A short timeline - Brewster Buffalo - The Fighter that won the Second World War
After Munich crisis it was clear that a new world war was about to come. Large and small countries alike tried to purchase new combat aircrafts for their air forces. In the USA, a small company called Brewster had scored a major success selling it's innovative F2A1 to the US Navy. Brewster smelled the amount of money to be made in military contracts and engaged up in a major marketing campaign for it's fighter - Buffalo. As Brewster could not manufacture enough Buffalos to suit the demand a quick fix had to be found. That was the license production deal with General Motors which rapidly built up a new plant to produce FM-1's (in TTL, Buffalos).
In Britain the demand for modern fighters was acute. For interceptor duties - considered to be the most important - the superb Spitfire was entering service. However, the production had not yet ramped up and additional planes had to be ordered. Brewster offered it's Buffalo which was evaluated to be clearly superior to Hurricane. As a result, Hurricane production could be terminated
By Autumn 1939 Brewster-239's were flowing into RAF, FAA and Armee de l'Air service. In addition to these major clients the ability to deliver fighters quickly was not lost by small countries. Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Belgium and Turkey all placed orders for the magnificent Brewster product.
In 1939 the RAF Bomber Command found out numerous problems, such as alarming tendency of it's planes getting found by German fighters and getting shot down. This was clearly not to be tolerated, thus something had to be done. Looking at RAF inventory it was found out that the stubby new American fighter had the range to fly from East Anglia to Berlin and back. In practice, the combat radius would cover only Northern Germany but that was enough. During the Sitzkrieg a number of training sorties were made to improve co-operation between British bombers and their escort fighters.
Sitzkrieg wasn't Sitzkrieg in the Scandinavia. On 30 November 1939 Soviet Union attacked Finland. The first Brewsters joined the fight on Christmas Eve as planes delivered for Sweden were diverted to the Finnish Air Force. Serving in the creme de la creme Lentolaivue 24 the planes were found out to be perfect for tactics developed pre war - vertical fight instead of turning fight, swarm (parvi) instead of vics and vees. The British air attache sent to Finland to observe the war took quick notice and decided to send the Finnish experiences directly to newly formed Brewster squadrons instead of routing them through the machinery of Air Ministry. Naval attache did likewise for the FAA.
The fighting in Scandinavia did not end in March 13 when Soviet Union and Finland made an armistice. On 9 April 1940 Germany attacked Denmark and Norway. Danish Buffalos were still in their crates but some examples of Norwegian Buffalos engaged in fighting, mostly in vain.
On 10 April 1940 the FAA Buffalos entered the fight escorting Blackburn Skuas bombing Bergen. An innovative FAA officer Commander Fitz-Jones noticed Skuas poor range and noticed that Buffalo could be modified to carry an observer and to carry a single 500lb bomb. Throughout his aunt, Hyacinth Bucket, operating in back chambers of London society he could make sure that these modified Buffalos - Bukefaloses - could enter service in late summer 1940.
The first real test for Buffalos came in during Battle of France. Belgian and French Buffalos were all employed against German war machine but achieved little due to poor tactics and deployment. With RAF Buffalos it was entirely different matter. The squadrons using Buffalo had adapted Finnish tactics which were as advanced as German schwarm. Buffalo could take an enormous amount of punishment and it's four .50 caliber machine guns packed up a real punch unlike .303's Hurricanes and Spitfires were using.
The Battle of Britain was Buffalo's finest hour alongside the Spitfire. This had an enormous propaganda impact in the United States as it could be seen that US products were visibly protection the UK. Although not having as good performance as Spitfires, the better tactics, ability to take damage and heavy punch of .50 cal machine guns ensured that Buffalo gained reputation as trustworthy bomber killer.
In the Mediterranean the Buffalos and modified Bukefaloses were found out to match Italian Air Force aircraft, whether employed over the Mediterranean or the Western Desert. Buffalo was found out to be good ground attack plane as well due to it's handsome low-level flying qualities. Buffalo-Bukefalos-Swordfish air wings proved to be a winning combination in FAA hands.
In 1941 the improved Buffalo - F2A-3 in USN use, Buffalo II in RAF use, entered service. Employing more powerful engine the plane proved to be, if not a match at least capable of facing Bf-109F's. Buffalo II also had the external fuel tanks and was capable of flying from East Anglia to Ruhr. It was the plane of choice as RAF's Bomber Command started it's bomber offensive on Germany. Night sorties were possible without escort, but they didn't hit anything and did not force Luftwaffe day fighters to fight. Bukefalos dive bombers were used as "commando bombers" - pathfinders and against specific high value targets. In time RAF's day bombing campaign forced more and more day fighter units tasked to defense of the Reich duties instead of being sent to East Front or the Mediterranean to support succesful Heer campaigns.
The plane had exhausted it's upgrade potential and quite curiously, like Supermarine, Brewster never designed a succesful combat plane. In fact, as Brewsters management was a complete shamble the fine design team was broken up in 1941.
But still, the Buffalo II served as an important Allied fighter until 1943 when new long-range fighters such as Grumman Hellcat and North American Mustang entered service. Onboard escort carriers it served to the end of the war operating in ASW and CAS tasks.
There was still one theater for which Buffalo was actually designed for and where it became a true legend. When Japan attacked Malaya the RAF contingent was poorly led but it's fighters were top notch and trained - albeit badly - in new tactics. The Malayan Campaign, as it is well known, was the beginnign of the Japanese string of failures which made even Italian war effort look good.
It was no wonder that flight of now obsolete Buffalos was included both in VE Victory Parade in June 1944 and VJ Victory Parade in October 1944.
After Munich crisis it was clear that a new world war was about to come. Large and small countries alike tried to purchase new combat aircrafts for their air forces. In the USA, a small company called Brewster had scored a major success selling it's innovative F2A1 to the US Navy. Brewster smelled the amount of money to be made in military contracts and engaged up in a major marketing campaign for it's fighter - Buffalo. As Brewster could not manufacture enough Buffalos to suit the demand a quick fix had to be found. That was the license production deal with General Motors which rapidly built up a new plant to produce FM-1's (in TTL, Buffalos).
In Britain the demand for modern fighters was acute. For interceptor duties - considered to be the most important - the superb Spitfire was entering service. However, the production had not yet ramped up and additional planes had to be ordered. Brewster offered it's Buffalo which was evaluated to be clearly superior to Hurricane. As a result, Hurricane production could be terminated
By Autumn 1939 Brewster-239's were flowing into RAF, FAA and Armee de l'Air service. In addition to these major clients the ability to deliver fighters quickly was not lost by small countries. Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Belgium and Turkey all placed orders for the magnificent Brewster product.
In 1939 the RAF Bomber Command found out numerous problems, such as alarming tendency of it's planes getting found by German fighters and getting shot down. This was clearly not to be tolerated, thus something had to be done. Looking at RAF inventory it was found out that the stubby new American fighter had the range to fly from East Anglia to Berlin and back. In practice, the combat radius would cover only Northern Germany but that was enough. During the Sitzkrieg a number of training sorties were made to improve co-operation between British bombers and their escort fighters.
Sitzkrieg wasn't Sitzkrieg in the Scandinavia. On 30 November 1939 Soviet Union attacked Finland. The first Brewsters joined the fight on Christmas Eve as planes delivered for Sweden were diverted to the Finnish Air Force. Serving in the creme de la creme Lentolaivue 24 the planes were found out to be perfect for tactics developed pre war - vertical fight instead of turning fight, swarm (parvi) instead of vics and vees. The British air attache sent to Finland to observe the war took quick notice and decided to send the Finnish experiences directly to newly formed Brewster squadrons instead of routing them through the machinery of Air Ministry. Naval attache did likewise for the FAA.
The fighting in Scandinavia did not end in March 13 when Soviet Union and Finland made an armistice. On 9 April 1940 Germany attacked Denmark and Norway. Danish Buffalos were still in their crates but some examples of Norwegian Buffalos engaged in fighting, mostly in vain.
On 10 April 1940 the FAA Buffalos entered the fight escorting Blackburn Skuas bombing Bergen. An innovative FAA officer Commander Fitz-Jones noticed Skuas poor range and noticed that Buffalo could be modified to carry an observer and to carry a single 500lb bomb. Throughout his aunt, Hyacinth Bucket, operating in back chambers of London society he could make sure that these modified Buffalos - Bukefaloses - could enter service in late summer 1940.
The first real test for Buffalos came in during Battle of France. Belgian and French Buffalos were all employed against German war machine but achieved little due to poor tactics and deployment. With RAF Buffalos it was entirely different matter. The squadrons using Buffalo had adapted Finnish tactics which were as advanced as German schwarm. Buffalo could take an enormous amount of punishment and it's four .50 caliber machine guns packed up a real punch unlike .303's Hurricanes and Spitfires were using.
The Battle of Britain was Buffalo's finest hour alongside the Spitfire. This had an enormous propaganda impact in the United States as it could be seen that US products were visibly protection the UK. Although not having as good performance as Spitfires, the better tactics, ability to take damage and heavy punch of .50 cal machine guns ensured that Buffalo gained reputation as trustworthy bomber killer.
In the Mediterranean the Buffalos and modified Bukefaloses were found out to match Italian Air Force aircraft, whether employed over the Mediterranean or the Western Desert. Buffalo was found out to be good ground attack plane as well due to it's handsome low-level flying qualities. Buffalo-Bukefalos-Swordfish air wings proved to be a winning combination in FAA hands.
In 1941 the improved Buffalo - F2A-3 in USN use, Buffalo II in RAF use, entered service. Employing more powerful engine the plane proved to be, if not a match at least capable of facing Bf-109F's. Buffalo II also had the external fuel tanks and was capable of flying from East Anglia to Ruhr. It was the plane of choice as RAF's Bomber Command started it's bomber offensive on Germany. Night sorties were possible without escort, but they didn't hit anything and did not force Luftwaffe day fighters to fight. Bukefalos dive bombers were used as "commando bombers" - pathfinders and against specific high value targets. In time RAF's day bombing campaign forced more and more day fighter units tasked to defense of the Reich duties instead of being sent to East Front or the Mediterranean to support succesful Heer campaigns.
The plane had exhausted it's upgrade potential and quite curiously, like Supermarine, Brewster never designed a succesful combat plane. In fact, as Brewsters management was a complete shamble the fine design team was broken up in 1941.
But still, the Buffalo II served as an important Allied fighter until 1943 when new long-range fighters such as Grumman Hellcat and North American Mustang entered service. Onboard escort carriers it served to the end of the war operating in ASW and CAS tasks.
There was still one theater for which Buffalo was actually designed for and where it became a true legend. When Japan attacked Malaya the RAF contingent was poorly led but it's fighters were top notch and trained - albeit badly - in new tactics. The Malayan Campaign, as it is well known, was the beginnign of the Japanese string of failures which made even Italian war effort look good.
It was no wonder that flight of now obsolete Buffalos was included both in VE Victory Parade in June 1944 and VJ Victory Parade in October 1944.
