Bomb sight
Battle wreck
Battle wreck
K9370 with counter-rotating propellers
Battle P5235 Le Chene Tonneau, Barby France 1940
P2192 HA-E
P5235 JN-H of No. 150 Squadron RAF, Le Chene Tonneau, Barby France 1940
Trainer P6683 1940
PM-B L5234 of No. 103 Squadron RAF
PH-X Winter 1939/40
RAAF L5156 of 1 BGS over the Gippsland Australia 1940
L5080 of No. 142 Squadron RAF Binbrook 1940
K9370 P24 Prince Test Bed, 1938
Wreck of K9374 Machault-Cauroy France 1940
K9374 PM-J, Machault-Cauroy France 1940
K9349 and L5583 abandoned in Sommesous
K9348 RH-Y at Boscombe Down
K9222 as Rolls Royce Exe Test Bed
K9218 abandoned at Chateau Bougon, 1940
K7581 in 1937
Demonstrator K7561 at Evore 1937
K7575, K7578 and K7580 in flight
K7558 in flight 1937
Pilot climbing into the cockpit of a Battle
Canadian ’39’ 2072 in flight
Battle assembly line
Bouy-Luxembourg 1940 – 88 Squadron RAF
Battle Canada 1943
RCAF 1737 ex-K9265
Canadian 1737 1942
226-B, 226-C and 226-D
Battle 218 Sqn 1940
Battle 142 Sqn 1940
Battle 63 practice bomb carrier 1939
K4303 over The Great West Aerodrome
Main landing gear
Main landing gear
K4303 in flight, 1936
K4303 in flight
Prototype K4303 1936
K4303 in 1937
Fairey Battle prototype
K4303 1936
K4303 in 1937
Fairey Battle prototype 11
Prototype in its initial form
Fairey Battle prototype 9
Fairey Battle prototype 5
Fairey Battle prototype 6
Fairey Battle prototype 7
Fairey Battle prototype 8
Fairey Battle prototype 4
Fairey Battle prototype 3
Fairey Battle prototype 2
Fairey Battle prototype 1
Battles K9353 HA-J, K9324 HA-B K9325 of No 218 Squadron RAF in flight over northern France.
QT-D L5502 of No 142 Squadron RAF Summer 1942
K9369 coded JN-G of No 150 Squadron RAF
Low Level attack by Battle on German column France 1940
Battle Trainer R7365 “12” of No 1 FTS
Abandoned Battle P22?? France 1940
Abandoned Battle L5248 RH-B of No 88 Squadron RAF
No 218 Sqn RAF Men and Battle K9324 HA-B in France 1939/40
RCAF Battle 1319
Polish Battles L5136 S and N2045 of No 18 OTU
Battles K9353 HA-J, K9324 HA-B K9325 HA-D of No 218 Squadron RAF France
Battle QT-B of No 142 Squadron RAF 1940
Battle Trainer R7365 12 of No 1 FTS prepares for take off at Netheravon
Battle Trainer R7365
Abandoned Battle HA-K of No 218 Squadron RAF 1940
German soldiers inspect wrecked Fairey Battle L5190 PH-P of No. 12 Squadron RAF – 1940
Battle code PM-B L5234 of No. 103 Squadron RAF
King George VI watching bombs being hand winched into the bomb bays of a Battle
Fairey Battle of No. 226 Squadron RAF tail
Well camouflaged Fairey Battle in France 1940
Battle Mk I of No. 12 Operational Training Unit lined up at Benson
Fairey Battle HA-E P2192 of No. 218 Squadron RAF – 1940
Air gunner with .303 Vickers K type MG rear cockpit of a Fairey Battle of No 103 Sqn 1940
Mechanics of No. 226 Squadron RAF overhaul the engines of Battles at Reims
RAF Aircrews Heading to Fairey Battle Bombers in France 1940
Battle Mk I of No. 226 Sqn being prepared for a night flight at Reims Champagne
Destroyed Battle code QT-H of No. 142 Squadron RAF
Battle K9204 QT-Q of No. 142 Squadron RAF, Advanced AirStriking Force in France
Battle light bomber at a forward airfield in France
Battle Destroyed by Fleeing French at St Denis Airfield – July 1940
Battles of No. 226 Squadron on a practise flight in August 1939
Fairey Battle light bombers of No. 63 Squadron in flight
Trainer Battle TT Mk I L5598 on the ground
German soldier posing beside a Fairey Battle 1940
Armourer loads a 4.5 inch reconnaissance flare into the Battle of No. 218 Sqn at Auberives-sur-Suippes
Fairey Battle prototype K4303
Fairey Battle N2119 of No 2 Anti Aircraft Cooperation Unit at Gosport
Battle K9324 HA-B France 1939-1940
Reims Champagne, Battle K9183 code MQ-R of No. 226 Squadron RAF
Armourers load a bomb into the Battle of No. 103 Squadron RAF at Betheniville
Battle rear gunner training
Ground crew working on a Battle of No. 218 Sqn at Auberive-sur-Suippes
Fairey Battle Mk I 52-B of 52 Squadron Royal Air Force at Upwood
French and British Airmen Hold Conference by Fairey Battle Bomber
Fairey Battle serial 1934 – Canada 1943
Battle K9274 on the ground
Airmen loading fresh oxygen cylinders into a Battle of No. 226 Sqn RAF at Reims Champagne
Battles 1699 and 1691 at RCAF No 1 Bombing and Gunnery School at Jarvis Canada 1941
Fairey Battle of 142 squadron RAF France 1940 QT+H front
Abandoned Fairey Battle of No. 142 squadron RAF France 1940 QT+H
Fairey Battle 142 squadron QT+I
Fairey Battle of No. 142 squadron RAF code QT+I
Fairey Battle MQ-O of No. 226 Squadron
Battle PH-F P2332
Fairey Battle of No. 218 squadron RAF code HA+K
Fairey Battle 150 Squadron JN+C, May 1940
Fairey Battle QT+D L5502 of No 142 Squadron RAF July/August 1940
Fairey Battle of No. 150 squadron RAF code JN-C, near Grevenmascher, Luxemburg 1940
Fairey Battle 142 squadron QT+I 4
Fairey Battle of No.142 squadron RAF code QT+I
Battle RH-L Mourmelon airfield, France, May/June 1940
Fairey Battle PM-N 103 Squadron
Fairey Battle trainer L5251
Fairey Battle France 1940
Abandoned Fairey Battle of 142 squadron RAF France 1940 2
Fairey Battle Reims airfield 1940
Abandoned Fairey Battle of 142 squadron RAF France 1940
Fairey Battle shot down during the Battle of France and wehrmacht bikers
Destroyed Fairey Battle
WW2 aircraft Fairey Battle
Abandoned Fairey Battle
Fairey Battle world war 2 bomber
Fairey Battle bomber France 1940
Wreckage of a Fairey Battle
Fairey Battle shot down during the Battle of France in 1940
wehrmacht soldiers next to a Fairey Battle
Fairey Battle bombers P2190, P5238 and Hawker Hurricane P2959. Épernay Plivot Airfield 1940.
wehrmacht soldier next to a Fairey Battle
Fairey Battle was a British single engine, three-seat light bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company, Austin Motors and Avions Fairey Belgium.
The prototype Battle (K4303) flew in March 1936 and the first production aircraft entered service a year later. Plane was designed to Specification P.27/32 as a replacement for the biplane Hawker Hart and Hind.
The Battle, although obsolete by 1939, was used in front-line service as a reconnaissance bomber during the “phony war”, and as a bomber when the war in the west started in May 1940. A Fairey Battle gunner claimed the first Luftwaffe aircraft shot down during the World War II in West Europe, and the RAF’s first two Victoria Crosses of the WW2 were won by Battle pilots. Fairey Battle was underpowered and underarmed and was soon transferred to training (many with separate instructor and pupil cockpits), target towing and test beds duties. Some were shipped to Canada or Australia as trainers or used as target tugs.
Total production: 2185 planes.
Bibliography:
- The Fairey Battle – Philip J. R. Moyes, Aircraft Profile Number 34
- Fairey Battle – Ian D. Huntley, SAM Publications Aviation Guide No. 1
- Bomber Command 1939-1940: The War Before the War – Gordon Thorburn
- Royal Air Force Bomber Command and Its Aircraft vol 1 1936-40 – James Goulding, Philip John Richard Moyes
- The British Bomber Since 1914 – Francis K. Mason 1994
- The Beginnings of Strategic Air Power, A History of the British Bomber Force 1923-1939 – Neville Jones
- British Bombers of World War 2 – Aeroplane Collectors’ Archive, Kelsey Publishing
- RAF Bomber Stories, Dramatic First-hand Accounts of British and Commonwealth Airmen in World War 2 – Martin W. Bowman
- Bomber Command – Max Hastings, Pan Books 2010
- H.A. Taylor: Fairey Aircraft since 1915, Putnam 1974
- Fairey: Company Profile 1915-1960, Aeroplane Company Profile 2012