Editing Bristol Beaufighter (section)

====Southwest Pacific====
[[File:Bismarck Sea 127968.jpg|thumb|Flight Lieutenant Ron "Torchy" Uren of [[No. 30 Squadron RAAF]] takes a drink from his water canteen while in the cockpit of his Beaufighter during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. Still frame from ''[[The Bismarck Convoy Smashed]]'' (1943) by [[Damien Parer]]]]
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) was a keen operator of the Beaufighter during the Second World War. On 20 April 1942, the RAAF's first ''Beaufighter IC'' (an Australian designation given to various models of the aircraft, including ''Beaufighter VIC'', ''Beaufighter X'', and ''Beaufighter XIC''), which had been imported from Britain, was delivered; the last aircraft was delivered on 20 August 1945.<ref name = "moyes 14"/> Initial RAAF deliveries were directed to [[No. 30 Squadron RAAF|No. 30 Squadron]] in [[New Guinea]] and [[No. 31 Squadron RAAF|No. 31 Squadron]] in North-West Australia.<ref name = "moyes 14"/>

Before DAP Beaufighters arrived at RAAF units in the [[South West Pacific Theatre]], the Beaufighter Mk.IC was commonly employed in anti-shipping missions. The most famous of these was the [[Battle of the Bismarck Sea]], during which Beaufighters were used in a fire-suppression role in a mixed force with USAAF [[Douglas A-20 Boston]] and [[North American B-25 Mitchell]] bombers.<ref name = "moyes 16"/> Earlier in the battle, eight Beauforts from [[No. 100 Squadron RAAF]] at [[Milne Bay]] had unsuccessfully attacked the Japanese troop convoy with torpedoes and scored no hits. Thirteen Beaufighters of No. 30 Squadron flew in at mast height to provide heavy suppressive fire for the waves of attacking bombers. The Japanese convoy, under the impression that they were under attack by Beaufort torpedo bombers, made the tactical error of turning their ships towards the aircraft to avoid presenting their sides to attack, which allowed the Beaufighters to inflict severe damage on the ships' anti-aircraft guns, bridges and crews with strafing runs along the length of the ships with their four 20&nbsp;mm nose cannons and six wing-mounted .303&nbsp;in (7.7&nbsp;mm) machine guns.<ref name="battleforaustralia.org.au">{{cite web |url=http://www.battleforaustralia.org.au/BABismarkSea.php |title=The Battle of the Bismarck Sea |publisher=Battle for Australia Association |access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref> The Japanese ships were left exposed to mast-height bombing and [[skip bombing]] attacks by the US [[medium bomber]]s. Eight transports and four destroyers were sunk for the loss of five aircraft, including one Beaufighter.<ref name = "moyes 16"/><ref name="Bradley2010"/>

The role of the Beaufighters during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea was recorded by war correspondent and film-maker [[Damien Parer]], who had flown during the engagement standing behind the pilot of one of the No. 30 Squadron aircraft; the engagement led to the Beaufighter becoming one of the more well-known aircraft in Australian service during the conflict.<ref name = "moyes 16"/><ref name="Bradley2010">Bradley [https://books.google.com/books?id=l7BVAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 2010, p. 20.]</ref> On 2 November 1943, in another high-profile event Beaufighter ''A19-54'' won the second of two unofficial races against an A-20 Boston bomber.<ref name = "moyes 16"/>