The Turret Fighters Defiant and Roc

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{detailed description}The Boulton Paul Defiant and Blackburn Roc turret fighters were the tangible results of a concept that flowered in the mid-1930s, in response to the fear of attacks by the new generation of all-metal monoplane bombers. 'Bomber destroyers' with all their guns in power-operated turrets seemed to many people to be the only answer to this threat. The concept, as old as armed aircraft, was to separate the responsibility of flying the aircraft from that of aiming the guns. This book traces the development of that idea from before World War One to its fruition against the Luftwaffe in the skies over Great Britain. It details the development and full operational history of the Defiant and the Roc, from Dunkirk, where the first Defiant squadron, No.264, set a record of thirty-seven victories without loss in one day, a record never exceeded in the annals of the Royal Air Force, to the Battle of Britain. It records the Defiant's successful career as a night fighter, and for the first time lists every single Defiant victory and loss, and names every Defiant 'ace' crew. Uniquely, the book also contains details of all the other turret fighters born in the design offices of the major manufacturers, containing illustrations of fifteen of them, many never seen before: the rival designs to the Defiant and Roc, and those produced to earlier and later requirements. From the archives of Boulton Paul Aircraft, the company that built every single Defiant and Roc, come a host of photographs, many never seen before, and glowing testaments to the Defiant from those who built them, and those who flew them.

Please note, the vast majority of this book covers the Defiant
{Author / Publisher / Date}by Alec Brew
published by Crowood 2002 160pp profusely illustrated, index, appendices 22x30
{condition}one very small annotaion to margin of page 49 otherwise near fine in slightly torn d/j
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