This Boulton Paul P.82 Defiant TT.Mk I/II (serial AA508/508) was one of four target towing aircraft of the RAF (AA422, AA508, AA547, and DR968) donated to the REAF by the British government in early 1947. All were equipped with target towing gear in place of the gun turret, and had a Type B Mk IIa windmill-driven winch on the right side of the fuselage. This example had a tropical air- and oil cooler intake under the nose. While the Egyptians recalled them as ‘arriving from Columbo’ (Sri Lanka), none are mentioned in the records of the South-East Asia Command. More likely, they arrived from Qalandiya/Kalandia aerodrome in Palestine, which was a home-base of No. 26 AACU, equipped with Defiants, AA422, AA508, and AA547 were struck off RAF charge on 1 January 1947, DR968 was on 22 February 1947. All were allocated to the REAF Target Towing Flight, starting in April 1947, but were found in much too poor condition to be flown. At least one was sighted at Almaza in summer 1948. (Artwork by Peter Penev)