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

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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

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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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a

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....

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

May 1945

T

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:

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"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.

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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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