[Steve49]

Ordered by the French and taken over by the UK, its initial shortcomings as a fighter are discused at some length in W. Wolf's '13th Fighter Command in WWII'. Many were later reclaimed by the AAC and being the only aircraft available were used as fighters during operations over New Guinea and Guadalcanal, during which they performed poorly. Later used in the ground attack role 'its low-altitude performance, good protective armor plate, and a heavy armament' made it a 'superlative attack aircraft' and it gained much praise.

However this was in the face of limited ground defences, whether its would have been able to survive any better than over Allied aircraft, with its liquid cooled engine, in the face of flak defences found in Western Europe is another question.

Regards,

Steve