British Forces

Fairey Battle bombers

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Crews "Fairey Battle" British bombers studying maps for the next mission. The Fairey Battle was a British single-engine light bomber built for the Royal Air Force. The aircraft was weighed down with a three-man crew and a bomb load. By the time it saw action it was slow, limited in range and highly vulnerable to both anti-aircraft fire and fighters with its single defensive .303 machine gun. By May 1940 the Battle was suffering heavy losses of well over 50% per mission. By the end of 1940 it had been withdrawn from combat service and relegated to training units overseas. The Battle was one of the most disappointing of all RAF aircraft.