A22 Fairey Battle

[CDF]

[Warbird Kid]

Cool! Very interesting study of the different schemes.

[SaxMan]

Some kind of war games paint scheme?

I guess the Battle was the RAF's equivalent of the Devestator -- hopelessly outclassed for the mission assigned to it, but the pilots who flew them did their duty.

I know when Fighter Command starting running low on pilots during the height of the BoB, some Battle pilots were transferred to Fighter Command to fly the Hurricane or Spitfire because of their experience flying Merlin engined craft. I wonder if any of those pilots became aces? I imagine that would have been quite an assignment, going from a near-deathtrap to being able to a plane that could stand toe-to-toe with the Luftwaffe.

[Bearcat SA]

Those Fairy Battles are in target tug colours and would have been yellow with black stripes

[Invader26]

Great pic. I wonder which RAAF Base?

[CDF]

AND....

[SaxMan]

I shudder to think of what it must have been like to fly the Battle on a mission over France or Belgium in 1940: That one flexible machine gun was all that stood between you and the Me-109 or Me-110 that was trying to shoot you down.

[CDF]

[CDF]

ACW R.C. Thomasson standing at propellor and ACW J. Kille on a tractor

[CDF]