Fairey Battle

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Fairey Battle

The Fairey Battle was a light bomber of the Royal Air Force built by Fairey Aviation in the late 1930s. The Battle was powered by a single engine but laden with a three-man crew and bomb load, it was slow, vulnerable and limited in range. Despite this, it was a Battle that claimed the first RAF aerial victory of the Second World War.

History

The original Battle was designed to Specification P.37/42 as a 2-seat day bomber to replace the Hawker Hart biplane. It first flew on 10 March, 1936. The first production order was for 155 Battles built to Specification P.23/35 and the first production aircraft was completed in June 1937. When the RAF embarked on the pre-war expansion programme, the Battle became a priority production target. In total 2,185 Battles were built during its production life; 1,156 by Fairey and 1,029 by the Austin Motor Company. A further 18 were built in Belgium under licence for service with the Belgian Air Force. The first squadron to be equipped with the Battles was No. 63 Squadron in June, 1937.

The Battle's benign handling characteristics made it an ideal platform for testing engines and it was used in this role to test engines up to 2,000 hp. The production Battles were powered by the Rolls Royce Merlin I, II, III and V and took their Mark numbers based on their engine (ie., a Battle Mk. II was powered by a Merlin II).

The Battle's standard payload of four 250 lb (110 kg) bombs was carried in cells inside the wings. An additional 500 lb of bombs could be carried in under-wing racks.

Service

The Battle was obsolete by the start of World War II but remained a front-line strike bomber of the RAF due to a lack of other aircraft. During the Phony War phase, ten squadrons of Battles were deployed to France on 2 September, 1939 as part of the Advanced Air Striking Force. On 20 September, 1939, a German Messerschmitt Bf 109 was shot down by Battle gunner Sgt. F. Letchard during a patrol near Aachen. This was the RAF's first aerial victory of the war. The Battle was hopelessly outclassed by the Luftwaffe fighters. When the Battle of France began, the Battles were called upon to halt the advancing panzers. On 10 May, 1940 two sorties were carried out; in the first 3 out of 8 Battles were lost, in the second 13 out of 32 were lost and the remainder suffered damage. Bombing from as low as 250 ft (76 m), their attacks had little impact on the German columns. The following day 15 Battles of the Belgian Air Force attacked bridges over the Albert Canal, losing 10 planes. In one RAF sortie on that day, only one Battle out of eight survived. On 12 May six Battles of the No. 12 Squadron RAF attacked the Albert Canal bridges; 4 of the aircraft were destroyed. Two Victoria Crosses were awarded posthumously - to Flying Officer Garland and Sgt. Gray - for pressing home the attack in spite of the heavy defensive fire. One end of the bridge was destroyed counting the mission a success.

The German Ju 87 Stuka also suffered heavy losses when opposed by modern fighters—until the appearance of the de Havilland Mosquito in 1942 the light bomber concept was clearly obsolete. In effect their role passed to single seat fighter-bombers and ground attack aircraft.

The Battle was quickly withdrawn from a combat role and was used for training and target towing duties. As a trainer it was also used by the RAAF, RCAF and South African Air Force. The Battle was withdrawn from RAF service in 1949.

Survivors

Whilst there are no flying examples of this aircraft at least one static airframe is on public exhibition. The best known is that of L5343 displayed at the RAF Museum in Hendon. However, the markings are apparently incorrect. In July 1940 it was allocated to No. 98 Squadron then it and other Battles were flown to Iceland for anti-invasion operations in support of British forces which on 10 May 1940 had occupied the island. L5343 was the first RAF aircraft to land on Icelandic soil. After some time the aircraft crashed and in 1972 the RAF embarked on a successful recovery operation to salvage the wreck and returned it to the UK for restoration.

Another airframe is being stored at the Canada Aviation Museum and will eventually be restored to represent the contribution the aircraft made to the training of aircrew. From August 1939, 739 Battles served in Canada as trainers. Most were used for bombing and gunnery training, with a small number equipped as target tugs. Some aircraft had the rear cockpit replaced with a Bristol turret for turret-gunnery training. R7384 was manufactured as a pilot trainer in 1940, and taken on strength by the RCAF in 1941. Converted to a turret-gunnery trainer in 1942, it was used until 1943 when it entered storage. After moving among several storage locations, the aircraft was transferred to the Canada Aviation Museum in 1964.

Another example of this airplane can be found in the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and of Military History, Brussels - Belgium, in the aviation department. It is currently under restoration.

Specifications (Mk.II)

Operators

• Australia, Belgium, Canada, Eire (Ireland), Greece, Poland, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom.

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|similar aircraft= Sukhoi Su-2 - Kawasaki Ki-32 - Mitsubishi Ki-30 - Westland Lysander - Junkers Ju87 Stuka - Douglas Dauntless - Hawker Henley -

|sequence= Swordfish - Battle - Seafox - Fulmar - Albacore

References