The RAF was caught flat-footed when war erupted over the Munich crisis in 1938. The Nazi juggernaut not only rolled over Czechoslovakia, but was also able to gobble up the low countries and Belgium. France fell in April, 1939. From across the English Channel, the British looked on in horror and many stop-gap measures were pushed forward.
The RAF found itself completely out-numbered and mostly out-classed when the Luftwaffe "Blitz" began in May, 1939. Spitfires and Hurricanes were available only in small numbers and were usually busy fighting off Me-109s. Nothing else had the speed, ceiling and firepower to stop the Nazi threat. What was needed was a fast, heavily armed bomber killer.
DeHavilland had a solution. They up-engined their famous Comet racer with high-compression Halls-Hearst Hurlin' engines and added the punch of four 30 m.m. cannon. The new bomber killer was officially known as the DH Gunnery Special but pilots and crews called it the Gunner.
Pushed into combat, the new aircraft soon proved valuable. With just a few bursts of its 30 m.m. cannon, the Gunner was able to practically disintegrate Nazi bombers.
More to follow...
Brian da Basher