The only mission the Boulton Paul Defiants of No 141 Squadron flew during the Battle of Britain ended in disaster
To read some accounts from 1940, one might think RAF Fighter Command had a new wonder-weapon in the Boulton Paul Defiant. More generally received wisdom, with the benefit of hindsight, has it that the two-seat fighter was a dismal failure, the concept of a ‘bomber destroyer’ proving fatally flawed. It was the experience of No 141 Squadron that, above all, bore this out.
