Re-assessment of the Fairey Battle, abgeschossener Engländer!, Westfeldzug - the battle of France May-June 1940

The Fairey Battle was intended as a relatively light and agile light bomber designed and manufactured by the Fairey Aviation Company and flew combat missions during the early stages of the Second World War. It was developed during the mid-1930s for the RAF as a monoplane successor to the earlier Hawker Hart and Hind biplanes. The Battle was powered by the same high performance Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engine that powered various contemporary British fighters.

 During the "Phoney War", the type achieved the distinction of attaining the first aerial victory of an RAF aircraft in the conflict. But just days after this feat on 30 September 1939 five Battles of No. 150 Sqn on a photo recce sortie over Saarbrucken were caught by fifteen Bf 109s. And during May 1940, the Battle suffered heavy losses - on four days in particular these were in excess of 50 percent of sortied aircraft per mission. By the end of 1940, the type had been entirely withdrawn from active combat service, instead being mainly relegated to use by training units overseas.

Most writers would probably qualify the Battle as " ..relatively slow, limited in terms of range and .. highly vulnerable to both anti-aircraft fire and hostile fighters, possessing only two defensive .303 machine guns " (See the wiki entry for the Battle.) Jeff Ethell in his 1995 volume 'Aircraft of WWII ' wrote that "..for an aircraft which had been viewed to possess a high level of pre-war promise, the Battle quickly became one of the most disappointing aircraft in RAF service..." And the type's reputation has never really recovered, despite or perhaps because of the fact that the first two RAF VCs went to Battle crews or that it was the first RAF machine to shoot down an enemy aircraft at the start of WWII.  Perhaps it is time to look again at the Battle.


Below; 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. (IWM photo)

The Belgian aeronautical engineer Marcel Lobelle served as the aircraft's principal designer. One of the early decisions made by Lobelle on the project was the use of the newly developed Rolls-Royce Merlin I engine, which had been selected due to its favourable power and compact frontal area. The Merlin engine was quickly paired to a de Havilland Propellers-built three-bladed variable-pitch propeller unit. The choice of engine enabled the designing of the aircraft to possess exceptionally clean lines and a subsequently generous speed performance.The resulting design was an all-metal single-engine aircraft, which adopted a low-mounted cantilever monoplane wing and was equipped with a retractable tail wheel undercarriage. On 10 March 1936, the first Fairey prototype, K4303, equipped with a Merlin I engine capable of generating 1,030 hp, performed its maiden flight at Hayes, Middlesex. The prototype was promptly transferred to RAF Martlesham Heath, Woodbridge, Suffolk for service trials, during which it attained a maximum speed of 257 mph and reportedly achieved a performance in advance of any contemporary day bomber.

Upon the commencement of the BoF in May 1940, Battles were called upon to perform unescorted, low-level tactical attacks against the advancing German army; this use of the type placed the aircraft at risk of attack from Luftwaffe fighters and within easy range of light anti-aircraft guns. Results were predictable and horrific. In the first of two sorties carried out by Battles on 10 May 1940, three out of eight aircraft were lost, while a further 10 out of 24 were shot down in the second sortie, giving a total of 13 lost in that day's attacks, with the remainder suffering damage. Despite bombing from as low as 250 ft (76 m), their attacks were recorded as having had little impact on the German columns. During the following day, nine Belgian AF Battles attacked bridges over the Albert Canal, losing six aircraft, and in another RAF sortie that day against a German column, only one Battle out of eight survived.

On 12 May, a formation of five Battles of 12 sqn attacked two road bridges over the Albert Canal; four of these aircraft were destroyed while the final aircraft crash-landing upon its return to its base. Two VCs were awarded posthumously for the action.

On 14 May 1940, in a desperate attempt to stop German forces crossing the Meuse, the AASF launched an "all-out" attack by all available bombers against the German bridgehead and pontoon bridges at sedan Having graciously given the Germans three days to prepare their defences, the light bombers were attacked by swarms of opposing fighters and were decimated.. Out of a strike force of 63 Battles and eight Blenheims, 40 (including 35 Battles) were lost. After these abortive raids, the Battle was switched to mainly night attacks, resulting in much lower losses.

On 15 June 1940, the last remaining aircraft of the Advanced Air Striking Force returned to Britain. In six weeks almost 200 Battles had been lost, with 99 lost between 10 and 16 May.


According to Drix at the 'Aviation Flashback' blog ;

"..The Battle was a good bomber, used by outstandingly brave crews. They had the huge misfortune to be sent on missions by completely incompetent generals..."

While it is probably true to say that the Battle was only "partially " maligned it was definitely mis-used. It was a single engine 'strategic' bomber pressed into tactical use without proper training (low level bombing vs medium or high altitude) for the crews. It usually flew unescorted - and what bomber flying unescorted at low level won't or doesn't pay a heavy price! Fighters and anti-aircraft fire at low level have been seeking out bombers since the dawn of combat aviation. The Battle was slow ?  Some 50 km/h faster than the Whitley, only 10 km/h slower than the Fairy Fulmar shipborne fighter. However with better wings - its span was almost the same as the twin-engine Blenheim IV and wing loading as low - not ideal for an aircraft committed at low level.

" ..With better armour and heavier armament the Battle could have performed well and enjoyed a Sturmovik-like reputation...."

The Battle's story is what happens when you take a medium level strategic bomber and use it in penny packets as a low altitude interdiction bomber against pinpoint targets - to blow up bridges and troop columns - with little or no escort against an enemy who has in the main air supremacy and good anti-aircraft. In the mid-1930s the RAF needed something (anything?) to equip the rapidly forming squadrons and the Battle was picked as one of the types. It was ready, it was cheap, it was better than the existing biplanes. It trained an industry in modern construction techniques. It turned out to be sturdy, easy to fly with few, if any vices. If the war had broken out in 1937/38 it might be remembered differently.

 https://flashbackplanes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/the-fairey-battle-outstanding-crews.html

French naval air arm types displaying Balkenkreuze, Cherbourg August 1940 - picture of the day #3

Photo taken at Querqueville, next to Cherbourg during August 1940. A selection of French naval air arm types displaying Balkenkreuze and possibly used as decoys.

Those a/c were used as decoys with fake German markings to be later "bulldozered" on to the nearby beach. All a/c are former French naval aviation types, 'left over' on June 18 1940 when the station was evacuated. The reverse of the photo is marked " Lockvögel auf FF Platz Querqueville Aug. 40". The German word "Lockvogel" (plural Lockvögel) means decoy. From L to R : Two Potez 631 (ex F1C) MS 406 (ex Armée de l'air, evacuated from Calais by Lt Habert of AB4 squadron), two Dewoitine 376 (ex F1C), one Loire-Nieuport 401 or 411 (ex F1A), Potez 567 (c/n n° 9), Levasseur PL.7 (station "hack"), Potez 631 (ex F1C)

More Hurricanes shot down in France - ebay photo find #91

18 May 1940
229 Squadron B Flight

Hurricane P2729 Shot down in combat with Bf109s of II./JG2 between Brussels and Antwerp and possibly that claimed by Lt. Hepe of 5./JG2 11:50 am Pilot Officer M.A. Bussey baled out and captured. Aircraft a write off

Hurricane P2676 Shot down in air combat with Bf 109s of II./JG 2 between Brussels and Antwerp and possibly that claimed by Fw. Harbauer of 4./JG 2 11:57 am. Pilot Officer D de C. C. Gower baled out unhurt. Aircraft a write-off.

Hurricane (no serial) Exploded under attack by Bf 109s of II./JG 26 shortly after takeoff at 3:30 pm Flight Lieutenant F. E. Rosier baled out badly burnt, admitted to field hospital in Frevent. Aircraft a write-off.

More Hurricanes shot down in France on this blog
https://falkeeinsgreatplanes.blogspot.com/2018/09/beute-flugzeuge-hurricanes-lost-in.html

abgeschossener Engländer! Beute Flugzeuge - Hurricanes lost in France - ebay photo find #87

currently on offer via Oliver Rogge's Ebay sales site, see link below

on offer here

Breguet 270 -daily ebay photo find #80

...interesting views of the 'liaison' variant of this rare French bird with enclosed cockpit and cabin for passengers.

Curtiss Hawk H-75 - Lionel Persyn - Lela Presse

Following on my previous Hawk post here, some more H-75 reference for builders of the new AZ 72nd scale kit

Below; page extract from Lionel Persyn's huge tome on the H-75 published by Lela Presse. Note that  this blog author wrote the extended captions/English summaries published in this work based on Lionel's French-language text.

see a longer pdf extract from the book on the Lela Presse website here

zerstortes-englisches-Flugzeug-mit-Offizieren-Wehrmacht-Frankreich-Kennung - destroyed RAF aircraft with Wehrmacht officers # ebay photo find 62

Curtiss Hawk in Armée de l’Air service, French Hawk H-75s vs the Bf 109 - photos by Scott Fellows from Flying Legends 2014

Despite the nationalisations of the Front Populaire during the mid-1930s, French industry was still manufacturing fewer than 100 aircraft per month during the period late 1938 to early 1939. The output from all French aircraft factories in total per month during early 1939 amounted to far less than the output from a single German producer. But by August 1939, France's aviation industry was beginning to shake off the shackles of obsolescence - although aircraft factories still closed for the weekend break, in some cases even after 10 May 1940. So the process of modernisation was still moving only at snail’s pace. On the out-break of war in September 1939 the Armée de l’Air’s entire fleet of aircraft was still essentially out-dated, including its most modern fighter, the Ms 406. In an effort to make up the shortfall the French placed huge orders for foreign types. Most significant of these were the American Curtiss Hawks (H-75).

Above; the port fuselage side of the Curtiss H-75 restored to flight by the Fighter Collection at Duxford representing H-75 A1 N°82 as seen on a period photo taken at Villacoublay during July 1939. Note the riveted finish characteristic for a fighter aircraft of late-thirties vintage, some way removed from state-of-the-art for a WW II fighter. Below; the starboard fuselage side is finished in the markings of a 3rd escadrille GC II/5 fighter as seen in 1940 complete with Sioux emblem, also the emblem of the Fighter Collection.

The French pilots were enthusiastic about the American fighter - here was a (relatively) fast, maneuverable machine that didn't leak oil or hydraulic fluid, whose cockpit was comfortable and well-appointed and whose brakes worked! Many converted straight from the elderly pre-war open-cockpit Dewoitine monoplane fighters.

In September and October 1939 both the Curtiss Hawk and the MS 406 fighters (800 hp engine) still held the edge over the Me 109 Ds (700 hp engine) they met in combat. In one of the most celebrated encounters of the Phoney War three flights of GC II/5 ran into the Messerschmitt Bf 109 D fighters of JGr. 102. The highly manoeuvrable Curtiss fighters secured a number of victories duly feted in the French media as the battle of the « the 9 vs. the 27 ». At least one French source claims that the Doras were led in the air by the leading Luftwaffe ace at the time, Maj. Hannes Gentzen. From November 1939 the Luftwaffe introduced the Emil variant of the Bf 109 (1,000-1,100 hp engine with the advantage of fuel injection), which was clearly better in the air and immediately worried the French. However the 109 E was introduced only progressively. Deployed only from the spring of 1939 on, production was very slow. The 109 D was still widely used at the end of 1939 and at the beginning of 1940. Both France and the UK raised their fighter production frantically and soon overtook Germany. The French 'equivalent' of the 109 was the D.520 but when it finally came into service -like most new French aircraft being introduced into service during early 1940 – it suffered considerable teething problems. As it was the first D.520s only went into service in mid-May 1940 with GC I/3 who managed just 75 victories during the campaign May-June 1940, a long way off the top score for French fighter groups. "..C'est la barbe, ces avions inexpérimentés.." – what a pain these unproven aircraft are!. .."   (see Avions magazine Hors série 14, GC I/3 "Les rois du D.520..").

Below; excerpts from the 50-page RAE report of the comparison flights flown at Boscombe Down with a French Hawk during the winter of 1939-40 against the Spitfire and Hurricane..while the type was a lot slower than a Spitfire I ( and thus the Bf 109 E) it was very manoeuvrable - as Lionel Persyn put it in his monumental history of the H-75, " ..it could not hunt, but when hunted it could bite back..."

 Why does the Hawk H-75 have such a relatively poor reputation? Lionel Persyn in his summing up says;

".. the H-75 may have been the plane of the French aces but it was also the plane of defeat. "

Whereas of course a comparable type -the Hurricane for example ( in close collaboration with the Spitfire ) - was the plane of victory.

The Hawk performed relatively well over France - but during the Westfeldzug the Germans were flying a lot more low level missions in support of the ground troops in France, than, say, they were during the Battle of Britain. The low altitude engines of the Hawks (and the two speed Cyclone wasn't any lower than the DB 601) may not have been a large disadvantage in France. There are a lot variables between the the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain including perhaps pilot experience/training and the average height of combat. Expecting the Hawk to do as well over England where, in general, the altitudes were higher and there were fewer 'tactical' aircraft flying may be a different story.

During 1939–1940, French H-75 pilots claimed around 230 kills (although the oft-quoted total of over 1,000 victories by the French Air Force during the 1939-40 time period is exaggerated). Losses were just 29 aircraft in aerial combat. While making up only 12.6% of the French Air Force single-seater fighter force, the H-75 accounted for almost a third of the victories during the 1940 Battle of France. Of the 11 French aces of the early part of the war, seven flew H-75s. The leading ace of the time was Lieutenant Edmond Marin la Meslée with 15 confirmed and five probable victories in the type. On 12 May 1940 the Curtiss H-75s of GC I/5 ran into the Junkers Ju 87 B Stukas of 1./StG 76 south-west of Sedan and claimed as many as 11 shot down in air combat - this happened in the locality of Bauillon-Ste Cecilé-Poury St. Remy. This may well have been the first time that the Stuka´s 'vulnerability' was demonstrated in large scale air combat. GC I/5 was as close as the Armée de l'Air had to a crack unit - claims for six Stukas, plus 12 more probably destroyed, were filed following this action by the five French pilots including Marin-la-Meslée, Sous-Lieutenant Jean Rey, Sous-Lieutenant François Perina, Sergent-Chef Dominique Penzini, and Sergent-Chef François Morel.

Some of the claims were as follows;

 1./StG76 Junkers Ju 87 B-1. Shot down by Curtiss H-75s of GC I/5 in action south -west of Sedan 8.30 a.m. Crash-landed and burned out behind German lines east of Bouillon. BF Uffz Richard Kny badly wounded, FF Lt [ ] Haller unhurt. Aircraft 100% write-off.

 1./StG76 Junkers Ju87 B. Badly damaged in attacks by  south-west of Bouillon 8.30 a.m. Belly-landed near Bellevaux. BF Fw Friedrich Petrick badly wounded in stomach, FF Oberlt Wolfgang Unbehaun unhurt. Aircraft S1+KH 15% damaged but repairable. On return to base, radio contact was established with 'Zaratza' Unbehaun by the Staffelkapitän, Oberlt Dietrich Peltz, who picked up the crew by Storch within the hour.

 2./StG76 Junkers Ju87B-1. Engine badly damaged in attack from below by Curtiss H-75s of GC I/5 during sortie east of Sedan and crash-landed in the Semois valley at ‘Les Longs Champs’ outside Dohan, east of Bouillon, 9.00 a.m. BF Uffz Helmut Gäth badly wounded in chest – died shortly after landing, FF Lt Heinz-Georg Migeod unhurt. Aircraft S1+MK 50% damaged but repairable. Helmut Gäth was originally buried in a field grave in an orchard off the Route du Sati on the north-eastern approach to Dohan. He now lies in Noyers-Pont-Maugis Cemetery, Block 3, Grave 1835.

 2./StG76 Junkers Ju87 B. Returned damaged by Curtiss H-75s of GC I/5 during sortie east of Sedan 8.30 a.m. BF Gefr Ludwig Kirner slightly wounded, pilot unhurt.

Two Czechoslovak members of GC II/5, from left Sgt. František Chábera (pilot) and mechanic Cpl. Chef Vilém Nosek standing in front of the Curtiss H.75 N° 58, white "1", Toul-Croix-de-Metz, May 1940. Photo: Pavel Vančata collection.

 Below; " French machine brought down by anti-aircraft fire .."

 French aviation blogger "Drix" is more scathing about the "Curtiss", as the French usually refer to the H-75;

 " the qualities of the Curtiss have been largely overestimated - it achieved what it achieved thanks the high quality of the French aces that flew it.."

This is a reference of course to Accart, Marin la Meslée of GC I/5, top scorers in the Battle of France. GC II/5 appears to have been the only group to fly the Wright-engined Curtiss fighters on combat operations over the anchorage at Mers el-Kébir. S/Lt Trémolet (N° 2) and S/C Gisclon (N° 7) clashed with Skuas over the harbour on 3 July 1940. When Ark Royal's Swordfish attacked the Dunkerque for a second time on 6 July Gisclon claimed a Skua downed after a long dogfight, but although shore-based witnesses confirmed the 'kill' all of Ark Royal's aircraft returned safely..

Unknown Beute type - Caudron racing aircraft - daily ebay photo find #44

I assume a French type - that has to be a Bloch wing in the background - a Caudron racer ?

Down in the West! - more Armée de l'Air captured types from the Westfeldzug - NAA 64, Arsenal VG 33 - daily ebay photo find #43

Flugplatz Reims, 28 June 1940

Arsenal VG 33 in an exhibition of captured Allied types. More on the Arsenal VG 33 on this here

Captured Loire 130 seaplanes

The Loire 130 seaplane was constructed in Saint-Nazaire at the SNCAO plant. During late June 1940 the plant was occupied by German troops. At that time, some twenty examples of the type were in various phases of assembly. In 1941, the German authorities gave their approval to resume work on the assembly line in order to finish 20 machines for the French Navy. Upon their reception flights the a/c were air ferried from Saint-Nazaire to Mâcon on the river Saône, north of Lyon. Although flown by French pilots, as part of the ferry flights were over German occupied part of France, the Loire were obliged to wear German markings. Those temporary markings were painted with washable paint over ordinary French markings and were washed out in Mâcon before the last part of the ferry flight to Berre, next to Marseille, where the Loire were put under storage. Thus, those 20 aircraft (n° 75 and 81 to 99) wore Luftwaffe markings for ferrying purposes only.

 Below;  Loire 130  wearing Kennung "BI+XA" in Brest-Poulmic seen shortly prior to a transfer flight to the E-Stelle at Travemünde in early 1941. The crew comprised pilot Lt. Paul Metges, Uffz. Steckel and Fw Just. Note the modified engine cowl.



Loire 130 n° 75 sporting the code DI+XA following a ferry flight from Brest-Poulmic to Travemunde. A single example of the type was transferred to Germany (during early 1941?)  following the fall of France