05 May 2024

What to do when your Fairey Fulmar is caught short by the Germans

Perhaps the [Fairey] Fulmar's weakest point was its lack of rear-firing armament; in some cases the crew improvised with such weapons as the Thompson submachine gun or a Verey pistol, but it has been said that the most unusual weapon was a bundle of lavatory paper. Held together by an elastic band this, when thrown into the slipstream, scattered in all directions causing the pursuers to break away in confusion.

- David Mondey, British Aircraft of World War II, London, 1994, p.103, describing the Fleet Air Arm's two-seat carrier-based fighter, the Fairey Fulmar.

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