It is very easy to question, or even denigrate, the decisions of the Air Ministry in the post-first and pre-second war period. I would suggest that, unlike today when we have few (and only one UK?) aircraft manufacturers, in that era there were many, each of which had much to bring to the table in terms of their innovation, concept and practical designs; this was a period of rapid and significant developments. With the benefit of hindsight we can look at such aeroplanes as the Avro Aldershot, Blackburn Botha, Boulton Paul Overstrand, Bristol Bombay, De Havilland Flamingo, Handley Page Heyford, Short Rangoon, Vickers Vernon and many other low volume production types and question the wisdom. What I believe it did was to keep a large number of manufacturers going in the hard times that prevailed and, by their innovation, the aircraft types that were developed in the immediate pre-WW2 period led to the successful types that came as a result of that conflict. It also meant that there were a large number of skilled people ready to meet the challenges that were presented by that wartime expansion. Alright, so only 24 Overstrands were built and they only equipped 2 squadrons (101 and 144, which latter had 4 aircraft). Don’t mock. The current, diminished RAF has, I don’t know, maybe, 7 squadrons of Typhoons, each of which has how many serviceable aeroplanes? Our government scrapped the only Maritime Patrol Aircraft in the inventory and left us with no MPA, or ELINT capability. Oh sorry, I forgot about the Sentry (5 airframes?) and one squadron, or is it now two each with two and a half aeroplanes? Sentinel (perhaps another 5). Just remind me how many aged Boeing 707 derivative airframes, with no traceable history, our political masters have acquired to equip a squadron with ELINT aircraft to replace the Nimrod airframes they has unceremoniously scrapped because of a claimed “non-traceable” history. You know what? Good old Boulton Paul. Without the Overstrand; no Defiant, no Balliol and, although the name Boulton Paul has disappeared from aircraft manufacture, without those links we wouldn’t be debating the benefits of the first enclosed turret bomber. And we might still have an aircraft industry to be proud of.