Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
I know everyone wants to find some use for the Fairey Battle but let's face it. If the Blenheim can't survive in combat against enemy X then the Battle has about zero chance.
How many Battles had self-sealing tanks, or armor ? Not to mention the Blenheim by late 1941 had two high rate of fire machine guns in a powered mount compared to a single high rate of fire machine gun (assuming the Vickers K gun) but aimed with the gunners muscles.
The Battle will mostly be facing the Ki-27 Nate. The Ki-27 was not much faster and no better armed than the Battle. I'd give the latter better odds against it than the Bf 109. In the CAS role the Battle will be useful, can it dive at all?I don't think anyone has any doubt as to the poor survivability of the Fairey Battle, but we're working within the restrictions of the time frame, and whats available. If you compare her to the Japanese light bombers, she doesn't do so bad, for all of them its about working under the cover of air superiority or supremacy. If the RAF fighters can deliver that, she'll do OK, if they can't, no bomber in the RAF will survive well.
Regards
Fatboy Coxy
The Battle can dive although not vertically. The Hampden can dive bomb too.The Battle will mostly be facing the Ki-27 Nate. The Ki-27 was not much faster and no better armed than the Battle. I'd give the latter better odds against it than the Bf 109. In the CAS role the Battle will be useful, can it dive at all?
Whilst idle in this pandemic I've been revisiting Malaya air defence.200 x Fairey Battles
200 x H. Hurricanes
100 x Skuas/Rocs
with ~30% of the above in reserve for 10 x FB squadrons, 10 x HH squadrons and 5 x Skua/Roc squadrons
Agreed. And moving to summer or early autumn 1941 gives better odds of getting both the Skuas and Whirlwinds sent as they were beginning to be withdrawn or replaced by then.It would be a brave person to order that type of change while the Battle of Britain is still in full swing. I think making such a decision after Barbarossa kicks off is far more likely, and could still get forces into Malaya in time.
The only way you'll get 200 more Hurricanes is if you have 200 less Henleys! I'd like the Fairey Battle idea except its too slow, ideally you'd need a twin engine version perhaps powered by the Bristol Mercury. If you want a dive bomber then ramp up production of the Fairey Fulmar II and strip out the naval gear. You want a torpedo bomber then you need a more powerful engine in the Blackburn Botha so that it is useable.Whilst idle in this pandemic I've been revisiting Malaya air defence.
Can you also consider sending: the two squadrons of Whirlwinds; and, two squadrons of torpedo capable Wellesleys to support the two Vilderbeest squadrons?
View attachment 576035
Agreed. And moving to summer or early autumn 1941 gives better odds of getting both the Skuas and Whirlwinds sent as they were beginning to be withdrawn or replaced by then.
The Defiant lacked the manoeuvrability of the Spitfire and Hurricane and doubt if its dive speed was good. Frankly, the Tomahawks given to the Army Co Op squadrons in England would have been a better choice. Skua maybe with Taurus, but Fulmar II would have been better as it could be dived at 435 mph IAS.A 'tropicalized' Defiant I for 1941 Malaya: turret goes away, a 50 gal tank behind the pilot, 4-6 .303s in the wing (the wing does not get extra fuel tanks like the Defiant II received). Send 200 of these.
Battle - it is already long-ranged, send 150 of these.
Skua - replace Perseus with Mercury, send 150 of these.
IMO, Percival is the best army man for the job, he knows how to retreat through Malaya. That's the only option he has. Maybe the navy admirals should have been responsible for all the Straits Settlements islands including Singapore as marines knows how to fight to the last ditch. Witness, Leningrad, Odessa and Sevastopol. Perhaps the wrong man was in overall command?Could Singapore have held out longer with the forces available? If Percival and ADM Phillips were not selected and more capable commanders in place, could they have bought more time using the forces at hand? Phillips spent most of his career as a staff officer. Like Pearl and the Philippines, Singapore was caught between the vacuum of a peacetime army and wartime army.
The Defiant lacked the manoeuvrability of the Spitfire and Hurricane and doubt if its dive speed was good. Frankly, the Tomahawks given to the Army Co Op squadrons in England would have been a better choice. Skua maybe with Taurus, but Fulmar II would have been better as it could be dived at 435 mph IAS.
Flying to the Limit: Testing World War II Single-engined Fighter Aircraft
HiYes, Tomahawks would've been better. OTOH, I don't know how many of them were actually in the UK proper by, say, mid-1941.
Taurus that far away from UK - no, thank you. Plus, it will be making ~750 HP at 15000 ft, or about 100 HP less than Mercury, with extra 300 lbs of weight.
Ideally the Whirlwind would be considered for earlier deployment, and sent to the longer strips. If they can operate loaded Blenheims they can operate Whirlwinds.The Skuas could likely serve reasonably well in South Asia; I'm not so sure about the Whirlwind, which reportedly had quite higher landing speeds than the RAF's single engine fighters.
Percival arrived only a few months before the war began. I don't think Monty himself could have averted the catastrophe, though I think he would have held out a little longer. Once Japan seized FIC in Sept 1940 Percival's predecessor Bond should have been busily building defensive works, pill boxes, minefields, and sod the complaints and politics of the plantation owners. When the Japanese took Malaya and Singapore they found warehouses of ready mix concrete, rebar and everything needed to make Malaya a modern day Lines of Torres Vedras.Could Singapore have held out longer with the forces available? If Percival and ADM Phillips were not selected and more capable commanders in place, could they have bought more time using the forces at hand? Phillips spent most of his career as a staff officer. Like Pearl and the Philippines, Singapore was caught between the vacuum of a peacetime army and wartime army.
I imagine eight or ten squadrons of those Tomahawks would have had an impact. I'm okay with taking some from the USSR, but we can't take from RAF/RAAF squadrons in North Africa. Malaya is at hypothetical risk in autumn 1941, but the Germans were on the ground fighting the Brits and CW throughout 1941 and 42.Hi
Around 294 Tomahawks had been delivered to the UK by the end of June 1941 I believe. In the second half of the year Hurricanes (and Tomahawks for UK) are being sent to the Soviet Union, which was a priority over the Far East. Pilots would also have to be sent to the Far East as well with all these proposed aircraft.
Mike
You do realize this is wrong on several points?Ideally the Whirlwind would be considered for earlier deployment, and sent to the longer strips. If they can operate loaded Blenheims they can operate Whirlwinds.
The Defiant might have done well. Its faster than the Ki-27 and it's firepower should rip apart the unprotected IJAF and IJN twin-engined bombers. The Ki-43 Oscar will be a tricky opponent, one that was thankfully (from the Defiant's perspective) in the early versions only armed with two .303 machine guns. Skua, depending on the condition of those available might be useful as CAS. IMO the best feasible reinforcment for the sixty odd active Buffaloes is another 200 Buffaloes, or Mohawks, or a mix of both.The Defiant lacked the manoeuvrability of the Spitfire and Hurricane and doubt if its dive speed was good. Frankly, the Tomahawks given to the Army Co Op squadrons in England would have been a better choice. Skua maybe with Taurus, but Fulmar II would have been better as it could be dived at 435 mph IAS.
Flying to the Limit: Testing World War II Single-engined Fighter Aircraft
The Defiant might have done well. It's faster than the Ki-27 and it's firepower should rip apart the unprotected IJAF and IJN twin-engined bombers. The Ki-43 Oscar will be a tricky opponent, one that was thankfully (from the Defiant's perspective) in the early versions only armed with two .303 machine guns. Skua, depending on the condition of those available might be useful as CAS. IMO the best feasible reinforcment for the sixty odd active Nuffaloes is another 200 Buffaloes, or Mohawks, or a mix of both.
And now we must consider the worst contenders to serve alongside the Buffaloes. Canada produced the Grumman Goblin. Any of those laying about to build up two squadrons? Any other total rubbish to send? Bulldogs, Nimrods, etc? If there were no Buffaloes at all, so has to be sent.
Thoughts on the Curtiss-Wright CW-21? What's the Demon? When I search online for combat aircraft called Demon I get the Hawker Demon fighter produced to 1937 and the postwar McDonnell F3H Demon.IMO, what's been made available to the AVG should be available to the RAF in S.E.Asia, so Demons, Tomahawks, Lancers and Vanguards.
I agree, more Blenheims would be ideal, both fighter and bomber variants. Though the "fighter" version is still a lumbering beast, as shown below.If you want a close support vehicle, maybe a Wirraway with a Twin Wasp Junior, the similar A-27 had a 785 hp Wright cyclone, but that only gets you a 250 mph close support aircraft, but given a choice between a Fairey Battle and a Blenheim, I'd choose a Blenheim, at least there wasn't a lot of speed difference between it and the Ki-27.