The Boulton Paul Defiant is a British interceptor aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force during World War II. The Defiant was designed as a turret fighter, without any forward-firing guns.
Boulton Paul Defiant production line The prototype Boulton Paul Defiant, K8310, which first flew in August 1937 Boulton Paul Defiant Boulton Paul Defiant Boulton Paul Defiant Boulton Paul Defiant of No 125 Squadron RAF at Fairwood Common Wales January 1942 Boulton Paul Defiant Mk Is N1536 PS-R Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I Boulton Paul Defiant Mark III, N1697 target tug at Desford, Leicestershire Previously a Mark 1 fighter with No 256 Squadron RAF An airgunner of 264 Squadron wearing a GQ Parasuit or rhino suit August 1940 Flight Sergeant E R Thorn pilot and Sergeant F J Barker air gunner pose with their Boulton Paul Defiant after their 13th victory Defiant Mark I N3313 of No 264 Squadron 1940 Boulton Paul Defiant Gun Turret Boulton Paul Defiants of No 264 Squadron 1940 Defiants of No 264 Squadron The Squadron Leaders aircraft signified by the A on the fuselage Boulton Paul Defiant TT Mk 1 Boulton Paul Defiant of No. 264 Squadron being refuelled, July 1940. Boulton Paul Defiant Boulton Paul Defiant Boulton Paul Defiant Boulton Paul Defiant Boulton Paul Defiant Boulton Paul Defiant Boulton Paul Defiant Boulton Paul Defiant Boulton Paul Defiant Turret The pilots of 264 Squadron in front of a Boulton Paul Defiant Boulton Paul Defiant No 264 Squadron’s CO, Squadron Leader Philip Hunter, leads a ‘vic’ of Defiants up from Kirton-in-Lindsey, early August 1940 Fitters working on the 1,030hp Rolls-Royce Merlin III of a No 125 Squadron Defiant at Fairwood Common, January 1942 Boulton Paul Defiant Mark Is, N1536, PS-R nearest, of No. 264 Squadron RAF, lined up at Kirton-in-Lindsey Boulton Paul Defiant TT Mark III, N1697, on the ground at Desford, Leicestershire, following its conversion from a Mark I night fighter to a target tug by Reid & Sigrist Ltd. Before conversion, N1697 flew operations with No. 256 Squadron RAF. As a target tug, it served with Nos. 288 and 667 Squadrons RAF. Boulton Paul Defiant TT Mark I, DR863, on the ground at the Boulton Paul Aircraft Ltd aerodrome, Wolverhampton. Following tests at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, the aircraft joined the Gunnery Research Unit at Exeter. Copyright: � IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205126748 Boulton Paul Defiant Mark I night fighter, N3313 PS-P, of No. 264 Squadron RAF based at West Malling, Kent, in flight Boulton Paul Defiant Mark I night fighter, T4037 JT-T, of No. 256 Squadron RAF, on the ground at Squires Gate, Blackpool, Lancashire. The retractable fuselage fairings aft of the turret have been lowered for firing. Six Boulton Paul Defiant Mark I night fighters of No. 264 Squadron RAF based at West Malling, Kent, flying in port echelon formation. Boulton Paul Defiant of No. 264 Squadron being refuelled, July 1940. Boulton Paul Defiant of No. 264 Squadron being refuelled, July 1940. Crews being taken out to their Boulton Paul Defiants of No. 264 Squadron, July 1940 Boulton Paul Defiant Mark Is (L7006 ‘PS-X’ nearest) of No. 264 Squadron RAF, being prepared for take off by groundcrew at Kirton-in-Lindsey Squadron Leader P A Hunter (far left), the Commanding Officer of No. 264 Squadron RAF, briefs his pilots by a Boulton-Paul Defiant Mark I of the Squadron at Duxford Riggers examining the damage to the elevators of a Boulton-Paul Defiant Mark I, of No. 264 Squadron RAF in a hangar at Duxford, Cambridgeshire, following their battle with German fighters over Dunkirk on 29 May 1940. Boulton Paul Defiant Mark I night fighter, N1801 ‘PS-B’ ‘Coimbatore II’, of No. 264 Squadron RAF, undergoing a routine service in a dispersal, probably at Colerne, Wiltshire. This aircraft was flown by the effective night-fighting team of Flying Officer F D Hughes (pilot) and Sergeant F Gash (gunner), and displays a victory tally of 5 enemy aircraft shot down.
Photographs of scale models of the Defiant can be found here
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