Editing Sopwith Camel (section)

===Home defence and night fighting===
[[File:The Battle of Passchendaele, July- November 1917 Q7784.jpg|thumb|A downed Sopwith Camel near [[Zillebeke]], [[West Flanders]], Belgium, 26 September 1917]]
An important role for the Camel was home defence. The RNAS flew Camels from [[RAF Eastchurch|Eastchurch]] and [[RAF Manston|Manston]] airfields against [[German strategic bombing during World War I|daylight raids]] by German bombers, including [[Gotha G.IV|Gothas]], from July 1917.<ref name = "bruce 9">Bruce 1965, p. 9.</ref> The public outcry against the night raids and the poor response of London's defences resulted in the RFC deciding to divert Camels that had been heading to the frontlines in France to Britain for the purposes of home defence; in July 1917, [[No. 44 Squadron RAF|44 Squadron RFC]] reformed and reequipped with the Camel to conduct the home defence mission.<ref name="Davis p96">Davis 1999, p. 96.</ref> By March 1918, the home defence squadrons had been widely equipped with the Camel and by August 1918, a total of seven home defence squadrons were operating these aircraft.<ref name="Davis p98">Davis 1999, p. 98.</ref>

When the Germans switched to performing night attacks, the Camel proved capable of being flown at night.<ref name = "Jackson 2007 3"/> Those aircraft assigned to home defence squadrons were quickly modified with navigation lights to serve as night fighters. A smaller number of Camels were more extensively changed; on these aircraft, the Vickers machine guns were replaced by over-wing [[Lewis guns]] and the cockpit was moved rearwards so the pilot could reload the guns. This modification, which became known as the "Sopwith Comic" allowed the guns to be fired without affecting the pilot's night vision and allowed the use of new, more effective incendiary ammunition that was considered unsafe to fire from synchronised Vickers guns.<ref name="Davis p97">Davis 1999, p. 97.</ref><ref name="Brucev2 p1151,3">Bruce 1968, p. 151, 153.</ref>{{#tag:ref|The ammunition in question was the RTS (Richard Thelfall and Sons) round, a combined incendiary and explosive round with a [[nitroglycerin]] and [[phosphorus]] filling. While more effective than earlier incendiary bullets such as the phosphorus-filled [[Incendiary ammunition#World War I|Buckingham bullet]], they required careful handling, and were initially banned from synchronised weapons, because of fears about the consequences of bullets striking the propeller of the fighter, and to prevent [[cooking off]] of the sensitive ammunition in the chambers of the Vickers guns, which fired from a [[closed bolt]]—a required feature for guns used in synchronized mounts—where heat could build up much quicker than in the [[open bolt]]ed Lewis gun.<ref name="Davis p97"/><ref name="flygunI p11,4">Williams and Gustin 2003, pp. 11, 14.</ref>|group=Note}}

The Camel was used to intercept and shoot down German bombers on several occasions during 1918, serving in this capacity through] to the final German bombing raid upon Britain on the night of the 20/21 May 1918.<ref name = "Jackson 2007 3 6">Jackson 2007, pp. 3-6.</ref> During this air raid, a combined force of 74 Camels and [[S.E.5]]s intercepted 28 Gothas and [[Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI]]s; three German bombers were shot down, while two more were downed by anti-aircraft fire and a further aircraft was lost to engine failure, resulting in the heaviest losses suffered by German bombers during a single night's operation over England.<ref name = "Jackson 2007 6">Jackson 2007, p. 6.</ref> In July 1918 seven Sopwith Camels destroyed two German Zeppelins by bombing their hangars in the [[Tondern raid]]; they were flown off {{HMS|Furious|47|6}} and then landed in Denmark or ditched in the sea to be picked up.

[[File:HMS Furious Tondern Raid 1918 IWM SP 1156.jpg|thumb|Navalised Camels on the aircraft carrier {{HMS|Furious|47|6}} prior to raiding the [[Tondern raid|Tondern airship hangars]]]]

The Camel night fighter was also operated by [[No. 151 Squadron RAF|151 Squadron]] to intercept German night bombers operating over the Western Front.<ref name="Davis p98-9"/> These aircraft also carried out night intruder missions against German airstrips. After five months of operations, 151 Squadron had claimed responsibility for shooting down 26 German aircraft.<ref name="Davis p98-9">Davis 1999, pp. 98–99.</ref>