Not All Merlin Powered Aircraft Are Created Equal...

Technicians working on a Merlin engine, c. 1939–1940

The Rolls-Royce Merlin engine is probably very familiar to most aficionados of Word War II aviation. It powered such famous aircraft as the Hawker Hurricane, the Supermarine Spitfire, the de Havilland Mosquito, and the Avro Lancaster bomber. The Lancaster being the most numerous user of that engine. (Well, the Lancaster is a bomber and it's got four engines.) The Packard built variant of the Merlin also powered one of the most iconic fighters of the Second World War (but you already mentioned the Spitfire... shh, I know), the North American P-51 Mustang.

However, the first operational aircraft to use the Merlin was the Fairey Battle.

The what Sarge?

The Fairey Battle, built by the Fairey Aviation Company, the same company that built the Fairey Swordfish of Taranto and Bismarck fame. However, unlike the "Stringbag," the Battle's operational history is somewhat less than stellar.

Wreckage of a Battle, France, May 1940.
(Source)

Oh wait, not that photo, this one...

RAF Fairey Battles of 218 Squadron over France, circa 1940.

It all started (well, the memory which sparked the post anyway) when I was (once again) a kid. I had a lot of those Ballantine's Illustrated History books. (See below, note the price $1! You can tell how long I've had that.)

When I say "a lot," I mean probably close to fifty of them. Lots of good pictures and maps, lots of good history. One in particular, this one -

(Source)

- had an account of a squadron of RAF Fairey Battles going out to hit a bridge in Belgium (as I recall) which was in the path of the German advance. Drop the bridge, slow the advance. As I recalled, none of those Battles returned to base, all were shot down. Well, I did some checking, my memory wasn't that bad -

On 12 May, a formation of five Battles of 12 Squadron 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 Victoria Crosses were awarded posthumously for the action, to Flying Officer Donald Garland and air observer/navigator sergeant Thomas Gray of Battle serial P2204 coded PH-K, for pressing home the attack in spite of the heavy defensive fire. The third crew member, rear gunner Leading Aircraftsman Lawrence Reynolds, did not share the award. Both fighters and flak had proved lethal for the Battles. Although Garland's Battle managed to destroy one span of the bridge, the German army quickly erected a pontoon bridge to replace it. (Source)

So it wasn't a full squadron, which would theoretically be twelve aircraft, divided equally into two flights, "A" and "B." So it was most of one flight and one actually made it home after being shot up by the Jerries.* While they did drop the bridge, the Germans replaced it rather quickly.

The Battle was obsolete by the start of WWII, but as an American SECDEF once stated, "You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.**" So the Battles went to war whether they would be successful or not.

They had an auspicious start, during the "Phony War" of 1939 - 40, a Battle actually scored the first RAF aerial victory of WWII -

Initial wartime missions were to perform aerial reconnaissance of the Siegfried Line during daylight, resulting in occasional skirmishes and losses. On 20 September 1939, a German Messerschmitt Bf-109 was shot down by Battle gunner Sgt. F. Letchard during a patrol near Aachen; this occasion is recognised as being the RAF's first aerial victory of the war. Nonetheless, the Battle was hopelessly outclassed by Luftwaffe fighters, being almost 100 mph  slower than the contemporary Bf-109 at 14,000 ft. That same day, three Battles were engaged by German fighters, resulting in two Battles being lost. During the winter of 1939–1940, the Advanced Air Striking Force underwent restructuring; some of the Battle-equipped squadrons were returned to the UK while their place was taken by Bristol Blenheim-equipped squadrons instead. The activities of the Advanced Air Striking Force were principally restricted to training exercises during this time. (Source)

Can you imagine that German pilot's squadron mates, "He got shot down by a WHAT?"

No doubt wrong place, wrong time for the German pilot, perhaps a golden BB*** situation, not to take anything away from Sergeant Letchard's marksmanship. Perhaps the good sergeant was actually a crack shot and the German wandered too close. It happens.

Most Battle-equipped squadrons were eventually re-equipped with the Bristol Blenheim, but not in time for the disaster in France for some. The aircraft actually had a three man crew -

(Source)

That bomb-aimer position looks rather unpleasant!

Fairey Battle, K7650/63-M, of No. 63 Squadron, RAF Benson, November 1939.
No. 63 was the first operational squadron to be equipped with the type.

You can see the bomb-aimer and the gunner huddled way in the back of the cockpit with the gunner's hood closed. Cozy, neh? You can see the gunner with the hood open below. One rather hopes that it latches open and he didn't have to hold it open with his body!

The air gunner of a Battle mans the aircraft's defensive weapon,
a single pintle-mounted rapid firing Vickers K machine gun, France, 1940.

The bomb aimer position in the Battle was in the aircraft's floor.
Note the CSBS Mk. VII equipment****.

The Battle looks like a 1930s era aircraft, something right on the verge of being modern, but not quite there yet. To me it always looked rather liked a "stretched" Hurricane. With a crew of three and a bomb load of up to 1,500 pounds, even with a Merlin engine she was probably seriously underpowered.

Wartime colour photo of Hurricane IIC BE500 flown by Sqn Ldr Denis Smallwood of 87 Sqn
in the RDM2 ("Special Night") scheme and used on intruder operations 1941–1942.

They look kind of similar around the nose and back to the very front of the cockpit. Well, to me at any rate. A cool looking aircraft. (Again, maybe it's just me.)

Have to love the folks who restore these old aircraft, warms the cockles of this old Sarge's heart...


The Fairey Battle

General Characteristics:

• Crew: 3
• Length: 42 ft 4 in
• Wingspan: 54 ft 0 in
• Height: 15 ft 6 in
• Wing area: 422 ft²
• Empty weight: 6,647 lb
• Loaded weight: 10,792 lb
• Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Merlin II liquid-cooled V12 engine, 1,030 hp (768 kW)

Performance:

• Maximum speed: 257 mph (223 kn, 413 km/h) at 15,000 ft (4,600 m)
• Range: 1,000 mi (870 nmi, 1610 km)
• Service ceiling: 25,000 ft (7,620 m)
• Climb to 5,000 ft (1,520 m): 4 min 6 sec

Armament:

• Guns:
• 1 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine gun in starboard wing
• 1 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers K machine gun in rear cabin
• Bombs:
• 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs internally (4 × 250 lb (110 kg) bombs) or
• 1,500 lb (680 kg) bombs externally

Suggested reading:

• Fairey Battle (Wikipedia)
• Fairey Battle (War Thunder Forum)
• Fairey Battle MK1 (No. 35 Squadron)
• Messerschmitt Fodder – U.K. Fairey Battle with Tons of Photos (War History Online)
• Fairey Battle (Military Factory)
• Fairey Battle (Royal Air Force Museum)
• Fairey Battle (Pilot Friend)

* British WWII slang term for the Germans. The Germans referred to the Brits as "Tommies."
** I met Secretary Rumsfeld on a flight from DC to Little Rhody, I liked him.
*** A golden BB is that one-in-a-million shot that brings down an aircraft. Fly in contested airspace you'll find that there are a lot of things flying throughj the air which are not compatible with safety of flight.
**** CSBS = Course Setting Bomb Sight