Wingleader Photo Archive 46. Fairey Swordfish in Pre-war and Worldwar Two service

When you consider that the Swordfish entered service way back in 1936 and was still flying operationally at the end of WW2, with the same engine (!), you start to realise what a significant aircraft the Swordfish was.

It was very slow and lacked manoeuvrability, but it could deliver bombs, torpedoes, depth charges and rockets more accurately than most of its competitors and replacements! Indeed, by the end of the war, it had sunk a greater tonnage of shipping than any other Allied aircraft and had served in pretty much every theatre of operations.

We’re delighted therefore to finally include the Swordfish in the WPA series and equally delighted to welcome Neil Robinson back to write it. Neil has a broad knowledge of the colours and markings of 1930s/40s RAF/FAA aircraft which is crucial for this subject.

As with every WPA book, we’ve all learned something new about the subject, and corrected some common mistakes seen on the majority of model kits, pay particular attention to the landing lights for example!