Allied Jet Killers of World War 2
Page 14
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Tempest V EJ750/JBW of Wg Cdr J B Wray, No 122 Wing, B80 Volkel, Holland, November-December 1944
As was the privilege of his rank, Wg Cdr John Wray, Wing Leader of No 122 Wing, had his assigned Tempest V marked up with his initials. He was flying this aircraft on 3 November 1944 when he damaged an Me 262 over the German-Dutch border near Geldern to register his first aerial combat claim. Wray was flying it again when, on 5 December, he destroyed an Me 262 of I./KG(J) 51 for his sole confirmed aerial victory. On Christmas Day he attacked an Ar 234 that was credited to him merely as damaged when, in fact, it subsequently crash-landed and was wrecked. EJ570 was itself written off in February 1945 when its pilot was forced to crash-land after being hit by flak. The fighter had by then been passed on to No 486 Sqn.
25
Spitfire IX MK686/DB-L of Flt Lt J J Boyle, No 411 Sqn RCAF, B88 Heesch, Holland, 25 December 1944
Flying this aircraft soon after midday on Christmas Day 1944, 22-year-old Flt Lt John Boyle received the ultimate Christmas present when, over his base at Heesch as he returned from a sortie, he sighted an Me 262. He had encountered a jet two days earlier, but had only managed to damage it. On this occasion, however, Boyle set the machine on fire and Oberleutnant Hans-Georg Lamle of I./KG(J) 51 subsequently crashed to his death. This aircraft was the second of Boyle’s six victories. MK686 was later transferred to the French Armée de l’Air.
26
Tempest V EJ523/SA-D of Plt Off J D Bremner, No 486 Sqn RNZAF, B80 Volkel, 25 December 1944
New Zealand V1 ace Plt Off Duff Bremner achieved his first aircraft victory when, near Aachen on Christmas Day 1944 in concert with Flg Off Jack Stafford, he shot down an Me 262. Bremner attacked the jet after Stafford, and following his second burst he watched the pilot bail out. Duff Bremner remained with No 486 Sqn into 1945. EJ523 did not survive the war as it was wrecked in a crash-landing on 25 February 1945.
27
Spitfire IX PV213/AH-W of Capt K D H Bolstad, No 332 (Norwegian) Sqn, B79 Woensdrecht, Holland, 14 January 1945
Having joined No 332 Sqn as a second lieutenant in 1943, Capt Kåare Bolstad had been promoted to command ‘B’ Flight by January 1945. During a sweep in company with fellow Norwegian-manned No 331 Sqn on 14 January 1945, Spitfires from both units became engaged with the fighter cover near Rheine airfield. At least five Me 262s were also seen, and diving down, Bolstad claimed his second victory when he destroyed one of the jets. He was promoted to command his squadron soon afterwards but on 3 April he was shot down by flak and killed whilst strafing (in PT834) near Zwolle, in Holland. PV213 had also been destroyed by then, the Spitfire being lost to unknown causes during a sweep on 16 February.
28
Spitfire IX ML141/YO-E of Flg Off D W Church, No 401 Sqn RCAF, B88 Heesch, Holland, 23 January 1945
On 23 January 1945, Flg Off Don Church was on a sweep in ML141/YO-E when he spotted Ar 234s of III./KG 76 taking off from Bramsche. Diving in after the Arado bombers, Church succeeded in sending one crashing to its destruction for his fifth, and final, claim, three of which were for aircraft destroyed. In a very successful action, other pilots shot down two more Ar 234s and damaged three more, whilst five were damaged on the ground. Church survived the war but ML141 fell victim to light flak whilst strafing a train near Hamburg on 25 April, its pilot bailing out.
29
Mosquito VI TA386/ZQ-F of Flg Off R E Lelong, Fighter Experimental Flight, Wittering, 22 March 1945
The Fighter Experimental Flight formed part of the Central Fighter Establishment’s Night Fighter Development Wing, which was tasked with developing night intruder tactics and procedures. The Flight was manned by experienced crews, one of whom was New Zealander Flg Off Roy Lelong and his navigator Plt Off J McLaren, who by early 1945 had achieved seven victories. Using Coltishall as a forward base, the Flight flew intruder missions over German airfields and took a steady toll of aircraft on the ground – including three Me 262s that Lelong hit at Neuburg on 22 March 1945. Lelong remained in the RAF postwar, although TA386 survived only a matter of weeks after VE Day. The Mosquito was damaged beyond repair when it swung on takeoff and lost its undercarriage in an accident at Y9 Dijon on 19 June 1945.
30
Mustang III KH503/NK-Z of Flt Lt K C M Giddings, No 118 Sqn, Bentwaters, 23 March 1945
Flt Lt Mike Giddings, who had earlier become an ace flying Spitfires (with Nos 249 and 118 Sqns in 1942 and 1944, respectively), made his only claim with the Mustang III during a long range bomber escort for a raid on Bremen on 23 March 1945. When the 100 Lancasters came under attack from around 20 Me 262s, Giddings attempted to intercept the jets but they proved too fast for a decisive engagement. Nevertheless, he claimed in his Combat Report that he saw strikes which had inflicted structural damage on the starboard wing of his target. Giddings remained in the RAF post-war and rose to the rank of Air Marshal, whilst KH503 also survived the conflict, to be scrapped in 1947.
31
Mustang III FB385/WC-W of Flt Sgt A Murkowski, No 309 (Polish) Sqn, Andrews Field, 9 April 1945
On 21 February 1945 Flt Sgt Toni Murkowski claimed No 309 Sqn’s first aerial victory when he shot down an Fw 190D-9 25 miles east of Utrecht, in Holland. A few weeks later, on 9 April, he was part of an escort to Hamburg that engaged a group of Me 262s, and he claimed one of four jet fighters that were shot down – the final Polish victories of the war. He also damaged a second jet. Murkowski joined the RAF post-war and served until 1975, whilst FB385 was struck off charge in 1947.
32
Spitfire XIV SM826/EB-B of Sqn Ldr J B Shepherd, No 41 Sqn, B106 Twente, Holland, 14 April 1945
Sqn Ldr John Shepherd was flying this aircraft on a sweep north of Bremen on 14 April when, near the airfield at Nordholz, he spotted a Bf 110 that was towing an Me 163. He attacked and was credited with both aircraft destroyed. These were the first of his eight victories in the Griffon-engined Spitfire. His mount, SM826, was itself an ‘ace’ aircraft that had flown in several other successful actions. Unlike Shepherd, who perished in a flying accident in Germany on 22 January 1946, SM826 saw extensive post-war service until becoming an instructional airframe in December 1948.
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Spitfire XVI TD147/JF-E of Wg Cdr J F Edwards, No 127 Wing, B154 Soltau, Germany, 29 April 1945
During the last days of the war in Europe, Wg Cdr ‘Eddie’ Edwards, who was one of the leading Canadian aces of the conflict, returned to action as the Wing Leader of No 127 Wing. On one of his first sorties (on 29 April) when flying TD147, which was marked as his personal aircraft, he had two combats and succeeded in damaging an Me 262 – his only claim against a jet. The next day he opened fire on another Me 262, but it climbed away and escaped. Edwards had a full career in the post-war RCAF and eventually became a group captain, whilst TD147 was transferred to the Royal Hellenic Air Force in 1949.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Stephen Chapis has been a warbird photojournalist for Warbird Digest magazine since 2007 and was named Assistant Editor for the periodical in 2014. He has also had material published in Aeroplane, Combat Aircraft, EAA’s WARBIRDS, FlyPast, Red Alert (Redstar Pilots Association magazine) and World Airshow News. This is his first book for Osprey.
Andrew Thomas joined the RAF to fly straight from school and he has maintained his enthusiastic interest in the history and development of the Service from which he has recently retired. Specialising in the history of the RAF and the Commonwealth Air Forces, he has previously published more than a dozen volumes in the Osprey Aircraft of the Aces series.
ILLUSTRATOR
Jim Laurier is a native of New England, growing up in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. He has been drawing since he could hold a pencil, and throughout his life he has worked in many mediums creating artwork on a variety of subjects. He has contributed artwork to the Osprey Aviation list since 2000, and in that time he has produced some of the finest profiles seen in these volumes.
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First published in Great Britain in 2017
This electronic edition published in 2017 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
© 2017 Osprey Publishing Ltd
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Edited by Tony Holmes
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Front Cover
On 25 March 1945 the ‘Mighty Eighth’ sent its entire bomber force (although only 243 B-24s made it to their designated targets) against oil refineries in Germany, and amongst their powerful fighter escort were Thunderbolts from the 56th FG. Maj George E Bostwick, CO of the 63rd FS, was flying P-47M 44-21160 “Devastatin Deb” when his flight engaged a number of Me 262s that were recovering at Parchim airfield. Bostwick initially lined up behind one of the fighters as its pilot made his final approach, although he quickly shifted his sights to a jet that was taking off. As Bostwick opened fire his opponent banked sharply to the left and the jet’s wingtip dug into the ground, causing it to cartwheel before exploding in a fireball. This was Bostwick’s sixth success, and he claimed two more kills on 7 April to finish the war as an eight-victory ace – he also had seven strafing kills to his name. Squadronmate Capt John C Fahringer scored his fourth, and final, victory in 44-21160 when he shot down an Me 262 on 5 April 1945 (Cover artwork by Mark Postlethwaite)
Acknowledgements
The JG 400 archive photograph on this page was kindly supplied by Hans-Hermann Cammann.