Phil Listemann is an author and publisher from southwestern
France that specializes in interesting historical
RAF monographs. With this title, he has released the eighth
title in the 'Allied Wings' series and this covers Part 1 of
the Boulton Paul Defiant in RAF service. In this installment,
the author looks at the early operations of the Defiant between
mid-1939 and August 1940 during its peak operations in daylight.
By August, the RAF was starting to re-role the aircraft for
night fighter operations, and this is covered in Part 2.
The Defiant was one of several aircraft that were the first
monoplanes designed to replace the biplane fighters. One design
feature that carried over into the Defiant that did not make
it into many other aircraft was the concept of the rear gunner.
Since the Defiant featured retractable landing gear for higher
airspeeds and a fully enclosed cockpit, designers also applied
a turret for the rear gunner to provide slipstream protection
as well as an improved field of fire compared to earler gun
rings. The extra weight and drag of the rear gunner, ammo,
turret, etc., kept the Defiant from becoming an effective dogfighter,
but it would finally find its place in combat operations.
What is interesting is that the author has followed a similar
format to his series of RAF squadron histories. This title
is broken down as follows:
Three pages outlining the development
of the type
One page listing the deliveries and attrition of the type
One page providing the key performance specifications of
the type
16 pages of operational history of the type in 264 Sqn
3 pages of operational history of the type in 141 Sqn
1 page of operational history of the type in second line
units
One page outlining the sortie counts
by date
One page showing the basing of the aircraft through Aug
1940
Six pages of combat kills
Three pages of operational losses
One pages of aircraft lost in accidents
Two pages of operational dates for each aircraft by
serial number
One pages of crews killed in service while operating
the type.
The title is well illustrated with color profiles of representative
aircraft from user squadrons, photos of the pilots
of the Defiant, as well as period photographs of squadron
aircraft.
This monograph is to the point and clearly tied together by
extensive research that has been collated by database views.
This title is highly recommended and I certainly hope to see
many more in this format in the future!
