Sadly, the Fairey Battle is regarded by most historians as being among the RAF's least successful World War Two aircraft. Although clearly superior to the biplanes it succeeded, and fitted with the soon-to-be-legendary Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, units equipped with the type in the Battle of France in 1940 were decimated by the enemy. The design of the Battle - a sleek, single-engined monoplane - certainly reflected the latest in aviation technology, and during tests it was quicker and more capable than the light bombers it was intended to replace. But once equipped with a three-man crew and weaponry, the Battle proved slow, cumbersome and immensely vulnerable.
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