2nd Tactical Air Force, Vol. 3: From the Rhine to Victory, January to July 1945

"""------I

o

TACTICAL AIR FORCE Volume Three

From the Rhine to Victory January to May 1945

o TACTICAL AIR FORCE ----

Volume Three

o

From the Rhine to Victory January to May 1945

Christopher Shores & Chris Thomas

CLASSIC An imprint of Ian Allan Publishing

Christopher Shores served in the ATC and RAF during the 1950s and produced his first book, Aces High, in 1966. This was followed by Fighters over the Desert in 1969, and then by the original 2nd Tactical Air Force the following year. Since then he has produced an average of one book a year on aviation subjects, including a completely rewritten Aces High in 1994, plus many articles, aircraft monographs and similar works. He and Chris Thomas have worked together before to produce The Typhoon and Tempest Story in 1988. By profession a chartered surveyor, Christopher Shores worked in the commercial property market for more than 40 years. Retired in mid-2000, he continues to be a consultant, but is now able to devote much more of his time and energy to aviation research and writing. He is married with three grown-up children and lives in Dorset, England.

Chris Thomas worked for more than 30 years as a civilian Air Traffic Controller (at Manchester, Northern Radar, Heathrow, West Drayton and Swanwick). Retirement has given him the time to collaborate again with Christopher Shores in assembling this work - a long held ambition. He is the son of a 2nd TAF pilot, and is married with two adult children, a grandson and a granddaughter. He co-authored The Typhoon and Tempest Story with Christopher Shores following a long-running series in Ie Fanatique de I'Aviation. An Air-Britain specialist on the two Hawker fighters for more than 20 years, he has also written The Typhoon File, Warpaint No.5 Typhoon and Typhoon and Tempest Aces. Despite this specialisation, he has a wider interest in military aviation and has provided illustrations for a number of books and periodicals, including The JG 26 Album and Under the Guns of the Red Baron, as well as cover paintings for more than twenty publications.

Acknowledgements

The authors again acknowledge the continued support from those individuals named on Volumes One and Two and are also grateful to the following who provided photographs and or information for this Volume, some of whom, we regret to say, are no longer with us; Wg Cdr H.Ambrose, The Baldwin family, L.Bastin, A.Bayly, Sqn Ldr C.D.Bricker, Steve Brooking, Wg Cdr A.F.Carlisle, Steve Coates, J.Dick, Chris Ehrengardt, C.Ellement, R.H.Finlayson, Air Cdre J.W.Frost, Jerzy Glowczewski, Martin Goodman, Chris Goss, H.J.Hardy, D.H.G.Ince, Sqn Ldr W.J.Hibbert, J.Levesley and FONFA, G.Lord, Derek Lovell, C.J.McDonald, A.F.McIntosh, Bill McKerrow, L.D.Mellor, the Polish Institute, LPonsford, Greg Rushton, ZF-P, M.Robinson, Sqn Ldr A.Sager, F.Salter, Sqn Ldr R.E.G.Sheward, Graham Skillen, K.Sleep, Sqn Ldr Terry Spencer, Wg Cdr W.N.Stowe, G.Trayhurn, P.Truren, Wg Cdr R.Watts, F.Wheeler, Charles and Chris Woodcock. We are greatly indebted to the Malcom Scott, whose "Let's get it right this time!" provides such an evocative description of a 2 Group medium bomber operation. Particular mention must be made of the splendid support from Robert Bracken and John Melson, without whose enthusiastic assistance the RCAF would have been undeservedly underrepresented in the illustrations. We would also like to reiterate our thanks to our good friends and fellow enthusiasts, who have rallied to the cause as the deadline for each successive volume approached, especially Peter Arnold, Peter Celis, Eddie Creek, Russell Guest, Ashley Lamb, Wojtek Matusiak, Paul Sortehaugh and Andy Thomas. Finally, we would like to express our appreciation of the flexibility of the team at Chevron Publishing, which allowed the inclusion of late-arriving material, and their dedication to achieving the best possible result. First published 2006 ISB

(10) I 903223 60 I

ISBN (13) 978 I 903223 60 4 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission from the Publisher in writing. © Christopher Shores and Chris Thomas © Aircraft profiles: Chris Thomas, 2006

Produced by Chevron Publishing Limited Project Editor: Robert Forsyth Book and Jacket design by Colin Woodman Design Published by Classic Publications an imprint of Ian Allan Publishing Ltd, Hersham, Surrey KT12 4RG Printed in England by Ian Allan Printing Ltd, Hersham, Surrey KT12 4RG Visit the Ian Allan Publishing at www.ianallanpublishing.com

•n

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2

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rn

2

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• • •

Glossary

391

·VERITABLE'

A New Year Dawns January-February 1945

392

·PLUNDER'

Crossing the Rhine March-14 April 1945

438

VICTORY

Hunting down the Luftwaffe 15 April-5 May 1945

488

Appendices

544

Air Stores Parks Group Support Units Operational Control RAF Regiment Repair Units Groups Wings

545 545 548 549 550 554 555

Errata and Addenda relating to Volumes One and Two

566

Index

567

en

2nd TAF Losses and Claims

Q) Co..)

A Note from the Authors

!o.-

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F

aced with a requirement to produce comprehensive loss and claim tables for the complete operational period of the 2nd TAF it was necessary to find a starting point. Fortunately such a document exists - compiled by 2nd TAF HQ at the time and titled "2nd TAP Log of Casualty Claims, Assessment and Losses"; it gives much of the required information so the process would involve simply finding the missing details - times, aircraft serial numbers, initials of the crew and sometimes a location, and we would have what we needed ... wouldn't we? Well, no actually. It soon became apparent, by comparing the claims compiled from combat reports and squadron records, that the listing of combat claims (the good news!) was comprehensive and included a final assessment of each claim. However, it was also evident that the listing of losses (the bad news!) was certainly not complete, either in terms of aircrew casualties or aircraft losses, especially the latter. And yet this document would have been a major source for any statistics produced for the Air Staff at the time. Is it a coincidence that the good news was fully presented, but the bad news was not? It does not appear that the losses were filtered by the compiler rather that the losses were not accurately reported by the units which incurred them, either through ignorance of the procedure (a significant proportion of unrecorded losses were from non-British units) or perhaps political or even financial motivation. What indeed comprises an operational loss? For our purposes we decided that operational losses were any which took place during operational sorties, whether caused by enemy action or not; we wished to include accidental losses from any cause - technical failure, mishandling, bad weather or 'friendly fire'. Most losses due to enemy action were logged but there were some omissions, notably the disastrous day for 443 Squadron, RCAF, on 16 June 1944, when four of its Spitfires were shot down with the loss of their pilots (although one evaded). Losses not due to enemy action were recorded, but the criteria for these is difficult to discern. Sometimes, for example, crashes on take-off were recorded, yet other similar and equally lethal crashes were not. The missing accidents should be among the 'accident cards' which were compiled for statistical purposes; at first sight these appear comprehensive, but many losses due to "engine failure" as recorded in the unit records have not been included (perhaps as Flak may have been judged to have played a part) and many 'friendly fire' records are also missing. It is possible that some of the latter were removed for some purpose but a number still remain among the existing cards so it is difficult to see what was going here. Some of the missing accidents could be found in the Squadron records - the Operational Record Books which comprised two Forms, the 540 (narrative) and the 541 (details of all operational sorties). However, these records vary hugely in their accuracy and comprehensiveness. Some record aircraft aerial numbers (which were required), others record codes, a handful both and a distressing number neither! Other common errors include sorties mentioned in

the 540, but not recorded in the 541 and incorrect serial numbers. The latter seem to have originated in the way that the 541s were compiledfrom the squadron flight authorisation book which recorded code letters - where the serials were substituted or added by reference to a master list of the codes and corresponding serials; if this was not kept up to date the wrong serial would appear in the log. The correct serial numbers can often be found by searching through the 'movement cards' (Forms 78) which were a record of moves between units, damage dates and categories and ultimately the fate of the airframe. These were compiled by hand from signals and regular returns from units but errors and omissions are rife. In the avalanche of information at the time it is evident that details were often recorded on the wrong card, sometimes the adjacent one but frequently on that with a similar number (there were, for example, Spitfires with the same numbers in the MH, MJ, MK, ML series and Typhoons in the JPIJR and MM/MN blocks). So once again we are left with many problems to solve. There is however one source which proves to be consistently accurate: Forms OR101 - part of monthly statistical returns which squadrons were required to submit, they recorded aircraft movements on and off the unit and categorised the cause. Alas they were only in use for about six months (the second half of 1944) and seem only to have survived for a small number of units. Should all these sources fail to provide the missing detail, or disagree, then the only reasonably reliable source left is the MoD's casualty records. However, these are not available to the public and written requests may take a long time to be answered. When all this detail has been cross-checked and collated we have a much more accurate picture of losses - but it is unlikely to be completely correct as all the sources have been shown to be fallible to a greater or lesser degree; even the Common Wealth War Grave and the MoD casualty records have errors. We have one more 'can of worms' to open. The 2nd TAF log included among the losses some aircraft (by no means all) that were 'Category B' damaged. Such a categorisation meant that an airframe was beyond repair by the unit or local repair units; this could be due either to the extent of the damage or the lack of capacity of the local units. Take for instance a Spitfire which makes a wheels-up landing at base: the unit decides repair is beyond the 'R & l' section and so it is recorded in unit records as 'Cat B' and passed on to the local Repair and Salvage Unit. If the R&SU can effect a repair the airframe is now 'Cat Ac' and can be back with the parent unit in a matter of days, but if it is beyond the R&SU's capacity it goes to a major RAF or Civilian repair unit. Once there it may be repaired or, perhaps due to changing circumstances, ego shortage of spares or type obsolescence, it could be recategorised again as 'Cat E' and scrapped. So, in our loss tables we have attempted to record the true fate of those aircraft listed in the 2nd TAF log as 'Cat B'. It must be said however, that, the surviving records are not good enough to satisfactorily resolve every query in this category.

Glossary A&AEE ADGB AFDU ALG APC ARF ELS FAA

FPU Geschwader

HDT Jabo Jagdflieger Jagdwaffe MET MT Nickel ORB Popular

PSP Ramrod

Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment Air Defence of Great Britain Air Fighting Development Unit Advanced Landing Ground Armament Practice Camp Aircraft Reception Flight Emergency Landing Strip Fleet Air Arm Film Production Unit Basic Luftwaffe operational unit Horse-Drawn Transport fighter-bomber fighter pilot Luftwaffe fighter force Mechanised Enemy Transport Motor Transport Air-dropped propaganda leaflet Operations Record Book short range low-level photographic reconnaissance sortie Pierced Steel Planking Bombing operation with fighter escort designed primarily to destroy a specified target

G)

Ranger

Fighter/fighter-bomber deep penetration sortie to attack targets of opportunity Rhubarb Short range low-level offensive operation by two or four fighters in cloudy weather to attack targets of opportunity fighter sweep Rodeo Royal Australian Air Force RAAF ReAF Royal Canadian Air Force Royal New Zealand Air Force RNZAF Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve RNVR RP Rocket Projectile Senior Air Staff Officer SASO Specialised Low Attack Instructors' School SLAIS Square Mesh Track SMT headquarters flight of Luftwaffe Geschwader Stab Staffel Luftwaffe unit roughly equivalent in strength between an RAF flight and a Squadron; usually three or four Staffeln in a Gruppe, and three or four Gruppen in a Geschwader Staffelkapitan Commanding Officer of a Staffel (a position, not a rank) TacR Tactical Reconnaissance

Abbreviations (used in the Loss and Claims tables)

Symbols used in the tables mean the following. } after a name = shared kill; IAI

a/... Adj

alf Af am Asp

AIT bel bfo bhu ble b/a blu eatAe catS eatnk edl Chnl ell eld enk esd cst esu eta db d/b dbef

picked up by air-sea rescue service or shipping attacking / ... (shipping, MET, tanks etc) Adjutant airfield Airfield before midday Aspirant Allied territory believed bomb fell off bomb hung up balloon cable baled out blew up category Ac repair category B repair (damagel category not known crashed during landing Channel crash-landed collided cause not known crashed coast constant speed unit crashed on take-off damaged by dive bombing destroyed by enemy fire

dbf dbr d/f dla dog Dol dpd dtd E e/a elf efto E/T e/tr exp f/I F/L Fit Off F/O F/S Fr ftr G/C g/Ik hbAf hbd hbf hbsaf hdt hte

destroyed by fire damaged beyond repair dogfight damaged in landing accident destroyed on the ground died of injuries destroyed, probably destroyed, damaged ditched escaped/evaded and safe enemy aircraft engine failure engine failure on take-off enemy territory engine trouble exploded force-landed Flight Lieutenant Flight Officer Flying Officer Flight Sergeant French/France failed to return Group Ca ptain glycol leak hit by Allied anti-aircraft fire hit by debris hit by flak hit by small arms fire horse-drawn transport high tension cables

hyd/f

{before Cause/Location = 'ditto'

hydraulic failure injured IK) killed lost contact I/e LCdr Lieutenant Commander last known I/k long-range tank Irt I/s last seen 2/Lt 2nd Lieutenant nautical mile(s) m MET mechanised enemy transport not confirmed n/e not due enemy action ndea NFW Naval Fighter Wing nk not known nr near obs obstruction on the ground OG overshot o/s OW on water (PI prisoner of war pfto parachute failed to open P/O Pilot Officer PR photo reconnaissance psdbea presumed shot down by enemy aircraft rof ran out of fuel rpa rocket attack rtb returned to base runway r/w S/Ch Sgt Chef (I)

sdb sdbea sdbf sdbsaf S/E s/e Sgt S/L SILt Sr stbea tbl tbto T/E

tlo tpw u/e u/i u/s vis (W) W/C W/O

w/u wx 1/M

shot down by shot down by enemy aircraft shot down by flak shot down by small arms fire single-engined (unidentified enemy aircraft) single-engined Sergeant Squadron Leader Sub Lieutenant or Sous Lieutenant Sector strafed by enemy aircraft tyre burst on landing tyre burst on take-off twin-engined lunidentified enemy aircraft) take-off telephone wires undercarriage unidentified unserviceable visibility wounded Wing Commander Warrant Officer wheels-up landing weather 1st Maitre

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1 January (from

10.45 hours) -

February 1945

T

ABOVE: Pit Off Steve Butte of 403 Squadron who claimed three Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed (two Bf 109s and an Fw 190) near Evere on the morning of 1January 1945 while flying RR256 'KH-D'. He was awarded a DFC for this action.

here is little doubt that the Luftwaffe's dawn attack had caught the Allied tactical air forces more than somewhat unawares. Regrettable as this may have been, how much did it actually matter in the circumstances then pertaining? In practice the German offensive in the Ardennes was already at an end, the vital need for air support for the hard-pressed US armies having been considerably reduced by the turn of the year. The unexpectedly severe losses suffered by the Jagdwaffe, particularly in regard to the numbers of leaders and experienced pilots so involved, had been a considerable setback which would reduce substantially the effective presence of the German fighters in the immediate future. On the ground the front lines were in the grip of winter, and it would be some time before supplies and reinforcements could be brought forward in sufficient quantities to allow a renewal of the offensive following the losses so recently suffered, particularly by the US Army. As has already been mentioned (see Volume Two of this work), the supply of well-trained Allied fighter and fighter-bomber pilots had been running at such a level that there was no shortage of candidates eager to join an operational squadron. Indeed, training of new pilots was now being cut back due to the surplus that had arisen. Production of new aircraft was now also flowing at an unprecedented level, particularly for the established types such as the Spitfire IX/XVI range and the US P-47 and P-51. The manufacturers of the Typhoon and Tempest, however, were struggling to keep pace with demand but there were sufficient aircraft in immediate reserve to cover the Bodenplatte losses. Consequently the bringing back to strength of those units which had suffered the most severely - generally in aircraft rather than in pilots - would be a quite rapid affair, little adverse effect being felt in the interim until this had been achieved. No sooner had the raiders disappeared from the skies, and those Allied aircraft which had been in the air at the time of their attack had landed to refuel and re-arm, than operations were resumed much as before. At Eindhoven where the Typhoons had been badly hit, the squadrons which did manage to fly operations utilised the callsigns of all the squadrons of their Wing - for the benefit of the Luftwaffe 'listening service'. One of the first units in the air was 80 Squadron, its Tempests departing for the front to undertake an armed reconnaissance over the Paderborn- Bielefeld area at 1035. Slightly under an hour later two Fw 190s 'on the deck' had the misfortune' to be spotted by the Tempest pilots, flying some 8,000 feet above, as they crossed a patch of snow to the north-west of Munster. FIg Off J.W. 'Judy' Garland dived down with his No.2 to attack; Garland's fire caused both to blow up. Coincidentally, another Garland, Flt Lt P.J. of 2 Squadron, would be killed a little later in the day when his Spitfire FR XIV crashed while he was landing at B.?? His was a particularly tragic loss, being the last of four sons of Canadians Patrick and Winifred Garland to be killed flying for the RCAF; the eldest brother, Donald had won the Victoria Cross. In the meantime 412 Squadron had also undertaken an armed reconnaissance, close behind the Tempests. At midday a lone Ju 88 was encountered over the Dortmund area and was shot down by Flt Lt W,J.Banks. Early in the afternoon 183 Squadron's Typhoons were ordered to A.84, Chievres,

I....;J::....a_n_u_a_rY,--I_9_4_5

BELOW Armed with 1OOOlb bombs, Typhoons of 143 Wing form up at the end of Eindhoven's runway. It was in such a position that the Luftwaffe had caught 438 Squadron's Typhoons on New Year's morning.

I

CD

U

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LL.

« Mitchell FWZ06 'VO-C' was damaged in the Bodenplatte raid and although 'category B', was 'struck off at the end of March 1945. Note extra machine guns have been fitted in the starboard nose glazing. (IWM CL4351)

but whilst in the circuit at nearby Y.29, Fig Off D.Webber was shot down and killed by a US P-51 pilot, despite the wheels of his aircraft being down. Evidently the Americans were still "twitchy" from the morning's events! This latest example of what is now termed 'blue-on-blue', helped no doubt further to justify the oft-repeated comment: "When the Germans opened fire, we ducked; when we opened fire, the Germans ducked; when the Americans opened fire, EVERYONE ducked!" Even as this unfortunate event was taking place, the Canadian Spitfires were out again, 401 Squadron being followed by 412. A section of aircraft from the former unit attacked Rheine airfield at about 1525 on a 'Rat Hunt' after the ever-elusive Me 262s. On this occasion they caught Bf 109s, three pilots each claiming one shot down, while one of them managed to inflict damage on a fourth. Another section operating to the south of this airfield did spot one of the jets, and damage to this was claimed by Fit Lt John MacKay and his wingman. Half an hour later two more Bf 109s were seen near Osnabrtick by the 412 Squadron pilots, Sqn Ldr Dean Dover and Fit Lt J.A.Swan each claiming one of these shot down. Nightfall brought considerable' activity for the Mosquitoes - both night fighters and intruders - 604 Squadron's crews being much to the fore. Between 2019-2109 Fit Lt R.J.'Jack' Foster and his radar operator, Fit Lt M.ENewton, were able to claim three Ju 88s shot down, while at 2057 Sqn Ldr D.C.Furse/FIt Lt J.H.Downes accounted for an He 219 night fighter. Intruder crews from 21 Squadron also enjoyed an unusual success when they intercepted and shot down two V-Is heading towards targets in Belgium. Into the early hours the mantle was taken up by 219 Squadron's new Mosquito XXXs, Fit Lt ET.Reynolds/Flg OffEA.van den Heuvel claiming another night fighter despatched, this time a Bf 110 at 18,000 feet. TIME

SON

TYPE

!DENT

11:30 e1250 15:00 e1500

80 412 2 3

Tempest V Spitfire IX Spitfire XIV Tempest V

EJ774 ML277 RM803 EJ827 EJ719 EJ765 EJ719 EJ765 EJ719 EK497 MK791 MJ671 MK888

15:10 e1525

183 401

Typhoon IB Spitfire IX

e1525

401

Spitfire IX

B

R T R T R E

Y

e1555

412

e1615 20:19

193 604

EN569 B ML141 E Spitfire IX PV234 MJ275 Typhoon IB RB218 Mosquito XIII HK526

20:40

604

Mosquito XIII HK526

20:57

604

Mosquito XIII HK529

21:09

604

Mosquito XIII HK526

e2210

219

Mosquito

MM790

PILOT/CREW FlO JW.Garland F/L W.J.Banks F/L P.J.Garland (K) F/S M.J.A.Rose FlO O.J.Butcher} WID O.R.Worley} FlO O.J.Butcher} WID O.RWorley} P/O RWPottinger(PI FlO OWebber IKI F/L J.MacKay} F/S A.KWoodill} FlO OJ.Church

P/O O.M.Horsburgh F/L J.C.Lee SIL O.H.Oover F/L JASwan F/L A.S.Smith (K) F/L R.J.Foster F/L M.FNewton F/L R.J.Foster F/L MJ.Newton SIL O.C.Furse F/L J.H.Oownes F/L R.J.Foster F/L M.FNewton F/L FT.Reynolds FlO FA.van den Heuvel

CLAIM

dpd

CAUSE/LOCATION

Fw190 Ju88

2 -1--

Bll09 Bll09

1-1--

15m NW Munster Dortmund csd landing B.77 N Helmond N Helmond

Fw190

2 --

6m E Gernert

Me262

1--

hbl b/o nr Oulmen sdb P.51 nr Y.29 NE Rheine

Bl109 Fw190 BI109 Bll09 BI109 BI109

1---1 1-111-1--

Ju88

1--

{Rheine { { { 6m W Gutersloh EDortmund sdbl W Zuilichem A.59

Ju88

1--

E.9931

He219

1--

F.1580

Ju88

1--

E.65

Blll0

1--

F0721

The day began with further ill fortune for the Typhoon squadrons at Eindhoven. As --~-----'--247 Squadron's six available Typhoons taxied along the perimeter track for a long-range 'armed recce', Fit Lt Joe Stubbs, an Australian flight commander of 168 Squadron, was taking off for an air test. The cannon access panels on one wing flew open and the Typhoon swung off the runway and cartwheeled across the airfield straight into one of 247's aircraft. The unfortunate Stubbs perished in the ensuing inferno which was fed by the ruptured long-range tanks; the 247 Squadron pilot escaped with burns which kept him off operations for a month. Following the recent loss of Sqn Ldr Everard, the pilots of 401 Squadron were delighted to welcome their new commanding officer in the person of Sqn Ldr W.T.Klersy, DFC & Bar, about to commence his second tour. TIME

SUN

TYPE

IDENT

PILOT/CREW

08:45

168 247

Typhoon IB Typhoon IB

RB209 MP201 0

F/L J.B.Stubbs (K) W/O S.G.Jones

CLAIM

dpd

CAUSE/LOCATION cto cld MP201 B.78 hit by RB209 tlo B.78

440 Squadron received eight Typhoons drawn from the other three units of the Wing (438, 439 and 168 Squadrons), which would allow it to continue to operate whilst awaiting new deliveries from 83 GSu. 443 Squadron, newly-returned from APC, now began exchanging its Spitfire IXs for Mark XVls. The day also saw, at last, the arrival of the all-Dutch 322 Squadron to join 132 Wing. The unit had been allocated to 132 Wing at the beginning of December, changing to 135 Wing and then back to 132 Wing; the Squadron had remained at Biggin Hill whilst ground elements had sought to secure a Continental base. Having given up its Spitfire XIVs for Mark IXEs during the summer, this unit too had recently replaced these latter machines with Mark XVIEs, flying in these aircraft to B.79, Woensdrecht.

3 January 1945

-_--:._-----'-------'-------'--

The day brought a resumption of activity in the air during a series of engagements which have 4 January 1945 ----'--------'----proved somewhat confusing to place in context During the morning no combats were reported, but 332 Squadron lost two Spitfires to Flak while attacking trains. At 1315411 Squadron commenced an armed reconnaissance over the Hengelo area, while a quarter of an hour later 442 Squadron undertook a similar operation towards Lingen and Munster, also finding itself near Hengelo. At about 1350 the first formation encountered seven or more Fw 190s, six of which were claimed shot down, two by Fig Off Malcolm Graham, one each by Fit Lts Dick Audet and John Boyle, this latter pair also sharing one more, while Fit Lt H.D.Carr added the sixth. FIg Off K.J.Thomson reported that he was going to crash-land, and failed to return. Meanwhile, a few minutes later the 442 Squadron formation reported 15 plus Bf 109s and Fw 190s to the north, pilots claiming one Messerschmitt as a probable and one damaged. During the early afternoon period I./JG 26 had despatched 23 of its new Fw 190D-9s on an exercise, but aircraft of the Gruppe's 4. Staffel, the last to take off, had lost the rest of the formation in haze, and had headed for the Osnabruck area, where one aircraft suffered an engine fire, the pilot baling out. The remainder changed course to Rheine, where eight Typhoons were spotted below. These however, seemed to be escorted by 10-15 Spitfires which intercepted the Dora-9s as the German pilots dived to attack. Three of the German fighters were shot down at once, and two more were caused to crash-land at Furstenau; of the three pilots in the former aircraft, all were badly wounded, one dying two weeks later. II./JG 26 was then ordered to despatch a small formation, drawn from 7. and 8. Staffel. As these were forming up near the unit's airfield at Nordhorn, they were attacked by Spitfires. Lt Wilhelm Mayer, a 5. Staffel pilot flying in an 8. Staffel aircraft, was shot down and killed, while a second Focke-Wulf was badly hit and crash-landed near the airfield. Mayer, victor of 27 combats, would be awarded a posthumous Ritterkreuz during the following March. In his history of JG 26, Don Caldwell has presented an apparently convincing account of these events, suggesting that 411 Squadron accounted for the I. Gruppe aircraft, and 442 Squadron for those ofII. Gruppe. This, however, overlooks a number of important points. ......_ Firstly, the times given for the German losses appear to indicate that it was the II Gruppe losses which occurred first at around 1400, whilst those of I. Gruppe were at 1600, or thereabouts. Lt Wilhelm Mayer of 5/JG 26 was shot down Further, the Tempests of 122 Wing were also extremely active during the day. Fit Lt D.c.'Foob' and killed near Nordhorn Fairbanks, who had just moved from 274 Squadron to 3 Squadron, claimed an Fw 190 shot down airfield during the eight miles north-west of Hengelo airfield at 1405, while Pit Off N.J.Rankin and Fit Sgt L.B.Cook afternoon of 4 January of 80 Squadron claimed another Focke-Wulf north-east of Rheine at 1430, two more being 1945. Mayer had scored claimed damaged. 27 victories, including a Finally, at 1445, Fit Lt J.H.Ryan and FIg Off David Ness of 56 Squadron claimed a pair of Mosquito, and was awarded the Ritterkreuz fighters identified as Bf 109s five miles south of Osnabruck. posthumously in March The final anomaly is the fact that I./JG 1 was also operating in the area, and lost four 1945 Fw 190A-8s to aircraft identified as British fighters around Oldenzaal, while two of the unit's pilots I.".~,.~

I

claimed Spitfires shot down at about 1345. Since the only Allied fighter to be lost in such circumstances was a 411 Squadron Spitfire, and the times were closely similar, it would seem more likely that it was this Luftwaffe unit with which the Canadian squadron had actually clashed. What is clear however, is that on this date 2nd TAF fighter pilots claimed ten German fighters shot down plus one probable and three damaged, while II./JG 26 and I./JG 1 suffered the loss of eight aircraft crashed and three more crash-landed, matching nearly exactly the claims made. The day was, however, rendered easier to check by the absence of any US claims by either the Eighth or Ninth Air Forces.

Q)

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a

LL

«

TIME

SllN

TYPE

IDENT

el020 e1110 e1350

332 332 411

Spitfire IX Spitfire IX Spitfire IX

TA838 NH544 PV347 PV347 PL430 PL430 MK788 PL433 RK810 EJ777 RR196 MH456 EJ633 EJ830 EJ691 EJ705 EJ780 EJ544

14:05 e1415

3 442

Tempest V Spitfire IX

14:30

80

Tempest V

14:45

56

Tempest V

PILOT/CREW M A

Q

R

X D J

Lt K.Herfjord Sgt O-P.FChristopherson (K) F/L R.J.Audet F/L R.J.Audet} F/L J.J.Boyle} F/L J.J.Boyle FlO M.G.Graham F/L H.D.Carr FlO K.J.Thomson IPI F/L D.C.Fairbanks F/L M.Johnston F/L R.C.Smith P/O N.J .Rankin} F/S L.B.Crook} FlO G.A.Bush W/O G.W.Dopson F/L J.H.Ryan FlO D.E.Ness

CLAIM

dpd

CAUSE/LOCATION

Fw190 Fw190

1-1--

hbl III AfT N Rijssen sdbl b/o SE Tilburg NW Hengelo all NE Hengelo all

Fw190 Fw190 Fw190

1-2 -1--

Fw190 BI109 Bl109 Fw190

1--1--1 I--

NE Hengelo all Hengelo Twente psdbea nr Hengelo 13m NE Hengelo all {N Hengelo { 12m NE Rheine

Fw190 Fw190 BI109 BI109

--1 --1 1-1--

{12m NERheine { {5m S Osnabruck {

_5....
I/s Oldenburg hbl b/o too low SW Varenrode csd a/train (Bremenl hbl til 2m N Kleve hbll/I NE Lingen hbf? I/s S Bremen csd NE Ibbenburen cnk hbll/I SW Bramsche catB {sdb Fw190s W Oiepholz {

Fig Off ROASmith had triple misfortune on 5 April 1945 when his Spitfire XIV, RM759 'EB-S', ran out of fuel on approach to land at Eindhoven - despite the gauge indicating 40 gallons left I Baulked as he tried to Iine up with the runway, he was obliged to make a wheels-up landing that finished in one of the many bomb craters which peppered the airfield.

latter down north-east of Meppen, Cresswell-Taylor becoming a PoW, Two of the other Spitfire pilots, Flg Off R.Muls and Flt Sgt S.H.Neulinger, then shot down Rohrmann's aircraft, and he baled out, suffering injuries. Behind II. Gruppe came five IV. Gruppe aircraft, led by Lt Prager, but these were attacked in the Lingen-Rheine area by six of 402 Squadron's aircraft, FIt Lt W.F.Peck and Flg Off A.G.Ratcliffe shooting down Vffz Kurt Soder and Ofw Gunter Shitkowsky, both of whom were killed. The Canadian pilots identified their opponents as 20 Focke-Wulfs and Messerschmitts, further claims being made for one probable and four damaged, two of the latter identified by Peck as Bf 109s. Lt Prager and Fw Sinz each claimed one Spitfire shot down, but no loss or damage was actually suffered by the RCAF unit. Six Tempests were launched by 56 Squadron at 1115 to the OsnabrQck-Dummer See area. Here FIt Lt Clostermann spotted seven Fw 190Ds among heavy cloud and gave chase, the rest of the formation losing him in the clouds; he pursued the Focke-Wulfs for seven minutes before achieving a firing position, claiming to have inflicted damage on two of the Doras before he was forced to break off and retreat into the cloud. Flak probably cost five aircraft, three of them Typhoons, with two of the pilots killed and one captured. Amongst other losses on this date was an unusual one - one of 276 Squadron's air-sea rescue Spitfires. While orbiting two dinghies which were roped together and which contained five survivors from a Fortress crew, FIg Off N.MacDonald's elderly Spitfire VB (which had seen earlier service with four fighter squadrons) was seen to emit black smoke and dive into the sea. No trace of pilot or aircraft was found.

Following most distinguished service in the Western Desert, Tunisia and Italy, Wg Cdr J.F.Edwards, DFC & Bar, DFM, arrived in Western Europe late in the war, becoming Wg Cdr Ops of 127 Wing on 6 April 1945, replacing Wg Cdr J.E.Johnson. The war ended before he had much chance of adding to his earlier successes, however. He is seen here with his Spitfire XVI, T0147 'JF-E'.

TIME

SON

TYPE

IDENT

e0735 08:00 08:20 08:45 09:40 10:55

181 130 247 74 41 350

Typhoon IB Spitfire XIV Typhoon IB Spitfire XVI Spitfire XIV Spitfire XIV

10:55 e1210 12:15 e1220

350 247 56 402

Spitfire XIV Typhoon IB Tempest V Spitfire XIV

SW552 SM818 SW526 TB593 RM759 RB189 RB181 RB185 SW445 EJ536 RNl19 MV302 MV252 RM843

14:15 16:15

80 276

Tempest V Spilire V

EJ643 BM414

S G H L W J A 0 C

PILOT/CREW F/L R.F.Galbraith (K) FlO H.C.Finbow (W) F/L O.H.Rutter (KI F/S R.F.Racey (E) FlO R.D.A.Smith FlO R.MulsJ F/S S.H.NeulingerJ FlO A.Cresswell Turner (I,S) F/S G.E.Morgans (P) F/L P.H.Clostermann FlO A.G.Ratcliffe F/L E.R.Burrows F/L H.Cowan F/L W.F.Peck F/O L.Smith FlO N.MacDonald (KI

dpd

CAUSE/LOCATION

Fw190

1--

Fw190 BI109 Fw190 Fw190 Fw190 Bl109

--2 1---1 -11 1---2

sdbl N Furstenau hbl III nr Ahaus lis NE Cloppenburg ell III nr Zwolle ell III B.78 catB NE Meppen NE Meppen hbl III nr Cloppenburg hbl III S Hopsten OsnabrOck-Hamelin {Ling en

CLAIM

{ { { { hbl III ETilburg catB e/tr dived in sea 5m off Dunkirk

The day brought several more successes for 2nd TAF fighters, while losses amongst the fighter6 April 1945 -----""'---bomber units were somewhat lower than of late. Six Tempests of 80 Squadron undertook a standing patrol over the Vechta-OsnabrQck area from 1620. In the Dummer See-Steinhuder Meer area five Fw 190s were sighted and attacked; two were pursued and claimed shot down by FIt Lt R.C.Cooper and Flg Off L.Smith over Hoya. During a sweep up the Rhine by Tempests in bad weather an hour later, pilots of 56 Squadron spotted Fw 190s bombing army units in the bridgehead area near Stolzenau. These were duly 'bounced' before the German pilots had even realised the Tempests were there, and braving the 'friendly' AA fire, Sqn Ldr R.A.MacKichan was credited with two shot down, and FIt Lt 'Joe' Payton a third. Two of this unit's Tempests forcelanded, Wt Off D.C.H.Rex coming down at B.I02, while Wt Off L.W.Freeman had the indignity of falling to the Allied AA fire, putting his aircraft down near Helmond. IV.lJG 26 undertook two operations to the Dedelsdorf area, losing one Dora-9 to ground fire and two to fighters. The latter pair fell to the west of Stolzenau and would therefore appear to have been the victims of 56 Squadron. Both pilots, young Vnteroffizier, became PoWs. Towards evening four Tempests from 486 Squadron flew a patrol in the Dummer SeeSteinhuder Meer area, when at 2000 hours they were advised by'Scalwag' (a forward contact car) that Ju 87s were attacking the bridge over the Weser at Stolzenau. Guided by AA fire, FIg Off 'Jimmy' Sheddan latched

I

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l0-

a

LL

«

BELOW AND BOTTOM LEFT Fit Lt W.Stanski of

30B Squadron examines the damage to his Spitfire IX, MJ342 'ZF-O' on 3 February 1945. It was declared 'category B' but later scrapped. ABOVE AND BELOW Fit Lt Bill Stowe's RM797 'EB-E' (seen also in its Eindhoven dispersal) was fortunate to survive this hit on 5 April 1945, passing through 409 R&SU to Air Service Training at Hamble for its repair. The airframe survives today.

I

ABOVE: NV981 'SA-!'\ was soon repaired after this 'nick' on

19 March 1945 but was lost with Fig Off Kalka just 6 days later. RIGHf It is difficult to see how the propeller kept turning to allow the pilot of this Ternpest to return to base.

BELOW RB386 of 197 Squadron was one of many Typhoons hit by Flak during support operations for the Rhine crossings.

I

CJ.)

U

l.-

o

L.J...

«

onto two of the dive-bombers in quick succession and claimed both shot down, two parachutes being seen descending from each of the German aircraft. More moves were now occurring as more territory east of the Rhine was secured by the Allies. First to change bases were the units of 125 Wing, 130 Squadron moving to B.106 at Twente in north Holland near Enschede, only five miles from the German border; it was followed next day by 350 Squadron, while 135 Wing started going up to B.91, Kluis, south of Nijmegen, still on Dutch territory but some 30 miles nearer the front than their previous base. Night fighters were also coming up closer to the front line areas, 410 and 488 Squadrons with 149 Wing arriving at B.77 during 4 and 5 April. TIME

SON

TYPE

IDENT

PILOT/CREW

e0230

305

Mosq uito VI

HR191 T

05:47

613

Mosquito VI

PZ289

e0710 15:05

222 56

Tempest V Tempest V

e1550 16:10 17:30

56 443 80

e1830 e1840 e1945 20:00 22:03

56 332 175 486 487

FIL G.A.Barker (K) Sgt G.E.Arthur (K) FlO G.EHanson F/S ES.Kohar FlO R.H.Oavidson (K) S/L RWA.MacKichan FIL J.J.Payton WID LW.Freeman FlO S.E.Messum (KI FIL R.C.Cooper FlO L.Smith WID O.C.H.Rex Sgt A.E.Aarflot (K) W/O KWPatrick (II F/O C.J.Sheddan S/L I.G.Medwin IKI F/O A.J.Coe (K)

NV750 NV974 NV987 Tempest V EJ761 Spitfire XVI SM670 Tempest V NV983 NV991 Tempest V NV667 Spitfire IX NH531 Typhoon IB JR517 EJ711 Tempest V Mosquito VI SZ990

P K R V

A L U Q

H

CLAIM

d Pd

CAUSE/LOCATION ftr (Deventer) e/f c/I A.75

Fw190 Fw190

2- 1--

Fw190 Fw190

1-1--

Ju87

2--

spun in cloud csd NW Niimegen {Stolzenau area {

hbAf 1/1 nr Helmond hbl nr Rheine b/o E Messingen {Hoya { hbll/I nr B.102 missing in cloud csd EZelhem hbl? e/I III SE Greven Stolzenau cto B.87

Intensive operations brought many runway and taxying accidents, none more dramatically illustrated than by this scene of the aftermath of the call ision between two Typhoons on Goch's runway on 7 April 1945 The 175 Squadron Typhoon, JP753 'HH-B', was travelling too fast to avoid the preceding aircraft, JR194 'BR-N' of 184 Squadron, as it slowed to clear the runway, the former's 14 ft diameter propeller made short work of the rear fuselage of 'BR-N'. Both pilots survived. The aircraft were despatched to 419 R&SU for repair and, amazingly, JR194 was back in service, as 'BR-1', just five days later. JP753 was deemed beyond the R&SU repair capacity, declared 'category B' and returned to the UK for repair by Taylorcraft at Rearsby, but was scrapped after VE-Day rendered the repair unnecessary.

TIME SON

TYPE

IDENT

PILOT/CREW

e0030

305

Mosquito VI

SZ998 J

02:30

107

Mosquito VI

SZ986

e1540 16:00 16:45 19:00 20:35 e2230

263 340 345 345 56 69

Typhoon IB RB438 Spitlire XVI TB359 A Spitfire IX MK369 Spitfire XVI PT991 Tempest V NV987 R Wellington XIII MF397

S/L P.H.C.Hanbury (K) F/L J.P.Hart (K) F/L O.B.Graeme FlO K.J.Spargo WID RWAinsley 11M F.Delery IKI Lt d'Aligny IKI Lt P.M Decroo Sgt G.J.Swindelis Sgt M.A.Hunt IK) Sgt W.J.H.Clarke (K) Sgt GWH arper (K) Sgt G.Peace IK) Sgt F.T.Hare IKI F/L KW.Stewart F/O H.E.Brumby

23:20

488

Mosquito XXX MT263

CLAIM

dpd

CAUSE/LOCATION ftr IBremen) hbl c/l A.75 catAc/E

BI109

--1

hbl b/o NW Naarden hbl? csd Spakenburg sdbl II N Meppel hbd III 5m NE Deventer catB 10m EOummersee ftr IApeldoorn-Amersloort)

0018 Apr 45 EtA.

1--

20m SE Osnabriick

In 121 Wing, 174 Squadron became the third Typhoon unit to be disbanded, its pilots mainly 8 April 1945 -----~---posted as instructors or to other squadrons in the Wing. Having gained recent experience of current operations with 56 Squadron, FIt Lt Pierre Clostermann was now posted to 3 Squadron as '/\ Flight commander. In 274 Squadron Sqn Ldr 'Jesse' Hibbert and FIt Lt Fred Mossing completed their tours and departed for the UK. 12:00 12:20 e1535 e1725 e1850

130 80 332 340 263

Spitfire XIV Tempest V Spitfire IX Spitfire XVI Typhoon IB

RM808 NV700 A NH597 T TB280 Y RB479

Sgt GWarren (S) F/L R.H.Anders 2/Lt E.Hagen IE) l/M Kerlan F/L E.JWhitfield

hbl? 1/1 nr Nienburg III NW Nienburg ndea CatAc hbl b/o 15m N Oldenburg hbl catAc/E hbl b/o AfT (Deventer)

2 Group's Mosquito VI intruders had continued to suffer regular losses during their nocturnal 9 April 1945 -----~---sorties, but usually it was to ground fire of one sort or another that they fell. At 0215 on 9th however, Wt Off RW.Everson and Sgt RA.W.Rudd of 305 Squadron were intercepted and shot down by a night fighter near Olpe in the Cologne 'pocket'. Everson was captured but liberated from Stalag 6G, by American troops, just four days later; Rudd evaded, returning to report their fate. On a standing patrol over the Weser bridgehead which commenced at 1830, Sqn Ldr Mackie and Wt Off W.RSheaf of 80 Squadron encountered three Luftwaffe training aircraft over Fassberg airfield which they at once attacked, Mackie claiming two shot down and Sheaf the third. They identified their victims as Bf 108s, but study of Mackie's gun camera film indicates that these were in fact Arado Ar 96s.

Few Typhoons flew with the same unit from D-Day to the end of the war but 164 Squadron's MN631 'FJ-G' was one such aircraft, seen here with a heated engine cover in its dispersal at 877, Gilze-Rijen

-0 C

::::i

0.. CD "-'I

~

Q)

U

TIME

SON

TYPE

02:15

305

Mosquito VI NT187 V

IOENT

PILOT/CREW

e1425 14:50 15:13 e1630 16:50 18:15 19:35

266 340 302 274 308 164 80

Typhoon IB Spitfire XVI Spitfire XVI Tempest V Spitfire XVI Typhoon IB Tempest V

~

0

L.L ~

«

CO

U +-' U

RB267 TA809 TB378 SN142 TB749 SW523 'NV700' NV938

U

G A A

WID R.WEverson (P) Sgt R.AWRudd (E) WID N.V.Phillips (EI Sgt P.Lavergne (P) WID G.Schmidt WI P/O WBWeir (K) F/S S.Toloczko S/L P.Bateman-Jones S/L E.O.Mackie FlO WR.Sheal

CLAIM

dpd

CAUSE/LOCATION sdbea nr Olpe

Ar96 Ar96

2 -1--

ell III SW Eemshaven cll nr Aurich cnk hbl cll nr Zwolle sdbl a/train (Emden-Oldenburg I hbl (Utrecht-Zwollel b/o nr Antwerp hbl c/I 8.88 {Fassberg {

~ ""D C N On 9 April 1945 Sqn Ldr PL.Bateman-Jones of 164 Squadron was hit by Flak on an 'armed reece' to Amersfoort and was forced to crashland at B.88, Heesch, wrecking his new (that day) late-production Typhoon SW523 'FJ-A'

Hawker Typhoon IB, SW523 'FJ-A', Sqn ldr P.l.Bateman-Jones, 164 Squadron, B.91, Kluis

\J C ::::l 0CD

-...

219 Squadron's MM813 'FK-H' served with the unit from September 1944 through to the end of the war

Moves had really got underway on this date, the reconnaissance squadrons of 39 Wing moving to B.108 at Rheine - so long one of 2nd TAP's priority targets. 486 Squadron had also come to this area, to B.112, Rheine-Hopsten, where it would soon be joined by the rest of 122 Wing, and by the Typhoons of 124 Wing. Next day Typhoon units from 121 and 143 Wings began the move to B.110 at Achmer, north of Osnabriick, while on 12th 126 Wing's Spitfires would also arrive at B.108.

Mosquito NT506 'RA-U' of 410 Squadron illustrates one on of the many accidents which do not figure in the loss tables as they occurred during non-operational duties - in this case a crash followed a tyre burst during landing following an 'air test' at B.77, Gilze-Rijen, on 11 April 1945.

TIME SON

TYPE

IDENT

PILOT/CREW

01:07

464

Mosquito VI

NS943

03:45

219

Mosquito XXX nk

10:00 e1135 e1550 e1655 e1810 e1830 19:35 19:35 20:15 e2220

317 345 193 341 412 164 130 197 486 107

Spitfire IX Spitfire IX Typhoon IB Spitfire XVI Spitfire IX Typhoon IB Spitfire XIV Typhoon IB Tempest V Mosquito VI

22:37

410

Mosquito XXX MM744

F/L WH.Clarke F/O WB.Searl FlO R.L.Young FlO N.G.Fazan F/S Z.Slawski (W) Cpt Lemaire III WIO A.G.RandaIIIK) Lt A.de Saxce (K) FlO V.Smith (SI WIO OW McCulloch IK) S/L M.R.O.Hume F/L K.Bowman F/L WE.Schrader PIO WH.Mitton (K) PIO E.JWilby IKI F/L R.O.Schultz FlO J.S.Christie

ML314 S PL153 RB274 TB381 MK844 MN853 J RB228 B SN129 M RS550 K

CLAIM

dpd

CAUSE/LOCATION u/c fault w/u Manston catB

Hel77

Ju188 Ju88 Fw190

1--

I-1-1--

Ju1881 - -

E Rhur/ B.31 hbf c/l nr Assen hbf alstaff car Zwolle c/l AfT hit htc csd 3m EArnhem hbf a/MET nr Oosterwolde ct fire b/o Almelo hbAf csd NE Lingen landing Stade AlF OG Broekletzel Nienburg Ilr (Muritz Lake-Soltau)

W31/Damme/l0m N OsnabrUck

The 11 th proved to be the day upon which the strafing of Luftwaffe airfields became a major occupation for 2nd TAP. During an early sortie Typhoons of 197 Squadron attacked Marx airfield where two Tu 88s were claimed destroyed on the ground. Three 74 Squadron Spitfires then hit Rotenburg, 20 miles east of Bremen, where some 12 fighters were seen parked. Three passes were (somewhat inadvisedly) made, during which four Bf 109s and a single Fw 190 were claimed destroyed and two more of each damaged. On this occasion the gamble of making more than one pass paid off, no casualties being suffered. Next it was the turn of 266 Squadron, this unit's Typhoons striking Varrelbusch, north-east of Cloppenburg, where a Tu 88, an Fw 190 and a Bf 109 were claimed. 197 Squadron undertook a second such operation, this time to Handorf. Here Sqn Ldr K.T.Harding, Fit Lt G.R.Gibbings and two other pilots claimed two Tu 188s, an He III and two unidentified aircraft destroyed, four more claims for aircraft damaged also being submitted. The Tempest pilots also had their turn when Wg Cdr H.M.Mason, 135 Wing Leader, led five 222 Squadron aircraft to Fassburg, one aircraft being claimed destroyed here and one damaged. The only claim in the air on this date occurred during an early morning patrol over the BremenNienburg area by Spitfire XIVs of 41 Squadron, when Fit Lt Tony Gaze intercepted and shot down a Tu 52/3m transport. While ground strafing is normally a fairly hazardous enterprise, and the strafing of airfields

1_1_A....p~r_il_l_94_5_

particularly so, not one aircraft was lost during any of the attacks detailed above. Elsewhere during the day one Spitfire of 66 Squadron failed to return from a bombing sortie, and one Typhoon force-landed due to Flak. Two Spitfire XIVs were also lost, FIg Off G.F.Peterson of 402 Squadron being shot down and killed by Flak, while Fit Lt Sibeth of 130 Squadron had to bale out when his aircraft was hit by debris as he was strafing.

Q.)

U

~

0

LL ~

« CO

TIME

SON

TYPE

e0140

487

Mosquito VI TAl13

IDENT

e0250

605

Mosquito VI PZ464 Z

e0935 el010 10:35 el150

41 130 198 197

Spitfire XIV Spitfire XIV Typhoon IB Typhoon IB

14:20

74

Spitfire XVI

e1445 15:05

266 197

Typhoon IB Typhoon IB

15:20 e1550 e1640 17:35 e1740 18:35

197 245 66 197 402 197

Typhoon IB Typhoon IB Spitfire XVI Typhoon IB Spitfire XIV Typhoon IB

SM823 RN212 ON341 nk nk nk TB865 TB741 SM292 P0528 PD621 nk nk R8230 TB521 RB474 RM904 PD468

e1840

197

Typhoon IB

RB230

e1915

266

Typhoon IB

RB478 RB426 RB423 PD576 nk SN165 EJ889 NV765 NV788 NV757

0

U

+-'

U

~ -0 C N

e1930

An airman sits amidst parts of the shattered cockpit of Tempest SN165 'ZD-V' of 222 Squadron at B.9, Kluis. Flown by Sqn Ldr E.B.Lyons in an attack on Fassberg airfield on 11 April 1945, the Tempest was hit by Flak in the rear of the cockpit, the armour plating breaking off and striking Lyons a severe blow on the back of the head. Semiconscious he managed to pull up straight away and fly the 200 miles back to base. Note also damage to the tailplane, fresh paint on a repaired or replacement rudder, and the letter 'V' painted over an earlier identity, 'H'. The aircraft had been with the unit less than two weeks.

222

Tempest V

F X H F

S F F

K S W

PILOT/CREW FlO G.L.Peet (K) FlO L.A.Graham (K) F/L J.R.Tracey (K) F/L FBereslord (K) F/L FA.O.Gaze F/L P.E.Sibeth FlO F.GWilliams (S) F/L E.Jolleys) F/L S.J.Khin} F/L K.FC.Bowman} F/L G.M.Braidwood} F/L J.S.Bennett} FlO w.J.J.Warwick} FlO O.Dodd (PI F/L G.Hartley) F/S R.Farmiloe} F/S R.Farmiloe F/L I.G.Campbell (S) P/O D.Hugo (K) FlO W.O.Ellis FlO G.FPeterson (K) S/L K.J.Harding F/L G.R.Gibbings

Q

S E V

y

S/L R.E.G.Sheward} P/D J.Luhnenschloss} F/S HWheeler} F/S R.Clack} W/C H.M.Mason} S/L E.B.Lyons} P/O G.Sharrett} WID T.B.Hannam} FlO R.H.Reid} F/L J.L.Lawson}

CLAIM

dpd

CAUSE/LOCATION ftr (Brunswick) ftr (Brunswick)

Ju52

1--

Ju88

2 --

Nahndor! - Achim a/MET hbd b/o AfT hbl III SE Zwolle OG Marx all

Bl109 Fw190

4- 2 1- 2

{OG Rotenburg all {

Ju188

1-1

hbl? III EfT (Groningenl OG Marx

Ju188

1-1

Ju88

--1

Ju188 Ju188 E/A He111 Ju88 Fw190 Bl109

1---1 1-1-1-1-1--

EtA EtA

1---1

OG Broekzetal hbl III NE Loningen sdbl Peheim OG Ardor! hbl csd 5m N Arnhem OG Marx OG Jever {OG Jever { lOG Varrelbusch all

I I I/o Fassburg all OG Fassburg all

I

Typhoons of 124 Wing shortly after their arrival on 11 April 1945 at B.1 06, Twente, north of Enschede, close to the German border. In the foreground are 181 Squadron aircraft RB395 'EL-P', MN311 U-N' and SW494 'EL-F', with 137 Squadron Typhoons beyond them.

There was more airfield strafing on 12th, though results were rather more sparse than on the 12 April 1945 --------"'----previous day. Typhoons of 197, 198 and 266 Squadrons all undertook such attacks, but claims were limited to a single Ju 88 destroyed and four Ju 188s damaged. One of 197 Squadron's aircraft was hit by debris and Flt Lt G.R.Gibbings, one of the 'stars' of the previous day, baled out into captivity. On other operations five Typhoons and three Spitfires were brought down by Flak. Eight of 274 Squadron's Tempests set off on an early armed reconnaissance at 0655 during which a Ju 88 was intercepted south of Huby and was shot down by Flt Lts J.D.Morrison and D.M.Nichols to the north-east of Fassburg. 33 Squadron despatched 12 more Tempests on a sweep at 1145, during which one section descended to strafe targets on the ground, being rather badly 'bounced' while doing so. They had been caught, despite a cloudless sky, by 12 I./JG 26 D-9s led by ObIt Dortenmann, and a violent turning combat. commenced. Between 1253-1312, the German pilots claimed six victories, two of them by Dortenmann and one by Lt Soffing, while in the RAF unit Capt E.D.Thompson, SAAF, and Flg OffD.J.ter Beek each claimed one Focke-Wulf shot down, the latter claiming two more damaged. However, Thompson's aircraft was so badly damaged that it was subsequently written off. There is little doubt that on this occasion the Tempests had come off worst, for although six were not lost, as well as the damage to Thompson's aircraft, Flt Sgt Pw.C.Watton and Sgt J.Staines were both shot down, the former surviving and evading capture, but the latter was killed. Watton apparently also claimed one of the attackers shot down but this was never confirmed by 2nd TAF HQ. In fact the only loss suffered by I./JG 26 was Lt Erich Asmus. A more successful engagement featured 56 Squadron, when FIg Off David Ness intercepted a lone Fw 190 at 500 feet in the Fassburg area. The Canadian closed from Fit Lt Bob Gibbings of 197 Squadron who flew 250 to 50 yards while firing and the German pilot, who took no evasive action, was seen to crash through the debris of an and blow up. Towards the end of the afternoon Spitfire XlVs of 41 Squadron patrolling in the exploding ammunition Bremen area, gave chase to an Ar 234. This was shot down by FIt Lts Tony Gaze and D.M.V.Rake dump on Broeksketel as it was attempting to force-land, and it blew up. A final claim was made at 1935 by Flt Lt Jack airfield on 12 April 1945 Stafford of 486 Squadron, who broke off from an attack on MET to turn in behind a lone Dora; Heading for Allied lines his cannon strikes caused a fire in the engine and cockpit area and he pulled to one side to watch in a blackened and ailing Typhoon, he prepared to the Fw 190D roll over and crash in a field east of Ludwigslust. bale out using the 'stick forward' technique, but a TIME SON TYPE IDENT PILOT/CREW CLAIM dpd CAUSE/LOCATION premature 'twitch' found --1 198 Typhoon IB PD508 T F/L F.B.Lawless} Ju87 e0830 OG Hoperhoven a/I him outside his aircraft JP849 H F/S PWMiliard} PD466 S F/L A.G.Taylor} on the wrong side of the MN844 R F/O L.F.Bastin} lines I He was fortunate e0850 137 Typhoon IB JR444 W/O R.S.Knight-Clarke (K) hbl csd nr Kampe to survive an encounter 09:20 SN159 F/L J.D.Morrison} 1-274 Tempest V Ju88 5m NE Fassberg a/I with an SS 'welcoming EJ876 R F/L D.M.Nichols} party' and spent the rest el010 266 Typhoon IB RB423 S F/L D.Borland} Ju188 --2 OG Ardorl all of the war as a Pow. MP142 G F/O R.McAdam} (IWM HU223321 MN739 U F/S J.MolI}

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CO

TIME

SON

TYPE

IDENT

PILOT/CREW

e1035 e1105 11:30

181 317 197

Typhoon IB Spitfire IX Typhoon IB

e1140 e1235 e1300 e1305 13:50

197 197 182 486 33

Typhoon IB Typhoon IB Typhoon IB Tempest V Tempest V

14:20 e1420 el435

609 331 416

Typhoon IB Spitfire IX Spitfire XVI

14:45 e1650

247 41

Typhoon IB Spitfire XIV

e1830

266

Typhoon IB

19:30 19:35

56 486

Tempest V Tempest V

MP203 ML421 V nk F nk V RB251 G RB228 B SW391 EJ711 Q SN180 V NV754 B NV783 NV919 PD593 PL393 TB327 TB273 DN588 G SM823 MV267 RB248 B MN739 U NV963 C SN129 M

F/L R.A.Done IK) Sgt J.Pretkowski (K) F/L G.Hartley} F/S R.Farmiloe} F/L G.R.Gibbings (P) F/L T.CIilt (P) F/L E.G.Hutehin (KI W/O J.R.Dunean Cpt E.D.Thompson F/O D.J.ter Beek F/S PW.CWatton IE) Sgt J.Staines (KI F/L J.D.lnehes Sgt J.E.Holweeh (K) F/O TP.Doliery IK) F/O K.F.Seott F/O D.C.Drriss F/L FA.O.Gaze) F/L D.M.V.Rakel F/O R.Grayl F/S I.Antonl F/O D.E.Ness F/L J.H.Stafford

ell00 16:20 e1630 e1630

486 486 175 609

Tempest V Tempest V Typhoon IB Typhoon IB

e1900 19:15

198 486

Typhoon IB Tempest V

SN184 F EJ864 0 SW475 MN434 K RB250 A PD508 T EJ717 P nk EJ711 Q

S/L K.G.Taylor-Cannon (K) F/S W.J.K.Hart F/L L.H.Parker (K) P/O M.H.G.Rendall (K) F/S H.E.de Blommaert (K) F/D L.FBastin F/L C.J.Sheddan} WID G.Maddalord} F/L FP.Kendall

NV753 J RB279

F/O C.J.MeDonald WID K.R.Goodhew

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e2000

_1_4_A--,p....r_il_I_9_4_S

193

Typhoon IB

CLAIM

Ju88

dpd

CAUSE/LOCATION

1--

sdbl NW Dtersen hbl e/I N Hoorn DG Broekzetel a/I

Fw190 Fw190 Fw190 Fw190

--1 1-1- 2 1--

Ar234

1--

hbd b/o SE Barssel e/II/I NE Hesei/Q9323 hbll/I EWalle OG hbl 1/1 Salzvedel a/I W Uelzen; db Fw190 eatAe/E W Uelzen sdb Fw190s W Uelzen; elaim n/e sdb Fw190s W Uelzen hbl b/o W Friesoythe hbl N Rodenkirehen Itr hbl nr Oldenburg e/I AIT N Meppen hbl nr Dldenburg eatAe/E hbl 1/1 nr Bawinkel W Bremen

Ju188

--2

DG Wittmundhaven ?a/I

Fw190 Fw190

1-1--

5m EFassberg E Ludwigslust

Ju88

- -3

Ju88 He111 He111

--1 --3 --2

hbl b/o NW Domitz roll/I NE Horstel hbl? esd N Langwedel IcJd esd Grave I elf b/o Beers lOG SE Parehim I I I I hbl Kampen b/o AIT

486 Squadron was involved in two engagements during the day, on the first of which Fit Lt 'Timmy' Sheddan saw a lone silver-coloured aircraft when he and his companions were strafing railway rolling stock during a mid afternoon weather reconnaissance. Identifying the machine as an Fw 190, he caught up with it when north of Ludwigslust, opening fire, upon which it shed pieces from the wings and fuselage, rolled onto its back, dived into the ground and exploded. In the same area that evening Wg Cdr Brooker and three of the unit's pilots were again after rail targets, but were split up. At 1930 Wt OffW.T.Shaw, who was flying with Brooker, saw a lone fighter - apparently an Fw 190 again, and shot this down in flames after a brief combat. Meanwhile the other pair had been caught by three more fighters whilst concentrating on strafing, and Wt Off O.T.Mitchell, a new pilot with the unit, was shot down and killed. It was reported that his opponent may have been a Bf 109E - an obsolete type. Fig Off S.T.Short fought with one of the others, which he also identified as a Messerschmitt, claimed to have inflicted some damage on this. Their opponents were certainly not flying Bf 109Es, but fighters of a much more 'exotic' nature. The New Zealanders had been engaged by three members of Stab/TG 301, a unit which had recently been equipped with the initial examples of the Focke-Wulf Ta 152, the ultimate development of the Focke-Wulf 190 line to see operational service. In one of these, Ofw Willi Reschke had shot down Mitchell's Tempest over Ludwigslust at 1920, for his 25th victory, but in another of these fighters, Ofw Sepp Sattler had been shot down and killed - almost certainly by Shaw. In the time-slot between these two engagements Typhoons of 182 Squadron had flown an armed reconnaissance to the Liineberg area, where the pilots had spotted ten bomber aircraft in a clearing in a wood, diving down to claim six Tu 88s and an He III destroyed, and the other three damaged.

I

AMosquito XIII, HK528 'PS-B' of 264 Squadron, shares a dispersal with an elderly Spitfire V possibly from 276 (ASR) Squadron, The two units never shared a base and the photograph may have been taken at a repair or servicing unit.

Sqn Ldr Don Laubman, DFC & Bar, who had just taken command of 402 Squadron at the start of his second tour just eight days earlier, attacked a pair of half-tracks near Rethem. Having shot up the nearest vehicle he lined up on the second - just as the first blew up, engulfing his newly-delivered Spitfire XIV in a fireball. With engine temperature rising, he climbed to 7,000 feet and set course for Allied territory. Before such safety was reached the engine burst into flames and he was forced to bale out into captivity; 2nd TAF had lost its top-scoring pilot of 1944-45, but he would be back with the unit by 5 May. Four of 41 Squadron's Mark XIVs undertook another armed reconnaissance to the Bremen area from 1845, and here about an hour later, aircraft were spotted over Nordholz airfield. Sqn Ldr J.B.Shepherd attacked a Bf 110 which was towing an Me 163, shooting down the former in flames. Thereupon, the little rocket interceptor, piloted by Ofw Werner Nelte, formerly of I./JG 400, appeared to dive straight into the ground alongside its erstwhile tug. In fact Nelte was able to pull it out of its dive at the last minute and achieved a crash-landing. TIME SON

TYPE

IDENT

PILOT/CREW

CLAIM

dpd

CAUSE/LOCATION

16:50 e1710

Tempest V Typhoon IB

SN129 M

F/L C.J.Sheddan Squadron

Fw190 Ju188 Hel11 Bf110

1-6-2 1---1

N Ludwigslust lOG Luneberg a/f

486 182

e1730 e1810 e1810 19:20 19:30

137 402 402 486 486

Typhoon IB Spitfire XIV Spitfire XIV Tempest V Tempest V

e1935

41

Spitfire XIV

20:00 22:40

438 264

MP154 NH744 RM843 SN141 NV753 NV651 SM826

Z C U J R B

Typhoon IB MM989 R Mosquito XIII HK469

F/S JAH.G.Pennant (KI S/L D.C.Laubman (PI F/L J.E.Maurice WID D.J.Mitchell (KI WID WJ.Shaw F/D S.J.Short S/L J.B.Shepherd F/S G.S.Livingstone (KI W/D A.S.Davies F/S Fisher

Ju88

.-2

Fw190* Bfl09 Bfll0 Me163

1---1 1-1--

{ {

hbf csd nr Verden hbd a/MET b/o nr Rethem DG (Celie) sdb Ta152 E Ludwigslust {Ludwigslust {

Nordholz a/f spun in nr B.ll 0 cnk o/s Idg B.77 catB

* This claim appears notto have been confirmed by 2nd TAF HO is however believed to have been a Ta152 of JG 301 (see textl. The times given for this combat are from German sources for W/D Mitchell's loss and the 486 Sqn combat report for Shaw's claim. Accounts of the combat, however, suggestthatthe Ta152 was shot down before the Tempest.

Donald Currie Laubman DFC & Bar

anadian Don Laubman qualified as a pilot with the RCAF in 1941, then served at home both as an instructor and a fighter pilot, until August 1943, when he arrived in the UK to fly with 412 Squadron. Becoming a flight commander in July 1944, he was 2nd TAF's most successful pilot in terms of aerial victories between 6 June 1944 and the end of the war, claiming 14 and two shared victories, all but one of the latter after D-Day. Awarded a DFC & Bar, he was rested from November until April 1945, when he returned to

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the front to command 402 Squadron on Spitfire XIVs. Here he was shot down by Flak just three weeks before the end of the war, baling out to become a PoW. He remained in the Canadian services until 1972, retiring as a Lieutenant General. His success was closely matched by fellow Canadian, Sqn Ldr William 'Grissle' Klersy, DSO, DFC & Bar, who claimed 14 and one shared, all but one of them during the same June 1944-May 1945 period.

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----.::....:15::........:A:....:::pril - 5

May 1945

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he 15th was to see a resumption of aerial activity, particularly during the morning period. First, however, following night duty, 604 Squadron was stood down at 0600 hours, and would be disbanded on 18th - another victim of the deletion of the old Auxiliary units. At 0830 nine Tempests of 486 Squadron, led by F/L W.E.'Smokey'Schrader, were airborne on an armed reconnaissance to the Miiritz See area. At about 0915 they were notified of an enemy formation on a reciprocal course. Turning onto a heading to intercept, the New Zealanders came up behind a formation of nine Fw 190s and were not spotted by the Luftwaffe pilots until having closed to 1,000 yards. The Focke-Wulf formation broke and the Tempest pilots each sought individual targets. The New Zealanders quickly gained the upper hand as, one after another, the German fighters were seen to go down. However, FIg Off A.R.Evans, having seen a wing break off his victim, rejoined the dogfight to seek a fresh target and immediately found himself at a disadvantage against a well-flown Fw 190:

1_5_A---"'p_r_il_I_9_4_5

"I was forced to try and out-turn him but as my LRTs would not jettison I could not do this, so tried to outclimb him. But here again the 190 beat me and I stalled and spun out of the turn. When I recovered from the spin I saw three Fw 190s in line astern following me down. As I tried to pull up to port my engine cut and the last of the Fw 190s had a 90 degree deflection shot at me and hit me on the port wing and fuselage. The control column jammed hard and I slowly went over on my back. I jettisoned my hood, undid my straps and was drawn out of the cockpit. Prior to leaving my aircraft and whilst on my back I saw the three Fw 190s pull up and rejoin the fight."

Evans was picked up by British airborne troops south of Uelzen. Meanwhile, an 80 Squadron formation, which had taken off an hour earlier than 486, led by Sqn Ldr Evan Mackie, heard his fellow New Zealanders reporting their combat and headed for the area. Sighting the fight still in progress Mackie selected a target which he followed through a series of manoeuvres, eventually seeing strikes in the cockpit area; as the Focke-Wulf dived vertically from 5,500 feet Mackie's No.2 scored further hits on the tail, with pieces flying off before it crashed in woods south-west ofUelzen. On return 486 Squadron filed claims for eight Fw 190s destroyed and one damaged, while Mackie claimed one destroyed shared with Sgt W.F.Turner. However 2nd TAF HQ's final assessment was that FIg Off B.J.O'Connor's 'damaged' was the same aircraft attacked by Mackie - which was then shared between the three pilots. This was the first occasion for some time in which it has not been possible to identify the units engaged in a major combat. By now 2nd TAF aircraft were operating over an area of Germany where Luftwaffe units were to be found which had been part of the home defence (Luftflotte Reich), or had been withdrawing in the face of the Soviet advance from the east. Increasingly, aircraft from such units, including Fw 190 Schlacht (ground-attack) Gruppen, were to be encountered by the Western Allies. It is considered probable that the 15th marked the start of such encounters. FIt Lts N.D. Cox and J.A.McCairns of 56 Squadron, who had taken off at 0930, claimed an 'Me 262' destroyed just after it had taken off from Kaltenkirchen airfield, seeing it crash in flames. From gun camera film it was later identified as an AI' 234.

412 Squadron Spitfire IXs Iine up for take-off at 8.108 Rheine, its base for just three days, from 13-16 April 1945.

I

I

There were to be several more encounters during the day, the first also occurring at 0930 when Flt Lt W.M.Middleton of 430 Squadron, flying a TacR sortie to Velmen in his Spitfire FR XIV, also claimed an Fw 190 near Uelzen. At 1805 FIt Lt A.Seeger from 80 Squadron led a weather reconnaissance during which three Fw 190s were seen north-west of Celle. Seeger dived to attack, hitting one and closing to 150 yards. Black and white smoke poured from the stricken aircraft which rolled over, the pilot baling out at an altitude of 3,000 feet. During the day however, Wt Off A.M.Rollo of this unit was lost either to Flak or to a Focke-Wulf - or both coming down north of Ludwigslust to become a PoW. Later in the day at 2045, two pilots of 416 Squadron claimed damage to another Fw 190 to the north-east of Rethem.

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