I was a bit disappointed with the article on the technical evolution of the Beaufighter, because it claimed that the max. speeds and especially the service ceilings of the Beaufighter Mk. If, IIf and TF.X were exactly the same. There wasn’t much difference in max. speeds but service ceilings were different. That made me put the publication aside for a couple years. But when I continued the reading I found out that it is fairly good after all. It covers admirably the many roles in which Beaufighter was utilized and there are many interesting black and white photos. The articles are:
Close Shave on an encounter between a Beaufighter from 235
Squadron and a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 from1./JG 5 off the coast of
Norway on March 3 1943 by Andrew Thomas. Nicely checked also
against German records.
Aces a table of the Beaufighter aces by Andrew Thomas.
Adapt, Improve, Excel, the evolution of the Beaufighter by M L
Wynch. The article also deals very briefly with Buckingham,
Buckmaster and Brigand. There are 3-view drawings of
Beaufighter If, II and TF.X plus several interesting b/w photos.
IMHO the most glaring shortcoming in this article is that it doesn’t reveal that the leading idea of using the
most of the structures/components of Beaufort in Beaufighter didn’t work out. During the development of
the prototypes the different demands of a fighter to a torpedo bomber necessitated alternations and so
the idea of community between Beaufort and Beaufighter became only an unfilled dream.
Power, on the power plants used on the Beaufighters. Some good detail photos here.
Beaufighter Squadron Directory by Andrew Thomas. The photos here includes a rare colour photo of a 235
Squadron Beaufighter Ic.
Malta’s Auxiliaries on the 600 Squadron brief deployment on the island by Robin J Brooks.
A London ‘Beau’, a colour 3-view of Beaufighter VIf X7887 of 600 Squadron in black night fighter camo by
Pete West with a brief service history.
Rare Birds, the Beaufighter survivors.
Whispering Death on operational history of Australian Beaufighters by Jim Grant.
Under Other Flags on Overseas Use and Post-War Exports by Doug Hall.
Punch on the armament options of Beaufighter with a table of the armament options of Beaufighter Mk.
VIf, Mk. X and Mk. 21 and good detail photos of different armaments.
A Bob’s Worth on 1944 booklet Beaufighter – The Account of the Part Played by the Aircraft in Defence and
Offence by Jonathan Garraway.
Strike Wing on the North Coates Strike Wing 1942 – 1943 by Graham Pitchfork. Operations and tactics used,
also something on the leading personalities. Some stunning photos taking during attacks but these are
well known.
Deserts and Seas on the Beaufighter operations of 252 Squadron by Jonathan Garraway. There are some
interesting tables in the article; one gives the aircraft types and versions used by 252 Squadron with the
timeframes of the use, the second the bases used and the third is ‘Losses of First Squadron Mk.Ics 1941’.
Stars and Stripes on USAAF 417th NFS Beaufighter night fighters by Warren E Thompson. An interesting
article with lot of references from combat reports. But the last statement that there was very little, if any,
dissatisfaction with the aircraft seems to be an understatement, because according to Pape & Harrison, at
least some Americans complained loudly about Beaufighter, not least because it was a tail dragger.
There were also complains that it was a bit slow making catching of Ju 88 difficult. Some Americans even
claimed that the Beau was rather useless as a night fighter.
Night Owls on Beaufighters in their main duty, alongside that of a strike fighter, namely as British and
Commonwealth night fighter by Andrew Thomas. And of course the combat accounts given cover besides
the air defence of Great Britain and Northern Ireland also the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations and the
CBI area. I would have liked if the place of Roy Butler’s Do 24 claim on 26 September 1944 had been given
more unambiguously. Now I had to check the place of the claim from Aces High for confirmation that the
victim was probably 1M+RR mentioned in de Jong’s book. The few actions which I compared against
Thomas’ Beaufighter Aces of World War 2 are the same in both publications.
Tugging at sleeves not only on the TT.10 but also the post-war operations of the TF.X by Doug Hall. This is
an interesting article. Target tugs were important but often forgotten planes. Also the few post-war
Beaufighter TF.X operations, not only during the initial part of the Malaya Emergency but also earlier ones
on Java and in Burma, are given brief notices.
http://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/beaufighter/x7542.html
http://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/beaufighter/el290.html
http://www.wwiivehicles.com/great-britain/aircraft/fighter/bristol-beaufighter-fighter.asp
Bingham, Victor, Bristol Beaufighter (Shrewsbury: Airlife Publishing, 1994).
Bowyer, Michael J. F., Interceptor Fighters for the Royal Air Force (Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens, 1984).
Green, William, Famous Fighters of the Second World War (Garden City: Doubleday & Co., 1969).
Gunston, Bill, Classic aircraft. Fighters (Optimum Books, 1978).
Jong, Peter de, Dornier Do 24 Units Combat Aircraft •110 (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2015).
Pape, Garry R. & Harrison Ronald C., Queen of the Midnight Skies: The History of America’s Air Force Night
Fighters (West Chester, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 1992).
Shores, Christopher and Williams, Clive, Aces High (London: Grub Street, 1994).
Thomas, Andrew, Beaufighter Aces of World War 2. Osprey Aircraft of the Aces • 65 (Oxford: Osprey
Publishing, 2005)
Close Shave on an encounter between a Beaufighter from 235
Squadron and a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 from1./JG 5 off the coast of
Norway on March 3 1943 by Andrew Thomas. Nicely checked also
against German records.
Aces a table of the Beaufighter aces by Andrew Thomas.
Adapt, Improve, Excel, the evolution of the Beaufighter by M L
Wynch. The article also deals very briefly with Buckingham,
Buckmaster and Brigand. There are 3-view drawings of
Beaufighter If, II and TF.X plus several interesting b/w photos.
IMHO the most glaring shortcoming in this article is that it doesn’t reveal that the leading idea of using the
most of the structures/components of Beaufort in Beaufighter didn’t work out. During the development of
the prototypes the different demands of a fighter to a torpedo bomber necessitated alternations and so
the idea of community between Beaufort and Beaufighter became only an unfilled dream.
Power, on the power plants used on the Beaufighters. Some good detail photos here.
Beaufighter Squadron Directory by Andrew Thomas. The photos here includes a rare colour photo of a 235
Squadron Beaufighter Ic.
Malta’s Auxiliaries on the 600 Squadron brief deployment on the island by Robin J Brooks.
A London ‘Beau’, a colour 3-view of Beaufighter VIf X7887 of 600 Squadron in black night fighter camo by
Pete West with a brief service history.
Rare Birds, the Beaufighter survivors.
Whispering Death on operational history of Australian Beaufighters by Jim Grant.
Under Other Flags on Overseas Use and Post-War Exports by Doug Hall.
Punch on the armament options of Beaufighter with a table of the armament options of Beaufighter Mk.
VIf, Mk. X and Mk. 21 and good detail photos of different armaments.
A Bob’s Worth on 1944 booklet Beaufighter – The Account of the Part Played by the Aircraft in Defence and
Offence by Jonathan Garraway.
Strike Wing on the North Coates Strike Wing 1942 – 1943 by Graham Pitchfork. Operations and tactics used,
also something on the leading personalities. Some stunning photos taking during attacks but these are
well known.
Deserts and Seas on the Beaufighter operations of 252 Squadron by Jonathan Garraway. There are some
interesting tables in the article; one gives the aircraft types and versions used by 252 Squadron with the
timeframes of the use, the second the bases used and the third is ‘Losses of First Squadron Mk.Ics 1941’.
Stars and Stripes on USAAF 417th NFS Beaufighter night fighters by Warren E Thompson. An interesting
article with lot of references from combat reports. But the last statement that there was very little, if any,
dissatisfaction with the aircraft seems to be an understatement, because according to Pape & Harrison, at
least some Americans complained loudly about Beaufighter, not least because it was a tail dragger.
There were also complains that it was a bit slow making catching of Ju 88 difficult. Some Americans even
claimed that the Beau was rather useless as a night fighter.
Night Owls on Beaufighters in their main duty, alongside that of a strike fighter, namely as British and
Commonwealth night fighter by Andrew Thomas. And of course the combat accounts given cover besides
the air defence of Great Britain and Northern Ireland also the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations and the
CBI area. I would have liked if the place of Roy Butler’s Do 24 claim on 26 September 1944 had been given
more unambiguously. Now I had to check the place of the claim from Aces High for confirmation that the
victim was probably 1M+RR mentioned in de Jong’s book. The few actions which I compared against
Thomas’ Beaufighter Aces of World War 2 are the same in both publications.
Tugging at sleeves not only on the TT.10 but also the post-war operations of the TF.X by Doug Hall. This is
an interesting article. Target tugs were important but often forgotten planes. Also the few post-war
Beaufighter TF.X operations, not only during the initial part of the Malaya Emergency but also earlier ones
on Java and in Burma, are given brief notices.
http://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/beaufighter/x7542.html
http://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/beaufighter/el290.html
http://www.wwiivehicles.com/great-britain/aircraft/fighter/bristol-beaufighter-fighter.asp
Bingham, Victor, Bristol Beaufighter (Shrewsbury: Airlife Publishing, 1994).
Bowyer, Michael J. F., Interceptor Fighters for the Royal Air Force (Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens, 1984).
Green, William, Famous Fighters of the Second World War (Garden City: Doubleday & Co., 1969).
Gunston, Bill, Classic aircraft. Fighters (Optimum Books, 1978).
Jong, Peter de, Dornier Do 24 Units Combat Aircraft •110 (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2015).
Pape, Garry R. & Harrison Ronald C., Queen of the Midnight Skies: The History of America’s Air Force Night
Fighters (West Chester, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 1992).
Shores, Christopher and Williams, Clive, Aces High (London: Grub Street, 1994).
Thomas, Andrew, Beaufighter Aces of World War 2. Osprey Aircraft of the Aces • 65 (Oxford: Osprey
Publishing, 2005)
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