Fairey Battle

Light bomber · Fairey Aviation · United Kingdom

Fairey Battle
ⓘ licence & credit(via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
Typical crew3
Engines1 × Rolls-Royce Merlin
First flight1936
Number built2,185

Photographs

Royal Air Force- France 1939-1940. Fairey Battles of No. 88 Squadron RAF being prepared for action on the snow-covered airfield at Mourmelon-le-Grand.
ⓘ licence & creditStanley Devon / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairey_Battle_-_Mourmelon_-_Royal_Air_Force-_France_1939-1940._C583.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force- France 1939-1940. Fairey Battles of No. 88 Squadron RAF being prepared for action on the snow-covered airfield at Mourmelon-le-Grand.
ⓘ licence & creditStanley Devon / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairey_Battle_-_Mourmelon_-_Royal_Air_Force-_France_1939-1940._C583_(cropped).jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force- France, 1939-1940. Bomb-trolleys loaded with 250-lb GP bombs and attendant armourers being towed out by tractor to Fairey Battles at Betheniville prior to a sortie to the bombing practice range at Moronvilliers. Behind them, Battle, K9408 'PM-N', of No. 103 Squadron RAF is prepared for a flight.
ⓘ licence & creditDaventry B J (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairey_Battle_-_Betheniville_-_Royal_Air_Force-_France,_1939-1940._C1071.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force- France, 1939-1940. Three Fairey Battles of No. 103 Squadron RAF overfly Betheniville, watched by ground crew servicing K9408 'PM-N', another aircraft of the Squadron.
ⓘ licence & creditDaventry B J (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairey_Battle_-_Betheniville_-_Royal_Air_Force-_France,_1939-1940._C1061.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force- France, 1939-1940 Mechanics service the Rolls Royce Merlin engine of a Fairey Battle of No. 142 Squadron RAF at Berry-au-Bac.
ⓘ licence & creditDevon S (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairey_Battle_-_Berry-au-Bac_-_Royal_Air_Force-_France,_1939-1940_C398.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Bomber Command Battles from No 12 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at Benson, Oxfordshire, flying in 'vic' formation, 26 July 1940.
ⓘ licence & creditDevon S (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairey_Battle_-_Benson_-_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Bomber_Command_CH772.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force- France, 1939-1940. Ground crew working on a Fairey Battle of No. 218 Squadron at Auberive-sur-Suippes. Note the attempt to camouflage the site with cut fir saplings
ⓘ licence & creditDaventry B J (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairey_Battle_-_Auberive_-_Royal_Air_Force-_France,_1939-1940._C1058.jpgView source & full licence →
Fairey Battle aircraft of 1BAGS at RAAF Evans Head in 1941
ⓘ licence & creditJ.S. ARCHBOLD / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Evans_Head_flight_line_1941.jpgView source & full licence →
The Course Setting Bomb Sight, labeled as a Mk. IX but likely a Mk. VII, installed in the bottom of a Fairey Battle light bomber. The bomb aimer is sighting through the backsights (white rings just in front of him) and past the foresights (white pinheads just visible against the armoured cable running on the bulkhead, looking like a cable clip). He holds the bomb release switch in his right hand, and would press the button when the target passes through the line defined by the two sets of sights. This image shows a number of the main features of the sight. At the rear of the device, near the bottom of the image, is the vertical cylinder of the compass assembly. The horizontal metal section in front of the compass assembly, roughly triangular, is the "airspeed drum", used to set the aircraft's airspeed via the large knob on the right side of the case, directly under the bomb aimer's hand. Extending from the front of the airspeed drum is the airspeed bar and windspeed assembly. In this c
ⓘ licence & creditRAF Bomber Command pamphlet released during World War II / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Course_Setting_Bomb_Sight_in_use.jpgView source & full licence →
Commonwealth Joint Air Training Plan, No 24 Bombing, Gunnery and Navigational School at Moffat, Rhodesia, January 1943 A Fairey Battle aircraft towing a drogue sleeve while the student operates the power turret of Airspeed Oxford AS515.
ⓘ licence & creditChetwyn L (Lt), War Office official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Commonwealth_Joint_Air_Training_Plan,_No_24_Bombing,_Gunnery_and_Navigational_School_at_Moffat,_Rhodesia,_January_1943_TR1258.jpgView source & full licence →
Helmut Linder album. Battle of France, May or June 1940, damaged British aircraft. Original description in German translates as "Shot English aircraft at Le Hocquet" (which may be, or not, :en:Vigneux-Hocquet). The aicraft, as discussed at :en:Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Aviation, is a Fairey Battle with partially blacked canopy from the :en:No. 142 Squadron RAF (QT markings). The bent propeller probably suggests a forced gear-up landing. Alternatively, it may be one of the aircraft damaged on the ground or abandoned in Berry-au-Bac on 12 May 1940.
ⓘ licence & creditHelmut Linder / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Britischer_Flieger_bei_Le_Hoquet._helmuth0023-6.pngView source & full licence →
Helmut Linder album. Battle of France, May or June 1940, damaged British aircraft. Original description in German translates as "Shot English aircraft at Le Hocquet" (which may be, or not, :en:Vigneux-Hocquet). The aicraft, as discussed at :en:Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Aviation, is a Fairey Battle with partially blacked canopy from the :en:No. 142 Squadron RAF (QT markings). The bent propeller probably suggests a forced gear-up landing. Alternatively, it may be one of the aircraft damaged on the ground or abandoned in Berry-au-Bac on 12 May 1940.
ⓘ licence & creditHelmut Linder / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Britischer_Flieger_bei_Le_Hoquet._Helmuth_Linder_Russlandalbum._helmuth0023-4.pngView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force, 1939-1945- Fairey Battle. Battle, N2119, of No. 2 Anti-Aircraft Cooperation Unit, on the ground at Gosport, Hampshire.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force,_1939-1945-_Fairey_Battle._MH68.jpgView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force, 1939-1945- Fairey Battle. Three Battle Mark Is, K9353 ‘HA-J’, K9324 ‘HA-B’ and K9325 ‘HA-D’, of No. 218 Squadron RAF, based at Auberives-sur-Suippes, in flight over northern France. K9325 went missing during an attack on enemy troops near St Vith on 11 May 1940, and K9353 was shot down north of Bouillon the following day. K9324 survived the Battle of France to serve with the RAAF until 1944.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force,_1939-1945-_Fairey_Battle._C2116.jpgView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Fairey Battle Battle Trainer, R7365 ‘12’, of No. 1 Service Flying Training School based at Netheravon, Wiltshire, in flight.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Watkins (Mr) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Fairey_Battle_CH2141crop.jpgView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Fairey Battle Battle Trainer, R7365 ‘12’, of No. 1 Service Flying Training School based at Netheravon, Wiltshire, in flight.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Watkins (Mr) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Fairey_Battle_CH2141.jpgView source & full licence →
Vic. 1940-09-06. Fairey Battle aircraft L-5471, pilot, Flying Officer John C. Archer RAF, in flight over Port Phillip Bay (or Corio Bay), Geelong, Vic. area. The aircraft has been photographed from another Battle flown by Squadron Leader John Margrave Lerew RAAF.
ⓘ licence & creditJohn Harrison / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AC0013Battle1940.jpgView source & full licence →
IWM caption : A Fairey Battle Mk.I of 52 Squadron, Royal Air Force, at RAF Upwood.
ⓘ licence & creditassumed RAF / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:52_Squadron_RAF_Fairey_Battle_at_Upwood_IWM_H(AM)_179.jpgView source & full licence →
{{En-gb|Pictured are trainees manhandling a to a hangar at at , Shropshire, in March 1940. The Fairey Battle was a British single-engine light bomber designed and manufactured by the . It was developed during the mid-1930s for the (RAF) as a monoplane successor to the earlier and Hind biplanes. The Battle was powered by the same high-performance piston engine that powered various contemporary British fighters. However the Battle was significantly heavier, with its three-man crew and bomb load. Though a great improvement over the aircraft that preceded it, the Battle was relatively slow and limited in range. With only two .303 in machine guns as defensive armament, it was found to be highly vulnerable to enemy fighters and anti-aircraft fire. *Some of these images have had some dodging and burning done and have been retouched to remove detritus and dust and scratch marks only* *Organisation: (RAF) *Object name: C-860 *Category: MOD *Supplemental categories: Aircraft, Equipment, People,
ⓘ licence & creditAir Historical Branch-RAF / OGL v1.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:100_years_of_the_RAF_MOD_45163637.jpgView source & full licence →

About

Few aircraft are so closely tied to a single, costly chapter of the war as the Fairey Battle. Designed in the mid-1930s to replace biplane light bombers, it was a clean monoplane powered by the same Rolls-Royce Merlin that drove the Spitfire and Hurricane. But burdened with a three-man crew and a bomb load, it was far heavier and slower than those fighters, and obsolescent by 1939.

The Battle’s reckoning came in the Battle of France. Sent against advancing German columns and the bridges over the Meuse in May 1940, its squadrons were slaughtered by flak and Bf 109s — dozens lost in single days, around 200 in six weeks. The survivors were withdrawn to Britain by mid-June. Removed from front-line service, the Battle found safer use as a gunnery and bombing trainer and target tug, particularly under the Commonwealth air-training scheme.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including Fairey Battle — historyofwar.org and Fairey Battle — Wikipedia. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.

Engines

Airframes in this database

SerialCodeSquadronFate
P2204 PH-K 12 Lost on operations