Wingleader Magazine - Issue 6 by Wingleader Magazine

MAGAZINE

DIGITAL ISSUE SIX

For all those1 who still run to the window when something flies over...

DIGITAL ISSUE SIX

INGLEADER

IN THIS ISSUE NEW DAMBUSTER MEMORIAL Managing Director: Simon Parry (Co-Founder) Editor and Design Director: Mark Postlethwaite (Co-Founder) Technical Director: Wesley Cornell (Co-Founder)

BATTLE OF BRITAIN BOOK LAUNCH THE TIFFY BOYS

Contributors to this issue: Andrew Thomas Anne Gafiuk Ken Wright Mark Welch Dave Johnson Jonny Cracknell

Sharne Cracknell Melvin Chambers Danielle Roubroeks Nick Trudgian

Editorial Submissions: If you have any editorial content (news, comment, articles etc.) that you would like us to consider for inclusion in the next edition of Wingleader Magazine, please email us at editorial@wingleadermagazine.co.uk

Advertising: advertising@wingleadermagazine.co.uk T: +44 (0)845 095 0346 E: hello@wingleadermagazine.co.uk W: www.wingleadermagazine.co.uk All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. © Wingleader Magazine Ltd 2019. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used or reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. Wingleader Magazine is published by Wing Leader Ltd (08559824), registered in England and Wales. Registered office: 12 Jordan Street, Liverpool, L1 0BP, United Kingdom. All information contained in this magazine is for information only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press. Wingleader Magazine cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. Any material you submit is sent at your risk and, although every care is taken, neither Wingleader Magazine nor its employees, agents or subcontractors shall be liable for loss or damage. The views expressed in Wingleader Magazine are not necessarily the views of Wing Leader Ltd, its editors or its contributors.

RIGGING WWI MODELS

EYES FOR THE ARMY

elcome to issue 6 of Wingleader Magazine. Thanks for all your positive comments about our Dambuster Special last month, download figures were certainly a lot higher than regular months, indicating that it might well be worth us doing the occasional ‘special’.

PHOTO ARCHIVE - RAF MUSTANG Is On the cover: Typhoons at Falaise by Nick Trudgian. Hawker Typhoons of 198 Squadron attack retreating German columns in the Falaise Pocket, Normandy, in August 1944.

www.nicolastrudgian.com

In this month’s issue we look at the vital contribution made by Typhoon pilots to the D-Day landings and beyond, and also look at the groundwork for D-Day carried out by the RAF’s early Mustangs. There’s also a very useful beginner’s guide to rigging WWI biplane models. If like me you’ve always avoided modelling anything with two sets of wings because of the rigging, this could prove to be an inspiration! We’ve also included a couple of news items in this month’s digital issue, these will not appear in the printed compendium version but we hope you find them of interest.

We are now in a position where can accept a limited amount of advertising in this digital magazine If you or your company would like to support our project and reach a fresh and vibrant new audience of aviation enthusiasts, please contact us for our Media Pack. We can offer some very generous introductory rates for those who get in early.

advertising@wingleadermagazine.co.uk

Mark Postlethwaite. June 2019

DIGITAL NEWS

NEW DAMBUSTER MEMORIAL UNVEILED

A view of the unveiling ceremony (Melvin Chambers)

new memorial stone for Squadron Leader Henry Maudslay DFC and his crew of Dambuster Lancaster ED937 AJ-Z was unveiled in Emmerich am Rhein on 17th May 2019. This event was exactly 76 years to the day that the aircraft was brought down by ground fire on its return from attacking the Eder Dam. AJ-Z was the second Lancaster to attack the Eder but for some reason, the Upkeep “bouncing bomb” was released too late and hit the top of the Dam detonating under the aircraft. Although damaged undoubtedly by this, Maudslay and the crew limped towards home but flew off course near the Dutch border, flying over an oil installation on the banks of the Rhein which was defended by anti-aircraft guns. The struggling Lancaster proved to be an easy target and within seconds the aircraft was mortally hit and crashed in a field near Emmerich. There were no

survivors and all seven crew are now buried in the Reichswald Commonwealth War Graves cemetery. The event was organised by local researcher Marcel Hahn from Germany and Mark Welch from England. They met at another memorial event a few years ago and decided to work together to ensure that the last remaining Dambuster crew had a memorial placed at the spot their aircraft came down. Marcel said “This was one of the most important days of our lives. I was so happy that so many people joined us. It was very emotional for us to have some members of the crew’s families here today. It is a sign of peace, cooperation and reconciliation.” This sentiment was powerfully demonstrated when Victoria Trevelyan, the niece of the pilot, embraced Johannes Doerwald telling him

The Memorial to Henry Maudslay’s crew. (MoD)

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(Danielle Roubroeks)

“I don’t want you to feel guilty. I would have done exactly the same for my country if I was in the same situation”. The moment of reconciliation between Johannes Doerwald and Henry Maudslay’s niece Victoria Trevelyan (Melvin Chambers)

Johannes Doerwald was a 16 year old gun layer on the night of 17 May 1943 and was credited with bringing down the aircraft. In his thought provoking speech, Johannes said “I have the moonlit night of 16-17 May 1943, when the catastrophe at the dams happened, still very much in my memory. A four engined bomber flew past us at low altitude towards the Möhnesee. I cannot forget the sight of this colossus. When the gunner released “fire” I was so excited that I had forgotten to put the safety lever around. The machine flew so low that it collided 20 km from here with a high voltage line. Then came the Lancaster ED937, which was on the return flight. I still know today how it was hit by the tracer ammunition. That night, 53 young people, who still had their lives ahead of them, died. Such a cruel war must not be repeated”.

Mr Peter Hinze, the Bürgermeister of Emmerich, then welcomed the guests in English before a speech by RAF representative Wing Commander Paul Withers from the NATO Combined Air Operations Centre in Uedem. Addressing the audience in German and English Wing Commander Withers said: “Henry Maudslay and his crew gave their lives attempting a difficult and dangerous mission in the hope that it would contribute to bringing to an end one of the darkest periods in European history. Since the end of the war, Europe has enjoyed relative peace and stability.” He added: “It has done so because post-war reconciliation led to strong bonds of friendship between former enemies, aided by a strong NATO alliance. That this memorial stone has been created is evidence of the strength of those bonds of friendship and it is a fantastic tribute to the crew of AJ-Z”.

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Mark and Marcel then paid tribute to each of the individual crew members before a minutes silence was observed. The memorial stone was then revealed. In attendance were and people from the local area. There were also representatives from six NATO nations, including Polish Brigadier General SĹ&#x201A;awomir Ĺťakowski, who is the Deputy Commander of the Combined Air Operations Centre. Also attending were other family relatives of the aircrew, including 86-year old Norma Bagshaw, the niece of flight engineer Sergeant John Marriott DFM and Susan Maudslay-Maguire, Angela Gardiner, Victoria Trevelyan and Nigel Maudslay, the nieces and nephew of Squadron Leader Maudslay DFC. Organisers Marcel Hahn and Mark Welch address the guests with the field where AJ-Z crashed behind them. (Melvin Chambers)

The unveiling. (MoD)

DIGITAL NEWS

BATTLE OF BRITAIN PILOT’S BOOK LAUNCH AT BENTLEY PRIORY

n Saturday 1 June 2019 a large crowd of enthusiasts and friends gathered at Bentley Priory Museum, Stanmore for the launch of a new biography ‘Against Adversity’ covering the life of Battle of Britain Hurricane pilot Archie McInnes. The book is the result of several months’ work by author Jonny Cracknell who interviewed Archie on a regular basis over that time to record Archie’s truly remarkable story. Archie initially joined 601 Squadron but was soon posted to 238 Squadron towards the end of the Battle of Britain. In 1941 he and the squadron were posted to North Africa where they flew the Hurricane against the far superior Me109F. On 30 October 1941, Archie was shot down by an Me109 and severely injured. His left arm was amputated and his road to recovery was a slow and painful one. Despite this, Archie battled back to full health and served briefly in the Air Ministry before returning to fly again with No. 691 and No. 595 Squadrons. The book covers Archie’s remarkable story and includes many rare photos from his private photo album, including some previously unseen images of his fellow 238 Squadron pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain.

Left: 99 year old Archie McInnes and author Jonny Cracknell with the Bentley Priory Museum Hurricane gate guardian on the day of the launch.

The book launch was timed to coincide with aviation artist Mark Postlethwaite’s final day as Artist in Residence at Bentley Priory. Mark had

DIGITAL NEWS Archie reflects on old friends and comrades who are commemorated in Bentley Prioryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s magnificent rotunda.

DIGITAL NEWS

spent the week painting a new symbolic canvas titled ‘The Few’ which will show every RAF squadron that flew in the Battle of Britain. All week, visiting children had been helping Mark paint the canvas so it was fitting that Archie should also take part and paint his aircraft to represent 238 Squadron. Archie is a talented artist himself, so despite as he put it, ‘having 5 thumbs now’, he managed to paint his regular Hurricane VK-D on the canvas. Archie duly signed the back of the canvas alongside the signatures of all the children that took part that week. We’ll have a full report on the painting project in a future issue. Top left: Archie paints his Hurricane on Mark Postlethwaite’s new Battle of Britain canvas. Top right: Despite losing his arm, Archie was soon back in the cockpit, pictured here in a 595 Squadron Spitfire. Left: The book signing in the ballroom at Bentley Priory.

For more information about this hidden gem of a museum please see the Bentley Priory Museum website:

bentleypriorymuseum.org.uk To purchase a copy of Archie’s book: (signed copies might be available) please contact the author at:

jonnycracknell.com

THE TIFFY BOYS 9

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Harry Hardy has always been a man on a mission. Now in his late 90s, he is still spreading the word about the importance of the Hawker Typhoon from D-Day to VE-Day. He has spoken to numerous groups over the years with slide presentations generously illustrated by personal photographs and infused with his own first-hand accounts. He appealed to Anne Gafiuk, a Canadian researcher and author to collect the stories of the other ‘Tiffy Boys’ before it was too late. “You have to talk to those of us who remain before we are all gone. Combine them all into a true picture of our life and how the Typhoons contributed to the success of the Allied armies as they fought from Normandy to Germany during World War Two. Your questions rejuvenate our old memories.” This then is part one of the story of the ‘Tiffy Boys’ as told to Anne and Ken Wright by Harry Hardy, 440 Squadron, Doug Gordon, 440 Squadron, Frank Johnson, 174 Squadron, Jack Hilton, 438 Squadron, John Thompson, 245 Squadron, and Wally Ward, 440 Squadron.

Above: Harry Hardy with co-author Anne Gafiuk. Left: 439 Squadron Typhoons viewed through a damaged hangar in Holland. (All photos via the authors)

The landings at Gold Beach (British), Juno (Canadian), and Sword (British) had a combined length of 20 miles and criss-crossing this area assisting the armies to gain a foothold in Europe were the Royal Air Force rocket and bomb carrying Hawker Typhoons and the men brave enough to fly them into combat. Their chances of survival in the role they played between 1944 and 1945 were not great. The Hawker Typhoon’s first flight was in 1940 but did not begin to mature into a reliable aircraft until 1942. Despite its high production numbers, both the Mk Ia and Ib were plagued by a series of design and technical problems. The fighter-bomber’s ability to smash German attempts to concentrate for a decisive armour thrust was thanks to the bombing of communications and constant fighter-bomber

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n 6 June 1944, Operation OVERLORD began when the British, Canadian, and American armies staged the greatest amphibious landing in history on the French beaches of Normandy. The post war generation regarded the invasion as a great feat of Allied arms. Yet the German army vastly outgunned and facing absolute Allied control of the sea and the air, fought one of the most skilful and courageous defensive battles of World War Two. Even now, we remain fascinated by these events but despite all the television documentaries and the Hollywood movies, there is a part of the D-Day landings in Normandy, which is often overlooked. Without the Allied superiority in airpower, which enabled the ground troops to operate with almost total freedom, the landings could have ended in a massive disaster.

Above: ‘Pulveriser IV I8-P RB389 of 440 Sqn heads out on another mission in 1945. Note the huge propeller needed for the powerful Napier-Sabre engine.

sweeps of the German river areas. Movement by daylight for the Germans became hazardous and was often impossible. The crippling damage to enemy transport only started in the later stages of the Battle of Normandy when difficulties on the ground compelled the Germans to move during the day. Flight Lieutenant Harry Hardy, DFC, 440 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force says, “Everyone was trained. Everyone was a competent pilot. If he was still alive, he was a good pilot. On an operation, I never watched to see if the other pilots knew how

to fly. I was too busy worrying about myself. The aircraft performed the same. The more experienced pilot would get the drop on the other guy. We had three months to learn to become a fighter pilot. “During training, we would have been in class for the morning, with Battle of Britain pilots teaching us. In the afternoon, we had tactical training. We would be out for an hour, in front of the formation for 15 minutes, and then in the back for 15 minutes, and then repeat the cycle. We were practicing what we were taught in the morning.

“Timing was everything. We had our cannons synchronized. Typhoons had 4 cannons, 2 x 1000 lb bombs or 2 x 500 lb bombs for an armed recce (dive bombing). When the cannons were fired, the pilots would move forward in their harness straps due to the recoil. We would be about 400 yards in front of the ground target when opening fire, whether it was a tank, train or an enemy aircraft.” On 10 August 1944, Flight Lieutenant Hardy was posted from 83 Group Support Unit Bognor Regis to 440 RCAF Squadron based at airfield B9 Lantheuil/Creully on the Normandy

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beachhead. 440 Squadron, along with 438 and 439, made up 143 Wing of 83 Group of 2 T.A.F. [Tactical Air Force] “We set up tents and bunked two to a tent. We had canvas sinks and camping kits. We did this in Brussels too, where we were held for about two weeks.”

Harry Hardy in early 1945, ready for his next sortie.

On 18 September 1944, an advance party of the Royal Air Force occupied the large hastily evacuated Luftwaffe base at Eindhoven in Holland. Because it was designed to be a permanent air base, it was equipped with brick buildings, well-constructed huts, dispersed taxiways, and earthen revetments. During the following months, the Eindhoven-based pilots were extremely busy with ground support, tactical reconnaissance and artillery reconnaissance missions, in support of the rapidly advancing Allied ground forces. Hardy explains, “In Eindhoven, at the recently evacuated Luftwaffe base, our advance crews had to get rid of the booby traps and patch up the runway. We were billeted two to a cell -- yes, in the jail! We were in the basement there, but it was better than the tents. There was no room for a table in the cells, but Buck Jenvey and I went to the bombed-out buildings and collected whatever we could get: lumber, nails, tables, chairs, and brought it back to the cell. Once it was a setup, people ended up playing cards on our table! “We spent the winter in the convent -- it had a large courtyard about 100 ft2. The convent was warm. We had our Mess there. We pilots lived in the lower level of the convent. All 24 of us in one classroom -- 24 of us! The cots were lined up all the way around the walls, with a table in the middle.”

Flt Lt Harry Hardy DFC 440 Sqn

The ‘daily’ routine of a Typhoon pilot was anything but predictable. Hardy explains. If the British or Canadian Armies needed help, the Typhoons were called in. The phrase ‘whistle for a Tiffy’ was exclusive to Typhoon squadrons. The army provided the gridreferences, which were sent to Intelligence for assessment and planning. The leaders of Blue and Red Squadrons would enter a tent or a trailer, where the Intelligence Officer who kept track of everything was located. The leaders were shown the location on a map which was supplied to everyone should a leader be shot down as the positions in the Typhoon grouping would have to be shuffled. The Squadron Leader would then set the ‘tit time’, when the pilots would press the button to start the motor at the same time, as in ‘synchronize your watches.’

The pilots were dressed, just waiting for the word if an operation was on or off. If it was a ‘go’, leather flying helmets and Mae Wests were donned, and the pilots would be picked up usually in a three-ton truck, then dropped off at their respective aircraft in the dispersal area. Parachutes were then put on and each pilot would climb inside the cockpit. Some pilots carried a service issue revolver possibly a .38 Enfield No 2 Mk 1 on every mission but many preferred to leave it behind. Hardy says, “We were told not to be heroes and to surrender to the first soldier we saw if we were shot down and caught.”

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Harry’s story

Hardy explains the armament of the RCAF’s Typhoon. “It had 2 anti-personnel bombs; within each of these were 26-20 pound bomblets (essentially hand-grenades with tail fin) in the 5’ x 18” canister. When you drop the bomb from 8000 to 4000 feet, vanes made the bombs spin so that made the 52 hand grenades being dropped spread out over a wide area. Then there were the very effective Hispano cannons. “With the amount of ammunition we had, we could make four strikes/hits, but if you budgeted it well, you could make five! We had 520 rounds but we tried to go home with 20 rounds each in our planes just in case we saw a worthwhile target or encountered enemy aircraft. As we had strafed low down, everybody began trying to shoot you down from the front. Fortunately, we had 1½” to 2” thick armoured plated glass windshields as protection.

Right: A rare colour photo of a 439 Squadron Typhoon being rearmed in Holland.

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“From D-Day, 6 June 1944 to VE Day, May 8 1945, was the heyday for Typhoons. We really shone during this time. We started out full-strength on D-Day, but kept losing guys. American Thunderbolts and Mustangs were providing their support over the US Troops. “The black and white stripes on the Typhoon’s wings were painted on the night before D-Day by the maintenance crews. We were going to France and if we didn’t have these markings, we were liable to be shot at by our own side. Problem is, it happened on occasions anyway. “We flew 16 aircraft every day, twice a day, sometimes three times a day. Pilots had to double up! We were daylight to dark on the beachhead. We could see the carnage on the beach. Nobody talks about what we did. Any target that needed neutralizing, the Typhoons were asked to solve the problem. In doing so, 665 Typhoon pilots lost their lives,” says Hardy. “There were seventeen squadrons of Typhoons and 27 pilots in each squadron. This is the number who attacked the beaches on D-Day. Not everyone survived an operation. During the Battle of Normandy (D-Day to 25 August), 151 Typhoon pilots were killed, with 51 of them Canadian. Casualties were replaced as available from the Operational Training Unit (OTU) in the UK. We were always understrength after D-Day to VE Day we could not replace them fast enough.” Hardy continues to explain the routines of a Typhoon pilot. “Prior to start-up, the ground crews were on the wings fussing over pilots and planes like mother hens.

440 Squadron pilots L-R Beatty, Watson, Pentland, Gooding, Harry Hardy, Stewart, Barber, Doug Gordon and Wally Ward.

would fly on the wing of the Commanding Officer if he elected to take part, or one of the leaders, or the Flight Commander. The first pair would fly out about two miles climbing and turning to the left. Then the next pair would immediately take their turn and form up in the sky. Once everyone was in his correct position, the Leader said, “Saffron setting course ‘B’ Baker.”

“The pilots would check their watches for the ‘tit time’ and start up their engines. To start the aircraft engine, five Coffman starter cartridges were used. This system was used on many piston engines in aircraft and armoured vehicles in the 1930s and 1940s. “It was routine practice to fly eight aircraft but a ninth aircraft would also start up as a spare just in case one of the others did not. When all eight aircraft were ready, the Leader taxied out with the group, leaving the spare to shut down and stay behind. Unfortunately, there was no credit to the pilot in the spare aircraft if the sortie was successful. “The rest of the aircraft would follow the leader to the button and line up in pairs: four sets of two: a leader and wingman. Any new men

“Once airborne, they contacted the ground controller by their call signs. The aircraft showed on the controller’s radar screen as a tiny blip, about the size of a grain of rice. “The controller would say to all the aircraft: ‘Make your cockerel crow.’ This meant turn on the IFF [Indication Friend or Foe] instrument and the pilot would respond by pressing a switch that showed on the screen like a cock’s tail. This was the confirmation ground control required for

recognition. The group would then maintain radio silence until close to the target. “As the flight approached the target, the leader would say, ‘Saffron Echelon Starboard’ which meant to take up bombing position. When the Leader said, ‘Going down’ the pilots would pull their goggles over their eyes. Nothing happened at this point. Battle formation was being 100 yards apart in a straight line. “If flak was encountered, the Leader would say, ‘Weave gently.’ When the flak was less or had stopped, the Leader would call us back into the defensive formation called ‘Finger 4.’ “When he felt the timing and everyone was in the perfect position for the dive, the Leader

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A powerful study of a 440 Squadron Typhoon on an advanced landing strip after D-Day.

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would say, ‘Now!’ This ability to judge timing and positioning was what made a skilful leader! The aircraft went down. If heavy flak wasn’t expected, we’d be at 8000 feet and then by 4000 feet, our speed would be at 525 mph where we would release the bombs. The bomb release was at the top of the throttle.

(vehicles, trains, troops etc.) Once I shot at a horse drawn cart. The driver quickly released something on the cart and the horses ran down the road. The driver would be considered ‘collateral damage.’ We would strafe anything: enemy (stationary or moving) and transport was our favourite target.

“With the bombs gone, all the aircraft would pull up at the same time and hopefully they were ‘clean’ meaning each had dropped their bombs and there were no ‘hang-ups’ [unreleased bombs].”

“We were criss-crossing and watching all the time, looking ahead and below. There were always dangers behind us and below us.

Hardy continues. “As the aircraft headed for home, we would try to go hunting. We were told not to let anything move towards the front

“One fellow, Dick Watson, was known for going off on his own during aero engine/ airframe test flights. He’d do his test then go hunting on his own. The ground crew knew if he had fired his guns because the plastic cover

Early 1945 and the long suffering groundcrews were exposed to the elements whilst trying to keep the Typhoons operational. Here Harry Hardy’s groundcrew, LAC’s Vic Bell of Edmonton and Chris Peterson of Port Alberni, B.C. prepare a 440 Squadron Typhoon for the day ahead.

caps would have been blown off. He earned the Croix de Guerre for flying down the main street in Caen and blowing up the Gestapo Headquarters there with a 500-pound bomb!” Hardy discusses the manoeuvrability of his aircraft. “The Typhoon took one mile to turn due to the heavy engine. It was faster that the much-vaunted Spitfire. We were not allowed to tail spin. A pilot could not get out if it; I never did a loop nor the Immelmann Turn but I did rolls.

“Spitfires provided top cover at 15,000 to 20,000 feet protecting the Typhoons from enemy fighters. I never saw the Spitfires as we were not looking for them. We were too busy doing our own job. We went on sorties with two hours of gas [aviation fuel] and had to watch our fuel gauges. “After the pilots landed the aircraft, they would taxi to a hard stand which had a strong wire mesh on the ground so the aircraft would not sink into the soft ground. The pilot would turn their aircraft around to be ready to takeoff again. After landing, the pilot would say, ‘Cockerel strangled’ as a confirmation that the IFF was now turned off.

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“The Leaders were then debriefed. Sometimes, the Intelligence Officer wanted to debrief everyone. It was a challenging job trying to sort out four different stories of the same event. The army especially wanted to know what was observed as the pilots flew over the battlefield. An additional tool for intelligence gathering was the cine camera in the wing. “The cine camera, also known as gun camera, contained a reel of film in a cassette inserted into the back of the gun camera. The gun camera was usually near the wing root of the aircraft. Most RAF fighters had gun cameras by this time and when a pilot fired the gun, the camera took a movie, which were originally 8mm.” Every aircraft was swarmed over by ground crew who would refuel it, check for damage, do oil checks and re-arm. Once all the checks had been completed, the L14, maintenance book/ page were then signed off validating the work was done. Hardy stresses, “We were extremely fortunate to have had the same ground crew from Normandy to Germany to Holland. “It should be mentioned that the army engineers are not cited enough in the stories. They had to level the farmers’ fields and lay down a steel mat, approximately 200 feet wide and 1000 feet long for the pilots to land their planes on. In addition, praise must be given to the often-forgotten landing strip defence crew manning the anti-aircraft guns, as well as the long-suffering ground crews for the horrendous job it must have been to move the whole Wing with all its maintenance staff and equipment from strip to strip so fast.” Hardy was involved in Falaise Gap, Battle of the Bulge and Crossing of the Rhine. “We did

train busting, destroyed bridges -- everything that was on the German side. The most memorable operation was the Crossing of the Rhine. This happened on 24 March 1945. I remember because I was the leader. It was at the crack of dawn when we went over the Rhine. It was a good flying day. We were on the ‘softening up’ mission and we all made it back to base. The Canadian and British Army

were in an 11-mile long line on the north end of the attack. The Americans were to the south and had a bigger front. Before I had taken off, Wing Commander Frank Grant said to me, ‘Be careful. This is going to be your last trip!’ And it was. I had hoped to make 100 ops, but I flew 96.”

Above: The Typhoons operated in all weathers, often out of very badly damaged ex-Luftwaffe airfields. Here a groundcrewman guides a pilot through the puddles and out towards the runway.

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Jack’s story Flt Lt Jack Hilton 438 Sqn

“I flew about 100 Operations. Our Squadron’s nose art was Walt Disney’s Wild Cat. The Typhoon did the job. We were low level. We would fly 100 - 200 feet off the ground to attack our targets. Tanks, convoys, trains. We had two Squadrons with rockets that had RP3 twenty-five-pound warheads, four under each wing. They could blow a tank apart. In the beginning, the rockets were very hard to control. The Battle of Falaise Gap in August 1944 was a good example. While the German army was retreating, we were attacking anything that moved. There were so many targets that when you fire at them, you are going to hit something! “Although the rocket firing Typhoon is commonly regarded as the aircraft that

Jack Hilton’s log book shows that he was on a week’s leave when D-Day took place! He was soon back in action when he returned. Right: Jack Hilton photographed next to a Hurricane.

was predominant in the destruction of the trapped German Army at Falaise Gap, it was, in truth, extremely valuable as a platform for strafing and a great morale booster for the Allied troops but not for its lethal rocket firing capability as detailed in many books on the battle. The destruction of the trapped German forces in the Falaise Pocket in August 1944 was due to land-based forces. Historians vary in their estimates of German losses. Between 80,000 and 100,000 troops caught in the encirclement of which 10,000 to 15,000 were killed, 40,000 to 50,000 taken prisoner and from 20,000 to 50,000 managing to escape. In the northern sector alone, German materiel

losses included 344 tanks, self-propelled guns and other light armoured vehicles as well as 2,447 soft-skinned vehicles and 252 guns abandoned or destroyed. According to a subsequent British analysis, RAF Typhoon rockets had not caused as much destruction as first thought or claimed. It has been assessed that only about 100 armoured fighting vehicles were knocked out during the whole campaign; in stark contrast to the Allies loss of a total of 1,726 aircraft.

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A 438 Squadron Typhoon taxies through the puddles left by the melting snow in early 1945. The pilot in the dinghy has clearly come up with his own way of getting around the airfield!

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in and get out. You didn’t go back for a second look. I never went back for a second look. Those who did never came back. “We always went out in two groups of two. We were very tired with an average of 2 hours a trip from start to finish. Sometimes I did two operations a day. My log book showed that at one point, I flew 28 operations in 30 days. Imagine the pressure on the pilots to take off and land. During the D-Day invasion, we were right up to our ears. Flying 150 feet over the water; the spray of the water was hitting our airplane. It was a desperate situation. You are shot at going in and shot at going out, sometimes by your own side. So often when we did the dive-bombing, you didn’t see what you hit or even if you got what you were aiming for. We’d go in at 500 or 550 mph; that’s fast for a prop airplane.

A 438 Squadron Typhoon MN716 F3-A receives some major servicing by the dedicated groundcrews.

The Tiffy’s real contribution at least as far as Falaise Gap was concerned was the sense of panic their attacks caused. The German crews quickly abandoned their vehicles and took cover in the fields at the onset of a strike. “People don’t know much about the Typhoon and have asked me about its idiosyncrasies. The Typhoon had a terrible attrition rate because of its specialist role. It carried bombs and it was fast but it had a poor turning radius. The Typhoon was one of the most difficult aircraft for a pilot to fly. It killed a lot of pilots at the beginning. Structural

undetected, could be fatal. Oxygen masks had to be worn at all times.

failures plagued the Typhoon like a tail might fall off or the engine might quit and when this happened, the Typhoon was doing nothing but going down. The Typhoon had such a high wing loading that you had no room for safety in turns. You had to turn when you were in a fight and when we tangled with the German fighters we would dive down and outrun them in the dive. “The deadly flaw with the Typhoon was that when we got to low level at high speed, we didn’t have the turn radius to get inside the enemy to shoot at them. In addition, carbon monoxide seeped into the cockpit which if

“So, the only thing we had going for us was to go straight at the target, faster than the enemy could go and then get the hell out of there. The turn is the secret in fighting the German fighters. If I pulled tight turns at 150, the darned thing would spin on me and I would dive straight into the ground. I had no safety margin. It was one of these questionable things. Speed was the only thing you had. One of our guys tried to stay in a fight and didn’t come back.’ There is no second chance. Get

“A Spitfire and Hurricane could turn tightly. The Spitfire has a low wing loading. Thin wings. Great for turning. Different parameters for each aircraft. As an experiment, one of our fellows took one of our Typhoons up to 30,000 feet and he put it into a spin. It took him to 5000 feet before he got out of it! The tail was too small. The weight was too heavy. We had cannons in the wings, armour underneath and armour all around us. It had a big engine: a Napier Sabre 24 cylinder, 2100 horse power on the MK Ia and 2260 horse power engine in the MK Ib. The MK I was armed with 12x 0.303 machine guns and the MK II had Hispano cannons in the wings plus up to 2-1000-pound bombs or 8 rocket projectiles. I never flew the Spitfire but the Tiffy was a great air to ground attack aircraft.”

Jack Hilton passed away in March 2019.

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Doug’s story Flying Officer Doug Gordon 440 Sqn

Twenty-one-year-old Doug Gordon was a Typhoon pilot stationed at Hurn, in the south of England, his 440 Squadron being one of only three all-Canadian Squadrons operating within the RAF. He was called up in May 1942 and in January 1944 shipped out to England, where he learned to fly Hawker Hurricanes and Typhoons. He was full of the typical bravado of youth. Carefree, immortal, bullet proof and rarely considered the risks they might face. “The Typhoon was a mean aircraft. The first time I took off, after flying a Hurricane, I went straight off the runway into a field. It operated opposite to what I was used to. The propeller was big, 14.5 feet and it rotated in the opposite direction to the Hurricane. Its size however, could cause a major, if not fatal, problem

Pilots of 440 Squadron line up for a photo on 4 August 1944 with their Alsatian mascot Smoky.

during a crash landing. If the prop dug into the ground the aircraft was just as likely to flip over. “I only crash landed once. We flew from Hurn down to Predannack (Cornwall). There were 16 or 18 of us. It was sometime in either in April/May. A German destroyer was beached and they wanted us to dive bomb it. We weren’t told that there were four German antiaircraft boats there to meet us. As we came in, there was so much flak coming up, it was just

like going through a tunnel. My engine was hit and it began heating up. One of the guys said, ‘You’re trailing smoke!’ “I was out over the Channel but I wanted to try returning to base. I opened the throttle up and the engine seized. I was told to bail out but I wouldn’t for stupid reasons. The water was cold and I had a nice new Parker pen and brand-new Wellington flying boots, and I thought, ‘Christ, I’m going to lose them if I bail

out and get into a dinghy.’ I just managed to clear the cliffs and crash-landed in an empty English field. The aircraft hit the ground belly first then up went the nose and then fell back down again coming to an abrupt halt. I got out unscathed.” There had been hints and rumours in the days and weeks leading up to D-Day but it was being rousted out of bed at 4am in the morning and fed a rare breakfast of eggs that

WORLD WAR II

tipped Doug Gordon off that Tuesday, 6 June 1944 would be a special day. “Our planes had been grounded for nearly a week so that the black-and-white identification stripes used by all Allied forces in the Normandy landings could be painted on the undersides of their wings, to reduce casualties from friendly fire. We were unaware at the time, of the purpose of the identification stripes.” On the night before D-Day, Gordon listened as planes towing gliders left for France, unaware that they carried paratroopers to be dropped behind enemy lines. “Everyone was up and going ‘What’s happening?’ because they’d been waiting so long for something to happen, ever since the Dieppe disaster.” At their briefing that morning, the pilots were told little of Operation Overlord, which sent nearly 160,000 Allied troops across the Channel into German-occupied France that day. Instead, they concentrated on their part in the mission: taking out German pillboxes, the dugin guard posts at Juno Beach, where Canadian troops were to land. The bombs were delivered to each aircraft in the back of a truck with the tailgate down. One of the armourers would turn the bomb sideways so it would roll as it was kicked off onto the soft ground. The bombs were then hand cranked into the plane. Flat surface and hook -- a link of wire went into the a/c. Snapped into a hole into the wing. It took two or three men to do this. Before taking off around 7 a.m., Gordon wrote the identification numbers of the other three Typhoons in his section on the back of his hand, something he routinely did before flights to facilitate formation after take-off and bombing dives. It was only after gaining

destroyers flew overhead. They had been flying in a finger four formation but switched as they emerged below the clouds to a straight-line formation. They rolled as they began their dive, pulling out only slightly before dropping their bombs above the pillboxes, then climbing above the clouds, reforming and returning to England.

altitude over the Channel that he gained a full appreciation of the scope of the ‘Overlord’ operation, as he looked down on the flotilla of hundreds of Allied ships. “It was so big, so many, one felt you could walk on the ships from England to France.” The clouds were low over Normandy on D-Day, forcing the Typhoons to fly at about 1,000 feet instead of the usual 8,000 or more. As they approached land, shells from their own

“Whether we got them, I don’t know. They were made of heavy concrete, but when you drop half dozen or more bombs on them,

Above: Doug’s logbook showing the pause in flying operations the week before D-Day followed by his contribution to events on 6 June 1944.

something has to give. You have to be lucky once in a while.” Gordon was back at Hurn by 8 am, his workday done for the time being. “You went

WORLD WAR II

Two Canadian Typhoon pilots pose with a 1000lb bomb for a publicity photo before heading off to deliver it over German lines.

WORLD WAR II

to have something to eat or maybe talk with one of the other guys, or you’d go and wash and shave, or sit around, read a book or do nothing.” He returned to the skies that evening, on an eerily quiet bombing run. There were no German planes in the air, and little in the way of anti-aircraft fire. “After D-Day, the Allied army had advanced far enough for us to begin operating from dirt fields in France. The take-off formation was usually two abreast. Several times we took off four abreast.” Higher command decided what formation they were to do. Some of his missions were only 15 - 20 minutes long. Being close to the front, supporting the British Army, it was usually just one operation a day.

“On 11 November 1944, the CO told me my services were no longer needed. I had 99 ops recorded. I had a whisky or two to celebrate. I was keenly aware of my good fortune of not being among the 150 Typhoon pilots who died between D-Day and the end of August that year, ten from my own squadron alone. It was with sadness that I remembered a few I knew who didn’t make it. What can you do? You just turn off emotionally. Some guys had problems seeing people die around them.” 440 Squadron continued to fly in direct support of the British Second Army and 2nd Tactical Air Force, through France, Belgium and,

for the final seven weeks of the war in Europe, through Holland. Doug downplays his wartime efforts, saying he was just one of many simply doing his job. He does however admit that the casual attitude that he and many young servicemen took with them into their training quickly evaporated when the realities of war became apparent.

PART TWO FOLLOWS IN JULY’S ISSUE

Above: Doug standing next to a Typhoon. Below: An early morning church service in August 1944 for the airmen of the RCAF Typhoon Wing.

RIGGING WWI models

A beginnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s guide! 25

MODELLING

World War One model kits are currently enjoying a remarkable renaissance in the modelling world, with companies like Wingnut Wings producing kits of extraordinary quality. But let’s be honest, it’s the rigging that still keeps these kits out of reach for many of us. We asked Dave Johnson, Wingnut’s Sales and Logistics Manager to show us the simplest way to rig a biplane without having a nervous breakdown...

ver the last ten years, World War One aircraft kits have become more popular with modellers, thanks to manufacturers like Wingnut Wings, Copper State Models, Roden and Eduard stepping up releasing newly tooled kitsets of these early aircraft designs. However, one thing that scares off most modellers dipping their toes into World War One aviation modelling is the rigging wires that are used to strengthen the airframe. There are a few different ways modellers choose to tackle the rigging process on their models such as stretched plastic sprue, brass wire or monofilament fishing line, but the easiest way is by using elastic thread. You can pick up the elastic thread from your local sewing supply store, but most hobby stores are starting to carry thread these days from different manufacturers, so there are plenty of options out there. Over the next few pages, I will show you the quick and easy way to rig a World War One aircraft.

Step 1 Tools for the job - Medium Flow Superglue & Accelerator, Small pair of scissors, fine point tweezers, Toothpicks or a Superglue applicator tool, scalpel knife and rigging thread. Step 2 The chosen threads I am using is Fine Charcoal Ez Line and Prym Knitting in Elastic (Part #977770). The Prym elastic is used for Streamline flying wires that are found on RFC aircraft, the thread is transparent, but you can run a fine tip brush over it if you wish to paint it. I normally leave it in its natural state. The second thread is the Fine Ez Line, this thread is used for control wires on control lines to flying surfaces like the ailerons and rudder and all rigging lines on German aircraft.

2 3

Step 3 The first step I take is cutting the thread into lengths that are just short of the two points that I am going to attach the thread too.

MODELLING

Step 4 Using a 0.5mm drill bit, I drill the hole where the thread is being attached to. Some manufacturers add these points into the design of their kit, so drilling out any paint in these attachment holes will aid the bond of the superglue to the plastic and thread. Step 5 Using a drop of superglue, I dip the tip of the toothpick or glue applicator tool into it and attach the first point of rigging thread to the first point where the thread was going to be attached. Step 6 Using the fine point tweezers, the rigging thread is pushed into the rigging attachment hole that was drilled out and held in place for a few moments allowing it to set.

Step 7 The process is repeated on the second attachment point, superglue applied with the tip of a toothpick to the attachment point. Step 8 The rigging thread is attached to the second point and held into place. You can speed up the setting process of the superglue by giving the point a quick small spray with the Accelerator or add a drop from a pool sprayed on another surface.

8 9

Step 9 Rigging line completed and continue the process along the rest of the aircraft.

MODELLING

MODELLING Above: The same process is followed for the control lines using the Fine Charcoal Line.

Above and below: The completed model

MODELLING

Longer Wings! Attaching all the rigging lines to the upper wing before fitting the wing to the model can make handling of the model a lot easier due to the size of the model, especially with bombers and 1/32 scale two-seaters. Using the same techniques previously described, the attachment points for the rigging thread are drilled out, and the thread is glued into place. This is done for the entire length of the upper wing. Once all rigging thread is in place, the upper wing is then cemented onto upper struts of the model and left to dry thoroughly. Once the glue has set on the upper wing, continue gluing all the rigging thread to all the lower rigging points of the model as previously demonstrated.

MODELLING

structural stiffening rigging Due to the flexiness of injected plastic, some aircraft kits may require some structural stiffening rigging to stop the flexing of parts under the weight of the completed model, the DH.2 and FE.2b types are great examples of this with the tail boom structures that would flex under the forward weight of the cockpit nacelle and engine. Fine fishing or monofilament line can be used to stiffen the tails booms against flexing under this weight. Shown in the images is the tail boom from the 1/32 Wingnut Wings kit, 0.5mm Fishing line is threaded through the rigging point and looped around behind the strut of the tail boom. The tail boom is attached to the front section of the aircraft and the fishing line rigging is attached and pulled taut and glued into place.

EYES FOR THE ARMY

THE STORY OF THE FIRST SQUADRON TO FLY THE P-51 MUSTANG INTO ACTION 33

WORLD WAR II

Ask any enthusiast to name the first unit to go to war in the P-51 Mustang and very few will come up with the correct answer. 26 Squadron RAF was the unit in question and Andrew Thomas explores how they got on with what was to become one of the greatest aircraft of World War Two.

he 1,150hp Alison V-1710 engine of the initial variant of the North American Mustang, designated Mk I by the Royal Air Force, lacked a supercharger and so had limited performance at altitude. Nonetheless, it had an excellent low-level performance and was selected as the definitive type for the fighter reconnaissance role with the Army Co-operation Command. Thus in January 1942, 26 Squadron under Wg Cdr W D Butler became the first operational squadron in the world to fly what developed into the superlative North American Mustang. Its new mount replaced 26’s mix of obsolescent Lysanders and interim Tomahawks. The Squadron’s first Mustang, AG367 ‘RM-Z’, arrived for operational testing on 5 January resulting in the decision on the 24th to re-equip all the Command’s Squadrons with them and five days later two more (AG364 and AG387) were delivered. One problem highlighted was that the wing gun mounting came loose on firing and the British standard GM2 sight was also chosen to replace the US gunsights supplied. Aircraft were gradually fitted with an oblique F-24 camera on the port side aft of the cockpit.

In early February 1942 the Squadron returned to Weston Zoyland for a training period and on return to Gatwick on 23 February, ‘A’ Flight began conversion too. The new Mustang was fast at low level, quite well armed and fitted with an oblique F-24 camera, making it ideal for the low level reconnaissance role. After working up, 26 Squadron began operations early on 5 May when a single aircraft flew from Gatwick across the Channel on a recce of Berck-sur-Mer airfield that it

shot up, along with a passing goods train. As the unit diarist noted – it was a start. On the next operation on the 14th, three aircraft photographed a radar site near Le Touquet and attacked targets of opportunity near Boulogne, though one Mustang sustained slight damage from ground fire. A few days later the Squadron moved the short distance to West Malling from where on the afternoon of 21 May three more Mustangs flew a recce to Le Touquet where they shot up the radar site and had the

Mustang’s first, albeit brief and inconclusive, brush with a German fighter. Then seven days later a trio flew a ‘Rhubarb’ over the French coast, strafing troops near Merlimont south of Boulogne then coasting out further south at Cayeux. These flights were flown at low level, usually at around 240 knots. After a slow start due to unsuitable weather (a ceiling of 1,500 feet and 7/10 cloud cover being required) during June, pace of operations

grew with 26’s Mustangs increasingly involved in operations such as flying Poplars and Rhubarbs over France and a few Lagoons (shipping reconnaissance) off the Dutch coast. A typical sortie for the Squadron was on 14 July when three Mustangs operated in the Boulogne-Abbeville area, crossing the coast near Berck. Near Randerfleur they attacked railway rolling stock in the sidings as well as barges in the Somme estuary near Le Touquet – all in the face of heavy flak. Attacking one

WORLD WAR II

Below and previous pages: Mustang I AM148 RM-G, of 26 Sqn was flown over Dieppe on 19 August by Sqn Ldr Goodale but was hit by ground fire and on landing hit an obstruction. It was its only combat sortie.

WORLD WAR II

barge, AG415 was shot down – the first Mustang to be lost to enemy action. Two days later three more flew to the same area, strafing a group of troops seen on a beach but in the low cloud they became separated and two of the Mustangs failed to return. During July Wg Cdr Tom Fazan became the CO.

Operation Jubilee Reconnaissance flights flown in early August gathered information for the raid on Dieppe (Operation Jubilee) planned for the 19th. 26 Squadron was tasked to provide the raiding

were on patrol then followed by Plt Offs J EA Hartill flying AG462 and R J Giles in AG535 who were succeeded by Plt Off J A Manson in AM215. Soon after this two more Mustangs set off on another TacR but both Plt Offs O’Farrell and Christenson were shot down in AG463 and AL977 respectively. Both became PoWs but Arnold Christenson was later shot by the Gestapo following the Great Escape. At 08.30 Sqn Ldr Mike Goodale in AM148/RM-G led AG531 flown by Plt Off C B McGhee to the carnage over Dieppe where his aircraft was hit and on landing it suffered a brake failure and hit an obstruction. Shortly afterwards Flt

force with tactical reconnaissance support to warn of the approach of enemy ground reinforcements from Le Havre, Rouen and Amiens. From the early hours of that fateful day the squadron sent out pairs of Mustangs, flying 16 sorties during the morning, first off being Flt Lt Dawson in AG418 with Plt Off Kelly in AG462 to cover the roads between Le Tréport and Evernay, landing back at 06.10. Flt Lt Don Kennedy (AG536) and Sgt Geoff Cliff (AG584) then went out, but both failed to return and were killed. Then from 06.20 until shortly before 08.00 Flt Lt Aubrey Baring in AG574 with Sgt A P Bannerman (AM110)

Lt Graham Dawson DFC took off in AG418 but the 21 year old did not return and was killed. Wg Cdr Fazan later recalled: “At 50 feet or less we were inviting targets for any German soldier with a rifle. The element of surprise saved us a lot, but Dieppe was our most costly day.” It had been a disastrous day for the Squadron and perhaps to help boost morale, two days later Viscount Trenchard himself visited to congratulate the survivors on their performance.

Mustang I AG361 RM-T was delivered to 26 Sqn at Gatwick on 1 May 1942 and remained with the unit until 19 February 1943.

WORLD WAR II

Above: The Gatwick control tower and 26’s dispersed Mustangs can be seen in this photo looking south west from oblique camera on a training sortie on 18 June 1942 Above: A view of the .50 calibre nose guns and the oblique camera in the rear cockpit of a Mustang I.

After Dieppe, 26 Squadron’s Mustangs continued to fly Rhubarb, Poplar and Lagoon missions and also conducted a number of tactical trials. During September 1942 the Squadron also began patrols along the south coast of England in an attempt to catch Luftwaffe ‘tip and run’ fighter-bomber attacks on coastal towns that were doing so much to harm civilian morale. The fast Fw 190s were difficult targets but early on the 8th Plt Off R C Cooper and Fg Off Kit North-Lewis in AM122 and AM144 intercepted and damaged a Ju 88 south of Hastings. These patrols were maintained into the autumn. On 17 September three aircraft of 26 Squadron flew a photo recce of the coast between Le Touquet and Stella Plage and also shot up some suspected flak positions.

The highlight of October was Operation Petworth when on the 25th the whole of 35 Wing, No 26, in company with 400 and 414 Sqns, combined to photograph the French coastline around Fecamp and conducting some diversions in land for the photographing aircraft. However, for the rest of the year the Squadron was mainly tasked with defensive ops off the south coast. There were still occasional losses and Mustang AM206 was shot down by flak near Doullens on 27 November and another was lost near Fecamp on 7 December. Occasional recces continued into 1943, and one in January flown by Fg Off Murray penetrated deep into France and conducted some effective strafing on German MT as well as returning with some excellent photographs. However, during a sortie to St Valery on 6 February

Below: Ground crew conduct some maintenance on a Mustang I at Gatwick in the summer of 1942. (Wg Cdr E F P Wheller)

WORLD WAR II

AP236 was lost. The squadron came off operations the following month but continued to support training of the Army’s South-East Command, During March, 26’s Mustangs participated in Exercise Spartan, then the largest Army exercise ever mounted in Britain, that also fully tested the mobility of the Army Co-operation squadrons. It flew from strips on the Wiltshire downs, returning to Gatwick the following month and in May Sqn Ldr A H Baird assumed command, Tom Fazan recalling as he left: “26 certainly had its personalities – the indomitable ‘Slug’ Murphy, Aubrey Baring of the banking family and Kit North-Lewis.”

Buzz-bombs and rockets At the end of May Army Co-operation Command ceased to exist and 26 Sqn became part of Fighter Command prior to the formation of the 2nd Tactical Air Force. The Squadron was highly mobile through the summer and eventually settled at Church Fenton in July when it also returned to operations. It was soon busy photographing suspected V-1 flying bomb sites in France. In October it moved to Snailwell, leaving a detachment at Church Fenton, and continued operations, including some night Rangers.

During November, for example, the squadron flew no less than 62 operations of all types before withdrawing from ops once more and moving to Hutton Cranswick in Yorkshire, and further north to Peterhead in March 1944. There Sqn Ldr B J A Fleming assumed command but also converted from its faithful Mustangs and re-equipped with Spitfire Vs with which it trained in bombardment spotting duties which it flew with some success during and after the invasion of France in June 1944. However, in December 1944 when based at Tangmere, 26 Sqn was once again re-

Below: Mustang I AL966 ‘H’, 26 Sqn was regularly flown by Plt Off Kit North-Lewis (pictured left) during his time with 26 Sqn in 1942-1943. On 8 September 1942 North-Lewis damaged a Ju 88 that is though to have been 26 Sqn’s only air combat claim with the Mustang. (C D North-Lewis & author’s collection)

WORLD WAR II

equipped with the Mustang Is for low-level tactical recce work. After several moves the Squadron, now under Sqn Ldr J F Roberts, had settled in at North Weald by the end of January 1945. From there it began operations over the Netherlands, its major task being to locate V-2 rocket launching sites, the missions being mounted from Coltishall before landing at North Weald for debrief and photo development. These important missions continued into April and over South Beveland on 28 April Plt Off Bill Griffin in AG383 became lost in bad weather and had to force land. After a short period at Harrowbeer during April, the Squadron moved across the Channel to be based at Cognac in south-western France. There it also returned to naval bombardment

Above: Mustang I AG425 XC-F is readied for a sortie at Harrowbeer in the spring of 1945 (J D R Rawlings) Right: The camera port of the Mustang is apparent as Flt Lt R E Pope in â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;XC-L leads two others in March 1945.

spotting work, supporting French Navy warships as they bombarded pockets of enemy resistance near Bordeaux. After two weeks it returned to England and settled in at Chilbolton and was there when the war in Europe ended. The following month, 26 Sqn finally gave up its Mustangs and converted to the Griffon engined Spitfire FR XIV for fighter recce duties with the occupation forces in Germany to where it moved in August.

WORLD WAR II Flt Lt Gloverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mustang I (XC-J) is prepared for a spotting mission from Cognac in April 1945 (L Glover)

Two Mustang Is are refuelled at Cognac in April 1945 (L Glover)

Below: A pair of 26 Sqn Mustang Is, XC-E and XC-H at Harrowbeer at the end of the war. (A R Gordon)

Photo Archive : RAF Mustang Is 41

PHOTO ARCHIVE

Within a year of the Mustang entering service with the RAF, 16 squadrons were equipped with the type, performing low level attack sorties alongside reconnaissance and army co-operation duties. Here are a selection of those early Mustangs from the Wingleader Archive.

Left and below: Mustang I AG596 of 4 Squadron around mid-1942 before the Army Co-operation squadrons stopped wearing unit codes. In July 1942, 12â&#x20AC;? yellow stripes were introduced onto the wings of RAF Mustangs to avoid confusion with Me109s. This aircraft has them although they are very difficult to discern on the undersurfaces.

PHOTO ARCHIVE

The early Mustangs arrived by sea into Liverpool and were assembled at Speke. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s noticeable that the wings came in one piece and the fuselage was simply slotted on top, just like an Airfix kit! These two photos of AG585 were both taken at Speke.

PHOTO ARCHIVE

Mustang MkI AG633 was originally delivered in dark green and dark earth camouflage before having the dark earth overpainted with a locally mixed grey, giving this quite dark appearance. XV-E of 2 Squadron also has the entire leading edge of the wing painted yellow, which was the first attempt at differentiating it from an Me109.

Below: Another great air to air of AG633 XV-E showing the six Browning machine guns, (two under the nose and four in the wings). Also visible in this view are the three small vents just in front of the cockpit, (only on the starboard side) and the pitot tube under the starboard wing (as opposed to the port wing for most other RAF fighters).

PHOTO ARCHIVE

Left: More Mustangs of 2 Squadron airborne for the press, note the variation in code letter sizes.

PHOTO ARCHIVE The Mustang MkIa was equipped with 4 x 20mm cannons and is therefore easily distinguishable from the MkI. Less than 100 MkIas were flown by the RAF so these photos are quite rare. The even rarer MkII had four x 0.5 machine guns in the wings.

PHOTO ARCHIVE

Above: Winston Churchill inspects the men of 613 Squadron with their new Mustang MkIs. Below: 2 Squadron Mustangs including AG636 XV-F

Above: A 4 Squadron Mustang photographed in May 1943 at Bottisham near Cambridge. The yellow ID stripes were removed in December 1942 along with unit codes. Below: Later in the war, Mustang Is were used by various units including the Central Gunnery School.

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The Idea

Simon Parry and Mark Postlethwaite, owners of Red Kite, have created an entirely new concept to clearly illustrate each combat. Each day is broken down into the individual engagements that took place, hour-by-hour.

Each engagement features

· A map showing where the combat took place, the forces involved and where aircraft were shot down. · Listing of RAF and Luftwaffe Casualties. · Listing of RAF and Luftwaffe victory claims. · Squadron reports. · Pilot’s combat reports.

‍New information

A key new feature is the information from the RAF Casualty files. These documents have only recently been made available by the

Ministry of Defence, and add a remarkable new level of detail to the RAF casualties. Still in the process of be released, the reports are often published here within months of becoming available.

Warts and All

Some of the information does not make for easy reading, or present a pretty picture of events. The extent of ‘over-claiming’ on both sides is clear to see, as are the accounts of ‘friendly fire’, the failings of the controllers and the lack of air-sea rescue to save downed pilots.

In their own words

No ‘third-party’ accounts are included. Every report is reproduced as it was written by the pilots themselves or the Intelligence Officers. Their words bring the events they had witnessed just hours before to life in a way no modern commentary could.

Bringing the Battle into the 21st Century

Books on the Battle have become ever more academic and ‘dull’. The Battle of Britain Combat Archive brings the colour back with dozens of specially commissioned artworks and profiles of the aircraft. Artist Mark Postlethwaite has designed a full colour format to make each page and table easy to understand.

One raid on one day

16.20 - 17.00 hrs... The Solent

COMBAT C

The following pages are an example of what you will find in the Battle of Britain Combat Archive series. One combat from one day of the Battle of Britain, (26th August 1940) taken from Volume 7. We have reproduced the spreads of 2 x A4 pages onto each single page of this document so remember that the information you see here is half the size of the book.

Operations by Luftflotte 3 began just as Luftflotte 2’s raids on the Essex airfields returned. At 16.00 hours three sizable plots appeared approaching Portsmouth from Cherbourg, one of 100+ and two estimated at 30+ aircraft. As the raids were approaching at the ‘border’ of 10 and 11 Groups, both controllers scrambled squadrons to intercept: 43 Squadron – 615 Squadron – 602 Squadron – 234 Squadron – 249 Squadron – 213 Squadron – 609 Squadron –

12 Hurricanes up from Tangmere to patrol base. 10 Hurricanes up from Kenley to patrol Portsmouth. 11 Spitfires up from Westhampnett to patrol Portsmouth. Spitfires up from Middle Wallop to patrol Swanage. Hurricanes up from Boscombe Down to patrol Isle of Wight. Hurricanes up from Exeter to patrol Warmwell. Spitfires up from Middle Wallop to patrol Portsmouth.

An ‘armada’ of 328 aircraft had been launched by Luftflotte 3: 3 He111s from Stab KG55. 23 He111s from I/KG55. 25 He111s from II/KG55. Total of 51 bombers carrying 153 SC 250s, 21 Flam250s, 6LLZ’s 168 SD 50s and 204 SC 50s. Fighter escort was provided by: 63 Me109s from JG2. 70 Me109s from JG27. 78 Me109s from JG53. 25 Me110s from ZG2. 36 Me110s from ZG76. 5 Me110s from V/LG1. Total of 66 Me110s and 211 Me109s.

The West Country raid

Victory Claims

26 August 1940 - 16.20 - 17.00 hrs Combat C. The Solent

26 AUGUST

RAF Victory Claims

At 16.25 hours 43 Squadron was first to engage the raid between Portsmouth and Selsey Bill, head-on, closely followed by 602 Squadron. As the left flank of the raid wheeled left, 615 Squadron engaged bombers over Portsmouth at 16.30 hours. South of the Isle of Wight 234 Squadron took on 30+ Me109s in a separate engagement that swept across the island to Southampton. The Luftwaffe’s great effort achieved little. Fort Cumberland, a training camp near Portsmouth, was damaged and eight Royal Marines killed. Some small fires were started at Hilsea Gas Works, but they were soon put out.

F/Lt P C Hughes 234 Sqn

Below: A pilot’s eye view from the cockpit of a Heinkel 111 heading for England. The observer is already in position with the nose gun, awaiting a frontal attack from Spitfires or Hurricanes which must have been quite terrifying.

S/Ldr J V C Badger Sgt J H L Hallowes P/O H L North P/O H L North P/O D G Gorrie P/O A E A Van Den Hove Sgt J H L Hallowes

He111 destroyed - shared – He111 destroyed He111 probable He111 damaged Me109 destroyed He111 destroyed

Portsmouth

602 Sqn 602 Sqn 602 Sqn 602 Sqn 602 Sqn 602 Sqn

S/Ldr A V R Johnstone P/O E W Aries Sgt A McDowall Sgt B E P Whall Sgt B E P Whall Sgt C F Babbage

He111 damaged Do17 destroyed He111 destroyed He111 destroyed He111 destroyed Me109 destroyed

Selsey Bill Selsey Bill Selsey Bill Selsey Bill Selsey Bill Selsey Bill

615 Sqn 615 Sqn

S/Ldr J R Kayll F/O A Eyre

He111 damaged Ju88 damaged

Portsmouth Portsmouth

234 Sqn 234 Sqn 234 Sqn 234 Sqn 234 Sqn 234 Sqn

F/Lt P C Hughes F/Lt P C Hughes P/O R F T Doe P/O P W Horton P/O E B Mortimer-Rose Sgt W H Hornby

Me109 destroyed Me109 destroyed Me109 destroyed Me109 destroyed Me109 destroyed Me109 destroyed

5 miles south of the Isle of Wight 5 miles south of the Isle of Wight 20 miles north of Cherbourg Isle of Wight 5 miles south of the Isle of Wight 2 miles south of the Isle of Wight

Luftwaffe Victory Claims

P/O A E A Van Den Hove 43 Sqn

Combat C 16.20 - 17.00 hrs

43 Sqn 43 Sqn 43 Sqn 43 Sqn 43 Sqn 43 Sqn 43 Sqn

Combat C 16.20 - 17.00 hrs

1/JG2 Oblt Adolf-Friedrich v.Götz Spitfire Portsmouth 1/JG2 Ofw Werner Machold Spitfire Portsmouth 3/JG2 Oblt Helmut Wick Hurricane Portsmouth 3/JG2 Oblt Helmut Wick Hurricane Portsmouth 7/JG2 Uffz Konrad Zeller Spitfire Portsmouth 7/JG2 Lt Erwin Biedermann Spitfire south of Portsmouth 8/JG2 Fw Walter Ebert Hurricane Portsmouth 8/JG27 Fw Georg Lehmann Hurricane south of Winchester 1/JG53 Hptm Hans-Karl Mayer Spitfire east of Portsmouth 1/JG53 Lt Albrecht Zeis Spitfire north east of Portsmouth 1/JG53 Hptm Hans-Karl Mayer Spitfire Portsmouth 3/JG53 Hptm Wolfgang Lippert Spitfire Portsmouth St(Z)/LG1 Hptm Horst Liensberger Spitfire Warmwell V(Z)/LG1 Oblt Ernst Zobel Hurricane Warmwell

Below: Defending the bombers was a huge swarm of fighters, piloted by some of the best pilots in the Luftwaffe. One of these was rapidly rising Ace Helmut Wick in his ‘Yellow 2’ of 3/JG2. Shortly after this he was promoted to lead I/JG2 and by the end of the Battle he was the Kommodore of JG2.

Portsmouth Portsmouth south west of Selsey Bill south of Hayling Island south west of Selsey Bill

Contemporary Accounts 43 Sqn

26 AUGUST

26 August 1940 - 16.20 - 17.00 hrs Combat C. The Solent

43 SQUADRON INTELLIGENCE REPORT

16.05 – 17.20 hours. 26.8.40. Nine Hurricanes of 43 Squadron took-off from Tangmere at 16.05 hours followed a few minutes later by 3 Hurricanes of Red Section who had only just landed from a previous patrol. The order was to patrol base at 15,000 and a vector of 250 degrees enabled the squadron to intercept at a similar height a compact mass of Heinkel 111s in very close vic travelling north towards Selsey Bill. About 10 miles out they veered north-west to Portsmouth at which point the squadron delivered a head-on attack (F.A.A. No.5). When attacking Ju87s in the past this attack caused the formation to break up. Such was not the case this time with He111s, but it caused many of the E/A to jettison their bombs in the sea and on Hayling Island while still short of their objective. Some of the Heinkels were then apparently ordered to detach themselves and engage fighters, while a light signal, apparently from a Verey pistol, was the cue for Me109s and 110s at least 5,000 feet higher up to dive down to the attack. No effect of their first attack was observed and Hurricanes broke away above and below and thereafter most pilots were engaged in individual combat. An exception is Green 2 who attacked from astern No.3 of a vic of 3 Heinkels flying in formation. His burst put one engine out of action, as was seen by Green 1, who then delivered his attack. The U/C was seen to fall down, E/A broke formation and dived for clouds, fired at by Green 2 once again. He passed through the clouds whose base was at 4,000 feet approximately, and tried to climb for them, but couldn’t. E/A was travelling eastward over land and as he was obviously going to land somewhere pilots tried to force him to land at Tangmere, but he made for direction of Ford. In order to avoid damaging him more than absolutely necessary pilots refrained from further firing, but several Hurricanes of other squadrons attacked regardless of E/A’s obviously crippled state, while guns from the neighbourhood of first, Tangmere and then Ford menaced E/A and fighters alike. E/A was eventually seen to make a good forced landing near Ford. Meanwhile P/O Gray delivered a long burst at an He111 which silenced the rear gunner, before being shot at from behind and forced to bale out. He landed on Thorney Island having sprained his shoulder. P/O North probably destroyed another He111 from which one person baled out and got hit himself. Before being forced to bale out (he landed near Bircham) he attacked another He111. This is thought to be the one that crashed at Waterlooville. He is in hospital with injuries to head, shoulder and finger and leg. P/O Lane is also in hospital having been badly burned before baling out. P/O Gorrie damaged an He111 from which pieces were seen to break away and all pilots fired their guns, some being confident that their bullets went home, but as is usually the case in large scale dogfights were unable to observe any result. Such a one was P/O Van de Hove who fired several bursts at an Me109. The last he saw of it it dived for the clouds somewhere north of Portsmouth, smoke pouring from engine. As this does not constitute the category ‘damaged’ no claim was originally made, but if as it appears, there is an Me109 crashed at Horndean and no one else claims it, this may well be his machine. Pilot himself thought he had probably accounted for it. P/O Brunner had some shrapnel in his foot, and other bullets put his U/C’s lowering gear out of order and caused petrol to leak into cockpit, he made a good forced landing at Tangmere nevertheless. The squadron is unanimous that the fire from a packed formation of Heinkels is very concentrated and disconcerting and consider it is unwise to attack such a formation from astern in the first place. The 8 Hurricanes that returned to Tangmere had all landed by 17.20 hours and most of ‘B’ Flight landed about 16.50 hours. Camouflage and armament on both sides appeared to be standard, as was our sighting. Wind was south-west, 12 m.p.h. and visibility 15 miles. Cloud layers 7/10 at 5,000 and 2/10 at 8,000 feet. Our losses: 4 a/c and 4 injured pilots. P/Os Brunner, North, Lane and Gray.

Above: One of 43 Squadron’s victims was this Heinkel G1+DM that force

Below: Another one of 43 Squadron’s victims was this Heinkel G1+BB that force landed near Littlehampton. Just visible in the tail cone is a rear firing machine gun which probably contributed to 43 Squadron’s comment that attacking a formation of

landed on East Wittering beach. The airman is

Heinkels from astern was ‘unwise’.

pointing out bullet holes from the initial head-on attack, three of the four crew were killed.

Contemporary Accounts 602 Sqn

26 AUGUST

26 August 1940 - 16.20 - 17.00 hrs Combat C. The Solent

602 SQUADRON INTELLIGENCE REPORT Combat took place over Selsey Bill 16.25 hours at 15,000 feet. 11 Spitfires, 602 Squadron, took off Westhampnett at 16.13 hours, ordered to intercept a large number of e/a approaching Portsmouth. When at 14,000 feet about 150 e/a were sighted approaching from 10 miles south, and squadron climbed to 17,000 feet south-west to get above in sun. Squadron then attacked, and as they attacked, enemy formation was seen to split into two, one part making off south-east and the other south-west. E/A attacked by Spitfires were part that turned south-west. About 100 escorting Me109s were seen 3,000 feet above and several miles astern on port quarter of bombers. Red Leader (S/Ldr A V R Johnstone) reports: ‘... From experience, I did not think enemy fighters would come down even to protect bombers; I therefore ordered squadron to attack bombers in line astern’. Red 1 and Red 2 attacked bombers and disarranged their formation, experiencing heavy cross fire. Red 1 attacked one He111 astern and above and a second astern below; bursts 5 seconds from 1,000 yards closing to 150 yards, and 3 seconds opening 400 yards closing to 200 yards, claiming latter damaged. It was subsequently attacked by Hurricanes. Red 2 attacked outside left He111, full beam, 8 seconds opening 200 yards, closing to 100 yards. This e/a crashed and was burnt out in marshes west of Pagham. Red 3 attacked same e/a as Red 1, full beam, full astern and quarter, 3 attacks of 2 seconds each, saw e/a glide down with one engine stopped before Hurricanes attacked. Believed to have landed near Ford. Yellow 2 attacked a Do17 or 215 astern above, 4 seconds opening 300 yards, closing to 50 yards, and saw a lot of white smoke come from port engine. He then attacked Do17 which was separated, quarter below, 6 seconds, 200 yards, closing to 50 yards, and saw fire break out in fuselage by wing stub. Police confirm that this e/a crashed in sea 3 miles south of Pagham. Blue 1 attacked a single Heinkel with no result observed. He then attacked a formation of 15 Heinkels in 3 vics of 5, firing at four and putting one motor of one of them out of action. Blue 3 then chased an He111 out to sea, attacked quarter to starboard, 3 seconds opening 250 yards closing to 100 yards, and again quarter to port 3 seconds 250 yards to 100 yards saw e/a on fire in sea. Weather – visibility 20 miles, cloud 7,000 feet 5/10ths. Fire of Me109s reported as very wild. Seven Spitfires landed Westhampnett by 17.10 hours. Our losses - F/O McLean seriously wounded in foot. 2 Spitfires written off.

Below: 602 Squadron’s Basil Whall also claimed Heinkel G1+DM that force landed on East Wittering beach. The aircraft was found to have between 400 - 500 bullet holes in it, confirming that it was attacked by multiple fighters.

‘Learning to swim sir’

Contemporary Accounts 234 Sqn

26 AUGUST

26 August 1940 - 16.20 - 17.00 hrs Combat C. The Solent

602 SQUADRON SUPPLEMENTARY INTELLIGENCE REPORT

Green 2 (Sgt Babbage) was shot down in the sea and his report is now submitted. He followed Green 1 and climbed to attack the fighters, being the last section in the squadron to attack. Green 1 was attacked by two Me109s, one painted scarlet and one white, and it was all he could do to escape. Green 2 lost his leader so attacked an Me109 which was itself attacking a Spitfire, and after firing from dead astern got in a deflection burst as the Me109 broke away.

Below: Cyril Babbage is brought ashore at Bognor Regis beach after being shot down in flames on 26

Above: Pat Hughes flew X4009 into battle as Blue 1

August 1940. The missing section in the pier in the

during this combat.

background is to prevent the Germans using it as a landing jetty, a common ‘modification’ to all south coast piers during 1940!

234 SQUADRON INTELLIGENCE REPORT 234 Squadron were on patrol and were ordered to intercept Raid 44A over Portsmouth. Blue 1 (F/ Lt Hughes) sighted a formation of eight Me109s at 16,000 feet followed by a formation of 30 Me109s 2,000 feet above and three miles behind. He led Blue Section in line astern in an attack on the leading eight who immediately split up into sections of two A/C each. Blue 1 attacked the leading two A/C and fired a burst of five seconds at the rear one which caught fire and dropped vertically. The second aircraft had climbed and was shooting from above but Blue 1 turned and the E/A dived away but was caught by a long burst from dead astern when he pulled out. This a/c caught fire but stayed in the air for several minutes. The pilot jumped out near what seemed to be an ordinary auxiliary launch, painted dark grey and blue, which opened fire at Blue 1 at about 2,000 feet range. Blue 1 climbed towards the coast and on the way three Me109s approached and one fired at him from about 1,000 yards. Blue 1 took evasive action as he had no ammunition left and returned to base. Meanwhile the other three sections led by Red 1 had engaged the second formation. Red 1 (P/O Doe) closed on an enemy aircraft and dived at him from above and behind at an angle of 30 degrees and fired two short bursts. The pilot of the enemy aircraft slumped over the controls and the a/c went straight down and hit the water. Yellow 1 (P/O Mortimer-Rose) fired one burst at a pair of Me109s and broke away when the aircraft dived vertically and attacked another Me109 without observing the effects of his fire on the first. He last saw the first aircraft which he had attacked dive vertically. He chased another Me109, wounded the pilot and eventually the second Me109 fell into the sea on fire. Green 1 (Sgt Hornby) was attacked by two Me109s, one from full port beam and the other from starboard quarter. He took evasive action by half rolling and diving to come up in a steep climbing right hand turn. He then found the e/a which had attacked from the port beam in a favourable position for a half deflection shot. He fired a short burst. Bits flew off from under the wings of the E/A which turned over on its back and went straight down with smoke pouring from the fuselage. No enemy bombers were observed during this engagement. There were 8/10 cloud at 4,000 feet and a clear sky above. It is suspected that the first formation of 8 E/A were in the nature of a decoy. Normal markings were carried by the enemy machines but considerable number of them had red spinners. R/T was good both from the air and from the ground. Blue 3 (Sgt Boddington) had received damage from the two Me109s and was obliged to force land near West Dean Station. The pilot is safe, the machine is Cat.1.

Contemporary Accounts 615 Sqn

RAF Casualties

26 AUGUST

26 August 1940 - 16.20 - 17.00 hrs Combat C. The Solent

26 August 1940 - 16.20 - 17.00 hrs Combat C. The Solent RAF Casualties

615 SQUADRON INTELLIGENCE REPORT

Combat C 16.20 - 17.00 hrs

43 Sqn Hurricane P3903 P/O E A D J G van den Hove d’Ertsenrijck - safe. Damaged by Me109s off Portsmouth.

10 Hurricanes of 615 Squadron left Kenley 16.10 hours to intercept Raid 42. When over Portsmouth they sighted large formations of bombers, He111s, Do17s and Ju88s, escorted by fighters Me109s and probably He113s. Red 1 (S/Ldr Kayll) sighted two formations consisting of 15 a/c in each of He111s at 15,000 feet. He did a beam attack on the leading a/c opening fire at 400 yards closing to 50 yards, he was quite sure one of the e/a was damaged, but was unable to return to the attack owing to fighters closing in behind him. Green 1 (F/O Eyre) saw two or three Ju88s, he attacked one and received some fire from the rear upper guns, he put in two bursts of 4 seconds at 250 yards and 300 yards closing to 50 yards for 6 seconds, silenced the guns and stopped the port engine of the e/a, he made another attack to attempt to damage the starboard engine, but the e/a went into a cloud and was lost from view. Three of our pilots went to attack the bombers, and as they were closing in, they noticed they were Blenheims, who fired the correct colours of the day. One of our pilots saw what he took to be an He113, and chased it out to sea, but could not catch up with it, it was painted sky blue all over. Thin clouds at 5,000 feet to 6,000 feet clear above and clear out to sea. Standard armament, no cine guns fitted. 9 aircraft 615 Squadron landed Kenley between 16.46 hours and 17.15 hours. Enemy casualties. One He111 damaged. One Ju88 damaged. Our casualties. One pilot being slightly wounded (F/O Gayner).

43 Sqn Hurricane P3220 P/O R Lane – injured. Shot down over Portsmouth. Aircraft crashed at Northwood Farm, Forestside, Hampshire. 21 year old Roy Lane was admitted to the Royal West Sussex Hospital, Chichester, with burns to his right leg and arm and his face. He was sent to the Maxillo Facial Unit at East Grinstead for plastic surgery and became a ‘Guinea Pig’. He later had an eventful career in the RAF; going to Russia with CAM ships on convoys and finally went to Burma where he was captured and is believed to have been beheaded by the Japanese in April 1944. 43 Sqn Hurricane P3202 P/O C K Gray – injured. Shot down and pilot baled out during combat over Portsmouth area with injuries to right arm. Aircraft crashed at Ratham Mill, Bosham. 43 Sqn Hurricane V7259 P/O H L North – injured. Shot down in head-on attack on He111s over Portsmouth, abandoned over Birdham. Admitted to the Royal East Sussex Hospital, Chichester, with bullet wounds in chest, right shoulder, right leg and knee. Discharged 10th September. 43 Sqn Hurricane R4231 FT-G P/O R Lane 43 Sqn

P/O C A Woods-Scawen - safe. Damaged over Portsmouth.

43 Sqn Hurricane V7308 P/O G C Brunner – injured. Belly-landed at Tangmere after being damaged over Portsmouth. Pilot had gunshot wound to left ankle, admitted to the Royal East Sussex Hospital, Chichester. Discharged 10th September. 234 Sqn Spitfire X4023 P/O P W Horton - safe. Landed at Middle Wallop with undercarriage up after being damaged by Me109s over Portsmouth.

Below: Flying Officer Tony Eyre poses for a press photo with the Intelligence Officer at Hawkinge. 615 Squadron and Eyre were unique on this day in that they intercepted both the eastern raids and the western raid. Eyre himself claimed two Me109s over Whitstable around 15.30hrs. Then after a very quick turnaround at Kenley he was heading in the opposite direction to Portsmouth where he claimed a Ju88 an hour later! Eyre survived the Battle of Britain only to be shot down and made PoW in March 1942. He

234 Sqn Spitfire P9494 Sgt M C B Boddington - safe. Forced-landed near West Dean Station, Hampshire, after being damaged by Me109s over Portsmouth. 249 Sqn Hurricane P3660 P/O P R-F Burton - safe. Landed Tangmere with broken tail wheel after combat over the Isle of Wight. 602 Sqn Spitfire X4188 Sgt C F Babbage – safe. Shot down in flames by Me109s over Selsey Bill. Crashed in sea 300 yds off Pagham, West Sussex. Pilot baled out and rescued from the sea.

survived the war but was killed in a Tempest crash after his engine failed on 16 February 1946.

F/O C H Maclean 602 Sqn

602 Sqn Spitfire X4187 F/O C H Maclean - seriously wounded. Shot down in combat with Bf 109s of I/JG53 over Selsey Bill. Landed wheels up and flaps down at Tangmere with three cannon shell holes in fuselage. Aircraft repairable. A machine gun bullet had caused compound fractures to his right ankle which necessitated the amputation of his foot at St Richard’s Hospital, Chichester. 26 year old Charles Maclean never flew on operations again. 615 Sqn Hurricane P2878 F/O J R H Gaynor – injured. Crash-landed near Hambledon, Hampshire, after being damaged over Portsmouth. Pilot received minor facial injuries.

Luftwaffe Casualties

26 AUGUST

26 August 1940 - 16.20 - 17.00 hrs Combat C. The Solent Luftwaffe Casualties

26 August 1940 - 16.20 - 17.00 hrs Combat C. The Solent

Combat C 16.20 - 17.00 hrs

2/JG2 Me109E-4 Wn.5383 Shot down at Blendworth, Hampshire. Pilot baled out and the aircraft dived into the ground. Ff: Oblt Hans-Theodor Griesebach PoW. See report of P/O Van den Hove d’Ertsenrijck, 43 Squadron. 7/JG2

Me109E-4 Wn.3702 Fell into the Channel.

Ff: Lt Walter Hoffmann – missing.

8/JG2

Me109E-4 Wn.2782 Returned to Cherbourg with 15% damage.

9/JG27

Me109E-1

Fell into the Channel. Ff: Uffz Erich Ackmann – missing.

1/JG53 missing.

Me109E-4

Fell into the sea after the engine had been damaged. Ff: Fw Heinrich Bezner –

5/JG53 Me109E-4 Seenotdienst.

Damaged and ditched in the Channel. Ff: Lt Karl Roos rescued by

5/JG53

Me109E-4

Damaged and ditched in the Channel. Ff: Lt Eduard Berwanger - killed.

5/JG53

Me109E-1

Fell into the Channel. Ff: Fw Wilhelm Holdermann – missing.

Right: The tail of Heinkel 111 G1+GM at West Brook Farm in Hampshire. The rear fuselage was torn away from the front section when the aircraft hit a tree during the forced landing.

Stab I/KG55 He111P-2 G1+BB Target Portsmouth. Before reaching target this aircraft was attacked by six or seven fighters who shot at and first stopped one and then the other engine. The bombs were scuttled shortly before the aircraft made a good forced landing at Helliers Farm, Wick, West Sussex.Ff: Oblt Ignaz Krenn and Bo: Uffz Helmut Morrack both PoW. Bf: Uffz Hans Degen, Bm: Uffz Willi Schneiders and Bs: Fw Alois Schreek all wounded PoWs. See reports of S/Ldr Johnstone, 602 Squadron and S/Ldr Badger of 43 Squadron. 4/KG55 He111P-2 Wn.2124 G1+DM Started from Chartres to attack Portsmouth; a map was found in the wreckage that indicated Portsmouth Basin, Government Yards and four jetties. Attacked by fighters and the port engine caught fire, the oil feed to the starboard engine was broken. The pilot shut off both engines and made a forced landing on the beach 50 yards off East Wittering, West Sussex. Ff: Ltn Albert Metzger – wounded PoW. Bo: Uffz Rudolf Schandner Bf: Uffz Rudi Paas, Bm: Fw Julius Urhahn, and Bs: Flieger Rudolf Fessel all killed. See reports of Sgt Whall, 602 Squadron and P/O North of 43 Squadron. 4/KG55 He111P-2 Wn.2165 G1+GM Started from Chartres to bomb Portsmouth Docks. Before reaching target, they were attacked by fighters which shot up both engines and killed the observer. Also damaged by AA fire, the aircraft hit a tree on crashing at West Brook Farm, Cowplain, Hampshire, and broke in half. Bo: Ofw Otto Hennecke – killed. Ff: Ltn Klaus Walter, Bf: Uffz Oscar Schufft, Bm: Uffz Fritz Marmer and Bs: Flieger Josef Wimmer all wounded PoWs. See report of North, 43 Squadron. 5/KG55 He111P G1+GN Fell into the sea after the engines had been damaged. Bf: Uffz Konrad Steiger, Bm: Uffz Willi Losch and Bs: Gefr Gustav Stratmann all wounded. Ff: Fw Karl Brüning and Bo: Oblt Fritz von dem Hagen both safe. All rescued by the Seenotdienst. II/ZG2 Me110 Crew safe.

Damaged by fighters and crashed near St Pierre Eglise, France. 60% damage.

Below: The broken wreck of Heinkel 111 G1+GM at West Brook Farm in Hampshire. The farm buildings appear to have had a lucky escape! Right: Oblt Ignaz Krenn pilot of Heinkel 111 G1+BB boards a train at Chichester station after being shot down over West Sussex on 26 August 1940.

THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN COMBAT ARCHIVE SERIES

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