THE MIGHTY BEAUFIGHTER REFUSED TO RETIRE FROM THE RAF AFTER THE WAR. KEN ELLIS EXAMINES ITS SECOND CAREER, WHICH LASTED UNTIL 1960
LAST OF THE LINE BEAUFIGHTERS
Beaufighter TT.10 SR912 towing a target while with Kai Tak Station Flight, Hong Kong, circa 1952. The sleeve is only slightly deployed for the purposes of the photo; normally it would be a long, long way behind!
PETER GREEN COLLECTION
Battle-hardened torpedo-bomber, strike weapon of awesome capability and pioneer night fighter it may have been, but with the advent of peace there seemed little future for the Bristol Beaufighter. That slim fuselage was not capable of taking more advanced airborne interception gear, and the remoteness of the gunner-turnedradar operator back in the fuselage did not help. With its side-by-side crew, the de Havilland Mosquito was the night fighter of choice for the immediate post-war period.
