Placing the Fairey Battle.

[Griffon]

To come back to the original topic:

the Battle, compared to other single engine light bombers or assault planes in 1939/40 was completely outdated, no matter how one puts it.

it carried a light payload and was weakly armed and armoured, and even if it got through to its targets, it could never hit them with the same precision as a Stuka for example could.
of course, unescorted Stukas usually did not fare better than unescorted Battles, but the fact still remains, that Battles were utterly useless as light bombers, even if they got through.

compare a Battle to a SBD, Stuka or Val and you will know what I mean.

it speaks volumes for the construction of the SBD and Stuka, that both were still operational in 1944 and indeed were operationally useful by then, something that surely could have never been said about the Battle.

the Swordfish on the other hand is not fitting as an example as it mostly operated over sea and seldomly was confronted by a spirited air defense system.
the one time it did, during the channel dash, it paid a heavy price though.

and do not get me started on the TBolt.
I am pretty sure that as a fighter bomber, the TBolt was way better than any Mustang, and I am equally sure, many Mustang pilots in the Korean war would have happily traded their Ponys against the rugged TBolt, if they had the chance to do so.

just my two cents though...

best regards
phil