ANDREW THOMAS is one of Britain's leading RAF researchers, having published numerous articles and books on the subject, as well as readily assisting other authors. Having joined the RAF to fly straight from school, he has maintained his enthusiastic interest in the history and development of his Service throughout his career. He has previously written eight titles in Osprey's renowned Aircraft of the Aces Series. Artist CHRIS DAVEY has illustrated more than 30 titles for Osprey's Aircraft of the Aces, Combat Aircraft and Elite Units series since 1994. Based in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, and one of the last traditional airbrush artists in the business, he has become the artist of choice for both USAAF fighters and RAF subject matter. OSPREY AIRCRAFT OF THE ACES • 105 Defiant, Blenheim and Havoc Aces SERIES EDITOR: TONY HOLMES OSPREY AIRCRAFT OF THE ACES « 1 05 Defiant, Blenheim and Havo< Aces Andrew Thomas OSPREY PUBLISHING Front Cover First published in Great Britain in 2012 by Osprey Publishing Fit Lt Nicholas Cooke joined No 264 Midland House, West Way, Botley, Oxford, OX2 0PH Sqn as a flight commander shortly 44-02 23rd Street, Suite 219, Long Island City, NY, 11101, USA after it had formed, and he had collected its first Defiant in early December 1939. After the German E-mail; [email protected] offensive against France and the Low Countries began on 10 May © 2012 Osprey Publishing Limited 1940, Cooke and his gunner, Cpl Albert Lippett, were soon in action. By the time the Allied evacuation All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, from Dunkirk began in earnest they research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Design and had already claimed victories. Patents Act 1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a On the late morning of 29 May, a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, dozen No 264 Sqn Defiants flew over chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the Channel at medium altitude, prior written permission. All enquiries should be addressed to the publisher. with a top cover of Hurricanes that soon became engaged with enemy fighters. Six Bf 109s peeled off to A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library attack the Defiants, which deployed into line astern sections. Flying in ISBN: 978 1 84908 666 0 L7005/PS-X, Cooke's gunner, Cpl Lippett, spotted a Messerschmitt e-book ISBN: 978 1 8490 8667 7 that was attacking a Defiant and the e-pub ISBN: 978 1 78096 438 6 enemy fighter soon burst into flames under his fire. Having fought off the Edited by Tony Holmes Bf 109s largely unscathed, No 264 Page design by Tony Truscott Sqn then spotted a large formation of Ju 87s, with their Bf 110 escort, Cover Artwork by Mark Postlethwaite near Calais. As the latter dived after Aircraft Profiles by Chris Davey the Defiants, the RAF pilots again Index by Alan Thatcher manoeuvred into line astern sections Originated by PDQ Digital Media Solutions and entered a spiral dive. During the ensuing melee, No 264 Sqn claimed Printed in China through Bookbuilders six Bf 110s destroyed, and four more Bf 109s that had attempted to 12 13 14 15 16 1098765432 1 intervene. One of each type fell to Cooke and Lippett, who thus Osprey Publishing is supporting the Woodland Trust, the UK's leading became an ace crew. woodland conservation charity by funding the dedication of trees. Having returned to Manston to refuel and rearm, that evening www.ospreypublishing.com No 264 Sqn crews were back over the beaches, where they spotted several large formations of Ju 87s 'Two shot down in flames at these destroyed, before turning approaching. With their escort 5000 ft before they had commenced for home, exhausted. Despite the engaged with Hurricanes, the their dive. Remainder of Ju 87s inevitable, and considerable, Stukas saw the Defiants and dived caught at sea level in line astern. overclaiming in such a large and away. No 264 Sqn's CO, Sqn Ldr On being attacked from below and confused dogfight, it had been an Philip Hunter, did not attempt to to one side they released their outstanding day for No 264 Sqn, follow them, instead leading his bombs but three Ju 87s were shot which was credited with 37 enemy fighters down to low level so that down in very quick succession as aircraft shot down. Of these, Cooke the dive-bombers could be caught we flew up the line. All five Ju 87s and Lippett claimed two Bf 109s, when they were most vulnerable as were in flames and crashed into the a Bf 110 and five Ju 87s, as well as they pulled out of their dives. sea or on the beach/ sharing in the destruction of two Picking their targets, the Defiant Of this incredible action, Cpl Ju 88s. Sadly, theirs was but a brief gunners poured fire into the Stukas Albert Lippett wrote, 'We shot at glory, for on 31 May the team that from close range. Many of the them and they went up in flames. had claimed a dozen victories in a Ju 87s frantically jettisoned their Their main fuel tanks were between little over two weeks was posted bombs and manoeuvred wildly to the pilot and the navigator, and if missing over the Channel. escape, but Cooke, once again in they were hit, they just blew up'. This specially commissioned art L7005/PS-X, positioned his fighter Cooke's day's work was not yet by Mark Postlethwaite shows underneath them so as to allow his over, for the squadron then engaged Cooke and Lippett successfully gunner to pour fire into their a formation of Ju 88s, and he and engaging Stukas over the vulnerable bellies, as he described; Lippett combined to claim two of Dunkirk beaches CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE A FLAWED CONCEPT 6 CHAPTER TWO A BLOODY SUMMER 11 CHAPTER THREE THE BLITZ 28 CHAPTER FOUR BUTZ TO'BAEDEKER' 56 CHAPTER FIVE OVER SEA AND SAND 70 CHAPTER SIX THE LAST RITES 85 APPENDICES 89 COLOUR PLATES COMMENTARY 90 BIBLIOGRAPHY 95 INDEX 96 ArFLAWED CONCEPT 'I cut him off with Red Section and gave the order "No 1 attack. GO!" As he turned he dived down to the ground, forcing me to change over with No 3 to the starboard side. I could see my air gunner's bullets hitting the aircraft, which finally crashed in a field full of cows, bordered by dykes, at 1415 hrs.' With these words, written in the late afternoon of 12 May 1940, Sqn Ldr Philip Hunter, who was flying with LAC Fred King, described the destruction of a Ju 88 for No 264 Sqn's first victory. Within moments Fit Lt Nicholas Cooke, with his gunner Cpl Albert Lippett, leading Yellow Section was also in action; 'One He 111 was sighted at 3000 ft. Enemy dived towards the ground. I used +12 lb boost and caught the enemy on the port side at the same level. I carried out a "Defiant Cross-over" attack. Smoke then issued from both engines and I saw the enemy make a crash landing in a cloud of dust.' The Boulton Paul Defiant — the RAF's newest fighter — had been blooded over the Dutch city of The Hague by two sections from No 264 Sqn that had been sent to patrol the area following the commencement of the Blitzkrieg in the west 48 hours earlier. It was to be the start of Defiant L6973/PS-A forms the backdrop to a group of No 264 Sqn a seesaw of highs and lows for the unit over the next few months. aircrew at the time of the Dunkirk At the start of World War 2 in September 1939, RAF Fighter evacuation. It was the personal Command possessed 28 squadrons of Hurricanes and Spitfires. A new aircraft of the CO, Sqn Ldr Philip Hunter, who was flying the fighter single-engined monoplane fighter was also about to enter service, near The Hague on 12 May 1940 although the Defiant was very different in concept to the other types. when he claimed the Defiant's Additionally, there remained several squadrons still flying biplane very first victory (via Alec Brew) Gladiators, and no fewer than seven equipped with the Blenheim IF — a converted twin-engined bomber used in the long-range fighter role. The Defiant was the ultimate manifestation of a genre that had its roots in the successful employment of the two-seat Bristol F 2 Fighter during World War 1, although this aeroplane had only begun to achieve its remarkable success when flown as a traditional single-seater scout, but with the advantage of having the observer to cover the tail. The two-seat fighter concept saw further use in the shapely form of the Hawker Demon during the 1930s, primarily because of the outstanding performance of the Rolls-Royce Kestrel-powered Hart bomber from which it had been developed. To replace the Demon, Specification F9/35 was issued, and amongst other manufacturers Hawker proposed a Merlin-powered fighter based on its Henley light bomber. Named Hotspur, it was fitted with a power-operated gun turret — a similar configuration to the submission by the Boulton Paul Company, which had been developing power-operated gun turrets throughout the 1930s. The company's design - also Merlin powered - was named Defiant and was of a similar size to the Hurricane, albeit some 1500 lb heavier. The immaculate Sqn Ldr Philip However, the root cause of the problems that later afflicted the turret Hunter was No 264 Sqn's inspirational leader until his death fighter lay in Spec F9/35 itself, which specified that the design was to in action on 24 August 1940. He was concentrate all of its armament in the power-operated turret and have also the first pilot to become an ace no forward-firing machine guns. Thus in any action the pilot always had flying the Defiant (via Alec Brew) to consider the field of fire of the gunner. In part to allow Hawker to concentrate on its other work, Boulton Paul was eventually awarded a contract for two prototypes, the first of which made its maiden flight from Wolverhampton on 11 August 1937 - four months after an initial production contract for 87 had been placed. The clean lines of the Among the young future aces prototype were marred when the turret was added, which with the that cut their teeth on the gunner and ammunition contributed almost ten percent of the fully Blenheim fighter was Fig Off John loaded weight of the aircraft. The Defiant was intended to supplement Cunningham of No 604 Sqn, who later became one of the RAF's most the single-seaters as a 'bomber-destroyer', but events were to prove that successful nightfighter pilots in a modern conflict this was a flawed concept. (author's collection) With war clouds looming at the time of the Munich Crisis of September 1938, the replacement of the biplane Demon with more modern equipment became urgent. Two months later, at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), a Blenheim IF was fitted with a trial installation of an under-fuselage gun pack containing four Browning machine guns. Test firings were completed at the RAE's Martlesham Heath facility. Following the trials the first of almost 150 Blenheims were modified for the long-range fighter role at Nos 24 and 27 Maintenance Units. Thus equipped, the aircraft were re-designated Blenheim IFs. The first of these new 'fighters' were delivered to No 25 Sqn at Hawkinge and No 23 Sqn at Wittering in December 1938. Blenheim IFs soon reached No 64 Sqn at Church Fenton too, this unit being fully equipped by mid-January 1939, as was Digby-based No 29 Sqn. Posted to the latter unit at the same time was Pit Off Bob Braham who, like many other future nightfighting aces, honed his skills on the Blenheim IF in the last months of peace. In January 1939 the three Auxiliary Air Force Demon units based in the London area — Nos 600, 601 and 604 Sqns — also began receiving Blenheim IFs. Flying with the latter unit was a youthful Pit Off From December 1939 through to the John Cunningham, who would also soon rise to prominence as a summer of 1940 Blenheim IF L8715/ NG-R was regularly flown by Fig Off nightfighting ace, while among No 601 Sqn's pilots was Fig Off Carl John Cunningham and his air Davis — subsequently to become the first American-born ace of World gunner AC Jimmy Rawnsley. War 2 - and Fit Lt Roger Bushell. A qualified barrister, Bushell was Among the other successful pilots captured early in the conflict and later became 'Big X' of'Great Escape' that flew it was Pit Off Ian Joll (M J F Bowyer) fame, only to die at the hands of the Gestapo. EARLY OPERATIONS On the outbreak of war the RAF had no specialised nightfighter units, so the Blenheim IF fighter squadrons were allocated this additional duty. A period of intense night training commenced. Amid great secrecy, trials had been proceeding on an airborne intercept (AI) radar, and No 25 Sqn received its first four Al-equipped Mk IFs in August 1939. The mysterious 'black boxes' of the AI radar were fitted amidships, with aerials on the nose and wings, the whole installation weighing 600 lb. Sgt Dickie Haine recalled; 'These early radar sets were painstakingly assembled, and began to arrive for fitting to the Blenheims. One flight of the squadron was given the task of carrying out trials and calibration of the equipment and training the radar operators.' A handful of radar-equipped Blenheim IFs were also later issued to No 604 Sqn, the Fighter Interception Unit at Tangmere and the Special Duties Flight (SDF) at Martlesham Heath, allowing technical and tactical trials to continue through the winter of 1939-40. A few days before the outbreak of war No 25 Sqn had also received a number of longer range Blenheim IVFs. On 3 September, with the war barely two hours old, Pit Off John Isaac of No 600 Sqn became the first Briton to die in the conflict when his Blenheim IF crashed near Hendon. Later that evening Blenheim IFs of No 601 Sqn, including one flown by future ace Fig Off Max Aitken, were scrambled to intercept a mysterious radio signal that turned out to be from a faulty refrigerator! To add insult to injury, the fighters were fired on by friendly anti-aircraft guns upon returning to base. No 25 Sqn's first operational sortie came the following day, and included Sgt Dickie Haine in ZK-J, who recalled;