Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I V1123
Defiant turret
Defiant N1572 KO-I No. 2 Squadron RAF at Cambridge September 1940
Defiant Mk I L7012, December 1939
Defiant III N1697 Target Tug
A cadet gunner in an AGS Defiant equipped with only two guns.
The most successful Defiant crew was that of Ted Thorn (pilot, right) and Fred Barker (gunner, left).
Defiant AA370 August 1941
Night fighter Defiant NF II AA370
Defiant at night
Defiants of 264 Squadron RAF
Boulton Paul Defiant NF IA
Defiant JT-S N1744 in flight of No. 256 Squadron RAF
264 Squadron Defiant
Defiant N1573
Defiant T4106 1941
Boulton Paul test pilots: Feather. Evans and Neale 1940
Night fighter Defiant Mk I V1110 RA-H of No. 410 Squadron RCAF early 1942
Factory fresh Boulton Paul Defiants factory line up 1939
Defiant in flight 1940
Defiant Mk II AA370 at Boscombe Down, August 1941
Boulton Paul Defiant of No. 125 Squadron RAF 1942
Defiant N1673 in flight
Defiants after completion at the Boulton Paul factory
Defiant nose
Mechanic removes twisted prop of RAF No. 264 Squadron Defiant 1940
Defiant gunner in his turret, No. 264 Squadron RAF 1940
Defiant Mk I L7012
264 Squadron crew: Sgt Ted Thorn and his gunner Sgt Fred Barker, Spring 1941
The first P.82 prototype Defiant K8310 3
Defiants at factory 1939
Defiant K8310 after being fitted with its dorsal turret, 1939
Target tug Defiant TT Mk I DR863
Target tug Defiant TT III DR972
Defiant Mk I N1536 PS-R of No. 264 Squadron RAF 1940
TT Mk III 1944
Prototype Defiant K8310
Defiant of No. 264 Squadron RAF 1940
Defiant L7025 PS-Z being refuelled. No. 264 Squadron RAF 1940
Defiant N3377
Boulton Paul Defiant PS-K f No. 264 Squadron RAF 1940
Boulton Paul Defiant TT Mk I
Defiant in flight
Defiant PS-Z L7025 being refuelled 2
Defiant K8310 1939
Damaged Defiant L6957 PS-T of No. 264 Squadron RAF 29 May 1940
Defiant PS-L of No. 264 Squadron RAF July 1940
Defiant in flight 2
Defiants of No 264 Squadron RAF, Summer 1940
Sqn Ldr Phillip Hunter Leads of RAF No 264 Squadron
Defiant Gunner wearing the GQ Parasuit
Defiant N1801 PS-B “Coimbatore II” of No 264 Squadron RAF
Defiant L7005 PS-X of No 264 Squadron RAF Battle of Britain
Defiants 2
Defiant N1536 PS-R 264 Squadron lined up at Kirton-in-Lindsey, August 1940
Night fighter with fairing retracted to firing position
Defiant of No 264 Squadron RAF Duxford 31 May 1940. Squadron Leader Phillip Hunter (back to camera) briefs his crews.
The Boulton Paul Defiant was a World War II fighter aircraft of the RAF built by Boulton Paul. The design of the aircraft was a flawed attempt to overcome the need to point the nose of a fighter at its target in order to bring the guns to bear. Instead of forward-facing guns, the Defiant was fitted with a powered dorsal turret equipped with four 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns. In theory, the Defiant would approach an enemy bomber from below and destroy it with a concentrated burst of fire. The concept was similar to the successful World War I Bristol Fighter but in practice the Defiant was fodder for the more agile Luftwaffe Bf 109s. It was quickly relegated to a night fighter role where it had considerable success before it was phased out of combat operations.
The Defiant was designed to Air Ministry Specification F.9/35 which required a powered turret as the sole armament. The Boulton Paul design was selected ahead of one submitted by Hawker. While the Defiant prototype first flew on August 11, 1937 and immediately went into production as the Defiant Mk.I, its entry into service was delayed such that only three aircraft had reached the RAF by the start of the war. The Mk.I was powered by the Rolls Royce Merlin III and a total of 713 were built.
No. 264 Squadron was the first to be equipped with the Defiant Mk.I in December 1939 and the first operational sortie came on May 12, 1940. On May 13, a flight of six Defiants were attacked by Bf 109Es; five of the Defiants were shot down from a frontal attack. On July 19 six out of nine Defiants of No. 141 Squadron were shot down and the remaining three only survived due to the intervention of Hurricanes of No. 111 Squadron.
The Defiant was briefly successful as a day fighter when flying in formation with the visually similar Hawker Hurricane as it could surprise fighters attacking from the rear. The novelty of this trick soon wore off and the Defiant was moved to night fighting duties.
As a night fighter the Defiant achieved some success. The Defiant Mk.II model was fitted with the AI Mk IV airborne interception radar and a Merlin XX engine. A total of 207 Mk.II Defiants were built. During the winter Blitz on London of 1940-41, the Defiant was the highest scoring night fighter.
The Defiant was removed from combat duties in 1942 and used for air/sea rescue, training and target towing. A further 140 Defiant Mk.III aircraft were built; this model lacked the dorsal turret and was used as a target tug. Many of the surviving Mk.I and Mk.II Defiants also had their turrets removed.