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RAF 247 Squadron was re-equipped
with the Hawker Hurricane on Christmas eve 1940 and it's Gloster
Gladiators re-allocated for non-combat duties. RAF 239 Squadron Gloster Gladiators were used for army cooperation which freed other
Squadrons more modern fighters for more arduous roles. The RAF was
not the only force to use the Gladiator during the Battle of
Britain, the Royal Navy's 804 Navel Air Squadron operated some of
it's Sea Gladiators, which had previously been defending the naval
base at Scapa Flow, from the Fleet Air Arm shore base at Hatston in
Scotland under RAF Fighter Command control between May and September
1940.
None of the RAF Gloster Gladiators operational in the Battle of
Britain were lost but they proved to be ineffective against the
modern German Luftwaffe aircraft they encountered.
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pictures of the RAF's Gloster Gladiator fighter
The RAF "Battle of
Britain" Boulton Paul Defiant fighter history
Boulton Paul Aircraft built the Boulton Paul Defiant as a "turret
fighter" to John Dudley North's design, in had initial successes as
Luftwaffe fighter pilots mistook it for a Hawker Hurricane and
attacked it accordingly, the return fire from the unexpected turret
came as an unpleasant surprise but soon the Luftwaffe fighter pilots
learned to recognised the difference between the Defiant and
Hurricane and the tables were quickly turned. The increased weight
and drag of the Boulton Paul Defiant's turret reduced the fighters
speed and agility to a point that it was at a major disadvantage
against Luftwaffe fighters in dogfights whose pilots correctly
identified it and attacked from below and behind or head on where
the Defiant's gun turret could not be trained. Two Squadrons of Boulton
Paul Defiants operated during the Battle of Britain, 264
Squadron RAF and 141 Squadron .
RAF 264 Squadron operations began
in March 1940 from RAF Martlesham Heath when the squadron started
convoy patrols with their Boulton Paul Defiants, the squadron soon
started to have heavy losses and at the end of May 1940 the squadron
was withdrawn from day-fighter operations and assigned a
night-fighter role. 264 Squadrons Boulton Paul Defiants returned to
a day fighting role at the height of the Battle of Britain operating
from RAF Northolt and RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey in Lincolnshire, but
suffered heavy losses again and reverted to it's night-fighter role.
During the Battle of Britain No. 264 Squadron RAF lost a total of 18
of it's Boulton Paul Defiants, the majority of these during daylight
operations.
RAF 141 Squadrons first operational patrol was flown from RAF
Turnhouse on 29 June 1940 before moving to RAF West Malling in early
July with RAF Hawkinge being used as an advanced airfield. Following
an unsuccessful encounter with the enemy a few days later, the the
squadron was withdrawn to Prestwick. In September 1940 half a
squadron of 141 Boulton Paul Defiants was sent to RAF Biggin Hill in
a night fighter role, the rest of 141 Squadron followed in October
1940 and remained for the rest of the Battle of Britain. 141
Squadron RAF lost a total of 10 of it's Defiants during the Battle
of Britain, six of these in it's single daylight operation.
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and pictures of the RAF's Boulton Paul Defiant fighter
The RAF "Battle of
Britain" Bristol Beaufighter history
The Bristol Beaufighter was a modification of the Bristol Beaufort torpedo
bomber design, the intention was to produce a long range heavy
fighter. The Beaufighter was introduced into RAF service in late
July 1940 initially as a night fighter, a role which the plane was
particularly suitable for as it's roomy fuselage could accept the
RAF's new, but rather bulky, airborne AI radar equipment. The
Beaufighter proved an effective adversary to the Luftwaffe
night-time Blitz bomber raids and served in this role until it began
to be replaced by the faster, and more agile, de Havilland Mosquito
in mid 1942, it was completely superseded in this role by the de
Havilland Mosquito in mid 1943.
During the last weeks of the
Battle of Britain Bristol Beaufighters operated with the following
RAF Squadrons and units as night fighters, for the majority of the
Battle of Britain these Squadrons had been operating Bristol
Blenheims.
No. 23 Squadron RAF
No. 25 Squadron RAF
No. 29 Squadron RAF
No. 219 Squadron RAF
No. 600 Squadron RAF
No. 604 Squadron RAF
Fighter Interception Unit
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and pictures of the RAF's Bristol Beaufighter fighter
The RAF "Battle of
Britain" Bristol Blenheim history
Frank Barnwell designed the Bristol Blenheim for the Bristol
Aeroplane Company as a light bomber for the RAF in mid 1935. The
Bristol Blenheim entered into RAF service in 1937, but by the time
WW2 started was already effectively obsolete. Throughout the Battle
of Britain Bristol Blenheim squadrons bombed Luftwaffe airfields in
German occupied Europe by day and by night, Blenheim losses were
heavy but there were no better bombers available at this desperate
time. Some Bristol Blenheims were retro-fitted with AI Mk III
airborne radar and served with the Fighter Interception Units where
it proved a valuable stop-gap night fighter in the Battle of Britain
until the introduction of the superior Bristol Beaufighter.
The following RAF units and
Squadrons all operated the Bristol Blenheim in a night fighter role
during the Battle of Britain
Fighter Interception Unit
No. 23 Squadron RAF
No. 25 Squadron RAF
No. 29 Squadron RAF
No. 219 Squadron RAF
No. 600 Squadron RAF
No. 604 Squadron RAF
The following RAF Coastal Command
Squadrons all operated the Bristol Blenheim in a fighter role during
the Battle of Britain
No. 235 Squadron RAF
No. 236 Squadron RAF
No. 248 Squadron RAF
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and pictures of the RAF's Bristol Blenheim fighter
The RAF "Battle of
Britain" Hawker Hurricane history
While their are still disagreements as to whether the Hawker
Hurricane or the Supermarine Spitfire was the best Battle of Britain
there can be no doubt that the Hawker Hurricane was the most
important, due to the Hurricanes excellent steady gun platform
qualities and it's greater numbers it destroyed far more German
Luftwaffe aircraft than any other RAF fighter in the Battle of
Britain. Could Great Britain have won the Battle of Britain without
the Spitfire? No! Could the Battle of Britain been won without
the Hawker Hurricane? No! - A much overlooked point, although not by
the German forces, was that the real piece of military hardware that
won they Battle of Britain, and infact the war was the Rolls Royce
Merlin engine!
The Hawker Hurricane was designed
by Sydney Camm for Hawker Aircraft in 1934, it first flew in
November 1935 and entered RAF service in 1937, gradually replacing
the RAF's biplane fighters, it was the first production fighter to
be powered by the famous Rolls-Royce Merlin and the Hurricanes
performance gain over older RAF fighters was enormous although the
fabric covered design was already obsolete due to the new "stressed
skin" methods of construction being developed. The older doped linen
design of the Hurricane made it easier to make, maintain and repair
than stressed skin designs and often a cannon shell that would
explode on impact on a stressed skin metal covered aircraft would
pass right through a Hurricane without enough resistance to make it
explode, these were all desirable qualities during the Battle of
Britain.
The most active part of the
Battle of Britain occurred between the 8th of August and the 21st of
September 1940, during this period 1,593 kills were attributed to
the Hurricane out of the 2739 in total for all RAF aircraft types.
Although the Hurricane was slower than it's main rival, the
Supermarine Spitfire, and it's main adversary, the Messerschmitt Bf
109e, it had a tighter turning circle than either fighter, a very
desirable capability in a dog-fight. The main fear for an RAF Hawker
Hurricane pilot was fire, the wood and fabric caught alight too
easily, this was partially rectified in later variants by the use of
improved fire walls and fire resistant coverings over the wing and
fuselage fuel tanks, this at least increased the time a pilot had to safely bail out if the worst happened.
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and pictures of the RAF's Hawker Hurricane fighter
The RAF "Battle of
Britain" Supermarine Spitfire history
R.J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine, designed the Spitfire
as a private venture, when it first flew on the 5th of Mach 1936 it
was one of the most advanced fighter designs in the world, the
Spitfire used a thin wing combined with metal stressed skin
construction, this was coupled to a Rolls Royce Merlin, one of the
best piston aircraft engines ever designed. Engineers have often
said that if it looks right it probably is right, RAF Squadrons
began to receive their new aircraft in August 1938, RAF pilots said
the aircraft looked right on the ground but in the air it became
part of you, you did not sit in it like most other fighters, but
"strapped it on". Numerically speaking the Supermarine Spitfire was heavily out
numbered by the Hawker Hurricane at the start of WW2 but Hurricane losses
in the Battle of France and the frantic production of the Spitfire
up to the Battle of Britain resulted in the Spitfire RAF squadrons
increasing dramatically. In the Middle of the Battle of Britain the
Spitfire MkII was introduced, this was powered by the new more
powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin Mk XII, a popular improvement from a
pilot's perspective and like the Spitfire MkI, a joy to fly.
A total of 19 RAF Supermarine
Spitfire Squadrons took part in the battle of Britain and they are
credited with shooting down 282 fighters and 247 bombers during
battle, the Hurricane is credited with shooting down 222 fighters
and 434 bombers. The tactics employed by the British Fighter Command
was to use the more numerous Hawker Hurricanes to attack the German
bombers and engage their fighter escort with the faster Supermarine
Spitfire. Although the RAF's Hurricanes shot-down the most enemy
aircraft during the Battle of Britain this was a direct result of
their numerical superiority over the Spitfire, if we look at the
average combat performance of a Spitfire it had in fact a 27%
greater kill rate than the Hurricane and this was predominantly
against fighters, the Hurricane's kills were 65% bombers. From these
figures it can be seen that against similar targets the Spitfire
could be expected to achieve a 50% higher kill rate than the
Hurricane. It is clear that RAF Fighter command's decision to use
the Hawker Hurricane against enemy bombers while the Supermarine
Spitfire engaged their fighter escorts was the correct way to use
these two excellent WW2 Battle of Britain fighters to their best
advantage.
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and pictures of the RAF's Supermarine Spitfire fighter |
