Beaufort (Total: 223, Canadian: 101, Group 0)
Bristol Beaufort

Bristol Beaufort Mk. I (Serial No. N1030), coded N, No. 149 (Torpedo Bomber) Squadron, RCAF, on patrol over Patricia bay, British Columbia, 18 June 1943.
The Bristol Beaufort Type 152 was a British twin-engined torpedo bomber. At least 1,180 Beauforts were built by Bristol and other British manufacturers. Beauforts first saw service with RAF Coastal Command and then the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm from 1940. They were used as torpedo bombers, conventional bombers and mine-layers until 1942, when they were removed from active service and were then used as trainer aircraft until being declared obsolete in 1945.
Although it was designed as a torpedo-bomber, the Beaufort was more often used as a medium day bomber. The Beaufort also flew more hours in training than on operational missions and more were lost through accidents and mechanical failures than were lost to enemy fire. The Beaufort was adapted as a long-range heavy fighter variant called the Beaufighter, which proved to be very successful and many Beaufort units eventually converted to the Beaufighter.
No. 149 (TB) Squadron, RCAF, was formed as a Torpedo Bomber unit at Patricia Bay, British Columbia, on 26 October 1942. This squadron was the only home unit to be equipped with the Bristol Beaufort to meet the Japanese naval threat from the Aleutians. When the Japanese withdrew in the summer of 1943, the squadron was redesignated Bomber Reconnaissance (BR) and re-equipped with Lockheed Ventura aircraft. It was employed on West Coast anti-submarine duty until it was disbanded at Terrace, BC, on 15 March 1944. (S. Kostenuk and J. Griffin)
The RCAF's overseas experience with torpedo bombers differed greatly from the sporadic and often ineffective operations on the home front. Although the RCAF carried only one torpedo bomber squadron in its overseas Order of Battle, many Canadians flew with British squadrons in this role.
Nos. 22 and 42 squadrons were the first RAF units to receive the type, and among the first to fly them were British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) graduates. These men, who were trained under the Canada-based BCATP, began arriving in Britain in November 1940. One of them, Pilot Officer Lawrence Stanley Hill, a navigator from Calgary, had barely reported to No. 42 Sqdn. when he was dispatched on a Dec. 28 Beaufort mission to locate an enemy tanker off Trondheim, Norway. The aircraft was last seen on a homeward track off Scotland's Shetland Islands. Hill and the other four crew members are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial west of London, England.
Torpedo bombing required both skill and nerves of steel. The "fish" were dropped from an altitude of roughly 80 feet, approximately 1,000 yards from target. Close for sure, but if a ship had shallow draught the torpedoes could pass harmlessly underneath. The attack itself demanded a straight and level approach which made the aircraft an easy target for enemy gunners, and so it was not uncommon for a strike force to lose a third of its planes. The death of Warrant Officer Alan Morris of Ottawa, a wireless operator in No. 42 Sqdn., is particularly tragic. Not only had the wireless operator in No. 42 Sqdn. completed his tour and participated in several attacks, he was ready to leave the squadron when asked to replace a sick man for a May 17, 1942, strike on the cruiser Lutznow. The mission was a disaster. Three Beauforts in the first wave were shot down. Four more - in the second wave - were destroyed by German fighters, and the cruiser escaped.
Torpedo bombers were dispatched in response to sighting reports, but more often Beaufort offensive operations consisted of mine-laying operations which caused the most aircrew casualties. Nevertheless, Sergeant James Philip Scott of Toronto, a RCAF navigator in No. 22 Sqdn., died during one of the most daring RAF torpedo bomber sorties. On April 6, 1941, Beauforts penetrated Brest harbour and attacked the German battle cruiser Gneisenau. The British pilot, Flying Officer Kenneth Campbell, ran a gauntlet of flak before launching his torpedo which put the vessel into dry dock for eight months. The Beaufort crew perished in the mission; Campbell was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.
No. 415 Squadron, RCAF, formed at Thorney Island, Sussex, on 20 Aug 1941, worked up on Beauforts, and became operational on Hampdens in April 1942. Hugh A. Halliday
Beaufort AW189, Mk. l
s/n AW189
AW 189
Beaufort AW190, Mk l
s/n AW190
AW 190
Beaufort AW196,
s/n AW196
AW 196
Beaufort AW197, Mk. l
s/n AW197
AW 197
Beaufort AW211, Mk. l
s/n AW211
AW 211
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort AW240,
s/n AW240
AW 240
Beaufort AW243,
s/n AW243
AW 243
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort AW287, Mk. ll
s/n AW287
AW 287
Beaufort AW298, Mk. ll
s/n AW298
AW 298
Beaufort AW305, Mk. II
s/n AW305
Bristol
AW 305
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort AW349, Mk. ll
s/n AW349
AW 349
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort AW350, Mk. ll
s/n AW350
AW 350
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort AW353, Mk. ll
s/n AW353
AW 353
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort AW375,
s/n AW375
AW 375
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort DD876,
s/n DD876
DD 876
Beaufort DD928,
s/n DD928
DD 928
Beaufort DD936,
s/n DD936
DD 936
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort DD937,
s/n DD937
DD 937
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort DE112, Mk. l
s/n DE112
DE 112
Beaufort DE115,
s/n DE115
Bristol
DE 115
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort DE121, MK. l
s/n DE121
DE 121
Beaufort DW817,
s/n DW817
DW 817
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort DW825, Mk. l
s/n DW825
DW 825
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort DW833, Mk. I
Beaufort DW834,
s/n DW834
DW 834
last update: 2025-February-05
Beaufort DW856, Mk. l
Beaufort DW914, Mk. l
s/n DW914
DW 914
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort DW923, Mk. l
s/n DW923
DW 923
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort DW938, Mk. l
s/n DW938
DW 938
Beaufort DW941, Mk. l
s/n DW941
DW 941
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort DW992, Mk .l
s/n DW992
DW 992
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort DW995, Mk. l
s/n DW995
DW 995
Beaufort DX134, Mk .l
s/n DX134
DX 134
Beaufort EK973, Mk. l
s/n EK973
EK 973
Engine fire, crashed on approach
source: Malcolm Deeley, Ulster Aviation Society
last update: 2025-February-05Beaufort JM451,
s/n JM451
JM 451
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort JM499, Mk. l
Beaufort JM514, Mk. l
s/n JM514
JM 514
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort L4445, Mk. l
s/n L4445
L 4445
Beaufort L4466, Mk. l
s/n L4466
L 4466
Beaufort L4478,
s/n L4478
L 4478
Beaufort L4479, Mk. l
Beaufort L4480, Mk. l
s/n L4480
L 4480
Beaufort L4496, Mk. l
s/n L4496
L 4496
Beaufort L4514, Mk. l
s/n L4514
L 4514
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort L9803, MK. l
Beaufort L9809, Mk. I
s/n L9809
Bristol
L 9809
Beaufort L9810, Mk. l
s/n L9810
L 9810
Beaufort L9813, Mk. l
s/n L9813
L 9813
Beaufort L9819, Mk. I
s/n L9819
L 9819
last update: 2025-February-05
Beaufort L9828, Mk. l
s/n L9828
L 9828
Beaufort L9834,
s/n L9834
L 9834
Beaufort L9851, Mk. I
s/n L9851
Bristol
L 9851
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort L9860, Mk l
s/n L9860
L 9860
Beaufort L9939, Mk. l
s/n L9939
L 9939
Beaufort L9950, Mk. l
s/n L9950
L 9950
Beaufort L9951, Mk. l
s/n L9951
L 9951
Beaufort L9953, Mk. l
s/n L9953
L 9953
Beaufort L9961, Mk. l
s/n L9961
L 9961
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort L9967, Mk. I
s/n L9967
m/d Type 152
L 9967
last update: 2025-February-05
1944-February-22 Classified Instructional CA A 397 2020-06-12
1946-March-30 Struck off Strength 2019-08-20
Beaufort L9968, Mk. I
s/n L9968
m/d Type 152
L 9968
last update: 2025-February-05
1942-February-04 Accident: 32 Operational Training Unit Loc: Patricia Bay Aerodrome Names: Robinson | Shorthouse
1944-April-03 Classified Instructional CA A 387 2020-06-12
1945-July-09 Struck off Strength 2020-10-26
Beaufort L45214, Mk. l
s/n L45214
L 45214
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort ML444, Tll
s/n ML444
ML 444
Beaufort N1005, Mk. I
s/n N1005
m/d Type 152
N 1005
last update: 2025-February-05
1941-December-31 Accident: 32 Operational Training Unit Loc: Aerodrome Names: Ashburner | Baker | Piddington
1942-December-02 Accident: 149 Squadron Loc: Patricia Bay Aerodrome Names: Bures | Luty | Tucker | Wilson
1944-October-04 Struck off Strength 2019-08-20
Beaufort N1006, Mk. I
s/n N1006
m/d Type 152
N 1006
last update: 2025-February-05
1942-February-15 Accident: 32 Operational Training Unit Loc: Aerodrome Names: Howie | Piddington
1942-May-09 Struck off Strength 2019-08-20
Beaufort N1007, Mk. I
s/n N1007
m/d Type 152
N 1007
last update: 2025-February-05
1944-February-28 Classified Instructional CA A 377 2020-06-12
1946-March-30 Struck off Strength Struck off, to War Assets Corporation for sale 2019-08-20
Beaufort N1011, I
s/n N1011
m/d Type 152
N 1011
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort N1015, I
s/n N1015
m/d Type 152
N 1015
Beaufort N1016, I
s/n N1016
m/d Type 152
N 1016
Beaufort N1021, Mk. I
s/n N1021
m/d Type 152
N 1021
last update: 2025-February-05
1943-February-23 Accident: 149 TB Squadron Loc: Patricia Bay Names: MacDonald | Watts
1943-April-19 Struck off Strength Struck off by No. 3 Repair Depot 2019-08-20
Beaufort N1026, I
s/n N1026
m/d Type 152
N 1026
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort N1026, Mk. I
s/n N1026
m/d Type 152
N 1026
last update: 2025-February-05
1942-May-29 Accident: 32 Operational Training Unit Loc: Sydney British Columbia Names: Hall | MacColl | O'Brien | Stillwell
1942-September-07 Struck off Strength Struck off by No. 3 Repair Depot, reduced to spares and produce 2019-08-20
Beaufort N1027, Mk. I
s/n N1027
m/d Type 152
N 1027
last update: 2025-February-05
1943-October-26 Accident: 32 Operational Training Unit Loc: Aerodrome Names: Jagger | Miles | Payne | Pearse
1944-March-09 Classified Instructional CA A 383 2020-06-12
1947-March-28 Struck off Strength 2019-08-20
Beaufort N1028, I
s/n N1028
m/d Type 152
N 1028
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort N1029, Mk. I
s/n N1029
m/d Type 152
N 1029
last update: 2025-February-05
1943-August-16 Struck off Strength Struck off, reduced to spares and produce at Patricia Bay 2019-08-20
Beaufort N1030, Mk. I
s/n N1030
m/d Type 152
N 1030
last update: 2025-February-05
1944-March-17 Classified Instructional CA A 375 2020-06-12
1947-March-28 Struck off Strength Strike off approved 2020-10-16
Beaufort N1045, Mk. I
s/n N1045
m/d Type 152
N 1045
last update: 2025-February-05
1944-February-17 Classified Instructional CA A 395 2020-06-12
1946-March-30 Struck off Strength 2019-08-20
Beaufort N1078, Mk. I
s/n N1078
m/d Type 152
N 1078
last update: 2025-February-05
1941-November-07 Accident: 32 Operational Training Unit Loc: Aerodrome Names: Jacobs
1944-February-17 Classified Instructional CA A 396 2020-06-12
1946-March-30 Struck off Strength 2019-08-20
Beaufort N1085, I
s/n N1085
m/d Type 152
N 1085
Beaufort N1107, Mk. I
s/n N1107
m/d Type 152
N 1107
last update: 2025-February-05
1942-January-14 Accident: 32 Operational Training Unit Loc: Aerodrome Pat Bay Names: Henry
1944-March-23 Classified Instructional CA A 376 2020-06-12
1945-July-09 Struck off Strength Struck off, retained in whole state 2019-08-20
Beaufort N1109, I
s/n N1109
m/d Type 152
N 1109
Beaufort N1154, I
s/n N1154
m/d Type 152
N 1154
Beaufort N1158, I
s/n N1158
m/d Type 152
N 1158
Beaufort N1162, I
s/n N1162
m/d Type 152
N 1162
Beaufort N1169, I
s/n N1169
m/d Type 152
N 1169
Beaufort N1171, I
s/n N1171
m/d Type 152
N 1171
Beaufort N1172, I
s/n N1172
m/d Type 152
N 1172
Beaufort N1180, I
s/n N1180
m/d Type 152
N 1180
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort W6473, Mk. I
s/n W6473
m/d Type 152
W 6473
last update: 2025-February-05
1942-March-27 Accident: 32 Operational Training Unit Loc: Rodeo Mexico Names: Berth-jones | Kimpton | Loyd | West
1942-May-14 Struck off Strength 2019-08-20
Beaufort W6474, Mk. l
s/n W6474
W 6474
last update: 2025-March-16
Ferry Flight 1942-03-18 to 1942-03-18
(Ferry) Ferry Command (RAF) Portreath
In March of 1942, the ever-growing needs of the RAF in the Middle East saw hundreds of replacement aircraft making the trip from Britain, many in the hands of No. 44 Group Ferry Service. There are some things we know about the final flight of Beaufort I (W64 7 4) by piecing infonmation together.
The crew of Thornton, Brinkworth (navigator), Sgt. Cyril Bohling, and Sgt. Andrew Brigstocke (both listed as wireless air gunners) took off from RAF Portreath, in southwest Cornwall, on the morning of March 18, headed south for Gibraltar. That meant transiting the dangerous skies over the Bay of Biscay.
They were nominally listed as member of No. 86 (Coastal Command) squadron, but the Operational Record Book for that month shows neither the aircraft nor the crew, on strength, or the flight itself recorded.
Once W6474 cleared English air space, the crew were never seen again.
The patrol boat off Lisbon identified a Beaufort and enemy aircraft, but there is no confirmation it was the Thornton crew, though a letter sent to Brinkworth's mother does say the RAF believes it to be so.
source: SPROG, Author Malcolm Kelly
Beaufort W6479, Mk. l
Beaufort W6480, Ml. l
s/n W6480
W 6480
Beaufort W6484, Mk. I
s/n W6484
m/d Type 152
W 6484
last update: 2025-February-05
1942-June-20 Accident: 32 Operational Training Unit Loc: Aerodrome Names: Ballantyne | Elliott | Kidd | Piddington
1944-March-09 Classified Instructional CA A 384 2020-06-12
1947-March-28 Struck off Strength 2019-08-20
Beaufort W6486, Mk. l
s/n W6486
W 6486
Beaufort W6489,
s/n W6489
W 6489
Beaufort W6520, Mk. l
s/n W6520
W 6520
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort W6522, Mk. l
s/n W6522
W 6522
Beaufort W6539, Mk. I
s/n W6539
W 6539
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort W9834, Mk. l
s/n W9834
W 9834
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort W9939, Mk. l
s/n W9939
W 9939
last update: 2025-March-16
Beaufort X8916, Mk. l
s/n X8916
X 8916
Beaufort X8921, Mk. l
s/n X8921
X 8921