Bristol Beaufighter TF.X Focke-Wulf Fw190A-8 Dogfight Doubles

On the 9th of February 1945 a force of thirty one Bristol Beaufighter long range fighter bombers took off from their bases in Scotland to attack the German Narvik-class Destroyer Z33 and some escorting ships at anchor in a Norwegian fjord. Unfortunately the attack proved to be a costly one for the Allies. The steep sides of the fjord that the German ships were sheltering in created a very strong defensive position resulting in high amounts of concentrated anti-aircraft fire. The attacking force and its escorts of Mustang fighters was also intercepted by twelve Fw-190s of Jg5. In the resulting dogfight two Beaufighters were downed by the Luftwaffe fighters with a further seven shot down and numerous others damaged by the anti-aircraft fire. Over 50 aircraft were involved making it the largest air battle over Norwegian skies during the Second World War. The raid was a costly failure for the Allies with only a small amount of damage inflicted on the German ships compared to the degree of losses suffered and the raid was nicknamed Black Friday by those who survived it.

BEAUFIGHTER

TOP SPEED: 320 mph (515 km/h) at 10,000ft (3,050 m)

WEAPONS: 4 X 20 mm cannons plus 1 x manually operated .303 in (7.7mm) Browning or Vickers machine gun for the Observer and 1 X 18 in (450 mm) torpedo or 8 x 60 lb rockets.

FOCKE-WULF

TOP SPEED: 656 km/h (408 mph) at 19,420 ft (5,920 m)

RANGE: 800 km (500 mi)

WEAPONS: 2 X 13 mm machine guns & up to 4 x 20mm cannons