I found these figures very interesting. Seems to be a very useful aircraft, I remember making a model during the war! :doh: Woops there I go again, I was very young! Cheers Keith
Is that from The Turret Fighters, Keith? 264 really were the masters of the Defiant: 264 Squadron Association - History But it should be said that the above states do show how surprised the Germans were by the turret. Unforyunately, they soon learnt the lesson. But then: Boulton Paul Defiant
When the 109s found out the weakness, the Defiant faired very badly as Kyt has put. I wouldn't have wanted to be in the turret.
Turret fighters Hi Kyt Well, yes it is from Turret Fighters, and while I agree that that the other side soon found how to tackle them, they certainly put up a good record before their demise. They were partcularly good at night. Quite rightly they were removed from service, but before that their record of kills to losses was exceptional. In the final count up they were not lacking. Cheers Keith
Oh I quite agree Keith. Considering the deficiencies of the aircraft, in comparison to the Me 109 and 110, they fought a good fight. Especially so as they hadn't been designed as dog-fighters but bomber destroyers. And their success as night-fighters worked on the same principle as the German's later use of Musik armed aircraft - i.e. the upward firing guns that allowed the attacker to sneak up under a bomber and have a longer contact with the aircraft for a more devastating effect.
The Defiant is an aircraft that some accounts write of as a disaster, an example of military incompetence etc. These figures clearly do not bear this out. As Kyt says, it was intended as a home defence bomber-destroyer, on the basis that the second Great War would be a re-run of the first, with France not being defeated so single-seat fighters would not appear over the UK because they could not be based close enough. They fared badly when up against single-seat fighters, and perhaps it was an act of desperation to put them in that situation, but they performed as advertised against bombers.
Hi All, Kenneth flew Defiants with 96 Squadron and had some interesting viewpoints on the aeroplane. (For those of you with "Down to Earth", it's the 'Cat's Eyes' chapter) If I get the opportunity, I'll post some passages at a later date. Cheers Owen View attachment 2868
Owen, Kenneth was the first person to pop into my head when I first read this thread. He was a brave man flying Hurris with the Turbinlite Havocs! Something was nagging at me until I remembered 264, IIRC, was based at Biggin in early 1941 (Jan or Feb and just for a month) and was responsible for Biggin's early successes of that year when the daylight fighters were hemmed in by the weather over the continent. The Defiant really came into her own as a night-fighter. Michael Veitch interviewed a Defiant veteran for his book Flak. At a veterans' gathering, our hero's name was called out by the MC as (for example) "Bob Smith - Defiants...how are you still alive?" I should check the book as I've only listened to the CD about 10 times! Is the Defiant at Hendon the only complete survivor?
I remember in the late 1980's reading the obituary of a chap who had been a Defiant gunner at the age of about 40 in the Battle of Britain, having been a Bristol Fighter gunner at the age of 18 in the previous show. Do any of these books mention him and give his name, or can any of the rest of you remember reading about him?
Adrian can't find anyone from 141 Squadron that fits that descriptionMaggs is the closest I could find for 264 Squadron. And Carlin would have been 50, so I've included him too!!!
I'm pretty sure it was Maggs I was thinking of; the name rings a bell and the dates are about right. Maybe I was wrong about him being a Bristol gunner, if I read his obituary in November 1987 I'm trying to remember something I read over 21 years ago - or maybe one or other of the references is wrong.
