RAF No 264 (Madras Presidency) Squadron

Boulton Paul Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PSA N1535 England 1940

Photo 01: Boulton Paul Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PS-A N1535 England 1940

Boulton Paul Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PSL England 1940

Photo 01: Boulton Paul Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PS-L England 1940

Boulton Paul Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PSP N3313 England 1940

Photo 01: Boulton Paul Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PS-P N3313 England 1940

Boulton Paul Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PSR N1536 England 1940

Photo 01: Boulton Paul Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PS-R N1536 England 1940

Boulton Paul Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PSV L7026 England 1940

Photo 01: Boulton Paul Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PS-V L7026 England 1940

Boultan Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PSV L7026 in formation over England with PSA N1535 and PST late 1939

Boultan Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PSV L7026 shot down over Kent by Bf 109s 28 Aug 1940

Boultan Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn in formation over England 1940

Photo 01: Boultan Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn in formation over England late 1939

IL-2 Sturmovik Cliffs of Dover - COD/CLOD skins
 
  CLOD game skin by checkmysix C6 Boultan Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PS-A Sqn/Ldr P Hunter N1535 England 1940
  CLOD game skin by checkmysix C6 Boultan Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PS-B L7005 England 1940
  CLOD game skin by checkmysix C6 Boultan Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PS-H L7021 England 1940
  CLOD game skin by checkmysix C6 Boultan Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PS-L L7003 England 1940
  CLOD game skin by checkmysix C6 Boultan Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PS-O L7018 England 1940
  CLOD game skin by checkmysix C6 Boultan Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PS-R N1536 England 1940
  CLOD game skin by checkmysix C6 Boultan Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PS-T L6957 England 1940
  CLOD game skin by checkmysix C6 Boultan Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PS-U L7013 England 1940
  CLOD game skin by checkmysix C6 Boultan Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PS-V L7026 England 1940
  CLOD game skin by checkmysix C6 Boultan Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PS-X L7006 England 1940
  CLOD game skin by checkmysix C6 Boultan Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PS-Z L7025 England 1940

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On 8 December 1939 the squadron was reformed at Martlesham Heath to bring the Boulton Paul Defiant fighter into service. Operations began in March 1940 when the squadron started convoy patrols. After initial successes the Luftwaffe soon realised that the Defiant was vulnerable to frontal attack, and the squadron started to have heavy losses of aircraft and crew. At the end of May 1940 the squadron was withdrawn from operations as a day-fighter squadron and began to train in the night-fighter role. It was called into action again in the day fighting role at the height of the Battle of Britain but again suffered losses and returned to the night-fighter role. After a number of moves around England, including Luton Airport. In May 1942 the squadron moved to RAF Colerne to operate the de Havilland Mosquito II, later trading them in for the later Mark VI

  CLOD game skin by Shado S0 COD Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PS-A N1535 England 1940
  CLOD game skin by Shado S0 COD Defiant MkI RAF 264Sqn PS-A N1535 England 1940 V0A

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Of the three low-winged monoplane fighters of the Battle of Britain the Boulton Paul Defiant is the one least remembered. First flown on August 11th 1937 the Defiant was a natural progression from the classic biplane fighters that proceeded it such as the Hawker Demon and Hart. 264 Squadron , first formed at Sutton Bridge on October 30th 1939, became the first to receive the Defiant. It did not however make an auspicious start, the aircraft being plagued with engine and undercarriage failures grounding the aircraft until late February 1940. Once declared operational 264 squadron were detached to Wittering from where they flew convoy patrols over the North Sea. In May they moved to Duxford from where they would claim their first success claiming a Ju88 and a He 111 but soon after they sustained heavy losses due to poor tactics losing five out of six aircraft to Messerschmitt Bf 109s. This led to a change in role for the Defiants, they were to be used as anti-bomber escorts of English Channel convoys. Dunkirk bought one of the Defiants finest hours; On May 29th they claimed 37German aircraft (19 Ju 87s, 15 Bf 110s, 2 Bf 109s and a Ju 8. This was largely due to the confusion of the enemy attacking the Defiants as if they were Hurricanes. Unfortunately it would not take long for the Luftwaffe to exploit the Defiants lack of forward firing machine guns and vulnerable underside where the gunner could not return fire. Throughout 1940 264 Squadron continued to move from station to station two of which were Kirton-on-Lindsey and Hornchurch during the Battle of Britain. At Hornchurch in August 1940 they were to claim 3 Ju 88s, 3 Do 17s and a Bf 109E. On the 28th of August they were withdrawn from front line day fighter service to Duxford. Ultimately Defiants were to gain success as nightfighters before being relegated to target tug duties.

    Bibliography:

  • Ansell, Mark. Boulton Paul Defiant. Redbourn, Herts, UK: Mushroom Model Publications, 2005. ISBN 83-89450-19-4.
  • Bowyer, Michael J.F. "The Boulton Paul Defiant." Aircraft in Profile, Vol. 5. London: Profile Publications Ltd., 1966.
  • Brew, Alex. The Turret Fighters - Defiant and Roc. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK: Crowood Press, 2002. ISBN 1-86126-497-6.
  • Brew, Alex. The Defiant File. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1996. ISBN 0-85130-226-2.
  • Buttler, Tony. British Secret Projects: Fighters & Bombers 1935-1950. Hinckley, UK: Midland Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-85780-179-2.
  • Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War: Fighters, Vol. 2. London: Macdonald & Co., 1961. No ISBN.
  • Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. WW2 Aircraft Fact Files: RAF Fighters, Part 1. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishing Ltd., 1978. ISBN 0-354-01090-5.
  • Hall, Alan W. and Andrew Thomas. Boulton Paul Defiant (Warpaint Series No. 42). Luton, Bedfordshire, UK: Warpaint Books, 2003. ISBN X99990042X.
  • Mondey, David. The Hamlyn Concise Guide to British Aircraft of World War II. London: Chancellor Press, 2002. ISBN 1-85152-668-4.
  • Nijboer, Donald. Gunner: An Illustrated History of World War II Aircraft Turrets and Gun Ppositions. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing Company Limited and reprinted by Boston Mills Press (Canada), 2001. ISBN 1-84037-304-0.
  • Price, Alfred. Instruments of Darkness: The History of Electronic Warfare. St. Albans, UK: Granada, 1979. ISBN 0-586-04834-0.
  • Taylor, John W.R. "Boulton Paul Defiant." Combat Aircraft of the World from 1909 to the present. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969. ISBN 0-425-03633-2.
  • Whitehouse, Les. "The Disappointing Defiant." AirEnthusiast Five, November 1977–February 1978. Bromley, Kent, UK: Pilot Press Ltd., 1977.
  • Winchester, Jim. "Boulton Paul Defiant." The World's Worst Aircraft: From Pioneering Failures to Multimillion Dollar Disasters. London: Amber Books Ltd., 2005. ISBN 1-904687-34-2.

    Magazine References: +

  • Airfix Magazines (English) - http://www.airfix.com/
  • Avions (French) - http://www.aerostories.org/~aerobiblio/rubrique10.html
  • FlyPast (English) - http://www.flypast.com/
  • Flugzeug Publikations GmbH (German) - http://vdmedien.com/flugzeug-publikations-gmbh-hersteller_verlag-vdm-heinz-nickel-33.html
  • Flugzeug Classic (German) - http://www.flugzeugclassic.de/
  • Klassiker (German) - http://shop.flugrevue.de/abo/klassiker-der-luftfahrt
  • Le Fana de L'Aviation (French) - http://boutique.editions-lariviere.fr/site/abonnement-le-fana-de-l-aviation-626-4-6.html
  • Le Fana de L'Aviation (French) - http://www.pdfmagazines.org/tags/Le+Fana+De+L+Aviation/
  • Osprey (English) - http://www.ospreypublishing.com/
  • Revi Magazines (Czech) - http://www.revi.cz/

    Magazine References: +

  • Airfix Magazines (English) - http://www.airfix.com/
  • Avions (French) - http://www.aerostories.org/~aerobiblio/rubrique10.html
  • FlyPast (English) - http://www.flypast.com/
  • Flugzeug Publikations GmbH (German) - http://vdmedien.com/flugzeug-publikations-gmbh-hersteller_verlag-vdm-heinz-nickel-33.html
  • Flugzeug Classic (German) - http://www.flugzeugclassic.de/
  • Klassiker (German) - http://shop.flugrevue.de/abo/klassiker-der-luftfahrt
  • Le Fana de L'Aviation (French) - http://boutique.editions-lariviere.fr/site/abonnement-le-fana-de-l-aviation-626-4-6.html
  • Le Fana de L'Aviation (French) - http://www.pdfmagazines.org/tags/Le+Fana+De+L+Aviation/
  • Osprey (English) - http://www.ospreypublishing.com/
  • Revi Magazines (Czech) - http://www.revi.cz/

    Web References: +

  • History of RAF Organisation: http://www.rafweb.org
  • Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/

 

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This webpage was updated 5th January 2017