenty-

four other OTUs had one or two Defiantson strength. Most of them were bomberOTUs, and the Defiant was useful in thatit was able to combine the roles of fighter

734

affiliation with gunnery training in oneairframe.

The prototype Defiant T.T.!, DR863, showing the wires protecting the tailplane, and the large windmill that powered the winch.

735

DEFIA T TARGET TUGS

- ...

igrist continued to be the major contrac­tor for all Defiant overhaul and repair,both from battle-damaged and cra hedexample. The vast majority of Defiantsended up at the crowded little Leicester­shire airfield at some time during the war,many of them more than once. The exactnumber ofTTllIs eventually produced byReid & igrist is unknown, but it is

The Defiant T.T.III prototype conversion. N3488. at Boscombe Down.

Boscombe Down for testing on 26 May1942.

Go-Ahead for Conversion

An initial order was placed with Reid &Sigrist at Desford for the conversion of afurther 150 Defiants to TTllls. Reid &

A production Defiant T.T.!. DR972. outside the factory showing the yellow/black stripes on the undersides.

The prototype, DR863, known as the'tow-target' Defiant in the factory, waready for test flight in January 1942. Thenext one, DR864, followed the fighters offthe production lines in May. But the needfor an even higher-speed target tugprompted discussion of a version of the air-raft fi tted wi th the 1,620hp Merlin 24

engine, and a rigorou weight-r ductioneffort with the aim of reducing the all-upweight to around 7,5001b (3,402kg). Thisversion, designated the TTll, was not pro­ceeded with; instead, late in 1941, it wadecided to convert surplu Mark I fighters,which were being replaced by Mark lls inthe night-fighter squadrons.

The aircraft assigned as the prototype ofthis conver ion was 34 , which hadbeen experimentally fitted with extra fueltanks, and was returned to Boulton Paulfor conversion to target tug in December1941. The structural conver ion wases entially the same as that for the TTl,giving an all-up weight of 8,227Ib(3,732kg), but with the lower­powered engine of the Mark 1, it topspeed was only 250mph (402kph). Thisver ion of the Defiant wa deSignated theTTlll, and N3488 was returned to

Ready for Test-Flying

Outside thefactory on 31January 1942: aforward view ofDR863.

The Defiant TTl prototype on test from Boscombe Down. with the observer's sliding hood open.

136 137

DEFIA T TARGET TUGS DEFIANT TARGET TUGS

out the world, fitted with tropicalizationkits in most cases, most visibly the large oilfilter scoop beneath the engine. o. 22­anti-aircraft co-operation unit in Indiareceived as many as fifty-four Defiant tar­get tugs, and they were detached to air­fields right across the sub-continent.

In Africa, No. 21 AACU operated sixDefiants at Takoradi on the Gold Coast,No. 25 AACU had ten in Kenya, No. 23AACU had a couple in Aboukir, but No.26 AACU in Egypt had the most, with up

Three Defiant IT.ls of No. 777 FRU. Hastings. Sierra Leone.

A Defiant T.II making a low pass across the Algerian airfield of Blida. still towing the drogue.

Defiant target tugs were shipped through-

Vengeance; but Defiants remained a fea­ture of its strength, a total of thirty-fourpassing through its books. In 1945 the unitmoved to Harrowbeer, a welcomeimprovement on the very small field atRoborough. Soon afterwards the Defiantswere all finally replaced by the Vengeance.

Target Tugs the World Over

Equipping the Squadrons

No. 285 and No. 288 Squadrons, the AAunits for No.9 and No. 12 Groups respec­tively, based at Wrexham and at Digby,received a number of fighter Defiants inMarch 1942 for anti-aircraft affiliationexercises. No. 286, the No. 10 group AACunit, was based at Filton, and received itsfir t Defiant on 2 April 1942. The AACsquadron for No. 13 Group in corlandwas No. 289 quadron, and it became thebiggest user of Defiants amongst all ofthese five AAC units: based at Kirknew­ton, it was to get through forty-nine Defi­ants between March 1942 and July 1943.

In addition, two AAC Flights receivedaircraft: No. 1479 at Peterh ad, whichacquired four Defiants; and No. 1480 atNewtownards, rather more with fourteen.No. 1479 Flight eventually became No.598 Squadron, and still had a Defiant onstrength at the time, but No. 1480 Flighthad given up all its Defiants by the time itwas re-designated No. 290 Squadron.

Each of the Bomber Command groupshad a bomber (gunnery) flight, to givetheir gunners air-to-air practice: they werenumbered 1482-5, and they also acquir dDefiant target tugs as part of their equip­ment. The No.4 Group TTGF Flight No.1484 at Driffield received the most, havingtwenty different Defiants through itshands. No. 1484 Flight provided gunnerypractice from Binbrook and Lindholme forNo.1 Group, and had six Defiants.

Two of the many anti-aircraft co-opera­tion flights, Nos 1622 and 1631, werebased at Gosport, but with detachmentswh rever th y were needed along thesouth coast; they merged on 1 December1943 to become No. 667 Squadron. Theyalready operated Defiant target tugs beforemerger, and as a squadron were to receivemore than any other anti-aircraft co-oper­ation unit, a total of fifty-two.

In the same way, the anti-aircraft co­operation flight based at Roborough, Ply­mouth - No. 1623, originally C Flight ofNo.2 AACU - was upgraded early in1943 to squadron status as No. 691Squadron, as part of No. 70 Group FighterCommand. At the time the unit had acomplement of four Defiant target tugs,five Hurricanes, two Oxfords and a Black­burn Roc, so that in this unit the two tur­ret fighters served together, but withouttheir turrets. No. 691 Squadron continuedto operate a variety of aircraft, includingBarracudas and the mighty Vultee

certainly in excess of 224. They were thenawarded contracts for the conversion ofMark II fighters to target tugs, becomingT.T.Is, and at least 149 of these were pro­duced in addition to the new-build aircraftmanufactured by Boulton Paul; theseeventually totalled 140, the final ten beingcancelled.

The total produced is confused by thefact that most of the anti-aircraft co-oper­ation units that operated Defiants alsoflew fighter versions, for affiliation exer­cises. Just like the air-sea rescue squadrons,there were five anti-aircraft co-operationsquadrons, one attached to each group ofFighter Command, with detachmentsthroughout the group area as necessary.No. 287, the No. 1I Group AACSquadron, was the first to receive a Defi­ant, NI726 arriving on 18 February 1942.It was based at Croydon, and was to haveforty Defiants pass through its 'books' fromthen to October 1943, when the Defiantswere given up. Many of these were fighteraircraft, but target tugs arrived as theybecame available.An air-to-air shot of the IT.I. DR863. showing the underfuselage drogue box.

A production Defiant Ilion the compass-swinging circle at Boulton Paul.

I III

138 139

DEFIA T TARGET TUGS

A Fleet Requirements Unit Defiant IT. I.

An FRU Defiant IT.! operating over Algeria.

740

to thirty on detachments throughoutorth Africa.Large numbers of target-tug Defiants

were transferred to the Fleet Air Arm foruse by fleet requirement units all over theworld. The exact number i unknown, astheir RAF records are in some casesincomplete, and official naval records arealmost non-existent. Some that weretransferred to the avy were then loanedright back to the RAF, to No. 667 and No.691 Squadrons, who provided anti-air raftfor ships as well as army establishments.

ther record cards show Defiants'Returned to RAF Account', withoutmention of where they had been; or disap­pearing altogether, which probably means'they went to the Fleet Air Arm. A total of196 Defiant TTlils and ninety-one Defi­ant TTls have been positively identifiedas being used by the Fleet Air Arm, butthere were undoubtedly more than that.

An FRU 11111 after suffering a forced landing atHatston.

DEFIA T TARGET TUGS

747

A Fleet Requirements Unit Defiant T.T.!.

A Defiant 11111 after a forced landing in Ceylon.

CHAPTER TWELVE

ExperiDlental Defiants

Bernard lynch in the ground test rig for the Martin-Baker ejection seat. In the background can be seen thewings of Defiant DR944, awaiting the seat., its stars and bars still visible.

Martin had further talks with representa­tives of Fighter Command, who made itclear that an ejection apparatus was notrequired for existing aircraft, but only fornew designs such as the Meteor. Martintherefore immediately scrapped his swing­ing arm concept and began designing anejection seat.

A Defiant TTl, DR944, was assignedto Martin-Baker, coming from the Ameri­can Combat Crew Replacement Centreon 20 February 1945. It wa found to be ina very dilapidated condition, and had to beoverhauled by Martin-Baker. Two Defi­ants were as igned to R. Malcolm Ltd: aTT1II, AA292, that arrived on 18 April1945; and N3488 that arrived on 26 Octo­ber 1945, apparently as a source of spareparts.

the Spitfire and Tempe t - although mea­surement of the cockpits of tho e aircrafthad shown that there was no room for anykind of self-ejecting seat. A model of hiwinging arm was shown to ACM Sir Wil­

fred Freeman and Sir Stafford ripps atthe Ministry of Aircraft Production on 11October 1944. Both were keen on theidea, and asked how they might a si t inthe further development of the scheme.Martin a ked for a Defiant.

The Defiant, with its turret removed,was an ideal aircraft for the testing of thenew ejection mechanism, which couldeasily be sited in the place where the tur­ret had been. And unlike a trainer, forinstance, the Defiant could operate at upto 300mph (482kph), for a more realistictesting programme. hortly afterwards

Early in 1944 the Ministry of Aircraft Pro­duction became concerned that the high­er speeds being achieved by combat air­craft were making it difficult for the crewto bale out in an emergency: once theircanopy had been jettisoned, the slipstreamwas pinning the crew in their seats, and ifthe aircraft were spinning or gyratingabout the ky becau e of battle damage,the G-force was having the same effect.Figures were compiled to show that atspeed of up to 150 knots the crew had a 75per cent chance of a succe sful bale-out,but at speed over 290 knots their chancesfell to only 2 per cent. The Royal AircraftEstablishm nt was therefore asked toinvestigate the problem.

In January 1944 the Air Ministryapproached two engineering companieswith a proven track record of aeronauticalinnovation to devi e a suitable system tomechanically eject a pilot or crew-memberfrom an aircraft operating at high speed.The two companie were Martin-Bak I'

Aircraft Ltd at Denham where James Mar­tin was the well re pected chief engineer,and R.L. Malcolm Ltd at White Waltham,where Marcel Lobelle was chief engineer.

James Martin had already been workingon the problem. After a meeting with WgCdr Jewell of Fighter Command in thesummer of 1944 he had devi ed a swingingarm ystem. A pring-loaded arm would beited on the upper fuselage, hinged near

the fin and attached to the pilot's seat,ready to lift it from the aircraft in an emer­gency. He devi ed this method because hebelieved an emergency ejection systemwas required for existing aircraft such as

Testing Ejection Seats

assigned to Boulton Paul in June 1944 forthe fitment of a contra-rotating propeller,but there is no further record of it until itsdispo al to Boulton Paul in 1948, togetherwith DR895, supposedly for scrap - thougha letter in Air Pictorial in 1952 refers to aDefiant at RAF Bridgnorth modified fordeck landing with a strengthened under­carriage and an arrester hook. The Defiantat Bridgnorth ha always been referred toas AA413, but this letter might well indi­cate that it was actually DR 95, unlesboth aircraft went to Bridgnorth. To com­plicate matters further it i now knownthat a fighter Defiant tored in the flightsheds at Boulton Paul's factory in Augu t1948 also went to Bridgnorth.

Boulton Paul P.I03

Boulton Paul's P94 of 1940 had been suc­ceeded by an even more advanced versionof the Defiant tailored a a new carrierfighter to pec. N.7/43, the P103. Thecompany offered it in two versions: the'P103A with the 2,100hp Rolls-RoyceGriffon; and the P103B, with the 2,300hpBristol Centauru . The aircraft was a veryattractive-looking fighter with an all­round vi ion canopy. Its design was stuffedwith advanced features, uch as a contra­rotating propeller with a dive-brake facili­ty, provision for rocket-a sisted take-off,automatic electric trim tabs for the eleva­tors, and a telescopic undercarriage, short­er when retracted.

Although the P103 was not produced,the new naval fighter being the Hawker

ea Fury, the RAE was interested in manyof the e novel design features. It was decid­ed to test them on a Defiant, and DR 95was as igned to be converted a a 'specialfeatures' -Defiant. It would be fitted withthe Griffon engine, with the 'dive-brakepropeller', the telescopic undercarriage,main undercarriage doors that opened inflight to simulate bomb doors, and theelectric trim tabs. As the aircraft wouldhave to be flown onto an aircraft carrier tot st many of the feature in the environ­ment for which they were designed, Cap­tain Eric Brown, a naval te t pilot, wasassigned to check the basic aircraft's char­acteristic , and whether they were suitablefor carrier operation. He passed the aircraftas suitable, despite slight reservationsabout the Defiant's stalling characteristics,as it dropped a wing with little warning.

In the end only two of the special fea­tures were tested on DR895: the longstroke undercarriage, which eventuallyfound ervice on the Sea Fury; and theautomatic electric trim tabs, which provedvery satisfactory during the tests undertak­en in June 1946 - however, they wererather overtaken by the use of power con­trols, Boulton Paul leading the way in thisnew field. Another Defiant, AA413, was

One Defiant, T4106, wa hipped toAmerica ~ I' trials in May 1941. It was anunused aircraft, and arrived at Wright-Pat­terson in July 1941. At around the sametime, a number of Boulton Paul gun turretswere a igned to variou American manu­facturers to help with their own develop­ment of new turrets. The Defiant was list­ed as being inactive in July 1943, and waspresumably scrapped.

Defiants to America for Trials

K8310 Test of hood and seating for passengercompartment.

L6950 Rudder de-icing tests.L6954 Tropical cowl trials.N1550 Mass balance rudder and elevator tabs.N1551 Flow test for Marston radiator.N1553 A.I. wireless installation.N1622 A.I. director aerial vibration test.N3311 Operational trials in connection with

gun turrets.N3322 Vibration test at Rotol.N3381 Vibration test at De Havilland.N3397 Cannon turret torque trial.N3488 Additional fuel tanks.N3514 Vibration test at full service load.

Defiants Allocated for DTDExperimental Work 10 April 1941

Boulton Paul had already done a greatdeal of experimental work in the use ofplastic panels to reduce weight on theDefiant, for example the gunner's lowerfu e1age e cape hatch. The company hadalso in fact introduced pia tic for aircraftskinning as far back as 1919, when theirsteel-framed Pta biplane had fuselagepanels of Bakelite-Dilecto. Mr Vesset ofthe RAE agreed to con ider the use of plas­tic to cover a econd wing if Boulton Paulprovided a test specimen. In the event thewhole programme was cancelled, but itpresaged the intense effort that went intothe attempt to produce a true laminar-flowwing.

Testing the Low-Drag Wing

o fiant were found to be very useful forexperim ntal work at Farnborough andBoscombe Down, because with the turretremoved a flight-test observer could becarried.

For in tance in February 1941 it was pro­po ed to u e a Defiant to te t a special low­drag wing with a thickne of 18 per centat the root and 9 per cent at the tip. TheRAE ent a memorandum to Dr .c. Red­shaw at Boulton Paul on 6 February out­lining the requirement. It was sugge tedthat Defiant N3484, already at Farnbor­ough for engine development work, shouldhave its wings removed and be delivered toBoulton Paul to have the low-drag wingfitted, together with a uitable observer'position. It was intended that diving trialsbe undertaken at speeds of 500-550mph( 05-885kph), and this would also requirethe strengthening of the aircraft's tailplaneand the pilot' canopy. There would be noprovision for fuel in the experimentalwing, and so 50-60gal (230-270Itr) wouldhave to be sited in the fuselage. Althoughthe standard Defiant undercarriage wouldbe used, smaller main wheel would haveto be fitted. The new wing would have amailer centre section than the standard

Defiant wing, but larger outer wings,though the overall area would be reducedfrom 250sq ft (23sq m) to 232sq ft (21.5sqm).

Extra-thick duralumin skinning was tobe used for the surface of the wings, so thatfewer rows of countersunk rivets needed tobe used. It was estimated that the drag co­efficient of the aircraft with this new, low­drag wing would be 0.0202; that of thenormal Defiant wa 0.0273, and that e ti­mated for Boulton Paul's P94, thecleaned-up single-seat Defiant, wouldhave been 0.024. In a meeting on 29 July,H.Y. Clarke of the company's designdepartment even suggested the use of plas­tic sheet to skin the wings.

742 743

EXPERIMENTAL DEFIANTS

The Martin-Baker SeatCHAPTER THIRTEEN

Late Surviving Defiants and Roes

I

I

I:I

i

The first dummy ejection from an aircraft in this country, as the Martin-Baker ejection seat leavesDefiant DR944.

A sequence showing an Ml Aviation ejection seat being tested from Defiant AA292 on 11 Dctober 1945.

144

The Martin-Baker seat was ready inDecember 1944. It consisted of a seat slid­ing by means of four rollers on an H-sec­tion guide rail, with a telescopic cartridge­powered ejection gun. [t was first tested ona 16ft (5m) high static rig, both with bal­last and with volunteers, led by therenowned Bernard Lynch. The next stepwas to test it in the air. On 10 May 1945the Defiant, fitted with the prototype ejec­tion seat, was jacked into an 'in-flight'position, and loaded with sandbags thatwere then ejected into a catch-net. Whenthis proved entirely satisfactory, the nextstep was to take the aircraft into the air~

The following day the Defiant was flownto Wittering, and Rotol's chief test pilot,Brian Greenstead, flew DR944 with adummy in the ejection seat: this was suc­cessfully ejected, the first such airborneejection to take place over Great Britain.On 17 May, six further ejections of dum­mies were undertaken at speeds that wereslowly increased to 300mph (482kph) (theDefiant's limit). After that, airborne testejections were carried out in a modifiedMeteor.

The R. Malcolm Seat

The R. Malcolm seat was ready for air­borne test on I October 1945 and, with aseat weight of 2911b (l32kg), was ejectedfrom Defiant AA292 at 250mph(400kph), with a 40ft/sec charge(12m/sec). Over the next few days, furtherejections were made at different speedsand with the seat weight reduced to 251lb(I14kg).

Although Martin-Baker became thestandard ejection-seat supplier to theBritish armed forces, and indeed to thoseof most of the Western world, R. Malco[mLtd, or 'ML Aviation' as they became(adopting the initials of their chief engi­neer), continued to develop their seats.These were test flown in a Meteor and aWyvern, and then in the experimentalHawker PI08\. But this aircraft crashed,killing the pilot, who failed to eject, and soML Aviation ceased their ejection-seatwork.

L3084

Only a tiny number of Rocs continued inservice into 1945, and none after the warended. The only Roc that has any recordof existence after the war is L3084, whichserved its whole service life as a target tug,including trials as a floatp[ane. It wasnoted without wings, fin or tai[p[ane at theVictory Air Pageant, Ea tleigh Airport,Southampton on 22 June 1946. It wasnothing to do with the pageant, but stood'in the long grass', having been in use as anengine test rig, with an 8ft (204m) diame­ter, four-blade airscrew inside a large cowl.As far as is known, this was the last sur­viving Blackburn Roc, presumablyscrapped shortly afterwards.

The Blackburn Skua: L2940

The Roc's cousin, the Blackburn Skua, wasalso thought to be extinct until theremains of L2940 were recovered from thedepths of Lake Grotli, Norway, where ithad been landed (on the frozen surface) byits pilot, Major Richard Partridge, afterdamage from return fire from a Heinkel HeILIon 26 April 1940. The Skua was set onfire, and sank to the bottom of the lakewhen the ice melted. It was recovered andis displayed in its 'lake-bed' condition, atthe F[eet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton.

Defiants in Store

Only a handful of Defiants survived formore than a year or two after the war,though in January 1946 the total numberof Defiants held by RAF storage units waseighty-seven. This was made up of thirty­eight F.1s, eighteen F.I1s, two TTls, andtwenty-nine TT[I[s. There were unlikelyto have been any Defiants still in servicewith RAF units at this time.

Target Tugs: AA413 and DR895

As related previously, two target-tug Defi­ants, AA413 and DR895, were at BoultonPaul's factory after the war. They had beenassigned for various experimental fittingsfor naval use, and were both sold to Boul­ton Paul in 1947, for reduction to produce.It appears that one or both of them wentto nearby RAF Bridgnorth, and AA413was recorded as being there in 1952. Cer­tainly DR895 was being flown regularlybefore the end of the war, apparently as acommunications aircraft - on one occa­sion on 6 April [945, J.D. North was thepassenger in a flight from Hendon, withLindsay Neale at the controls.

There were a series of test flights withDR895 from January to the end of May1946, presumably with the naval modifi­cations specified. Interestingly, Lindsay

eale went through a deck-landing courseon Seafires in November 1945, operatingat East Haven and aboard HMS Ravager.Whether this indicated an intention forhim to operate the Defiant with the newnaval modifications on board a carrier isnot known. The last recorded Defiantflight in Lindsay Neale's log books is thedelivery of DR895 from Wolverhamptonto Farnborough on 9 July 1946.

There is also a photograph of the Boul­ton Paul flight shed in August 1948 show­ing in the background a fighter Defiantwith turret fitted, and a number of fonneremployees remember it as having beenthere for some time. One of them, BillPauling, is certain that it, too, went toRAF Bridgnorth, but its serial is unknown.

The T.T.l Prototype, N3488

Another employee remembers seeingN3488, the TT[ prototype, at the factoryafter the war, but the final record of thisaircraft is on the scrap-dump at No. 31MU. As this was an ammunition depot ina Welsh slate quarry, this may well be an

145

error. Lindsay Neale's logbook records atwenty-minute test flight of N3488 on 11November 1945, with a note that theengine seized. This was probably its lastflight.

Boulton Paul Aircraft were offered aDefiant after the war, by the Air Ministry,as a token of the company's war effort. Theoffer was apparently refused by J.D. North,though his reasons have not been record­ed. As related there were Defiants at thefactory until at least the summer of 1948.

Defiants in Egypt

Some of the Defiants left in Egypt wentinto service with the Royal Egyptian AirForce. A report made in the summer of1947 stated that the REAF's target-towingflight was still equipped with four Defiants,though these were all unserviceable (andlikely to have remained that way). OtherDefiant target tugs were still in use whenthe Indian Air Force was formed, and maywell have been the last Defiants to fly.

The Career of N3430

In March 1952, N3430 was noted on thedump at Balado Bridge in Kinross. It is apity that someone did not see fit to rescuethis example, as it was a Defiant with achequered career. It began its service atRotol for propeller vibration tests, but wasthen issued to No. 141 Squadron as anight fighter. After an overhaul at Reid &Sigrist it went to No. 153 squadron inNorthern Ireland for a short while, andwas then issued to No. 276 on air-sea res­cue duties. Converted by Reid & Sigrist toa target tug, it was transferred to the Navyand was used by the Flag Officer CarrierTraining Flight at Fearn for a while; therest of its Fleet Air Arm service beingsomething of a mystery, before fetching upat Balado Bridge, where it was presumablyscrapped.

LATE SURVIVING DEFIANTS A D Roes LATE SURVIVING DEFIANTS AND Roes

Defiant Model L7005

The Boulton Paul Association in Wolver­hampton began collecting Defiant parts in1994, well aware that there was only one

Night patrol, 1hr.

Night patrol 25min.

Night patrol. 1hr.Night patrol 15min.

Night patrol.

Two morning patrols.Dispersed to Church Stanton,10min flight. Ale swung onlanding Cat.3 damage.To Reid & Sigrist for repair.To 46 MU Lossiemouth.Issued to NO.153 Squadron,Ballyhalbert.Sole operational patrol withNo. 153, 1hr 10minTOTAL operational time. 15sorties, 13hr 35min.To No. 285lAnti-aircrah co­operation) Squadron. atWrexham, coded VG.To Reid & Sigrist for overhaul.To NO.1 0 MU. Hullavington.To 52 MU Cardiff (PackingDepotl possibly 'for MuseumPurposes'.Listed as part of the AirHistorical Branch Collectionat Stanmore Park.Stored at Wroughton.Stored at Fulbeck.Displayed at RAF St Athan.At Royal View at Abingdon.Moved from Abingdon toFinningley.To RAF Museum, Hendon.To Battle of Britain Museum Hall.

Details

piece by piece various other parts of theaircraft were tracked down and acquired,in a process that still continues. Restora­tion of the wreckage did not seem practi­cal, as decades on the moors had corrodedit to the point where most would havebeen thrown away and replaced by newmaterial. The only part of the survivingwreckage to which paint still adheres is thefin, one of the first items brought downfrom the moor by a gentleman who had aparticular interest in Defiant fins as hemade them during the war at Northen Air­craft. The original intention of the associ­ation was to display the parts they had,mocking up the missing bits in between to

Sgt Luxford

Crew

Sgt Bilau

Sgt Wisthal/Sgt StengierskiSgtWisthal/Sgt StengierskiSgt Wisthal/SgtWozny

Sgt BilaulSgtWozny

01.04.7100.78

07.5700.5809.6006.6807.68

Date

11.54

22.02.4316.05.4308.09.44

31.12.41

09.06.4109.06.41

22.06.42

14.06.4108.10.4131.10.41

21.05.4131.05.41

19.05.41

11.05.41

16.05.41

Operational Record: Defiant N1671

complete example. Their collection beganwith a wheel-brush, donated by fonneremployee, Neville Webb. This was acurved brush that Defiants had fitted totheir main undercarriage legs, to brush themud off the main tyres as they retractedinto the wings. Shortly afterwards the star­board tailplane and elevator of N3378were acquired from collectors in Cheshire,and the association learned that the rearfus lage and other parts were still extant,having been brought down from the moorsas souvenirs by various people over theyears.

The rear fuselage was acquired fromanother collector in Oxfordshire, and

Details

Taxi aircrah to Shawbury tofetch Miles Magister.Night-flying test.First operational flight.Dayl ight patrol and RTpractice flight 1hr 35min.Convoy patrol, 1hr 1Omin, redsection fired on by a shipin the convoy.15min patrol over Jurby.To 6 MU to fit IFF and VHF.Return to No. 307 Sqn nowbased at Squires Gate.Moved with squadron to Colerne.First night patrol. A20min.flight at 9,000hNight patrol 1hr 15min at12.000h. Sighted ale whichopened fire. Illuminatedby searchlight beams, lostvisual contact.Night patrol1hr 10min.

Short flight.Night patrollhr 25min.Moved with squadron to Exeter.Week's detachment at Pembrey.2 night patrols flown.

Delivered No. 6 MU Brize Norton.Issued to No. 307 (LwowlSquadron, at Kirton-in-Lindsey, coded EW-D. A Flight.1of 3 Defiants dispersed toCaistor.Returned to Kirton-in-Lindsey.Moved with whole Sqn toJurby. Isle of ManAir-ground firing practice.

Crew

Sgt PiwkolSgt TrawackiSgt Wisthal

Gp Cpt Tomlinson

Sgt Dukszte

Sgt Wisthal/Sgt StengierskiFit Lt Paul Patten

Gp Cpt TomlinsonlFg Off KarwowskiSgtJoda

Date

26.03.4108.04.41

21.04.4123.04.4126.04.41

05.41

22.11.40

16.04.41

15.04.41

02.10.40

15.11.40

18.12.40

27.10.4007.11.40

01.01.4114.01.4113.03.41

07.08.4017.09.40

30.11.4012.12.40

Over the next twenty years it shuttledbetween various RAF stations, appearingonly at Battle of Britain open days,sometime having been repainted, untilit was finally assigned as one of the found­ing exhibits at the RAF Museum Hendonin 1971. It moved to the Battle of BritainHall in 1978, and has remained there eversince.

and then to No. 76 MU at Wroughton,stored in a single crate. When Wroughtonclosed, it is presumed to have gone toStanmore Park because it did not appearin any other official records until Novem­ber 1954 when it was listed as part of theAir Historical Branch collection of his­toric aircraft at Stanmore Park.

285 anti-aircraft co-operation squadron. It'disappeared' after going to No. 52 MU inCardiff, a packing depot, but a number ofother aircraft there at the time werepacked 'for museum purposes' so that it isvery likely that N1671 was already allo­cated for museum display. It went fromthere to o. 82 MU, Lichfield for a while,

The Complete SurvivingAircraft: N1671

Defiant N1671 at the RAF Review at Abingdon in1969.

The only complete Defiant that survives,N1671, has a similar sort of history, serv­ing with two night-fighter squadrons, No.307 and then No. 153, foll~wed by o.

Defiant N1671 being assembled at RAF St Athan.

N1671 in its original No. 307 markings in the Battleof Britain Museum at Hendon.

146 147

Patrol Dunkirk.Patrol Dunkirk one­third share inHe 111 shot down.Patrol Dunkirk.Patrol Dunkirk.Patrol Dunkirk 2xBf 109E and Bf 110shot down, 1 thirdshare in 2xJu 88shot down.Patrol Dunkirk 5xJu 87 shot down.FLt LtNicholas Cooke awarded the DFC, Corporal Lippettthe DFMNight patrol.Night patrol.Night patrol.Convoy patrol.Convoy patrol.Convoy patrol.Convoy patrol.Convoy patrol.Recalled (141 Sqn debaclel.Convoy patrol.Convoy pa tro I.Convoy patrol.Convoy patrol.Patrol Manston.Patrol Manston.Patrol Manston.Scramble Hornchurch;He 111 shot down.Scramble Hornchurch2. 00 17 and Bf 109E shot down over Herne BayL7005 forced landing and written off.Sgt RolandThorn and Sgt Fred Barker awarded bars to theirDFMs.

Details

a No. 264 Squadron Defiant that crashed2 miles (3km) south of Leysdown, Kent, at10 o'clock in the morning on 26 April1942 during an air-to-ground firing exer­cise. The aircraft was at 2,000ft (610m)when the port wing was seen to drop, asign of the Defiant's stall, and dive withthe pilot only partially pulling out beforehitting the ground. The engine was foundby an aircraft archaeology group, 15ft(4.5m) down in a marshy ground.

Cooke/LippettCooke/LippettCooke/Lippett

Crew

fighter. The aircraft crashed near Breda,and the engine and other small parts weredug up by the Dutch Aircraft RecoveryTeam in the 1980s. The engine was plitdown the middle by the impact of thecrash, and a special stand was built to dis­play it.

A Merlin XX engine from the crash siteof Defiant 1I, AA377, is on display at theNorfolk & Suffolk Aviation Museum atFlixton, near Bungay in Suffolk. This was

Time

Delivered to No. 264 from 10 MU, coded PS-X.08.30-10.20 Cooke/Lippett11.20-13.10 Cooke/Lippett

11.40-12.5515.45-17.0514.30-16.25

29.05.40 18.55-20.40 Cooke/Lippett

21.06.40 0255-13.40 Thorn/Barker22.06.40 Stokes/Commer04.0740 12.40-1305 Welsh/Heydon18.07.40 O'Malley/O'Connell19.07.40 06.30-08.45 Hughes/Crook19.07.40 09.40-11.40 Welsh/Heydon19.07.40 12.35-14.40 Knocker/Murland19.07.40 17.00-17.05 Hughes/Heydon

21.07.40 06.10-08.15 Welsh/Heydon21.0740 14.00-15.40 Welsh/Heydon29.07.40 11.00-11.30 Banham/Baker30.07.40 Welsh-Heydon24.08.40 08.00-09.45 Hughes/Gash2408.40 11.30-12.30 Young/Russell24.08.40 12.40-13.35 Young/Russell24.08.40 15.40-16.55 Young/Russell

26.08.40 11.45 - Thorn/Barker

Date

24.05.4027.05.4027.05.40

28.05.4028.05.4029.05.40

LATE SURVIVING DEFIANTS A D ROeS

The Boulton Paul Association has chosen avery appropriate Defiant as the subject of their full-scale model: l7005, the top-scoring aircraft. Its crews claimed twelve Germanaircraft destroyed, plus ashare in the destruction of two others, and won a DFC and three DFMs flying it. The aircraft saw action over Dunkirk and in the Battle of Britain, includ­ing four sorties in one day on 24 August 1940, and it flew at least three night patrols. It was also flown into action by five 'ace' crews, Cooke/Lippett, Welsh/Heydon, Hugh­es/Gash, Young/Russell and Thorn/Barker. The aircraft was a real star.

Operational Record: Defiant L7005

and Space before being donated to theNight-Fighter Preservation Team atElvington, Yorkshire.

Another Defiant engine is on display inWerkendam, Holland, a relic of the Defi­ant's first defeat on 13 May 1940. It is fromL6958, Pit Off Thomas/LAC Bromley'saircraft. After shooting down two] u 87s,they were attacked by Bf 109s and theirDefiant was set on fire. Thomas baled out,but Bromley was probably killed by the

The Boulton Paul Association'sDefiant full-scale model; it willrepresent l7005 when finished.

the Roc. The Boulton Paul Associationhas parts of the turret from N3378, includ­ing the drive ring, with the cupola andother parts from other turrets, but is a verylong way from having a complete turret.The only other known complete turret,apart from two of the different marks ofType A turret that were fitted to bombers,is an example found in a Florida scrapyardin the year 2000 by a turret enthusiast fromStone Mountain, Georgia. Though suffer­ing from decades of exposure to the weath­er, it is missing only the glazing, and one ofthe doors.

It is unlikely to have come from theDefiant allocated to America, T 4106,because in the same scrapyard was a Boul- •ton Paul Type C turret, the one fitted inthe nose of the Halifax, and the dorsalposition of the Lockheed Hudson andVentura. They were probably some of theexamples of Boulton Paul turrets sent toAmerican manufacturers to aid their tur­ret development.

The other significant surviving Defiantrelics in this country are engines recoveredfrom Defiant crash sites. The most com­plete is the engine and bent propeller fromN 1766, Paul Rabone's No. 96 SquadronDefiant that crashed at Rowlees pasture, inthe Peak' District. It was excavated by alocal group of enthusiasts, and spent sometime in the Manchester Museum of Air

Surviving Engines

parts like the wheels. This Defiant will bepainted as L7005, the No. 264 SquadronDefiant being flown by Sgts Thorn andBarker when they won bars to their DFMsduring the Battle of Britain, shootingdown three German aircraft during onesortie, including the Bf 109 that shot themdown.

Alongside the wreckage of N3378, theBoulton Paul Association displays theremains of another crashed Defiant,T3955. This was a No. 256 Squadron Defi­ant based at Squires Gate, and coded ]T-R.It took off on a training flight on 15 May1941, and crashed at Nether Kellet,Bolton-Ie-Sands, just over 2 miles (3km)from Carnforth in Lancashire. The twocrew-members died in the crash. The Pen­nine Aviation Museum excavated thecrash site in 1983, and came upon only afew battered fragments, up to 14ft (4m)down, which showed that the aircraft hadhit the ground with some force. Thesefragments were donated to the BoultonPaul Association in the year 2000.

T3955

Apart from the complete turret on theRAF Museum's N1671, there are very fewsurviving Boulton Paul Type A Mk. II gunturrets, the type fitted to the Defiant and

Surviving Turrets

The remains of Defiant N3378 in a re-creation ofthe crash site, in the Boulton Paul Aircraft heritageproject.

give the external impression of a wholeDefiant, perhaps just from one side.

This scheme has now been supersededby displaying the wreckage in a re-creationof the crash site, as a memorial to the twomen who died in the crash, while stilladding to the conglomeration of Defiantparts. Alongside this a full-scale model ofa D fiant is being built, with Alclad skinon a wooden frame, using many original

148 149

LATE SURVIVING DEFIA TS AND Roes

The engineof DefiantL6958 ondisplay atWerkendamin Holland.

Date

08.01.4109.01.4103.02.4110.02.4111.02.4114.02.4115.02.4116.02.4125024126.02.4112.03.4113.03.4114.03.4119.03.4121.03.4130.03.4105.05.4108.05.41

09.05.4116.05.4129.05.4112.06.4117.06.4121.06.4130.06.4104.07.4108.07.41

14.07.4118.07.4120.07.4123.07.4125.07.4108.08.4117.08.4118.08.4129.08.41

Time

21.10-22.3522.15-23.2018.30-19.1021.17-21.4000.05-02.151830-19.5023.50-01.0502.50-04.4523.20-23.551930-20.5523.11-00.571958-213621.50-23.1500.20-01.2001.51-02.0922.22-23.3001.05-02.52

01.40­23.25-00.2501.11-02.4201.13-02.1123.54-01.1923.44-00.2601.52-03.1000.35-01.2700.05-01.21

23.20-0059

22.50-00.10

Operational record - Defiant N3378

Crew

Trousdale/ChunnTrousdale/FarnesTrousdale/ChunnHeyton/CutfieldHeyton/CutfieldTrousdale/McChesneyTrousdale/ChunnTrousdale/ChunnBallantine/McTaggartTrousdale/ChunnTrousdale/ChunnTrousdale/FitzsimmondsTrousdale/FitzsimmondsSmith/BaylissSmith/BaylissSmith/BaylissSmith/FarnesTrousdale/Chunn

Trousdale/ChunnTrousdale/ChunnTrousdale/FitzsimmonsTrousdale/ChunnTrousdale/ChunnTrousdale/ChunnDale/HendersonBallantine/HendersonBallantine/Henderson

Bartlett/MacKenzieCraig/BaylissBallantine/HendersonBallantine/HendersonBallantine/BedfordBallantine/BaylissPit Off Clarke/Sgt AllenSgt Turner/BedfordCraig/Hempstead

150

Detail

Night patrol.Night patrol.Night patrol.Night patrol.Night patrol.Night patrol.Night patrol.Night patrol.Night patrol.Night patrol.Night patrol.Night patrol.Night patrol.Night patrol.Weather test.Night patrol.Shot down Ju 88 east of Donna Nook.Patrol at 20,000ft, saw e/a, could notcatch it.Shot down 2xHe 111.Night patrol.Night patrol.Night patrol.Night patrol.From Driffield.Over Yorks. 3x attempted interceptions.Patrol base.Patrol DonnaNook & SkegnessPatrol S.HumberPatrol, return with radiator trouble.Nigh.t patrol.Night patrol.Mablethorpe out to sea, bomber escort.Vectored after e/a, which disappeared.Patrol Flamborough Head.Night patrol.Crashed enroute Edinburgh to Hibaldstow

The Kent Battle of Britain Museum dis­plays the engine of L7026, hot down byMesser chmitt Bf 109s on 28 August 1940.The crew were PIt Off Peter Kenner andhi gunner Pit Off Charles john on, andthe aircraft crashed at Sillingbourne Farm,Hinxhill, Kent. The engine was discov­ered at a depth of 14ft (4.5m). The muse­um also ha a display board featuring smallitems from the crash site of D fiant

1574, 'Bull' WhitleyjSgt Turner's air­craft that was shot down on the same day,crashing at Kingswood, Challock Forest,Kent.

Only two turret fighters went into produc­tion, the Defiant and the Roc, and onlythe Defiant saw significant action. TheNorthrop P-61 Black Widow wa born inthe midst of continuing British enthu i­asm for the concept, but was never used asa turret fighter would expect to be used.Other fighters, such as the Blenheim, Bf110 and j u 88, had dorsal guns on movablemountings, but these were strictly defen­sive in nature, and there was no way theycould be called turret fighters. Neverthe­Ie s it was possible for them to act like tur­ret fighters: Guy Gibson in his bookEnemy Coast Ahead de cribed a Hampdenformation that was attacked after bombinghipping off orway:

the Germans were flying in Messerschmitt IlO

fighters, which had one gun which could fire

sideways. Their mode of attack was to fly in for­

mation with the Hampdens, perhaps fifty yards

Out and slightly to the front, and pick off the

outside man with their one gun, aiming with a

no-deflection hot at the pilot. The bomber

boys could do nothing about it, they ju t had to

sit there and wait to be shot down. If they broke

away they were immediately pounced upon by

the three Messerschmitt 109s waiting in the

background. If they stayed the pilot received a

machine gun serenade in the face. ne by one

they were hacked down from the wingman

inwards.

Thi i a de cription of a perfect turret­fighter attack as envisaged by Air om­modore Higgins seventeen year befor,and endor ed by all advocates of splittingthe responsibility of aiming and firing thegun from flying the fighter. Things didnot happ n exactly as Gibson describedthem, however. The action took place on12 April 1940, and twelve Hampdens tookoff from Waddington to attack shipping offKri tiansand, seven from No. 44 Squadronand five from No. 50 quadron, under thcommand of Sqn Ldr j.j. Watts. Afterbombing the shipping in clear blue skies,Watts saw the German fighters closing inand took his formation down to sea level.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Conclusions

One Hampden, L4099, had been dam­aged by anti-aircraft fire and laggedbehind. It was pounced on by the Messer­schmitts and shot down. It may be that Bf11 Os did make beam attacks wi th the freegun as described by Gibson, but it is alsotrue that the single-seat Bf 109s - fromIIjjG 77 - also took advantage of theknown Hampden blind-spot and flew par­allel to the Hampden formation beforeturning in and attacking from the side.Although one Bf 109 was shot down by thedorsal gunner of L4074, the ventral gun­ners were entirely useless because the for­mation was so near the ea. The navigatorof L4154, gt Clayton, was so overcomefrom the feeling ofhelples ne as the Ger­man fighters came in from the beam unop­posed, that he took the Vickers K gun fromthe nose of the aircraft, and opened theastro-hatch. He then proceeded to fire atthe attacking fighters, holding themachine gun as if it were a rifle. He wonthe Distinguished Flying Medal for thisbrave action.

Only four of the Hampdens returned toWaddington, and two others landed else­where, heavily damaged. This action hasbeen used to illustrate how the turret fight­er concept could have succeeded; but whatit really show i that single-seat fighterwere perfectly capabl of explOiting blind­spots in a bomber formation's defensivefire, and attacking from the flank. ever­theless, it is undoubtedly true that a turretfighter would have been very ucce fulagainst an unescorted formation of Hamp­dens, as the Defiants were when No. 264Squadron met unescorted formations ofHeinkel He Ills and junkers ju 87s nearDunkirk.

Against more heavily armed bombers,with power-operated dorsal turrets andbeam guns, the story might have been verydifferent, as the Luftwaffe found againstlarg formation of Being B-17s and Con­solidated B-24s. Even fleeting high-speedattacks by Bf 109s and FW 190s could beperilous activities, forcing the Germanfighter pilots to resort to head-on attacks

151

with closing speeds of nearly 500mph( OOkmph), and firing times of only a cou­ple of seconds.

The real problem for the turret fighterconcept was that its protagonists did notenvisage bomber formations being es ort­ed by single-sear fighters. This had nothappened during World War I, and long­range, single-engined fighters were notpart of any air force's armoury. The opera­tion of short-range fighters like the Bf 109over London had been inconceivablewhen pecification F.9j35 had been issued,and so was the size of the attacking bomberformation. A Douglas Bader' 'Big Wing'showed, formation a large as thresquadrons of single-seat fighters couldattack in formation without much dangerof collision, plitting the defensive fire­power they faced, and delivering hatter­ing attack th mselves. The very tightfighter formations envisaged during the1930s were just not used during the Battleof Britain in the initial attack, after whichthe fighters tended to operate by them­elve.

The one area where the turret fighterfound a uccessful niche was at night.Always en vi aged as a night fighter, theturret fighter operated individually afterdark, and fully exploited its ability to homein on a bomber, either underneath or tothe beam, and to deliver a sudden andhighly a curate concentration of fire fromshort range, often aimed at specific targetsuch a the engines or crew compartment.

Even the e advantages were negatedonce airborne radar had improved to theextent that night fighter could be placedin position behind their quarry withgreater accuracy, and fixed-gun arma­ment , with four 20mm cannon as well abatteri s of machine guns, had increasedto such an extent that one burst of firecould overwhelm and destroy a target. TheNorthrop P.61 Black Widow vividly illu ­trated this change. Designed with the abil­ity to make Defiant-like attacks fromunderneath, in practice they never did.Their advanced SCR-720 Al radar could

CO CLUSIONS

A rear gunner's view of five Defiants of No. 264 squadron.

upper surface of the wing actually formed thefloor of the pilot's cockpit. This section of fuse­lage consisted of a strong frame made up of fourlongerons, the lower ones bent to conform tothe wing shape. At the front they were braced ina tubular frame that carried the engine bearers.The longerons were boxed in with light alloy sidemembers shaped to the fuselage section, andbraced with bulkheads and alloy tube, with ahorizontal corrugated top deck in which werethe openings for the pilot's cockpit and theturret.

A publicity shotshowing a Defiantwing centre-sectionin its vertical jig,with a female'worker' dressed ina pristine whitecoat and stilettoheels! Clearly amodel brought in,with little idea whatshe should wear inan aircraft factory!

The camouflaged Boulton Paul factory with the flight sheds to the left, a Halif xhangars.

metal web. The leading edge was made in sep­arate detachable units, with D-section ribs towhich the skin, pressed to shape on a Pels fold­ing press, was rivetted. The rear section of thewing was supported with an auxiliary spar heldhalf-way between rear spar and trailing edge.The inner part of the centre section was com­posed of the undercarriage bays, and outboardof these were the main fuel tanks.

Once the centre section was completed, itwas revolved to a horizontal position, and thecentre fuselage bolted on top of it, so that the

The Defiant was not an all-metal aircraft like thecontemporary Spitfire. Apart from the controlsurfaces being fabric-covered, the upper rearfuselage with its retractable fairings was madeof wood, as were the undercarriage doors. Agovernment booklet produced in 1942 entitledWomen in the Workplace included an articlewith several photographs about the constructionof these very items, all done by women.

Boulton Paul were, of course, pioneers inmetal construction, and had been building all­metal airframes since 1919, including that of thelargest British aircraft ever built, the R.101 air­ship; but all those aircraft were fabric-covered.The metal skin of the Defiant was to be theirfirst, and they took particular note of Americantechniques. A set of photographs in theirarchives, for instance, shows all aspects of theconstruction of the Douglas DC-2.

The system of construction they chose wasevolutionary rather than revolutionary. It was nota unitary stressed-skin construction like the Spit­fire, but a conventional metal airframe ontowhich the metal skin was wrapped and rivetted.In this respect it was very simple, and was delib­erately designed so that the aircraft consisted ofa number of major components that could beeasily subcontracted, and which were boltedtogether at final assembly.

The skin plates were drilled on the flat. two orthree at a time, in boiler-plate jigs, using pneu­matic drills. All holes were dimpled, as counter­sunk rivets were used throughout. Then 'Z'-sec­tion stiffeners were rivetted to the skins, andwhen the skins were wrapped round the struc­ture it was these stiffeners that were rivetted tothe frame.

The heart of the aircraft was the wing centre­section, built up in a vertical jig, with the uppersurface rivetted with conventional rivets and thelower surface with Armstrong-Whitworth's poprivets. The patents for pop rivets were pooledwith Boulton Paul and Gloster in the Metal Con­struction Pool in the early 1930s, to exploit thethree companies' metal construction tech­niques.

The two wing spars consisted of upper andlower extruded light alloy booms, 'I'-section forthe centre wing, and 'L'-section for the outerwings; these were connected by a corrugated

DefiantCon~ruction

APPENDIX Iwere designed. Of course, as tacticalweapons for use against ground targets, pri­marily tanks, these could hardly be termed'turret fighters' in the accepted sense of theword; but since part of their role would beto shoot down the other side's helicoptergunships, perhaps the 'turret fighter' has atlast found a secure niche.

i

1960s with the birth of the helicopter gun­ship. Operating against ground targets,and often below tree-top height, a heli­copter pilot could not be expected, withthe technology of the time, to f1y his air­craft as well as to aim and fire his guns. Thenose turret for heavy-calibre weapons,with a separate gunner to aim and firethem, was born, and the Bell I-lueycobra,Hughes AH-64 Apache and Mil 24 'Hind'

place them directly behind a target so thattheir four cannon, and the four heavymachine guns in the turret, fixed to fireforward, could then destroy it with oneburst. The turret fighter's time had comeand gone, and it had only encompassed themonths of the Blitz.

The concept of separating the responsi­bility for operating the aircraft's guns fromthat of piloting it resurfaced during the

752 753

DEFIA T CONSTRUCTION DEFIANT CONSTRUCTION

Defiant Serials

Mark I 713 L6950 - L7036 Converted to -238

N1535 - N1582 HIliN1610 - N1653 (minimum)N1671-N1706N1725 - N1773N1788 - N1812N3306 - N3340N3364 - N3405N3421 - N3460N3477 - N352013911 - 13960T3980 - T4010T4030 - T4076T4100 - T4121Vll06 - V1141V1170 - V1183AA281 - AA330AA350 - AA362

Prototypes 2 K8310, K8620

Total 1,062

Mark II 7 AA363 - AA36 Converted to 7+200 AA370 - AA447 HI - 142

AA469 - AA513 (Minimum)AA531 - AA550AA566 - AA595AA614 - AA633AA651 - AA670

HI 140 DR863 - DR896DR914 - DR949DR961 - DR991DS121 - DS159

Six production Defiants outside the flight sheds.

~q " D~L- -+-_---

cBoulton Paul's drawing showing the Defiant component parts.

A production Defiant flying over the Courtauld's factory in Wolverhampton, which built Defiant centre-sections.

Location of Jigs for Final Assembly, 5.4.40

Item Boulton Redwing Aero Hudswell- Northern RollasonPaul Aircraft Engines Clark Aircraft Croydon

Ailerons 4Elevators 12Eng.mounts 2 6Fins 24Flaps 2F'lage rear 8 8F'lage front 16 16F'lagecomplete 16 8

Outer wings 12 12Centre sect. 24 16Rudders 7Tailplanes 8 24

The rear fuselage consisted of two side pan­

els of skin wrapped round five tubular rib struc­

tures, joined together at the bottom, and formed

into the fuselage shape by a horizontal corrugat­

ed deck at the top, onto which the upper wood­

en fusulage fairings were fitted. At the very rear

end was bolted a tailpiece, in which the tail­

wheel was carried.

The tailplane and fin were one-piece multi­

spar units covered in overlapping skin strips.

Once removed from their construction jigs the

tailplane was bolted on top of the rear fuselage,

and the fin was then bolted on top of that. The

elevators were identical, i.e. with the tab mech­

anism on the top on one side, and underneath on

the other. Like the rudder they consisted of a D­

shaped metal leading edge, forming a spar, and

metal ribs covered with fabric.

Once the fuselage and tail were attached to

the wing centre-section, the Merlin engine was

fitted to the front. The engine was encased in an

upper panel and two side panels, attached by

Zeus fasteners. The lower cowling also con­

tained the oil cooler duct. The aircraft would now

be standing on its Lockheed undercarriage legs,

and the turret would be slotted in.

The final assembly work was attaching the

outer wings and the separate metal wing-tips,

bolted to the spars with four bolts. The joint

between the inner and outer wing was sealed by

a rubber strip that wrapped around the wing.

Like the elevators, the Frise ailerons had a D­

shaped metal leading edge, and fabric covering.

The Defiant consisted of a total of twenty-one

major components bolted together, varying in

size from the wing centre-section to the wing­

tips, and not including the engine and turret.

Most of these could be, and were, sub-contract­

ed, though Boulton Paul themselves retained

the capability to build the entire airframe.

On 31 October 1939, Reid & Sigrist at Desford

were brought into the Defiant programme with

an order for 100 centre-sections that were to be

delivered by June the following year. At the

same time the company obtained an order for

the final assembly of 100 Defiants, which were

to be undertaken at the rate of four per month by

the end of November. This proved very opti­

mistic and the first Desford-assembled Defiant

was not delivered until 16 May 1940, with the

second on the 29th. The third was delivered on

2 June, and the fourth four days later. The fifth

was under AID inspection on 11 June when the

roof of the assembly hangar collapsed, thus end­

ing Reid & Sigirist's assembly programme.

In May 1940 it was decided that 50 per cent

of the Defiant should be subcontracted, and

orders and jigs were issued accordingly.

A Type A turret under construction.

A row of Defiant tailplane jigs.

154 155

APPRENDIX II APPENDIX III

Defiants Lost • Aerial CODlbat Defiant Victories • Aerial CODlbatIn InDate Serial Squadron Details Date Serial Squadron Details Date Type Squadron Details Date Type Squadron Details

13.05.40 L6958 264 Bf 109 attack over Holland L7027 264 Bf 109 attack over Manston 1205.40 lx He 111 264 Fighter sweep over Holland 04.05.41 1x Ju 88 255 Night interception

L6960 264 Bf 109 attack over Holland N1535 264 Missing over Channel attacking 1x Ju 88 264 Fighter sweep over Holland lx He 111 151 Night interception

L6965 264 Bf 109 attack over Holland a Ju 88 13.05.40 4x Ju 87 264 Fighter sweep over Holland 05.05.41 3x He 111 141 Night interceptions, north-eastL6969 264 Bf 109 attack over Holland 26.08.40 L6985 264 Bf 109 attack over Herne Bay lx Bf 109 264 Fighter sweep over Holland 1x Ju 88 256 Shot down over Wrexham

L6974 264 Bf 109 attack over Holland L7005 264 Bf 109 attack over Herne Bay 24.05.40 1x Bf 110 264 Fighter sweep over Dunkirk lx Do 17 256 Shot down over Lancashire

L6977 264 Bf 109 attack over Holland L7025 264 Bf 109 attack over Herne Bay 27.05.40 2x Bf 109 264 Attacked over Channel 06.05.41 3x He 111 141 Night interceptions, north-east28.05.40 L6953 264 Bf 109 attack over Channel 28.08.40 L7021 264 Bf 109 attack over Kent 3x He 111 264 Broke up formation over Channel 1x Ju 88 96 Shot down over Lancashire

L6959 264 Bf 109 attack over Channel L7026 264 Bf 109 attack over Kent 28.05.40 6x Bf 109 264 Attacked over Channel lx He 111 96 Shot down over LancashireL7007 264 Bf 109 attack over Channel N1569 264 Bf 109 attack over Kent 29.05.40 8x Bf 109 264 Fighter sweep over Dunkirk 07.05.41 1x He 111 141 Night interception, north-east

31.05.40 L6961 264 Collision during Bf 109 attack N1574 264 Bf 109 attack over Kent 7x Bf 110 264 Fighter sweep over Dunkirk 1x Ju 88 141 Night interception, Holy Island

L6968 264 Bf 109 attack over Channel 0810.40 N1627 264 Crashed on night patrol, cause 1x Ju 88 264 Fighter sweep over Dunkirk 3x He 111 256 Shot down over north-west

L6972 264 Return fire from He 111 unknown, possibly shot down 21 x Ju 87 264 Fighter sweep over Dunkirk 2x He 111 96 Shot down at Malpas andL6975 264 Bf 109 attack over Channel 07.05.41 N3500 256 Shot down by Ju 88 at night 31.05.40 4x Bf 109 264 Fighter sweep over Dunkirk Wrexham

L6980 264 Collision during Bf 109 attack 29.05.41 N1556 540TU Collision with Blenheim, e/a in 4x He 111 264 Fighter sweep over Dunkirk 1x Ju 88 96 Shot down over north-west

19.07.40 L6974 141 Bf 109 attack over Channel vicinity 19.07.40 4x Bf 109 141 Attacked over Channel 08.05.41 'Bomber' 264 Intruder operation over France

L6995 141 Bf 109 attack over Channel 25.07.42 Vll17 277 Shot down by FW 190 over 15.08.40 lx He 111 264 Night interception lx He 111 264 Intruder operation over FranceL7001 141 Bf 109 attack over Channel Channel 24.08.40 4x Ju 88 264 Sortie from Manston lx He 111 255 Night interception

L7009 141 Bf 109 attack over Channel 21.05.43 AA658 515 Missing over Channel, e/a in 2x Bf 109 264 Attacked over Kent 09.05.41 lxBf110 264 Intruder operation over France

L7015 141 Bf 109 attack over Channel vicinity 3x Ju 88 264 Sortie from Manston 1x Ju 88 255 Shot down over Humber area

L7016 141 Bf 109 attack over Channel 17.07.43 AA651 515 Missing over Channel, FW 190 in lx He 111 264 Sortie from Hornchurch 4x He 111 255 Shot down over Humber area24.08.40 L6966 264 Bf 109 attack over Manston vicinity 26.08.40 6x Do 17 264 Interception over Kent 10.05.41 1x Ju 88 151 Night interception

L6967 264 Bf 109 attack over Essex lx Bf 109 264 Attacked over Herne Bay lx He 111 151 Night interception

Total 37 28.08.40 2x He 111 264 Interception over Kent 11.05.41 2x He 111 264 Night interceptions17.09.40 1x Ju 88 141 Shot down near Barking lx Do 17 264 Intruder operation over France16.10.40 lx He 111 264 Shot down over Brentwood 12.05.41 lx He 111 307 Shot down near Exeter22.12.40 lx He 111 141 Shot down near Beachy Head 22.05.41 1x Ju 88 256 Shot down over Lancashire04.02.41 lx Do 17 151 Shot down over Weldon,Northants 10.06.41 1x Ju 88 96 Shot down over Cheshire12.03.41 2x He 111 264 Night interceptions 22.10.41 1x Ju 88 256 Shot down at Coventry07.04.41 1x Ju 88 256 Shot down near Southport 3110.41 1x Ju 88 151 Shot down off Yarmouth08.04.41 1x He 111 264 Night interception 15.1141 1x Ju 88 151 Shot down on dusk patrol

2x He 111 151 Shot down over Midlands 19.02.42 lx Do 217 151 Convoy patrol off Thames09.04.41 lx He 111 264 Shot down over Godalming 17.04.42 lx He 111 264 Shot down south of Beachy Head

2x Ju 88 151 Shot down over Midlandslx He 111 151 Shot down over Midlands Total 152

10.04.41 1x Ju 88 264 Shot down over Beachy Headlx He 111 64 Night interception Totals: Heinkel He 111 52lx He 111 256 Shot down over Smethwick Junkers Ju 87 25

12.04.41 1x He 111 307 Shot down over Dorset Junkers Ju 88 2816.04.41 lx He 111 307 Shot down over Somerset Dornier Do 17 902.05.41 1x Ju 88 151 Night interception Dornier Do 217 103.05.41 1x Ju 88 151 Night interception Messerschmitt Bf 109 28

lx He 111 151 Night interception Messerschmitt Bf 110 9

156 157

Index

Adams, Sgt R. T 82, 87, I 15Aero Engines Ltd 57, 155Aeronautical Syndicate 5Air Gunners Schools (AGS)

No. I 133No.2 131, 132, 133No.7 131No. 10 131, I32

Air Observers Schools (AOS)No.2 131

Airspeed Oxford 117, 130, 139Aitcheson Sgt,87Albatross 0.1 8Allen, Sgt L. H. 66,89, 110Alston, Gwen 35Andurski, Sgt W G. 76, 77Anti-Aircraft co-operation units

No.2 51,52,53,54,139No.21 139No.23 139No.25 139No.26 139

Arado Ar 96 50Ark Royal, HMS 49Armstrong, Sgt 115Armstrong-Whitworth aircraft

Albermarle 57AW23 22AW32 16AW.34 16,22,25,30Ensign 30FII/37 31,32Whitley 22, 30, 51, 128, 130

Armstrong-Siddeley aero enginesDeerhound 31Double Genet Major 16Lynx 12Terrier 16, 22, 25Tiger 51

Arundel, Fit Sgt J S. B. 129Ash, Fit Lt 70, 72, 120Ashby, Fit Lt D. W. 51Ashcroft, Sgt 88Atkins, Sgt F P J. 67Austin Motors 12Austin AFB.I 12AU'lro-Daimler 90hpAviatik 10Avro aircraft 6

Anson 22,57Shackleton 101Type 508 6Type 536 84

Bader, Gp Capt D. 151Bailey, Pit Off, J. R. A. 72, Ill, 120Bain, Sgt 128Bainbridge, Sgt I 13Baker, Sgl 70, 71, 149Ball, Lt Albert 12, 13, 17Ballantine, Pit Off 110, 150Banham, Fg Off 65, 70, 71, 149Barber, Horatio 5Barker, LAC Fred 61,62, 63, 70, 71,

80,81,82,108,119,148,149Barnard, Lt. Frank 7Barnwell, Frank IIBartlett, Sgt 150Barwell, Pit Off Eric 55, 58, 62, 63, 64,

70,71,74,80,82,109,119Bayliss, Sgt 110, 150Beale, Sgt 84, 108, 113, 117Beardmore Clco-engines

120hp 7160hp 10

Beaverbrook, Lord 91Bedford, Sgt 150Bell Hueycobra 152Bell, Sgt, S. 131Berry, F 50Berry, Sgt 70Bilau, Sgt 147Blackburn aircraft

B.2 35

BJI 46BJ3 46Botha 30Shark 30,35, 50Skua 26,30,35,46,49,51,53,64,145

Blasinski, W/O W. 130Bodien, Sgt H. E. 77,78,84, 119Boeing 247 5Boeing B-17 122,123,126,151Boeing B-29 106Boeing-Stearman 115Boelke, Oswald 8Boulton & Paul Ltd 7,8,20,84Boulton & Paul aircraft

P10 142P.25 Bugle 12P.29 Sidestrand 13, 14PJI Bittern 12,101PJ3 Partridge 13P74 17, 18, 19, 106P750verstrand 14,17,18,21,32,35,45,46, 131P76 17, 18

Boulton Paul Aircraft Ltd 20,21,67,154, 155P85 Sea Defiant 27, 28, 31P88 30P92 31, 32, 3~ 41, 42,43,44, 45,91,92,93P.92/2 41,42,43,91,92,93P.93 31P.94 67, 142P9& 94,95,96,97,98,99P97 99, 100--106PI03 142

Boulton Paul aircraft gun turretsType A 29,32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38,44,92,94,95,98,99,100,101,105,131,132,148,154

Type C 36, 148Type F 46, 92, 94Type K 36Type K 36TypeL 36,44,45,91,101

Boulton Paul Association 110, 147, 148Boysson, Antoine de 21, 30Bradshaw, LAC G. 132Bristol aero engines

Aquila 16, 23, 25Centaurus 94,96,97,98, 105, 142Hercules 25,26,27,30,32,46Jupiter 11, 12Pegasus I7, 18Perseus 16, 22, 25, 35, 52Taurus 46, 104

Bristol AircraftBagshot 11, 12Beaufighter 58, 74, 87,89,90, 91,92,94,105,106,108,109,110,115,117,118,122,124,130

Blenheim 48, 52, 56, 64, 73,80, 90,91,94,118,130,131,151Bulldog 13, 18, 35F2b 10, 15, 18,55TTA7Type 120 14Type 140 16Type 141 16Type 146 22Type 147 22, 23, 24, 25

Bristol B.XI gun turret 105Broadhurst, Wg Cdr Harry 63Bromley, LAC 59, 61, 149Brown, Capt E. 142Brown, Fit Sgt 51Brown Fg Off 60Broughton, Sgt 79Bunn, Sgt W G. 129Burl, Sgt 129Burnett AVM C. S. 13Burns, Sqn Ldr 108, 115

Campbell-Colquohoun, Fit Lt 69, 72Cambray, W C. 8Carlin, Fg Off S. 88, 114

Carnaby, Pit Off 72Carr, Sgt I 15Cave, Sgt C. G. 128Central Gunnery School 131Challenger, G. H. 9Chandler, Capt Charles 5Chandler Pit Off 59, 60, 61Chandler, Sgt 79, 82, 108Chard, Sgt G. T 74Chidson, Lt. R. 9Chunn, Sgt 87, 88, 149Churchill Sir Winston 91Clarke, H. V. 142Clarke, Pit Off D. H. 51, 52Clarke, Pit Off 110, 150Clayton, Sgt 151Coleman, Fit Lt 108Commer, Sgt 149Consolidated B-24 123, 151Cooke, Fit Lt Nicholas 55,58,62,63,

64,119,149Copelow, Sgt 88Cornwall, Fit Sgt 113Courtney, AVM C. L. 20Courtney, Capt Frank 84Cox, LAC 59, 60, 61Craig, Pit Off J. 110,150Cripps, Sir Stafford 98Crombie, Sgt R. 67Crook, Sgt 82, 149Croucher, Sgt 108Coulter, Sgt J. L. 132Crozier, Sgt F C. 131Cuddie, Fg Off W. 88, 89Cumbers, Sgt 74Cunningham, Sgt J. D. H. 82Curley, Sgt A. G. 67Curtice, Pit Off 82, 86, 89Cutfield, Sgt 149

Daimler Cars Ltd 57Daisley, Sgt 62Dale, Sgt 149Dart Aircraft Ltd 57Davie, Fit Lt W D. B. S. 35Davies, Fit Sgt 128Day, Sqn Ldr A. V. M. 50Day, Fg Off R. L. F 84Dean, Sgt R. 83Deanesly, Fit Lt C. H. 82,83,86, 108, 119Defiant Flight 122, 126Defiant Special Duties Flight 122De Havilland, Geoffrey 7De Havilland aero engines

Gipsy Major 41, 43, 92De Havilland aircraft

Mosquito 80,84, 105, 106, 117, 118,122, 124, 126Rapide 57Tiger Moth 130

Donald, Fit Lt I. D. G. 66, 67Dornier aircraft

Do 17 70, 71, 72, 77, 78, 82, 83, 89,119,120,149

Do 18 4900217 114,117

Douglas DC-2 5,153Douglas Boston 129Douglas Havoc 78, 90, 105, Ill, 112, 118Douglas, AVM Sholto 122Dowding, AVM H. C. T 13, 18,43,74Dowty, George 33Dutch Aircraft Recovery Team 149Dukszte, Sgt 147

Eason, Naval Artf. R. E. 49Edmiston, Pit Off 84, 108Elder, Fit Sgt W. 128Endersby, Sgt 79,82Ellington, AVM Sir Edward 13,15,16,

18,20Esplin, Fit Lt I. 124Evans, Fit Lt Colin 57,58

Fairbrother, Sgt 63, 64Fairey aircraft

Albacore 53Battle 21,22,51,55,86,89, 130F5/33 17F22/33 17F9/35 22, 25, 30F18/40 94Firefly 46, 57Fulmar 49Gordon 55SeaFox 35Swordfish 51

Fairweather, Sgt 83,88, 120Farnborough 64, 127Farnes, Pit Off E. 66,67,88, 150Feather, Fit Lt Cecil 30,33,35,39,57,

61,67,92Ferguson, Sgt 109Fidler, LAC A. 63, 64Fighter Interception Unit 105Finney, Fit Sgt 133Fitzgerald, Fit Lt T B. 66Fitzsimmonds, Sgt 150Fleet Air Arms stations

AIdergrove 53Arbroath 53, 54Bermuda 53Crail 53Eastleigh 49, 51, 52, 53Eglington 53Dekheila 53Donibristle 50, 53, 54Felixtowe 50Freetown 53, 54Gosport 51, 52, 54, 139Hatston 49, 52, 53Helensburgh 50, 53Lee-on-Solent 51, 53, 54Macrahanish 52, 53Piarco 53, 54Roborough 139Speke 52, 53St Merryn 53, 54Stretton 52, 53Twatt 52, 53Wingfield 53, 54Woodvale 52, 53Worthy Down 53, 54Yeovilton 52, 53

Fleet Air Arm squadrons0.725 53o. 754 53o. 755 53o. 757 53o. 758 49

No. 759 49, 51, 52No. 760 53No. 761 53No. 764 53No. 765 53No. 767 53No. 769 49No. 770 53No. 771 52, 53No. 772 52No. 773 53No. 774 49No. 775 53No. 776 52, 53No. 777 54No. 778 54No. 782 54No. 787 54No. 789 54No. 791 54No. 792 54No. 793 54No. 800 41,54No. 80 I 49, 50, 54No. 803 41,54

o. 805 50, 540.80649,50,54,64

Focke-WulfFw 190 125,129,151

Fokker E.III 7,8, 10Frazer- ash, Archiebald 15, 24Frazer- ash turrets

FN.I 18,20,48FN.13 34FN.71 105FN72 105

Freya 121-6Furious, HMS 49

Galland, Adolf 72Gardner, Pit Off J. F 67Garros, Roland 10Garvin, Fit Lt G. 70,72,75, 108, 120Gash, Sgt F 71,75,76,79,80,82,109,

119, 122, 149Gaskell, Pit Off R. S. 71Gatheral, Sqn Ldr 86Gayzler, Pit Off 88General Aircraft 35Gibson, Wg Cdr Guy 151Gillies, Fit Lt 59Gloster Aircraft

F5/33 16, 23, 25F9/35 23, 25F34/35 26,30, 104F9/37 104F11/37 31,32F9/39 46,47G.39 94Gauntlet 52Gladiator 16, 52, 64Meteor 38, 144Reaper 104, 105Sea Gladiator 37

Gnome 80hp 6100hp 6,7,9,10

Goodall, Pit Off 70, 71, 74, 80Gorell, Lord I 14Gotha bomber 10Grahame-White Aircraft

Boxkite 5Type 6 5,6,9Type II 6

Grant-Govern, Fit Lt G. 128Gray, Pit Off 82, 86, 114Green 100hp 6,7Greenfield, W/O 129Greenhalgh, Sgt 59, 60, 61Greenhous, Pit Off 59, 60, 61Greenstead, Brian 144

Hackwood, Pit OffG. H. 63,64,80,119Haine, Sqn Ldr R. C. I 17Hall, Fit Sgt K. 12Halliwell, Pit Off A. B. 67Hamilton, Pit Off A. C. 66, 67Handley Page aircraft

Halifax 56, 128, 148, 153Hampden 18, 56, 151Harrow 76

Hardie, Sgt 72Hardy, Sqn Ldr Stephen 55,67Harris, Gp apt A. T 18Harrison-Yates, Pit Off 115Hatfield, Pit Off 59,61,62Hawker Aircraft

Demon 14,15,18,20,21,30,35,48,94FII/37 32Hart 14, 15,18,32,48Henley 21,27,35Hotspur 22,25, 30, 34, 35Hurricane 21,27,34,37,47,48,52,61,62.63,64,66,67,72,77,78,79,80,88,90,94,111,112,117,118,129, 130, 132, 139

1'.1008 941'.1081 144Sea Fury 142Typhoon 123

Hayden, Sgt I . II 61,62,80.82, 119,149

Heath, Wg Cdr C. II. 20Hegg,e, Sgl () A. I \ IHemkel am r"ft

He5951,52lie III 59,61,62,6\,64.67,70,71,72, 74, 76. 711, 7<1,80.111,112,83,

84 85,86,87,88,89,94, 114, 119,120,145,149,150,151

He 113 69Hemsptead, LAC G. 110, 150Henderson, Sgt 150Hess, Rudolf 89Heston Aircraft 41, 91,92Heycock, Pit Off 85Heycock, Sgt 79, 113Heyton, Sgt 150Hibbert, Pit Off 85Hickman, Pit Off G. L. 63,64Higgins,AirCdrTC.R. 10, II, 13,

20, 151Hill, Geoffrey 16Hill, Sgt 80,82Hill, Pit Off 86Hispano-Suiza 12, 29Hollinake, W/O D. 114,117Horan, Fit Sgt 129Houghton, Pit Off 109Howley, Pit Off A. R. 67Hudswell Clark Ltd 155Hughes Apache I52Hughes, PltOffD. 71,75,76,79,80,

82,109,119,149Hughes, H. A. 33, 45Hunt, Sgt, 51 52Hunter, Sqn Ldr Phillip 55, 56, 58,61,

62, 63, 64, 65, 70, 119, 120

Immelmann, Max 8Insall, Lt. A. J. 10Insall, Lt. G. S. 9

Jank, Sgt 78Jankowiak, Sgt 78Jee, Sgt 113Jeffs, Fit Sgt R 114, 117Joda, Sgt A. 76, 147Johnson, LAC S. B. 58, 61, 62, 63, 64,

119Johnson, Sgt 87Johnson, Fit Lt S. F F 78Johnson, Pit Off 72, 150Jones, LAC E. J. 59. 60, 61, 62Jones, Pit Off 70Jones, Sgt 77, 78, 84, 119Jordan, Sgt 124Jorzembowski, Sgt 89Joyce, Sgt I 15Junkers aircraft

Ju 52 58Ju87 51,59,60,61,62,63,119,149, 151

Ju88 58,59,61,63,67,70,74,79,82,83,84,85,86, 88,89, 10~ 113,114,117,119,129,149,150,151

Karais, Sgt 78Karwowsk i, Fg Off 147Kath, Obit. 66Kay, Pit Off D. H. S. 59,60,61,62,63,64Keith, Gp Capt Hilton 21Kemp, Pit Off J. R. 67Kenner, Pit Off, 72 150Kidson, Pit Off R. 67Kilpatrick, Pit Off 114King, LAC F 58,61,62,63,64,70,

119, 120Knocker, Pit Off 70,80, 149Knowleton, W/O 129

Langley, LAC 133Lanning, Pit Off F C. A. 84, 85, 89Lauder, Sgt A. J. 63Lawrence, Sgt W. 74Lewis, Fit gt 122Lewis, gt C. S. 78Lewandowski, Fg Off 78Lillie,LA P. 61,63,119Lindsay Neale, Robin 57,75,92, 106,

145Llpmski, gt 78, 134L,ppctt, pI. A. 58,61,62,64,119,149Lohelle, Marcel 103, 143Lockheed Hudson 56, 129, 148Lockheed v.entura 148

Lofting, Sgt A. D. IIILouden, Fit Lt M. J. 67,88Lovatt, Lord 89Lucas, Joseph Ltd 58Ludlow-Hewitt, AVM E. R. 15,16,20Lutzow, Hauptmann G. 70, 71Luxford, Sgt 147Lynch, Bernard 143Lynes, Pit Off 117

ML Night Fighter 103, 104McChesney, Sgt 88, 150McCormack, Sgt 85McCubbin, Lt 8MacDougall, Pit Off J. N. 65,66, 133MacKenzie, Sgt 150Mcleish, LAC 59,60,61MacLeod, Pit Off 59,60,61, 62McMullen, Fit Lt 83, 88, 120McNair, Sgt 79, 108MacPherson, Sgt 117McRitchie, Pit Off 113McTaggart, Sgt 150Macauley, Fit Sgt 122, 124Machin, Sgt W H. 71Mackie, Pit Off J. R. 132Maggs, Pit Off M. 82,89, 114Malcolm, R. Ltd 103, 104, 143, 144Malinowski, Sgt 89Manchester Museum of Air & Space 149Mandrel 121-6Manton, Marcus 5Marston, John 83Martin B-IO 5,14Martin Corp. 9Martin, James 143Martin, Pit Off 70,71.82,86,89, 109Martin, Sgt 80,82, 109, 114Martin-Baker Aircraft 143, 144Maul, Sgt 88Maund, Wg Cdr. A. C. 13, 15Maxwell, Sgt 72Meredith, Sgt 84Messerschmitt aircraft

Bf 109 47,56,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,69, 70, 71, 72, 74, 80, 119,149, I50, 15 1

Bf 110 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 80, 82, 86,88,119,124,149,151

Mil 24 Hind 152Miles aircraft

Magister 55Master 100, 130M.22A 94

Morrison, Pit Off 129Moonshine 121-5Mott, Sgt 84Moule, Fit Sgt 124Mouri, Mr. D. W. 128Mulzer, Lt. 8

Nain, Sgt 85Napier aero-engines

Rapier 15, 17, 18Sabre 36,43,46,91,94,95 96,97.98,99, 100, 102, 103, 104, 105

Nash & Thompson 15, 18, 21Neale, Fit Sgt 124Neil, Fit Sgt 124Niewolski, Sgt 78Noel, Louis 6Norfolk & Suffolk Aviation Museum 149North, j. D. 5, 12, 13, 17,21,43,98, 145North American Harvard 55Northern Aircraft Ltd 57, 155Northrop P-61 Black Widow 105, 106,

151

O'Connell, Pit Off A. 70,80Orr, Lt. S. G. 50O'Malley, Fit Lt D. K. C. 70,80, 149Operational Training Units (OTUs)

No.5 130No.24 134No.54 130No. 55 130No. 60 130

Parkinson, Ted 32Parnall Aircraft 18Parnall F5/33 16Partridge, Major, R. 145Patlavko, Lt. 10Patten, Fit Lt P. 147Pauling, Bill 145Petty, G. O. 26Pfleger, Pit Off 88Phoenix, Pit Off J. J. 115Pierse, Air Cdr. E. C. 16Pilots (Advanced) Flying Units

No. 18 131Piwko, Sgt 147Plant, Joe 33Plant, Sgt 88Pledger, Pit Off G. F 75Ponting, Pit Off 70Popham, Air Cdr. IIPowell, Sgt S. W N. 67Poxton, Fit Sgt 128Pratt & Whitney R-2800 105

Quinney, Sgt 58

Rabone, Pit Off P. 80, 148RAF Squadrons

No.6 55No. II 8,10No. 12 8No. 16 7No. 18 7No. 20 7,8No.23 18,94No. 29 94, 105

0.3035No.32 35

0.44 56, 1510.50 151

No. 65 560.66 58,59,60,61o 74 18,88

No. 85 78, 105, 1110.86 108

No.92 108o. 96 78, 79, 80, 84, 85, 86, 111,

113,115,117,118,119,120,122,124,128,148

No. 101 13No. III 13,47,64,66No. 125 109,110,128,133

o. 141 56,64,65,66,67,74,76,78, 84, 85, 86, 88, 89, 108, Ill, 120,124, 130, 133, 145, 149

No. 144 56o. 149 71o. lSI 76, 77, 78,83, 84, 88, 108,

111,112,114,117,119,1200.153 111,115,145,146,1470.169 124

No. 213 63No. 239 124No. 255 76,78,79,80,87,88, 109,110, Ill, 120

No. 256 58, 76, 78, 82, 83, 84, 85,86,87,108, Ill, 114, 115, 118, 119,120, 148

No 264 48,55,56,57,58,59,61,62,63,64,65,67,68,71,72,73,74,75,76,78,79,80,82,86,88,89,108, Ill, 112, 114, 118, 119, 120,121,122,124,129,130,133,148,149

No.275 127, 128No.276 127,128,145No. 277 120,127,128,129No.278 127, 128, 129No. 281 127,129No. 285 139, 146, 147No. 286 133, 139No. 287 Ill, 120, 138No. 288 139No. 289 I I I, 120, 139No. 307 73,74,76,77,78,82,88,89,109,111,120,133,134,146,147No.406 105No. 409 110, II 1No. 410 11 0, 11 1, I 17, I 18, 128,130

0.456 110,111, IZOo. 515 120, 122-6, 1290.6 520.604 560.609 63,640.667 139,1400.691 139,140

RAF StationsAhingdon 146, 147Acklington 84,89, 105Aston Down 52, 55, 130Ayr 88,89, 110Baginton 57Balado Bridge 145Ballyhalhert 115,147Barrow 131, 132Rhopal 133Blggin Hill 74,76,7 , 0, 122, 129Binhrook 139BIrcham NewlOn 56Bradwell Bay 123,124,125Bramcote 76Bridgnorth 143, 145Rrize orton 147Boscombe Down 46, 48, 92, 105,106,112,124,136,137

Caistor 74, 147Catterick 76Church Fenton 131Church Lawford 131Church tanron 147Coleby Gr,lI1ge 67Colerne 78,79, 109, 147Collywesron 94Co1t1shall 121, 124. 125Cranage 78, 79, 80, '4,86Cr<lI1well 55Croydon 128, I3Daleross 131,132, 133Dehden 78, 94Desford 57, 137, 154Detling 49, 50, 51D,ghy 110, 1)9Doncaster 76Drem 89, 117, 122, 124, 130Dnfficld 139, 150Duxford 54, 58,61, 71Dyce 52,67,89East Fonune 30Exeter 81>,1>9,147Eghngron 128Ellroaks 128FmrwoodCommon 109,128Filton 139Ford 78Fowlmere 65(,atwick 74Umngemouth 56,64,67Umvesend 66, 75, 76, 7I \;mowbeer 128Hawkmge 65, 66, 12 , 129Ilendon 145, 146Ilesron 125H,haldsrow 110, 150Honeyhourne 1HHonll1gron 94lIornchurch 69,70,71,72,149Ilnrsham St Fallh 58,59Ilunsdon 124"mailia 55Jurhy 73,76,77,133,147Kenley 35,80KIrknewton 1)9Kmon-in-Lm,bay 67,72,73,74,76,7 ,80, 7, 110, 147Leconf,eld 8 , 130Lmdholme I39Lossiemouth 147Luton 74, 75, 76,80Mansron 61,62,63,69,125,149Martlesham Heath 30,34,35, 37,38, 55, 56, 61, 128, 129Middle Wallop 78, 122Mi1denhall 71, 94Millom 132Montrose 67

eWlownarus 139ortholt 41, 55, 56, 74, 76orth Weald 12utt's Corner 88

OJiham 56Pembrey 147Perranporth 128Peterhead 139Porthcawl 130Porrreath 128Prestwick 67Ringway 67,75Roborough 51, I28Rochford 72, 75, 76Shawbury 147Shoreham 128Squires Gate 52, 76, 78, 82, 83, 84,

6, 115, 147, 148Stapleford Tawney 12 , 129

t Athan 113,114,146,147Stormy Down 131

utton Bndge 48, 55Tangmere 0,122,123,124,125Tern Hill 83Turnhouse 74, 110Upavon 41, 55, 78Valley 79, 110, 111, 128Waddington 151Warmwell 128West Mallmg 65,123,124,125White Waltham 56Wlttenng 56,58,76,7 ,3,88, 144Worthy Down 39,41,49, 54Wrexham 139, 147Wroughron 146

Rankm, Lr. 10 S. 7Rasmus"m, Sgt 80Rca, Sqn Ldr C. A. 30Redshaw, Dr. S. C. 142I~edwing Aircmft Ltd 57, 155Reid & Sigrist Ltd 57, Ill, 120, 128,

133,137,147,154Renault 70hp 7

Ohp 7Revill, LAC 62Richardson, Sqn Ldr W. R. 64,65Rlchrofen, Ianfred \'on 0RitchIe, Ph Off 117RitchIe, ,'gt 80Roh,,,,on, Pit Off G. 69Rob,,,,on, Sgt R. 83Roc, AII,ot Verdon 6Rollaso", Ltd 57,155Rl)lls~R()ycc acnH.~ngincs

Eagle 9, 10Goshawk 16Gnffon 105, 142Ke"rcl 16Merlm 15Merlm 21,2), 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 36,5 ,67,68,71,105,117, 1)7, 140, 149Peregnne 104Vulture 30,31,32,36,41,43,91

Rose, Fit Sgt 129Ross, Sgt W. '2Royal Aircraft Factory

BE.2c 8FE.2 7FE.la 7FE.2h 7,8,9, 10, 112FE.2d 8,9, 10

Russell, Sgt 82, 88, 149

Sadawa, Sgt S. 130ampson, Sgt 8 , I 13

Sandef', Fit Lt 80Sande", ,'qn Ldr A. T. D. 75, 80, 82,

9,108aulnler, Raymond 10

Saunders-Roc London 35chneider, Franz 10

School of Army Co-operation 56Scott, Pit Off 1-1. 61, 62Scott, Sgt I 15Scott, Sgt J. 83,86,108,119Seabourne, Fg Off 128

Seales, gt L. 115Serrate 124Shaw, Fg Off 70Sheppard, Fit gt 133Short 1011/37 32Short underland 34Short Type 184 55Sidengart, Sgt 3,8Slinmonds, Pit Off 122Sinclair, Sir Archihald 88Skelron, Fit Lt George 35, 39, 57, 59,

60,61Slatter, Pit Off R. M. 67Smalley, Sgt 58Smith, Fg Off I 15Smith, Fit Sgt 10 , 114Snllth, Sqn Ldr 8. 117SOCIete d'Applicatlons MachmesMotrices 21

AMM AR7 21,25,27, 30, 32, 35,44SAMM AR.1 5 21, 30,44,45,46

SopwlthGunhus 6

SpeCifications

4/24 II27/24 121029/27 12B.9/32 18105/32 16105/33 15,16,17, I ,251022/33 16,17,18,19105/H 16,22109/35 20,21,25,29,30,3 ,1511010/35 21,291OH/35 261037/35 29,300.30/3 5 ZO, 261018/36 29109/37 301011/37 31,321028/38 45109/39 45N. /39 46

.9/39 461018/4094-105

7/43 142Squires, Sgt I 15, tengle"ka, Sgt 147Stemon, Sgt J. 82Stephe",on, Fit Lt 82,89Steve"" Pit Off R. r. 3, 84, 88, 10

117Stillingwonh, Lt. 5Stokes, Pit Off R. W. 62,63,64,72Streeter, Sgt 85St Travell, Sgt R. 53Stuart, Pit Off 114Sunbeam Motor Car Co. 83Sunheam Crusader 6Supermarmc aircraft

Spitfire 24,30,49,56,59,60,61,63,64,67,90,94, 108, 118, 123,12 ,129,132,153

Type 305 24,25Type 320 32Walrus, 53 127,128,129

Sutton, Pit Off 80, 82, 89

Tamblyn, Sgt II. 67Tate, Sgt 117Taylor, Sgt 79, 85TelecommUl1lGltlons ResearchEstahllShment 121, 124Thomas, Pit Off S. R. 59,61, 74, 114,

124,149Thompson, Capt Gratton 15Thom"m, Wg Cdr A. A. B. 13Thorn Sgt E. R. 61,62,70,71,80, I,

82,119,148,14911,ard, Sir Ilenry 122Tomlinson, Gp Capt 147Toomhs, Pit Off 80Toone, Pit Off J. 87Trautloft, Hauptmann 65, 66Trawacki, Sgt 147

Tregillis, Pit Off L. R. 49Trenchard, ir Hugh 1ITrousdale, Fit Lt 87, 8, 150Tuck, Fg Off tanford 56Tupolev A T-4 5Turbll1hte 111,112Turner, LAC R. 5 ,61,64,67,70,72,

119,120,150

Vaux, Fit Sgt T. A. 128Verity, Fg Off 84,85, 115, 119Vesely, Fg Off 79Vickers aircraft

EFB.I 6,9EFB.2 9EFB.3 9EFB.4 9FB.5 9, 10FB.7 7FB. 7Gunhus 7Type 161 12Warwick 24Wellington 18,56,71109/35 24,25,26

Vultee Vengeance 133

Waddingham, Pit Off 74Wagner, Sgt 83,88Wam, Pit Off 117Wake, ,gt 10 II. 119Walden, Sgt I 15Walker, Sgt IIIWallen, Fg Off D. S. 86Waite", Fit Lt 124Watts, Sqn Ldr J. J. 151Webh, Ph OffT. D. 62,63,70, 2,

119,149West, Fh Lt D. R. 82,87, 115Westland aircraft

1029/2712Pterodactyl IV 16Pterod,tctyl V 16Ptero,bctyl VI 16Lysander 52,56, 127, 128, 129Wapiti 35Westhury 11, 12Whlrlwmd 30, 104

Westray, Sgt 10 G. 130Whitley, Pit Off D. 58,63,64,67,70,

72,119,120,150Whitehouse, Pit Off E. II. 58,61, 62Whitmill, W/O 124Wild, Pit Off B. IIIWilkie, Sgt 82Williams, Pit Off C. E. 61,62,63, 64,

70, 119Williams, Fg Off D. C. 75Wilmer, 'gt M. C. 124Wilson, Sqn Ldr 64Wilson, Sqn Ldr II. J. 38Wmdmm1, ,gt 5Wmgficld, Pit Off 122WISe, Sgt J. 10 63,65,66,67, 4, 133WlSthal, Sgt 147Wolfe, Sqn Ldr E. 8, 89Wobeley 80hp 6,9Wood, Sgt A. D. 82Woodbridge, Capt 8Woodford, Sgt I 15Woodhall, Wg Cdr 64Wozny, Sgt 147Wramtp,ng, Sgt 84Wnght Model B 5Wnght, Pit OffWu"hurg 121-6Wynne-Williams, Pit Off 8Wynll, Fg Off

Yorkshire Air Museum 80Young, Pit Off M. 1-1. 58,62,63,64,82,88,119,149Young, Sgt 80

Zakrocki, Sgt 78