A No. 455 Squadron RAAF Bristol Beaufighter firing rockets near Norfolk, England during September 1944.
The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter, often referred to as simply the "Beau", was a versatile, multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War, by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in the UK. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort bomber: "Beaufighter" is a portmanteau of "Beaufort" and "fighter". In service, the Beaufighter was used initially as a night fighter and later mainly as a maritime strike/ground attack role. It also replaced the Beaufort as a torpedo bomber.
Variants built in Australia by the Department of Aircraft Production (DAP) were sometimes by the name DAP Beaufighter.
