British Forces

The day of the Defiants

Corwallis Collection

The 13th of May, 1940 has gone down in the annals of the Battle of France as 'The Day of the Defiants'. That morning a flight of six Boulton Paul Defiant fighters of No. 264 Squadron was attacked by a swarm of Me Bf109 just south-east of Rotterdam. In the ensuing fight 5 of the 6 Defiants were shot down. This photo was taken later that summer at RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey, to where the squadron had been transfered on July 23. In the cockpit of the aircraft nearest the camera is Pilot Officer Desmond Kay, the only pilot to come back from the ill-fated mission.