This aircraft is a Fairey-built, ex-RAAF Beaufighter which was recovered from a farm by the Moorabbin Air Museum in Melbourne, Australia. It was used as a spares source for the Museum's Beaufighter A8-328 before it was sold and ended up at the NMUSAF by a very circuitous route. It is marked as the USAAF Beaufighter flown by Capt. Harold Augspurger, commander of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron, who shot down a He 111 carrying German staff officers in September 1944.

The only Beaufighter powered by Wright GR-2600 engines, The nacelles extended past the trailing edge of the wings to accommodate the larger engines. Conversion was a safeguard against disruption to the supply of Bristol Hercules engines for Australian-made Beaufighters. Performance was poorer than Hercules-powered aircraft and engine supply was not disrupted, so the project was dropped. A19-2, a British-built aircraft and a combat veteran, was scrapped. Photo from: National Archives of Australia

Photo by my dad Algy Spurr. Beaufighter Mk I. Photo Reconnaissance. 2 PRU / 272 / 252 / 201 Gp CF/ AHQ E Med. CF. - Serial T3301.

Photo by my dad Algy Spurr. Beaufighter Mk I. Photo Reconnaissance. 2 PRU / 272 / 252 / 201 Gp CF/ AHQ E Med. CF. - Serial T3301.

Photo believed taken at RAF Heliopolis, now known as Almaza.

"Night Mare" on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. This aircraft was delivered to the Royal Australian Air Force in 1942. It is painted to represent the Beaufighter flown by Capt. Harold Augspurger of the USAAF 415th Night Fighter Squadron, which operated from North Africa, Sicily, Italy and Corsica, before moving to France and Germany by the end of the war.

No 235 Sqn flew the Beaufighter Mk.IC fighter over the Bay of Biscay in 1942. Photo from: Imperial War Museums

Widely distributed wartime photo of T3316. It was with 272 Sqn based at Idku (Edku) on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. That the photo found its way to Australia suggests the crew may have included an Australian but that detail is not recorded. Photo from: National Library of Australia

This Beaufighter was built under license by the Fairey in Stockport and delivered to the RAAF in 1942 as A19-43. It is now on display at the National Museum of the USAF as the USAAF Beaufighter flown by Capt. Harold Augspurger, Commander of the 415th NFS, who shot down an He.111 carrying German staff officers in September 1944.

UK-built Beaufighter 1C wearing the two-colour South East Asia version of the Allied roundel. Obtained from the RAAF 50 years ago.

Fairey Aviation built 498 Beaufighters at Stockport and flew them from Manchester (Ringway) between December 1940 and May 1943. Many were supplied to Australia. From Faireys 60 years ago.