History Brief
The Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I, among RAF pilots it had the nickname "Daffy". It was a British interceptor aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. They were designed and built by Boulton Paul Aircraft without any forward-firing guns, as a two-seat turret fighter, powered by a 1,030 hp (768 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin III piston engine and 723 built. It was a contemporary of the Royal Navy's Blackburn Roc and the concept of a turret fighter, as it was developed in both aircraft, related directly to the successful First World War-era Bristol F.2 Fighter.