The first unit to take the machine to France was
No. 48 Squadron, which arrived there on March 8th, 1917. The
squadron's first offensive patrol was made on April 5th, 1917, but
proved to be a disastrous debut. The patrol consisted of six F.2As
and was led by Captain Leefe-Robinson, V.C. When over Douai, they
were attacked by five Albatros D.IIIs led by Manfred von Richthofen, who
shot down two of the Bristols for his thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth
victories. Richthofen’s pilots accounted for two other Bristols,
one of them flown by Leefe-Robinson himself.
But the fault lay not in the Bristol. In its
earliest days, its crews made the serious tactical error of flying the
machine in the accepted manner of the time for two-seaters; namely, as a
platform for the observer's gun. They failed to recognize the
Bristol's supreme combat virtues of manoeuvrability and structural
strength.
Fortunately, one or two pilots began more or less experimentally to
fight the Bristol in the single-seater fashion, using the front gun as
the primary weapon and leaving the observer to protect the tail.
These tactics were immediately successful, and were forthwith adopted by
No. 48 Squadron and by No. 11, the second unit to receive Bristol
Fighters. The leading exponent of the Bristol Fighter was Lieutenant
A. E. McKeever of No. 11 Squadron, who
opened his scoring on June 29th, 1917 by shooting down an Albatros
Scout. McKeever shot down thirty-one aircraft in five months.
It was intended to fit the aircraft with Rolls-Royce engines but
these were not being produced in sufficient quantities. The
realization of the excellence of the Bristol Fighter led to a
substantial expansion of production of the type and by the autumn of
1917 it was obvious that Rolls Royce production would not be able to
keep pace with the output of Bristol Fighters.
Alternative power units had to be considered,
one of which was the Sunbeam Arab for which this prop was made.
The batch number of the prop suggests that it was
made early in 1918. The prop is in newly restored condition and we
have made a new hub plate.
