As far as I know none of the 2ndTAF squadrons wore ‘Wing’ markings during the war. It would have been a bit pointless as the Wings were host units and the squadrons were posted in and out. 121 Wing was more stable than most, with the squadrons you mention, plus 184 Sqn, for most of its existence. 174 Sqn was disbanded shortly before the end of the war but in the summer of 1945 the remaining three units all wore colourful markings, but these were specific to each squadron.

In 1953 when the Fassberg squadrons came under a reformed 121 Wing, all had lightning flashes on their Venoms – but a different colour for each squadron – white for 14, red for 98, black for 118.

I believe the Shoreham Typhoon cockpit was bought by the Bayeux Memorial Museum. Don’t know if it is on display.

According to ‘War Prizes’, VX154 was not captured until 1945 (in northern Germany) and therefore not the Storch in which Broadhurst flew Churchill round the Normandy strips (how dangerous was that!).

The ‘Churchill Storch’ was marked ‘HB’ but no serial was visible. I am pretty sure it would have been Dark Earth/Dark Green but not sure about the undersides – yellow as on comms aircraft? or camouflaged as on AOP Austers?

For factual accounts of a number of such incidents I recommend ‘Luftwaffe Fighter-Bombers over Britain’ by Chris Goss et al, Crecy, 2003, ISBN 0 947554 97 1, subtitled The Tip and Run Campaign 1942-43. Very well illustrated, lots of personal accounts and comprehensive. Good read covering an area usually only briefly mentioned in most histories.

Thanks from me too for posting these atmospheric photos from a very interesting period. The Tempest Vs are from 3 Squadron, not 33. 3 Sqn was the only one to retain Tempest Vs when the other Tempest squadrons re-equipped with Tempest IIs (or in the case of 80 Sqn Spit 24s). J5-J was SN344 and the silver job in the background probably J5-H SN330, the CO’s aircraft.

The Tempest IIs could be from 16, 26 or 33 squadrons, although from what is visible of the code letters 16 (EG) or 33 (5R) look more likely.

I know Hornchurch was relying on memory and was also ‘under the influence’ but, having just completed some detailed research into 616 Squadron’s Meteor operations, I’d like to correct one or two points before they join the rest of the myths.

The 616 squadron detachment which operated from B.58 Melsbroek, near Brussels, arrived there on 4 February 1945, with four Meteor IIIs. The Squadron Operations Record Book (ORB) does not mention the mark of Meteor but quotes serial numbers and code letters and a typo (EE225 ‘P’ instead of EE235 ‘P’) has led earlier researchers to assume that one of the four Meteors was a Mark I. There is a splendid IWM photo of the squadron’s aircraft taken at Manston in January 1945 – just before the four aircraft were flown to Colerne to be painted white and in the foreground is EE235 ‘P’ – clearly a Mark III. These four Mk.IIIs were Welland engined – and therefore had no great advantage over the earlier Mk.Is and were not flown on operations. They flew training exercises, usually at 3,000 feet, on fixed routes to familiarise Allied aircrew and particularly anti-aircraft gunners with the jets. On 29 March the four white Meteors flew to a new base, B.77 Gilze-Rijen and were joined there at the end of the month, by 17 more Meteor IIIs of 616 Squadron which flew out from Andrews field. These 17 aircraft were Derwent-engined Meteor IIIs – a much superior beast – and these were the aircraft which saw action. The four white-painted Meteor IIIs flew back to the UK on 9 April. Hornchurch’s recollections of the Fi156’s destruction are confirmed by the squadron records but there is no mention of the encounter with Fw190s and the bounce by Spits; I’d be interested to knowwhere it originated. The latter type of incident was very common in 2ndTAF but I doubt if it happened to Meteors – every small operational incident is mentioned in the ORB – but not this one.

Mossie delight

One Sunday afternoon (28 November 1979) I was the ‘Special VFR’ controller in Heathrow Tower (responsible for low-level zone transits) when ‘N9797’ called and asked to route from the north to Blackbushe. I wrote the details on a strip and asked for the aircraft type. “Mosquito” came the muffled (throat mike?) reply. I thought there was a a light aircraft which carried the name but blurted out out “not a De Havilland Mosquito?”; “affirmative came the reply. A quick pow-wow with the other approach and tower controllers and a highly illegal flypast was arranged. There were occasional gaps in the traffic on a Sunday in those days and as if by magic one appeared – the Mossie was duly slotted in behind a Trident – and as that cleared the runway the Mossie hammered down 28L (as it was) just a few feet above the runway and soared up into a wing-over to set course for Blackbushe. The appraoch room was empty with all the frequencies ‘on speaker’ as we crammed onto the balcony. A couple of months later the attached photo appeared in Aviations News. So where is the ex-Strathallan Mossie now?

Urban myth gets my vote – but the Grand Slam was certainly there when I took this photo (with my Agfa Silette – 11 gns – lotsa packetmoney) from a passing bus – on my way to Barkston Heath for the Flying Model Aircraft Nationals in, I think, 1962.