One of Tim’s Combat reports

Tim

Thought I would dig this out. Sure you have it. 1/2 Ju88 damaged with Binney Barnes.

Believe this one crashed at Petamo airfield and was 100% written off.

2./KG30 Ju88 A5, W.Nr292 4D+CK. Location Fl. Pl Petsamo-.
Brauchlandung nach Jagerbeschuss, 100%.

regards

Mark

Bob T – that Hamden was recovered the week after it was shot down to recover the RAF gunner that was killed

All,

Having done a few hundred hour of research on Copping’s P40, only know do I feel like commenting.

It had to be recovered otherwise there would be nothing left.
A P40 swap with the RAFM example would have been the best option but who would have agreed to this on the Egyptian side _ I have no idea.
Whats been done is criminal. It is what it is.
That said, its even worse how it has been finished (I am not saying restored).
Hated fictitious sharks mouth schemes – even more so now.
It staying in Egypt is acceptable – if they had displayed her unrestored/protected.
Secondly, it would have been a 1% improvement if they had finished her as Copping’s aircraft. It had been published. Profile artist Juanita Franzi completed one for my for my article after going through numerous photos. Therefore it was available.
Don’t know what else to say. Totally dejected.
To me its the equivalent is adding a bit of paper mache and acrylic paint to a Pharaoh death mask.

Mark
[ATTACH=CONFIG]258155[/ATTACH]

A lot of time was spent on the camouflage. The wings had remaining paint, as did the front end. This was on the airframe and visible Also photos from Il-2’s from the same factory and period and aircraft within the same construction block (3300 aircraft) were also looked for. Without a wartime photo of 1872452 we’ll never know 100% how accurate. I am not sure either whether the colours are AMT-4 Green, AMT-6 black and AMT-7 light blue or not. Even so, a lot of photographic research was undertaken and I believe it is as accurate as it could be. They are getting better. They have added the serial number and stencil so they are getting more historic. Congratulate Boris and the museum on what they have achieved.

I will also add that there is a Russian 46thShAP web page showing aircraft/pilots and the style of the numbers applied.

Looking at everything, I agree there might be an error on the red star. I think this was suppose to be just a white outline. Not sure why and how the additional thin red outer came to be added.

Red 20 of Zavod 18 and of 46ShAP is shown on this web link. I am still trying to find the 46ShAP web page. Also seen Red 21 so the style of number is correct.

http://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/pages/il-2/il2-camo/il-2m/il2m-early1943.htm

This is what I wrote at the time. More I think about it in the years sonce, the more I think he had suffered a breakdown of sorts.

HISTORY
In late 1941, the new P-40E ‘Warhawk’ began rolling off the production lines in Buffalo, NY. The P40E-1-CU was manufactured for both the US Army and to also fill British contracts through 1941 and well into 1942. It was fitted with a V1710-39 Allison engine and six M2 0.50” Browning machine guns. The US Army received 2320 examples and the British government ordered 1500. As the British ordered examples had different radios etc, it was slightly different and so it was designated as Model 87A-4. The British named this model the ‘Kittyhawk IA’.
This Kittyhawk was manufactured in early 1942 and was supplied with the ship number 1035, Curtiss construction number 19761 and US serial 41-35928. The requisition order number was 322 under contract DA-3 and its unit price to the US government was around $40,561.04. As a lend-lease ordered aircraft destined for the RAF it was probably completed without radio or battery. The Kittyhawk IA was painted in the RAF colours of Dark Earth, Dark Green on the upper surfaces and Sky Type S Grey on the underside, a white spinner and to finish the job off, Type A1 roundels to the fuselage, Type A to the under wing and the Type B to the upper wings were added. Finally it was marked up as ET574 in an usual location and text size and was then ready for issue overseas.
On the 15 March 1942, the British Purchasing Commission took ET574 on charge and she was loaded onto the SS Mormac Swan in New York along with other Kittyhawk’s and assorted war supplies. This convoy was heading to North Africa and as going through the Mediterranean was out of the question, the convoy traveled around the tip of South Africa and up the Red Sea to Suez, Egypt. The convoy arrived towards the end of May 1942.
In Egypt, the airframes were probably trucked in there shipping containers to 107 Maintenance Unit (MU) and it was here that ET574 was assembled and prepared for RAF operations in North Africa. The Dark Green was repainted in Middle Stone with just the serial area left showing the original green. The spinner was also painted Desert Hawk Red to avoid any confusion with the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica Italiana aircraft that carried white spinners. At 107MU at British radio/battery was added and the radio hatch on ET574 was modified with a stronger catch/lock. This modification was carried out as a number of P40’s had been lost due to the hatch opening during violent flying maneuvers. A simple stenciled warned was also added to warn of the modification. Later, Curtiss introduced a sturdier double latch lock.
By the beginning of June 1942, ET574 was issued to 260 Sqn RAF as a replacement aircraft. On 2 June 260 Sqn were based at Bir el Baheira Landing Ground 140 (LG.140) in Libya and on arrival ET574 was issued to A Flight and marked up as HS-B.
LOSS
Throughout June 1942, ET574 was flying operations during this hectic period of the North African campaign when the Allied Forces were in retreat. As of the 15 June they began to carry a single general purpose 500Ib bomb below the fuselage. The loses for 260 Sqn between end of May to the end of June, consisted of nine pilots killed, missing or wounded and probably over twice as many Kittyhawk’s lost or damaged. In the same period, 260 Sqn had retreated to four different LG’s, moving from Libya into Egypt and on 27 June they were based 30 miles East of El Daba (LG.106).
On the early morning of 28 June, ET574 is believed to have been flown on a reconnaissance mission to ascertain the advance of the Africa Corps. The group encountered light and accurate anti aircraft fire and three Kittyhawk’s were hit (One Cat 1 and two Cat 2) before ET574 landed back at LG.09 due to the Afrika Corp advance,. It seems ET574 had suffered a large caliber round through the rear fuselage and had also suffered other damage that rendered the undercarriage non retractable.
By lunchtime it seems the front was still active and it was decided to fly the two Kittyhawk’s that had suffered Cat 2 damage – ET245 and ET574 back to LG.100, to where 53 Repair and Salvage Unit (53RSU) were located. The two pilots tasked with flying these damaged aircraft back and picking up replacements were F/Sgt L Sheppard in ET245 and F/Sgt D Copping in ET574. By Sheppard’s own account, ET245 had suffered damage to the wings and the leading edges had been filled with sand and pasted over with canvas. ET574 damage meant the Copping had to fly with the undercarriage of ET574 locked down. (It was unable to lock down following retraction).
By mid afternoon the pair took off for the 40 minute flight to LG.100. As the more experienced pilot in theatre, Copping had the lead. They took off and the heading should have been 110deg (South East) but Copping led them off on 240deg (South West). Sheppard followed assuming that Copping would then head south and then east to be on the correct course but after a while he began to get nervous and broke radio silence but got no reply. Sheppard flew alongside and tried to indicate to Copping an easterly heading and tried a number of ways including pointing to his compass, watch and the sun. After 35 minutes Sheppard assumed Copping would understand they were not at LG.100 and were off course but no, Copping maintained his course. Sheppard now had to make a decision, knowing he was right. He flew up close, waggled his wings and pointed eastwards and flew off expecting Copping to follow. Sheppard returned and tried again but to no avail so he decided he had to leave. By checking the time and the sun and keeping the sun behind and to the right he knew he was flying east. Eventually, Sheppard noticed the Qattara Depression on his right and headed north before going heading east again. Upon reaching the River Nile, Sheppard followed the road north of Cairo until he saw and landed at LG.100. Flight time had been one hour fifty minutes.
Sheppard was debriefed at 53RSU and his story was recorded in his memoirs 45 years later. As it was late, he stayed the night. The next day, Sheppard flew a replacement Kittyhawk to LG.85 as 260Sqn had retreated from LG.09 on the evening of 28 June. As for Kittyhawk ET245, on 1 July it was categorized as Cat E (write off) but was eventually repaired in 1943 and brought back into service.
What happened to Copping can only be surmised from where ET574 was found. At some stage he changed to a south easterly and then southerly course. After flying for up to three hours, his fuel was running short it looks as though he partially retracted the undercarriage, lowered the flaps slightly before ET574 hit the rocky escarpment removing one wheel. ET574 skidded along the rocky surface before coming down hard on its nose, removing the propeller with reduction gear, radiators and bottom of the Allison engine on what must have been a pretty hard landing. After exiting the cockpit, Copping seems to have taken the clock and then removed the IFF from the cockpit and destroyed it; before the standard practice of closing the cockpit canopy. The radio and battery were removed from the rear fuselage, in what must have been a vane attempt to try and communicate with anyone. That night as the temperature dropped, he took his parachute and wrapped himself up and sheltered under the raised port wing. How long he stayed and whether he left the area is still unknown but he likely perished within 72 hours somewhere in the Al Wadi Al Jadid desert. F/Sgt Dennis C H Copping has been classed as missing ever since and is memorialized on the El Alamein Memorial.

P1344 Hampden

Hi Graham,

I have been looking at the photo and thinking it going on its an old airframe and weathered (albeit, it might have been painted in CC colours at the station?) I also thought there were two colours visible to the side but no clear demarkation line and possibly and colour with the underside colour as well. Just no clear demarcation and whether it is from the light/film/weathering etc, I do not know.

It seems Hampdens had 101 different variations of markings, colour schemes and it might be that all of the Hamdens sent by 144Sqn and 455 Sqn were a mismatch of loads of schemes.

What was carried by P1344 is still not conclusive though I would have though Temperate Sea Scheme upper surface colours down to the sides and with a black underside would be as good a scheme (even if the one in the photo did not seem to have a black underside – unless it was really just the wings and tailplane).

regards

Mark

Above is a photo from pilot Ez Perry’s collection. I dont know if he is with his original or replacement navigator but it is Perry’s crew and clearly shows a 144 Sqn Hampden of (which he was a member) in Coastal Command colours – ie no overall black to the sides (and presumably the underside).

Another nice pic of a 455Sqn Hampden in Coastal Command colours.

http://www.adf-gallery.com.au/gallery/albums/455-Hampden/HampdenTB_UB_A_of_455_Sqn_RAAF_001.jpg

regards

Mark

Mark
Agreed.
The ground crew member Shepherd recalls jettisoning the equipment due to icing and loss of height. Flak damage received over Norway and then reaching Petsamo seeing two Bf109’s taking off and who consequntially shot them down. Somewhere (possibly in Eric Mombeek’s book it also mentions about 1/2 Hampdens trying to land though I don’t know if this information is gleaned from a German sources of the above document). The Hampden crash location was 2km SSW of Petamo airfield (in line with the runway).

Just seen your second post – Not Kola Peninsula which is a long way away. The X markes the spot was given to Shepherd from the Soviet recovery team and about 2km from Petsamo (Pechenga)

Still reading through. Perry was called Ez Perry. His normal naviagator was Alex Wilson but he had been stolen by the new C/O McLauchlin. Perry’s navigator was Sgt Wilson and it seems he was a new arrival.

Two Hampdens were shot down in Norway (one flak/one fighter) and two in Finland (fighters). Three crashed in Sweden/Norwegian (mountains). The remaining Hampdens landed at intended location Afrikanda (19), Monchgorsk (2), Murmaschi (1) and Veanga (1). Distance between Afrikanda to Veanga was quite a distance.

Mark