Now here is an aircraft worthy of high praise. The Bristol Beaufighter was conceived as an extension of the Beaufort programme.

The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter is a multi-role aircraft, cantilever wing twin-engine monoplane initially designed as a fighter/bomber. It differed substantially from the Beaufort by having its twin engines mounted central on the wing. The powerplant was the much more powerful Hercules VI engines. The original production aircraft were powered by the Hercules Mk.XI but due to a shortage after the first Mk.I production version, including the first production Beaufighter Mk.II, they were powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin XX engines until the Mk.VI Beaufighter appearing in 1942 with the Hercules Mk.VI engines. All subsequent models were powered by ever more powerful Hercules engines. Massive orders were placed after many modifications to the prototypes in early 1940 with the Beaufighter Mk.I being introduced into operational service in July 1940. However, numbers of production aircraft restricted its use at this time. Throughout 1940 and 1941 production of the Beaufighter increased dramatically with two shadow factories being built at Stockport and Weston-Super-Mare. The Beaufighter was used as a night interceptor to begin with until the Mosquito took over the role in 1942. Ground attack and anti-shipping roles were quickly adapted. Manufacture of the multitude of Marks and variants continued into 1946 and the Beaufighter remained in RAF service until 1960 with a total of 5,928 being produced making it one of the most widely used aircraft of WW2 and the late 40’s.

It was used in most theatres of WW2 with many examples built overseas, mainly by Australia under licence for use in the Pacific Theatre where it proved to be a formidable adversary to the Japanese Imperial Air Force. The type was used worldwide by 12 other countries during the conflict, including some captured aircraft in use with the Luftwaffe.

Armament changed over its development depending on the variant. One variant, the Mk.V, had a Boulton Paul turret with four Browning .303 machine guns, but this meant the removal of its six wing mounted machine guns. Other versions favoured the 20mm cannon. The Torpedo version for Coastal Command Mk.IC and Mk.VIC (C standing for Coastal Command) were equipped with a Mk.XII torpedo under the fuselage and 8 x 3inch underwing rockets as well as machine guns. The last major version was the TF Mk.X, Torpedo Fighter version for the FAA and Coastal Command. 2231 of these were built with the later models having an extended tail fin.

There are few survivors worldwide. Two Mk.21 Beaufighters exist in Australia, two TF Mk.X in the UK rebuilt and restored from various parts of existing airframes and one in America, an Australian operated aircraft but restored as an USAAF American Beaufighter. One is being restored to flying status at the IWM Duxford in the UK although the project has been going on for many years.