Legends 45 by debbielove
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Description
Greetings Folks,
Here before your eyes is the last surviving Light Bomber version of the famous Fairy Battle..
This is FAIREY BATTLE MK.1 L5343..
It was built by Austin Motors at Longbridge in 1938 and delivered early 1939 to a Squadron just working up on Spitfires...go figure? No 266..
It somehow survived the 'Cull' in France until the end of 1940 when it joined No 98 Squadron and transferred to Coastal Command..
It then... and I quote 'left RAF Wick, then flown direct from there to Kaldadarnes, Iceland as part of ‘Operation Frigidaire’. The unit commander, Wg Cmd G R Ashton AFC led the squadron in L5343; his observer was Sgt R G Walder and the wireless operator/air gunner Sgt W A S Jessep. This 700 mile flight, of 5hrs 20mins duration,
the first group flight of land based aircraft to Iceland, was undertaken by A Flight's nine Fairey Battles, escorted by two Short Sunderland’s using the codename for the flight
`Frigidaire I'.
The idea was the Battles, underpowered at the best of times, were to undertake coastal patrols around Iceland.. Of course a storm brought this one down..
Forward to 1970!
Parts were found and slowly, very slowly other bits were collected.. It took a very long time to finally build to this condition this last Mk 1 Fairy Battle Light Bomber..
(Up to 3 other Battles bits were used in it to finish the job).
On the 20th March 1990 it was rolled out once more! (It has since been given a complete check up)..
Photo taken at RAF Hendon.
Enjoy
Rob
P.S. I'm away for a couple of days I plan to visit the Bomber Command Memorial.. Comments when I return..
Rob
Comments (16)
magnus073
Rob, you did a great job on this very cool presentation. Sad to know this is the last bomber of this style and existence.
giulband
Very interesting airplane !!!
Faemike55
Wonderful photo and very interesting story
Richardphotos
I do not recall seeing a canopy so long. superb capture and have a great trip
jayfar
Very nice shot Rob and a super looking aircraft.
CoyoteSeven
Always enjoy your photography and the history lesson that often goes with them.
bebopdlx
Cool photo Rob.
lembrechtsart
Nice picture, Rob, but... I have to correct you here: there' s another Fairey Battle in the Airmuseum in Brussels... Peter
debbielove
Indeed you are quite correct, and I must add there are 5 known full, part restored and crash frames in existence (so far).. The Hendon one is the only complete known example of the Light Bomber, the Brussels one is being restored but not complete as yet, soon I hope! There is one I believe in Canada that is restored to a trainer spec, and was built as such.. There are several scrap frames, from Iceland and South Australia, there are not being restored yet. Hope this helps.. If anyone knows of more news on these do tell.. And yes, I notice I spelt Fairey wrong lol Rob
flavia49
wonderful capture
Tamarrion
Fantastic! Fairey sure had a thing for long canopies.
goodoleboy
Kind of arcane with that long cockpit on this early light bomber, mate. Another stellar shot of not only an aircraft, but also the geometric multi angled beam and rail insides of a hangar. Good luck on the trip.
Buffalo1
Very cool to see this aircraft. A typical mid 1930s design that was "modern", but underpowered and underarmored for 1940 combat a years later.
RodS
You find some of the most fascinating aircraft, Rob! And get great photos of them to boot! Well done, mate - hope your trip is fun and productive!
radioham
Very nice plane and many thanks for all the info on her
cschell
I think it's a damned shame there are so few aircraft left from that era. The old prop-driven aircraft are classics and beauties from another age and it's a crying shame that we've lost most of them!
junge1
Great shot of this bird Rob and fantastic background information!.