Sanders, George Allan Paul

Killed in Flying Accident 1942-03-18

Birth Date: 1922

Born:

Son of Edward Milton Sanders and Rowena Olivia Sanders, of Carman, Manitoba, Canada.

Home: Carman, Manitoba

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: Unknown

Service

RCAF

Unit

60 OTU- Operational Training Unit

Base

Rank

Sergeant

Position

Sergeant

Service Numbers

R/91798

60 Operational Training Unit. Sergeant Sanders was the only casualty when Defiant aircraft N 1629 was in a mid-air collision at night with another Defiant aircraft. Aircraft N 1629 crashed at Athelstaneford, East Lothian.

Boulton Paul Defiant

(RAF Photo) (Source Harold A Skaarup web page)
Boulton Paul P.82 Defiant, RAF (Serial No. L7026), coded PS*V, c1941.
Boulton-Paul-Defiant--L7026--crisp.png image not found

The Boulton Paul Defiant is a British interceptor aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. The Defiant was designed and built by Boulton Paul Aircraft as a "turret fighter", without any fixed forward-firing guns, also found in the Blackburn Roc of the Royal Navy.

In combat, the Defiant was found to be reasonably effective at destroying bombers but was vulnerable to the Luftwaffe's more manoeuvrable, single-seat Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters. The lack of forward-firing armament proved to be a great weakness in daylight combat and its potential was realised only when it was converted to a night fighter. It eventually equipped thirteen squadrons in this role, compared to just two squadrons as a day-fighter. In mid-1942 it was replaced by better performing night-fighters, the Bristol Beaufighter and de Havilland Mosquito.

The Defiant continued to find use in gunnery training, target towing, electronic countermeasures and air-sea rescue. Among RAF pilots it had the nickname "Daffy".Wikipedia





YouTube Defiant Fighter

Wikipedia Wikipedia Defiant Fighter

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page