When one thinks about aces of WWII, the Beaufighter is not a name that comes readily to mind. However, this aircraft was probably the RAFs first successful night fighter and an aircraft with which the job of night intruder was initially tried out and later improved upon.

First seeing action late in 1940, the Beaufighter achieved its first success in December of that year. Equipped with the highly secret Air Intercept Mk 4 radar, Beaufighter crews (who usually stayed together for years) started clearing the night skies of German intruders.

The successes of the Beaufighter led other units to rid themselves of their make-shift night fighters such as the Blenheim IF and Defiant NF II for this much more capable and heavily armed aircraft. An interesting bit of information that I pulled from the book is that Guy Gibson of 'Dam Busters' fame, achieved 3 kills with the Beaufighter during a stint with this aircraft.

The Beaufighter was also operated in the day fighter role and used in every theater in which the RAF participated. They were especially successful in the Mediterranean where Malta base Beaufighters were able to create havoc with German and Italian forces. Beaufighters were the lone defense of Calcutta, India and were so effective as to basically stop all Japanese attacks on the city. They were used in the jungles of Burma and were built by the Australians for operations in New Guinea and other areas of the Southwest Pacifc.

One expects to have a number of fascinating pilot stories with books like this and this title does not disappoint. Some of the exploits are quite hair-raising and the entire book is a fascinating read. With Osprey titles one expects quality profiles and there are 30 of them in this book by artist John Weal. Appendices include a listing of aces, including some who were very successful against the V-1. Drawings of the Beaufighter and its variants is also in this section.

Overall, a fascinating read that will keep you turning pages and wanting more.

March 2005

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