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Tempest tempting me

Intelligence had prepared the British authorities for an attack on Southern England by robot weapons. Bombing attacks were made on the German research estabishment at Peenemünde and factories belived to be involved in the production. These attacks delayed the introduction of the new weapon and prior the Normandy Invasion of 6 June 1944 much effort had been expended in attacking launching sites in the Pas de Calais area between Dieppe and Calais (France).


The first offensive launches were made on 12 June. Only ten were launched of which seven crashed or blow up at once! The first to reach England fell on Swanscombe at 0418 hours on 13 June. Thereafter the launch rates incresed rapidly, in 24 hours 151 V1s were reported by the defences. During the night 14/15 June the first interception of a V1 was made over the English Channel by Flt Lt J.G. Musgrave of 605 Squadron (flying a Mosquito) and this was shot down.


Initial response was to extend the attacks on the launching sites, whilst fighters formed the first defence over the Channel and the South Coast. 192 heavy AA guns and equal number of light weapons provided the next line of defence. On the eastern outskirts of London 480 balloons provided the final element. Initial patrols were made by 11 squadrons, two Mosquito-equipped fro night operations.


These arrangements were inadequate and the guns were increased to 376 heavy and 540 light weapons and the balloons were strengthened to around 1000. Fighter units included the new 150 Wing at Newchurch with three squadrons of Tempests, Spitfires of 41, 91 and 322 Squadrons and Mustangs of 129, 306 and 315 Squadrons. A special flight of Tempest was formed at Wittering with pilots of the Fighter Interception Unit. This moved to Newchurch to join the other Tempest squadrons. Over the weeks which followed further units became involved including Polish Mustang, radar-equipped Mosquito and Typhoon squadrons.

By 15 July 2578 V1s had reached England. 1241 were destroyed by the defences, 1280 falling in the London area. Between 9-15 July the percentage destroyed reached 50%, mainly by the fighters. The damage caused were still to high whereby the guns were moved to the coastal area. On 19 July 412 heavy and 600 light weapons were in place together with 168 Bofors and some rocket batteries. Now the fighters patrolled over the Channel and over central Kent, between the guns and the balloons. The guns were now receiving stocks of proximity-fused shells, which increased their results. Between 16 August and 5 September only 17% of the 1124 launched V1s reached their target area. On the night 27/28 August were 87 of 97 V1s shot down!



By 5 September the Allies armies had overrun the launching sites and the attacks seased. By this time two more Tempest squadrons had joined the defences, 274 and 501 Squadrons. On 16 September the assault was resumed. Seven V1s were air-launched by Heinkel He11 bombers operating from airfields in Holland. 80 V1s were launched in this manner in late September, 23 were destroyed. In March 1945 104 were launched from ramps in Holland. The last fell on England on 28 March 1945, and the last to be launched was shot down the next day.



Between June 1944 and March 1945 3957 V1s were claimed to have been destroyed. 1979 by fighters, 1866 by guns, 232 by balloons and 12 by Naval guns. The totals claimed by individual squadrons are a somewhat higher figure when added together than the numbers above. The confusion appears to arise from the system of confirmations used at the time, the list below is the best that can be arrived.


Note: The seven squadrons with most claims plus all Tempest squadrons are listed (of a total of 33 squadrons which claimed V1s).



Unit
Aircraft Type
Base
Total Claimed

3 Sqn
Tempest V
Newchurch
288-305,5

486 Sqn
Tempest V
Newchurch
223

91 Sqn
Spitfire XIV
West Malling, Deanland
185-189

96 Sqn
Mosquito XIII
Ford, Odihamn
165-174

322 Sqn
Spitfire XIV
West Malling, Deanland
108,5

501 Sqn
Tempest V
Westhampnett, Manston, Bradwell Bay, Hunsdon
72-95

FIU
Tempest V
Newchurch
85,5

56 Sqn
Tempest V
Newchurch
70-77

274 Sqn
Tempest V
Merston, Detling, Gatwick, West Malling
19

222 Sqn
Tempest V
Gilze-Rijen (Holland)
1
 
It was the German jets that offered Tempest pilots their greatest challenge. On 13 October Tempest of No 3 Squadron destroyed one, although usually only probables could be claimed. Finally on 3 December, a No 80 Squadron Tempest flown by F/O "Judy" Garland made short work of an Me262 of I/KG(J) 51.
The jet fighters were seen in small numbers, while Bf 109s and Fw 190s were occasionally encountered in some strength. Hectic activity took place on 17 December as Luftwaffe strove to give some air support to the Ardennes offensive. Tempest pilots of different squadrons clashed with both day fighters, nocturnal He219s, and Me262s.
The last few days of December 1944 brought pleny of action, although operations were occasionally hampered by American fighters, many of whom still had not got the message about Tempests. Fortunately, few of these encounters proved to be fatal, but they remained an unnecessary hazard for the British pilots.
 
LAST YEAR OF WAR

On 23 January, 2nd TAF Tempests had their best day, claiming twenty-one kills (including one Me262), without loss. Good weather in February brought a series of interdiction missions and losses to flak. the territory held by German forces was being squeezed into a ever narrowing pocket bristling with guns. Tempest squadrons lost thirty-one aircraft during Ferbruary, with nine pilots being killed. More German jets were destroyed, including examples of the Arado Ar 234, but the major part of February 's effort was against German transport.
Also during the month, Nos 33 and 222 Squadrons arrived at Gilze Rijen as part of 135 Wing, while Nos 349 and 485 Squadrons returned to England. No 222 Squadron flew its sorties on 24 february, bouncing fiften Fw 190s and shooting down four.
 
The big difference between the Tiffie and the Tempest was that the Typhoon suffered terribly from the Napier Sabre engine, which was utterly unreliable.

By the time they moved from the Typhoon to the Tempest, most of the problems with the Sabre had been resolved, but it had been surpassed by other engine types - hence them being fitted successfully to the Tempest, which was probably one of the best fighters of the late war period.

Ian P.
 
322 Sqn
Spitfire XIV
West Malling, Deanland
108,5

222 Sqn
Tempest V
Gilze-Rijen (Holland)
1

the 322 squadron you mention was that a squadron where dutch pilots were flying? i know that number was created in the second world war and is still a squadron in the netherlands based in Leeuwarden (aka fightertown europe) and that 222 squadron was that also a dutch squadron or not? just interested since i live in the netherlands...


kind regards,

meso
 
IanP,
Don't forget the numerous broken tail problems that the Typhoon suffered from that were corrected in the Tempest...
 
In one of the osprey books about Fw190's there was a chapter at the end dedicated to the Ta152, which includes a pilot account of 3 Ta152H's intercepting a similar number of Tempests that were harassing a locomotive yard of some sort. It was an awesome story, since it was an all out dogfight above the treetops between some of the best planes the allies and axis had to offer. That big winged 152 musta had a hell of a turning radius, but the tempests definitely won in the rolling department. I think it was the Western Front 190 operations book...
 
Hawker Tempest gun camera


[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/v/fQTfXVqNo9A[/YOUTUBE]
 
Hawker Tempest Mk. II

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/v/iNla-K6z68Y[/YOUTUBE]
 
The Anson is probably the best known of the three I listed, as it was used for everything - flight crew training, air sea rescue, transport, air taxi, squadron hack... They were never "sexy" or interesting, but the darned things were everywhere. Outside of real enthusiasts, however, no-one would be overly interested in flying one and it would be a total flop as payware, I strongly suspect. Mind you, I'd say the same about most of the types being proposed here! ;)

Ian P.

Personally I would have thought the same true of the upcoming BN Islander from Alphasim so there's clearly a market for 'never "sexy" or interesting, but the darned things were everywhere'. Like many others, as an air cadet, some of my first flights were in ageing 'Annies' so I'd be interested for one.

But currently it seems to me that the development complexities of good native FSX aircraft mean that the number of WWII and Cold War products is still limited compared to FS2004 and many big names are still missing (including the Tiffy and Tempest). Icarus has done a great job with the Gladiator and I'm looking forward to a great native Hurricane, but there is still no native P-47, Mustang or Lightning (of either variety!) and FS11 can't be too far away. Yes I know they're all in development but FSX is 3 years old now and they're still not here.:banghead: Halifax and Sterling by all means but where's the Lanc??

Just IMHO - and enjoy the rest of the holiday everyone.

DaveQ
 
Lanc does seem to have slipped through the net as all my fishing in the direction of A2A gets bounced - it doesn't sound like they'll be FSX-ing theirs in the near future. They do, however, do a completely FSX native P-47D razorback already (just without Accu-Sim, which the new model will have), Bf109 and Spitfire I. All are updates from their WW2 Fighters Pack, but are now FSX native models.

Don't forget that the BN Islander, unlike the Anson, is still used a lot as an "island hopper" airliner these days. Particularly in the Pacific islands, but also to a lesser extent in North America and, indeed, the UK!

There's also a perfectly usable FSX Native Hurricane from Dan Dunn/First Class.

I think a Tempest would be a good one, but how well it would sell outside the UK could be open to debate - although the Gladiator seems to have gained an instant fanbase, so the Tempest might as well. Is there even a single Anson left flying anywhere in the world?

Ian P.

Personally I would have thought the same true of the upcoming BN Islander from Alphasim so there's clearly a market for 'never "sexy" or interesting, but the darned things were everywhere'. Like many others, as an air cadet, some of my first flights were in ageing 'Annies' so I'd be interested for one.

But currently it seems to me that the development complexities of good native FSX aircraft mean that the number of WWII and Cold War products is still limited compared to FS2004 and many big names are still missing (including the Tiffy and Tempest). Icarus has done a great job with the Gladiator and I'm looking forward to a great native Hurricane, but there is still no native P-47, Mustang or Lightning (of either variety!) and FS11 can't be too far away. Yes I know they're all in development but FSX is 3 years old now and they're still not here.:banghead: Halifax and Sterling by all means but where's the Lanc??

Just IMHO - and enjoy the rest of the holiday everyone.

DaveQ
 
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