Gloster Meteor F.3 of Royal Air Force 616 Squadron in Flight

Image size: 1600 x 1200 pixel. 552 KB
Date: Monday, 18 December 1944
Place: RAF Culmhead, Churchstanton, Blackdown Hills, Somerset, England
Photographer: Unknown

Gloster Meteor F.3 EE52 in flight. No. 616 Squadron RAF received the first Meteor F 3 on December 18, 1944. This was a substantial improvement over the Meteor F 1, but the basic design still had not reached its full potential. Wind tunnel and flight tests demonstrated that the original short nacelles that extended just before and behind the wing, contributed heavily to compressibility buffeting at high speed. New, longer nacelles not only cured some of the compressibility problems but added 120 km/h (75 mph) at altitude, even without upgraded powerplants. The last batch of Meteor F 3s featured the longer nacelles while other F 3s were retrofitted in the field with the new nacelles. The F 3 also had the new Rolls-Royce Derwent engines, increased fuel capacity, and a new larger, more strongly raked bubble canopy. On January 20, 1945, four Meteors were moved to Melsbrook in Belgium. In March, the entire squadron was moved to Gilze-Rijen and, then in April, to Nijmegen. The Meteors flew armed reconnaissance and ground attack operations without encountering any German jet fighters. By late April, the squadron was based at Fassberg, Germany and suffered its first losses when two pilots collided in poor visibility. The war ended with the Meteors having destroyed 46 German aircraft through ground attack and having faced more problems through misidentification as the Me 262 by Allied aircraft and flak than from the Luftwaffe!

Source:

Royal Air Force

http://www.raf.mod.uk/downloads/1944.cfm

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii103

RAF 15 Squadron Short Stirlings in Flight

Image size: 1600 x 1427 pixel. 1.04 MB
Date: Thursday, 1 January 1942
Place: Wyton, Cambridgeshire, England
Photographer: Unknown

Royal Air Force Short Stirlings of 15 Squadron Conversion Flight, 1651 Conversion Unit, in flight. Note the faint squadron code "LS." The Short Stirling was the first four-engined heavy bomber in RAF service, entering combat operations in February 1941. A late addition to Air Ministry Specification B.12/36 required a wingspan of 100 feet, to keep weight down and ensure compatibility with existing hangars. This imposed a low service ceiling of 20,000 feet (6096 meters). As a result, the Stirling was attacked by German fighters more frequently. A further limitation was the segmented bomb bay, which prevented it from carrying the 4,000-pound (1814-kilogram) "cookie" bombs that were preferred by RAF Bomber Command for area bombing of Germany. The type was pulled from front-line combat operations in December 1943 as more Avro Lancasters and Handley Page Halifaxes became available. Stirlings, larger then either of those aircraft (the cockpit was 23 feet (7 meters) off the ground) was used deployed mines and pulled gliders. These 15 Squadron aircraft are part of training unit that prepared RAF crews to fly the Stirling. The squadron operated Stirlings until December 1943. 

Source:

Royal Air Force

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0044

RAF Supermarine Spitfire Vb at Kenley Airfield

Image size: 1600 x 1200 pixel. 558 KB
Date: Friday, 12 November 1943
Place: Kenley, London, England
Photographer: Unknown

Royal Air Force Supermarine Spitfire Fighter Vb (BM316). The photo was probably taken after one of its engine changes. Note 500-pound (227-kilogram) bomb mounted on the center fuselage. This aircraft was delivered to the RAF with a Rolls Royce Merlin 45 engine (1470 horsepower) on March 3, 1942 from the Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory (the largest British aircraft manufacturing center) to the RAF. This Spitfire variant had the "B" wing with two Hispano 20mm (.78 inch) cannon and four Browning .303 Caliber machine guns. It was first tested and modified by 45 Maintenance Unit. Its first operational flight was at the hands of 485 Squadron (Royal New Zealand Air Force), flying out of RAF Kenley, which received BM316 on June 2, 1942. RAF Kenley was one of the three major fighter stations around London. On July 8, the aircraft was transferred to 611 Squadron when 485 was withdrawn for rest and refit. During this time, Spitfire Vs were having problems dogfighting the superior Focke-Wulf FW-190, and many Spitfires were lost over France as the RAF began fighter sweeps over the continent for little gain; 611 flew BM316 on shipping reconnaissance, escort and defensive missions. 111 Squadron took over BM316 on August 2, continuing 611's mission until September 1942, when the unit was ordered to Gibraltar as part of the buildup of Operation Torch. BM316 was either left at RAF Kenley or returned there on January 6, 1943, when 421 Squadron (Royal Canadian Air Force) took over the aging Spitfire. It was assigned to 416 Squadron on May 23, 1943. Likely the aircraft was already only used for training, but its engine was replaced by Heston Aircraft Limited with a Merlin 46 (1415 horsepower) with a high altitude carburetor on November 12, 1943, probably to combat the supposed threat from the Junkers JU-86 bomber, which cruised at 40,000 feet (12,200 meters). The United States Army Air Force installed a Packard Merlin 45M (1585 horsepower) for low altitude performance on May 10, 1944, and was using the aircraft for some time under reverse lend-lease. On October 10, this venerable aircraft was transferred to 17 Flying Training School. In March 1945 17 FTS moved to RAF Spitalgate outside Grantham, Lincolnshire. The old Spitfire served RAF fighter pilots in training until September 25, 1945, when it was destroyed in an accident that was repairable, but beyond the capabilities of 17 FTS; the engine cut out and the aircraft crashed on its belly 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) outside of Bourne, Lincolnshire. BM316 was declared a complete writeoff and struck off charge on October 4, 1945 and scrapped. 

Source:

Royal Air Force

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0043

Royal Air Force Avro Lancaster I Flying in the Sky

Image size: 1600 x 1200 pixel. 512 KB
Date: Thursday, 9 October 1941
Place: Woodford, Cheshire, England
Photographer: Unknown

Royal Air Force (RAF) Avro Lancaster I in flight. Avro and Handley Page submitted designs in response to the British Air Ministry's Specification P.13/36, which called for a heavy bomber for "worldwide use" with a bombload of 12,000 pounds (5,500 kilograms) using the then-promising Rolls-Royce Vulture engine. In practice the Vulture, which was essentially two Peregrine engines joined together in an inverted "X" configuration (one mounted 180 degrees opposite the other) and driving the same crankshaft, was prone to lubrication problems and was unreliable. After trying to fix the problem, Rolls-Royce's Merlin engine, smaller and initially less powerful, was nearing the horsepower specifications of the Vulture; Handley Page switched their design to the Merlin engine and it was accepted as the Halifax four-engined heavy bomber. Avro put their design, the two-engined Manchester, into production, but only 209 were built before Avro convinced the Air Ministry to allow them to built an upgraded version with four Merlin engines and a longer wing instead of retooling to build the Halifax. The resulting aircraft, the Lancaster, was a huge success, and became the premiere RAF heavy bomber, carrying more tonnage to Germany than any other type. The Manchester III, which became the first Lancaster I, first flew on January 9, 1941. The first mass production Lancaster I flew on October 9, 1941, and made its combat debut with 44 Squadron on March 3, 1942. The remaining Manchester contracts were converted to Lancasters, and more ordered; eventually 7,377 Lancasters of all variants were built. The major variants differed little from the Lancaster I; the Lancaster III had American-built Packard Merlins, and the Lancaster X was built in Canada, but otherwise were similar. The Lancaster II had Bristol Hercules engines because the Merlin was in such demand; only 300 of that variant were built. The Lancaster dropped 608,912 tons (552,395 metric tons) of bombs. Bomber Command's wartime total was 955,044 tons (866,401 metric tons), meaning that Lancasters dropped two thirds of the total. The Lancasters flew 156,192 operational sorties, four times as many as the Halifax. 3,836 were lost; 2,508 over Germany. Lancaster aircrew only had an 11% chance of survival if their aircraft was downed; Halifax crewmembers survived 29% of losses. 

Source:

Royal Air Force

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0039

44 Squadron Lancaster Warms Up

Image size: 1600 x 703 pixel. 360 KB
Date: Sunday, 2 January 1944
Place: Dunholme, Lincolnshire, England
Photographer: Unknown

Royal Air Force Avro Lancaster B Mark I, Serial R5729, Squadron Code "KM-A" of 44th Squadron, 5 Group, warms up at RAF Dunholme Lodge prior to a raid of Berlin on January 2, 1944. Note Rolls Royce Merlin engines. This aircraft flew 70 missions with 44 Squadron before it was shot down on the night of January 14/15, 1945. 44 Squadron was permitted to add "Rhodesia" to its unit crest in September 1941, as a quarter of its personnel were from that British colony. As losses mounted, 44 Squadron was crewed by Canadians, Rhodesians, Australians and British. Originally part of an order of 200 Avro Manchesters ordered in September 1939. When that type proved unacceptable, the order was converted to Lancaster Mark Is. R5729 was heavily damaged by a JU-88 night fighter on July 23/24, 1942; Pilot Officer Day managed to return to base. Flying as part of the RAF's night offensive into Germany, R5729 raided Turin, Stuttgart, Manheim, Munich, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Lorient, Nuremberg, Saint Nazaire, Stettin, Bochum, Oberhausen, and Hannover; many cities multiple times. At 1643 Hours on January 14, 1944, Pilot Officer L. Curatolo of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) flew off R5729 with Sergeant G.W. Williams, Sergeant P.R. Hughes, D.S. Mullin (RCAF), Sergeant T. Whitely, Sergeant S.W. Weldon, and Sergeant G. Armitt of the Royal Australian Air Force for Brunswick. The Germans were heard vectoring their fighters for attack as soon as the bomber stream crossed the frontier at Bremen; they tracked the bombers forty miles (64 kilometers) off England. Around 2000 Hours, R5729 was engaged by a German night fighter and destroyed near Gieboldehausen, 15.5 miles (25 kilometers) East-Northeast of Gottingen. The entire crew was killed and buried in Hannover Cemetery. Because Brunswick was not a major city and the Germans effectively eliminated the pathfinders (11 were lost) the city received only minor damage. Ten houses were destroyed and fourteen people killed. Many towns and villages to the south were hit by errant bombs, especially Wolfenbuttel. A total of thirty-eight Lancasters were lost. 

Source:

Imperial War Museum (IWM) CH 11927 

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0038

Wing Commander Guy Gibson, Commander of 617 Squadron (Dambuster), With His Crew

Image size: 1600 x 1211 pixel. 538 KB
Date: Thursday, 22 July 1943
Place: Scampton, Lincolnshire, England
Photographer: Unidentified Royal Air Force official photographer

24 year old Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson, Commander of 617 Squadron (Dambuster), with members of his crew. Left to right: Wing Commander Guy Gibson, VC, DSO and Bar, DFC and Bar (award for Dambusters Raid: Victoria Cross); Pilot Officer Frederick Michael Spafford, bomb aimer (award for Dambusters Raid: Distinguished Flying Cross); Flight Lieutenant Robert Edward George Hutchinson, wireless operator (award for Dambusters Raid: bar to Distinguished Flying Cross); Pilot Officer Andrew Deering (award for Dambusters Raid: Distinguished Flying Cross) and Flying Officer Torger Harlo Taerum, gunners (award for Dambusters Raid: Distinguished Flying Cross).  Wing Commander Guy Gibson, who led the Royal Air Force's 617 Squadron, was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery during the raids - but was tragically killed when his plane was shot down in September 1944, just months before the war ended. Born in India in 12 August 1918, Gibson moved with his family to Cornwall in 1924. He attended St Georges's Prep School in Folkestone, Kent, from the age of eight and later studied at St Edward's School, Oxford. In 1936, Gibson joined the RAF, becoming an Acting Pilot Officer and later a Pilot Officer. He learnt to fly at No 2 Flying Training School at RAF Scopwick in Lincolnshire. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Gibson was a bomber pilot with 83 Squadron, flying the Handley Page Hampden. After completing his first tour of duty, the young pilot volunteered for RAF Fighter Command, avoiding the normal six-month rest from operations at a flying training establishment. He was posted to 29 Squadron, flying Bristol Blenheims in a day fighter and bomber escort role. In April 1942, Gibson was promoted to Wing Commander, aged just 23, and was later posted back to command 106 Squadron RAF Bomber Command. His bravery was apparent from an early age, and he won the Distinguished Flying Cross and later the Distinguished Service Order in recognition of his leadership qualities. In 1943, Gibson was selected to command the RAF's new 617 Squadron, tasked with destroying dams in the German Ruhr Valley, as part of Operation Chastise, later nicknamed 'Dambusters'. To accomplish this, the pilots were provided with bouncing bombs, developed by Barnes Wallis, which had to be dropped from a height of 18m to roll into the dams and explode at a predefined depth. Despite losing 53 men in the mission, the Dambusters raids were ultimately successful and provided a huge propaganda boost to Britain's war effort. Gibson was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1943 in honour of his role in the attacks. After a brief period away from active service, the wartime hero returned to duty in 1944. He was killed during a bombing raid on Rheydt, Germany, when his plane was shot down under mysterious circumstances. It is now believed that Gibson's aircraft may have crashed after being attacked by friendly fire. He left a wife, actress Eve Moore, whom he married in 1940 after meeting her at a party in Coventry. The couple had just bought a family home in London when Gibson was killed. Gibson was remembered by his colleagues as tough, brash and often aloof. When he died, aged 26, he was widely recognised as one of the most experienced bomber pilots in the RAF.

Source:
Imperial War Museums (IWM) TR 1127
http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205123900

Sir Arthur Harris Debriefing Guy Gibson's Crew, 617 Squadron, After Dambusters Raid

Image size: 1600 x 1223 pixel. 380 KB
Date: Monday, 17 May 1943
Place: Scampton, Lincolnshire, England
Photographer: F. Bellamy

The aircrew of 617 Squadron Commander (later Wing Commander) Guy Penrose Gibson (August 12, 1918 - September 19, 1944) are debriefed after Operation Chastise, which destroyed the Mohne and Oder Dams in the Ruhr on May 16/17 1943 to disrupt electricity generation for munitions factories. From left to right: Standing are Head of Bomber Command Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Travers Harris (April 13, 1892 - April 5, 1984) and 5 Group Commander Air Vice Marshal Sir Ralph Alexander Cochrane (February 24, 1895 - December 17, 1977) as they observe the debriefing. Seated facing the camera are Intelligence Officer Squadron Leader Townson; Bombardier Pilot Officer Frederick Michael "Spam" Spafford (June 16, 1918 - September 16, 1943) of Wayville, Adelaide, Australia; and Navigator Pilot Officer Torger Harlo "Terry" Taerum (May 22, 1920 - September 16, 1943) Seated with their backs to the camera are, in the foreground, Rear Turret Gunner Flight Lieutenant Richard Algernon Dacre Trevor-Roper (May 19, 1915 - March 31, 1944) of Isle of Wight, England; obscured are Flight Engineer Sergeant John Pulford (???? - February 13, 1944) of Hull, England; Front Turret Gunner Flight Sergeant George Andrew "Tony" Deering (???? - September 16, 1943) of Ireland and Canada; and Wireless Operator Flight Lieutenant Robert Edward Hutchinson (1918 - September 16, 1943) of Liverpool, England. This crew flew an Avro Lancaster B Mark III Special, serial #ED932, marked AJ-G, modified to carry the 9,250-pound (4196-kilogram) Vickers Type 464 spinning bomb codenamed "Upkeep" designed by Sir Barnes Neville Wallis (September 26, 1887 - October 30, 1979). This bomb was rotated as it hung exposed in the bomb bay of the Lancaster, and then dropped from 60 feet (18.2 meters), which was maintained by visually observing two spotlights mounted fore and aft and angled to intersect at that altitude. A simple bombsight of a stick with two nails aligned with the towers of the Mohne Dam for optimal release distance at 400 yards (365 meters). Nineteen of twenty-one Lancasters of 617 Squadron attacked the dams; Gibson's crew took off at 2139 Hours. Gibson later said, "We were flying so low that more than once 'Spam' yelled at me to pull up quickly to avoid high-tension wires and tall trees." Gibson's bomb exploded short of the dam itself at 0028 Hours, but two other Lancasters successfully breeched the Mohne Dam minutes later. Gibson then led the remaining Landcasters against the Eder between 0130 and 0200 Hours, again successfully breeching the dam. However, eight of the nineteen bombers were shot down or caught in the explosions of their own bombs. Due to the low altitude, only three of the downed airmen survived to be taken prisoner. Gibson and 76 other aircrew of 617 Squadron returned to base; 53 were killed. On the ground, 1,650 people were killed in the resultant flooding of the Ruhr Valley; 1,026 were prisoners of war, including 526 Soviet women in the town of Neheim. Unknown numbers of livestock perished, and much viable farmland flooded, which impeded food production the following season. Power generation was restored within a week due to an emergency pumping station, and the war production plants were largely unaffected. For Allied morale, the raid was a great success, and Gibson toured the United States and Canada selling war bonds and making appearances before returning to combat. Gibson won the Victoria Cross, and the crew all received the Distinguished Flying Cross, except for Pulford, who as an enlisted man received the Distinguished Flying Medal. Gibson and his entire crew died during the war, in various combat actions and accidents. He was killed flying a Mosquito over Germany. Four of them died in the same Lancaster when it was lost in action exactly four months later. 

Source:

Imperial War Museum (IWM) CH 9683 

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0032

RAF Blenheim V6391 After Bombing Goldenburg Power Station, Cologne

Image size: 1600 x 946 pixel. 380 KB
Date: Tuesday, 12 August 1941
Place: Knapsack, Cologne, Nordrhine-Westphalen, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

A Bristol Blenheim Mark IV (extreme left), serial V6391, marked RT-V of 114 Squadron, 2 Group, Royal Air Force, banks away after releasing two 500-pound (227-kilogram) bombs over the Goldenburg-Werk lignite (brown coal) power station in Knapsack. V6391, piloted by Sergeant (later Air Marshal) Ivan Gordon Broom (June 2, 1920 - January 24, 2003) and crewed by Sergeant William "Bill" North, Navigator, and Sergeant Leslie Harrison, Weapons Operator and Aerial Gunner. Fifty-four Blenheims made a daring daylight raid on two power stations near Cologne run by Rheinische Aktiengesellschaft für Braunkohlenbergbau und Brikettfabrikation or RAG (Rhine Public Company for Brown Coal and Briquette Manufacturing). They were escorted by fifteen squadrons of Supermarine Spitfires and 263 Squadron flying Westland Whirlwinds, but none of the fighters had the range to make it all the way to the target, so the Blenheims went in on their own. Broom was noted as one of the flew pilots of 2 Group who did not consider the mission a suicide run. He relished the enthusiastic reaction of the Dutch public, who greeted the low-flying Blenheims with waving and cheers, which abruptly stopped when V6391 crossed into Germany. This photo ran in the Illustrated London News, which syndicated the photo around the world without Brown or his crew being named. The Goldenburg power station was severely damaged, but power was restored to the Ruhr factories. Brown and his crew were sent to the Far East in September 1941, but were "hijacked" in Malta, where they were ordered to fly anti-submarine patrols and attack airfields in Sicily and Italy. On their first flight out of Malta, Broom and North used an Aldis signal lamp to guide a stricken Blenheim back to base. With most of the senior officers dead or missing, Brown was given command and won his first Distinguished Flying Cross, eventually surviving 30 missions. Brown was a popular leader who shared his men's risks. Later he flew DeHavilland Mosquitoes on pathfinder missions on night raids over Germany. 

Source:

Imperial War Museum (IWM) C2025

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0031

RAF Blenheims Attack Fortuna Power Station in Cologne

Image size: 1600 x 1216 pixel. 532 KB
Date: Tuesday, 12 August 1941
Place: Quadrath, Cologne, Nordrhine-Westphalen, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

A Bristol Blenheim Mark IV of the Royal Air Force's Number 2 group pulls away after a successful attack on the Fortuna Power Station in Quadrath. You can see the end of the dorsal turret Vickers .303 machine gun lower right. Two power stations, Fortuna I and II, burning lignite (brown coal), were run by Rheinische Aktiengesellschaft für Braunkohlenbergbau und Brikettfabrikation or RAG (Rhine Public Company for Brown Coal and Briquette Manufacturing) in the small village of Quadrath. Another target was the Goldenberg-Werk Power Station in nearby Knapsack. Fifty-four Blenheims were detailed for a low-level raid, coming in over the Netherlands to attack, causing significant damage. The Blenheims came from 18, 21, 82, 107, 114, 139 and 226 Squadrons, commanded by Wing Commander Nichol in his first Blenheim mission (????-1941) and navigated by Officer (later Wing Commander) Thomas Baker (1914-2006) who later said the mission was "almost suicidal - it was the only time in my life that I saw my fellow aircrew grey and shaking." Ten of the Blenheims were shot down and others were damaged, mostly to the large anti-aircraft concentrations around the plants. The power stations were heavily damaged. While the bomb run on the plant had no fighter cover, Supermarine Spitfires of 306 and 315 Squadrons covered the incoming flight, 308 Squadron with Spitfire VBs and 263 Squadron with Westland Whirlwinds flew top cover, and three other squadrons flew cover for the fighters. 485, 610 and 452 Squadrons, all flying Spitfires, and three other squadrons of Sprtfire VBs struck airfields and targets along the French and Dutch coasts. Lacking the range to get within 100 miles of Cologne, the Blenheims went in on their own; all the Spitfires had to withdraw after five minutes of loitering in the formation area over Holland. 19, 65 and 226 Squadrons, flying the standard short-range Spitfire II, and 66, 152, and 234 Squadrons, all flying the longer-ranged standard Spitfire IIA, rendezvoused with the surviving Blenheims and escorted them back to England. Four Spitfires were lost. While the Fortuna plants were soon back online, the daylight raid was intended to pull German fighters from the Eastern Front, and soon the Luftwaffe began concentrating their strength against the RAF, and later, the United States Army Air Force's VIII Bomber Command. 

Source:

Imperial War Museum (IWM) C2024

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0030