Here is an interesting title in Osprey's "Aircraft of the Aces" series. Most of us do not really think about the Defiant, Havoc or the Blenheim as being the aircraft that were ace makers, and in this trilogy, that is true of one type. However, all it not quite what it seems, and these aircraft were either flown by those who made ace in other types or were used to reach the magic tally of five enemy aircraft destroyed in the air.

The Defiant was designed as a bomber destroyer. The idea was that it would fly along side the enemy bomber stream and allow the turret gunner to merrily shoot down aircraft. Of course, it did not exactly work that way. The Defiant was a bit slow thanks to the increased weight of the turret, the enemy did not fly in a straight line, and there were other enemy fighters in the area to make a mess of things. It was initially quite a surprise and several crews did achieve ace status in the day fighter role. It was when the aircraft shifted to night fighter operations when things got a lot better. During their stint as a night fighter and before the Beaufighter and Mosquito took over that role, they were pretty successful.

The Blenheim, however, was not. It was a bomber that was fitted with a belly gun pack and told to 'go out there and shoot down the enemy'. It was not a role for which it was designed. It made for a great ground attack type, but against enemy fighters it was the victim more than the victor. Even its short stint at night fighting was not much success. No pilot made ace just flying the Blenheim, but many flew it before going on to greater success with other types.

The Havoc was pretty much in the same boat. It was able to carry the heavy equipment that was early radar and many were converted to the high intensity Turbinlite. There were some successes and one pilot actually made ace flying the Havoc, but it was generally too slow for the task. Even the US P-70 had pretty poor results when operated in the Pacific before the Black Widow came into service.

In this book by Andrew Thomas, we take a look at the development of each of these aircraft into combat roles. As you would expect, the most information is provided on the Defiant, though the other types have a goodly amount of material on them. These books are great for pilot stories of various missions flown with the aircraft and you will find all of that in this edition. There are also excellent period photos of the men and machines themselves to help spice things up. Typical of Osprey aviation publications, there are a goodly number of full color profiles of all the units that flew these aircraft, something modelers appreciate.

It all makes for an interesting edition on aircraft that do not usually get a lot of press. I found it to be an interesting read and I know you will enjoy it as well.

July 2012

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