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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 1267.PDF
JUNE 5TH, 1941 TWO OF OUR LATEST : Beaufighter interceptors in formation. NIGHT INTERCEPTION Photographs of Beaufighter : Night-fighter Station Visited TIE Bristol Beaufighter, which hitherto has only beena name to many people, has played a prominent partin the recent night fighting successes. We are now allowed to publish these first photographs of the type but no other details, such as engine type and horsepower, speed or armament, may be mentioned. Their publication coin- cides with a visit by us to a night-fighter station to see something of the back-stage scenes in this tussle against the night bomber. Wherever and whenever night fighting is referred to, secrecy regulations make it appear that much that really matters must be left unsaid. There is, however, a great deal more than the secret devices which contribute to success in making night interceptions. The difficulty of interception is exemplified in the chase of the Bismarck where only the sea's surface had to be searched and yet a large number of warships were used to find, maintain contact, and finally kill. How much lore difficult, then, is the night fighter's job to search out and-shoot down a machine which may be anywhere over Great Britain, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Lowlands or Occupied France, at a height of anything from 3,000ft. to 30,000ft. Suffice it to say that we can, by secret means, tell our fighter where the enemy is and it is then up to him to make the final visual contact. We have a reputation for being a slow nation. The first Heinkel 111 shot down by this means met its end some- where over the Eastern Counties in October of last year. During May this year about 100 enemy night raiders were destroyed. The station we visited made no less than 31 interceptions in that fortnight—not so slow, we think! Night fighting was not at first accepted by our pilots with any enthusiasm. By comparison with the spectacular day fighters and their prodigious successes last autumn, the hours spent in the air at night with but little chance oi success held no attraction. That is now all changed and the night fighters consider themselves more or less in the nature of a corps d'ilite. It is a medical fact that this twenty-four hours. In thisNIGHT AND DAY : The Beaufighter is classified as an interceptor tor use during any perio view the retracted tail wheel is apparent.
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